Fellow Wazuans,

I have observed that generally in life people make goals and plans in their teen years/early twenties and tend to start picking up momentum and keeping strong in their progress from their late twenties/early thirties to their fifties. Those who were not keen on their hustles seem to plateau over this period then plummet thereafter. I am not a sociologist so of course this is just a very personal observation and not the golden standard.

I had a debate with an acquintance recently on the general course of life and success. He wants to be a billionaire by 40 and has 12 years to go. He is an idealist. As per his talk he trippled his net worth in 2012/13 and then doubled his net worth in 2013/14 and projects that he will manage to increase it by only 20% next year as he is "burnt out". He has even pushed back his ideal age for marriage by one more year (from 33 to 34) as he projects he will not have achieved the financial freedom he desires. (Life seems to be more sensical to him when structured and planned out).

In the recent past I have been curious if there are people whose lives turn out as per their ideals. Personally I haven't come across any so far. I tend to see a pattern that tends to show a lot of the progress/outcome tends to be affected by chances and opportunities. I am personally more pragmatistic (roughly) where I have ideals limited by acceptance of reality. I wonder how those that hold on to strict ideals out there bear with the twists and turns in life. Are there any that keep up with it all their lives? For those that keep up with the momentum of idealism how do you do it with all the twists and turns in this world?

I fear your friend might be mentally sick and might be fantasizing
1. What kind of business,work or investments does he do to make him double and tripple his/her investments?
2.What has changed between 2012/2013,2013/2014 that will reduce his net worth growth by 80% next year


In life,it is good to plan,but its even more reasonable to adjust your plans as time/years go by and live within the life realism

If they aren't 'mutually exclusive' what are they?

Everything that happens in one's life is interlinked? Maybe that can only be seen retrospectively? I'm not seeing it being that obvious in my life. Some events are random and I think the graph of life has outliers and one can note heteroskedasticity.

@Swenani, He has a well paying job (six figure I'm certain) and invests regularly but I do not know the details beyond him investing in real estate and stocks. As for the 20% it's his projected increase in net worth not a loss. He expects a slowed increase in his wealth compared to the previous two years. I do not think he has a mental illness though just extraordinary ambition. He talks with the zeal you'd expect to see in a religious person.

@tycho I like how you've taken it down to the basics of the definition. It helps