As I make hundreds of small choices throughout the day, I’m building a life—but at one and the same time, I’m closing off the possibility of countless others, forever.

The Latin aphorism,  ars longa, vita brevis , describes exactly this: skilfulness takes time and life is short. In order to become anything, you must eliminate everything else — life is about choosing your sacrifices, you don’t get to not make any, but you get to choose which ones.