Meet Elon Musk.

At eight years old, he read the Encyclopedia Britannica because he ran out of library books to read. He founded a little company that designs, manufactures, and launches spacecraft.

He taught himself rocket science, and just because, he designed a class of electric cars that I imagine drive like sex.

Meet Annie White. Her 880-item bucket list should propel you into action. Wave surfing. Dog sledding. Kayaking. Waterfalls. Volcanoes. Business ventures. Fan letters. Self-made millions. Drinking milk from freshly cracked coconuts. There’s something for everyone.

Meet Beyoncé. Although, I’m sure you have.

This post isn’t for them. It’s for you. I’m writing to tell you that you have 80,000 hours in your career.

80,000 hours.

Over the course of your lifetime you spend twenty-one years sleeping, four years in transit, and more than a year in the bathroom. With all their accomplishments, you’d think Elon, Annie, and Beyoncé don’t sleep or wait in traffic. You’re not completely wrong. Beyoncé doesn’t.

With those stats, 80,000 hours isn’t enough time to learn everything, do everything, or experience everything the world has to offer. If you are anything like me, this is a jaw-clenching frustration.

Reality check: you can do anything, not everything.

There is hope in the face of such bleak facts. The solution: learn to prune. Straighten your priorities. Edit your life fearlessly.

80,000 hours isn’t enough time if you want to tackle everything, but it’s still a hell of a lot of time. You overestimate what you can do in a day and underestimate what you can do in a year. Overcome this tendency with a 100-year plan. Determine what you want. Write it down. Take massive action or baby steps.

Why must work be an act you retire from? The capitalist model of working until old age birthed the 80,000-hour model. This lifestyle is not for the bold, the daring, the limitless. It’s time you redefine work. If money was no object, my actions would be the same: creating, learning, traveling, and transcending.