This post is a bit long, so if you aren't bored out of your mind, just skip to the bottom after reading the intro...

You will never become anything until you realize that the key to a better future is hard work; and not shit like studying for classes (although this is important), but in general working hard at everything you do, day to day, hour to hour. There will always be the long-ass work days and gay ass exams at 7 am, but the only way to progress is through hard work; every dollar and every good mark in every class counts; they count towards something bigger and better in the end. Everything leads to another, and the better and harder you work towards anything, the larger your returns in the end. You have to starve now if you ever want to eat well. (Metaphor)

It's time to take another look at your goals, set new ones, and revise your ways...

Let me tell show you how goal-setting, some to the level of obsession, works in the lives of three individuals.

If you're lazy, just skip to the bottom, it has the conclusion.

Three stories...

The one who chased after Law School (Western Synagogue).

The one who chased after The Girl (The Ecuadorean).

The one who chased after Photography (The Professional).

All three have fallen to a hopeless desire to achieve what they feel they need.

But why the fuck do they need those things; one of them works hard to get the best marks he can and never has fun, the second works hard to gain the acceptance of the girl, blinded by love, and the last works hard to achieve his best work at the cost of his own time and money.

Now ask yourself why you want the things you are obsessed with... do you need them? Does doing the things you do allow you to reap any benefits? Is there a logical probability that your goals can be successfully achieved? Do you have the capacities to be able to achieve your goals? Do your activities require too much investment and not enough return?

Well clearly you already think you need it if you obsessed, so now answer this... Do you get anything real out of the things you do?

The first guy gets good marks throughout school, which helps him do anything else he wants within the academic world if he changes his mind about his career path, but if he didn't have his goal he might not have worked as hard to get those marks... so he got a side bonus for being so obsessed. Sure he loses out on some things but you have to decide which things are more important... I'm not Dr.Phil, I'm just trying to clarify things for you: If you think you should study all the time and not have fun, that's your dilemma, not mine.

The second guy clearly doesn't get any side benefit for chasing after the girl, the only benefit would be to come only if he succeeds in getting the girl, and that would be the final benefit, only getting any benefit if he succeeds.

Same goes for the third guy, unless he actually starts working for a magazine and getting paid, he gets nothing more than the feeling of having worked as hard as he can.

Now think about how useful the things you are working towards are.

Now the first guy can be seen as having a pretty logical goal to work towards, it is a matter of getting one good mark after another in each of his classes, he can take his goal one step at a time, and study for his entrance exam when his time comes, and he will be able to study easily because of his experience doing shit loads of work for classes.

The second guy has no idea what he must do to achieve his goal, he has no single thing to work towards, he has general guidelines like being nice to the girl and such but the girl may think you are trying to get her too hard or some other stupid shit; you never know, his dilemma is fucked because it is based too much on chance; all this aside, he also has no idea of his chances with the girl. Even doing something like asking the girl directly is a chance to be taken in itself, nothing is certain.

The third guy has a mix of good things and bad things going for him; he has a clear idea of what is considered "professional" and what is not, and being able to find those situations where a good picture can be taken might be decently easy; but again, randomness comes into play because it takes just the right moment to take a good picture; also, photography is also something that needs natural talent, if you don't have those artistic abilities, then you aren't one who should try to be a professional at photography.

Is the end worth the means?

Let's literal it up a bit:

Let's say someone would give you 2000 dollars if you came and collected the money from them in person, they live in Estonia.

The plane trip + travel expenses, add up to 2500 dollars.

Is it worth accepting the person's deal? NO.

As for the first guy, is it worth getting all those best marks and having a higher chance to go to law school, and never having fun and going out and partying and drinking and just wasting time chilling and doing random other shit like fishing or something...? It depends on opinion, but his actions are likely worth it in the sum-all game called life.

For the second guy, is it worth working towards the girl of your dreams? Only if the chances are high. If you work towards nothing, or something with a low chance, then the chance of shutdown/loss is not worth the low chance of getting with her. If their is a high chance however, the risk of hurt is worth working towards her. But again, this is futile, because no one can know for sure. Nothing in this world is 100%.

As for third guy, either it gives you personal pleasure to take good pictures, or it gives you money for your shots, or both. If it doesn't give you at least one, then give the fuck up. Do something else.


Conclusion

None of what I said matters; Obsession overrides logic, unless your Obsession is weak, you cannot take these words into account. And if your conviction to your obsession is weak, then you will not be able to achieve it most efficiently. Obsession is a two-edged blade because it makes you work hard as a donkey for something, but if that thing fails you will feel useless for having worked so hard.

You can either work hard in life and feel the pains of failure, or never try at anything, and never gain anything either; depends on the kind of person you are. Either way it's balanced.

But if you look at it from a "Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all" perspective, then the guy who works hard wins, because he can either use his accomplishments to his advantage or choose not to; the guy who never tried hard at anything can never use anything to his advantage, because he has nothing to use, then again, he might not want to anyways.

Nothing is True, Everything is Meaningless.