I once rode a bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles. A few buddies of mine were touring the entire Pacific Coast Highway, I was in LA already for an internship, and the timing worked out for me to join them for the middle portion of the trek. There are a couple moments that stick out to me in particular.

Among many memorable moments, one sticks out in particular. We had stopped for lunch in Guadalupe, CA and across the street there was an old faded advertisement for Gold Medal Flour. We could just make out the words “Eventually… Why not now” painted on the side of the building” It was the perfect motto for 4 guys biking across California, and is a phrase that still comes back to me today with some frequency when trying to make a decision to take action or not.

Another moment that left a similar impression was when I made a comment about “getting back to real life.” Craig, who planned the whole trip, responded with, “this is real life!” He had a good point. Since then I try to be careful about what I define as my “real life” and whether or not it’s what I actually want to be doing with my time or not.