I'm going to ignore the poker reference because it is confusing (as a non-poker player) and obscures some important points.
The key point to think about is lifestyle design. What I mean by that is asking yourself the question of what kind of life you want to have now AND in the future, then deciding whether or not your current career path is leading you in that direction.
Lets take your med school example. First we have to ask "what do you want?" Yes, I know you want to make a lot of money, but for what purpose? What do you want to do with that money? If your goal is to eventually be able to bang high quality girls in the city you live in, and later get married, raise a family, and become a pillar of your community, then med school is a good idea.
HOWEVER, lets say your goal is to lead the "international playboy" lifestyle people talk about here. Lets drop the "international playboy" title and just say that you want to be able to travel extensively and bang chicks around the world. In that case, I would say that med school would be a poor choice. Other than ER docs, who can often pick up shifts at different hospitals, most physicians have to build a practice, which means being geographically bound to a particular city.
In addition, the city which you may have the best financial prospects might not be the best city for gaming women. Contrary to popular belief, major cities like New York, LA, and Chicago are not very good for new physicians looking to set up a practice, primarily because of the increased competition and extremely high malpractice premiums. The best location may be some small town.
Furthermore, while you will make a ton of money if you do it right, you will also work a ton of hours. 50-60+ hour weeks are common. Your ability to take vacations will be severely limited as well. A two week vacation here and there might work, but closing up your practice for 3-6 months so you can hang out in Rio or Warsaw isn't going to happen.
Honestly, as a person who is addicted to international travel, I would become a nurse before I became a physician. I know a number of contract nurses that travel around the country, work for 3-6 months at a hospital that needs them, then take the next 2-4 months off to do whatever they want. I know a male nurse who travels extensively. The dude would work in the US for for several months, then take several months off to bang chicas in Latin America. The funniest part is that after banging chicas for so long his Spanish got really good, which resulted in him being able to command a 50% increase in hourly salary for contract nursing gigs in the US (there is an EXTREME shortage of Spanish speaking nurses in the US).
The whole point I am making is to focus on lifestyle instead of money. Too many people focus on money, without out being aware that what they have to sacrifice to make the money may preclude them from using the money the way they had planed to in the first place. What is the point in making $500K a year if you are working 90 hours a week? It is like being given all of the gold in Fort Knox with the catch being that they are going to lock you inside the vault with it and you can never leave.
The key point to think about is lifestyle design. What I mean by that is asking yourself the question of what kind of life you want to have now AND in the future, then deciding whether or not your current career path is leading you in that direction.
Lets take your med school example. First we have to ask "what do you want?" Yes, I know you want to make a lot of money, but for what purpose? What do you want to do with that money? If your goal is to eventually be able to bang high quality girls in the city you live in, and later get married, raise a family, and become a pillar of your community, then med school is a good idea.
HOWEVER, lets say your goal is to lead the "international playboy" lifestyle people talk about here. Lets drop the "international playboy" title and just say that you want to be able to travel extensively and bang chicks around the world. In that case, I would say that med school would be a poor choice. Other than ER docs, who can often pick up shifts at different hospitals, most physicians have to build a practice, which means being geographically bound to a particular city.
In addition, the city which you may have the best financial prospects might not be the best city for gaming women. Contrary to popular belief, major cities like New York, LA, and Chicago are not very good for new physicians looking to set up a practice, primarily because of the increased competition and extremely high malpractice premiums. The best location may be some small town.
Furthermore, while you will make a ton of money if you do it right, you will also work a ton of hours. 50-60+ hour weeks are common. Your ability to take vacations will be severely limited as well. A two week vacation here and there might work, but closing up your practice for 3-6 months so you can hang out in Rio or Warsaw isn't going to happen.
Honestly, as a person who is addicted to international travel, I would become a nurse before I became a physician. I know a number of contract nurses that travel around the country, work for 3-6 months at a hospital that needs them, then take the next 2-4 months off to do whatever they want. I know a male nurse who travels extensively. The dude would work in the US for for several months, then take several months off to bang chicas in Latin America. The funniest part is that after banging chicas for so long his Spanish got really good, which resulted in him being able to command a 50% increase in hourly salary for contract nursing gigs in the US (there is an EXTREME shortage of Spanish speaking nurses in the US).
The whole point I am making is to focus on lifestyle instead of money. Too many people focus on money, without out being aware that what they have to sacrifice to make the money may preclude them from using the money the way they had planed to in the first place. What is the point in making $500K a year if you are working 90 hours a week? It is like being given all of the gold in Fort Knox with the catch being that they are going to lock you inside the vault with it and you can never leave.