Many conversations with other twenty something year olds out of college seem to gravitate inevitably towards what we’re doing with our lives — as in, what’s the point in what we’re doing and should we continue doing it? I often hear people ask what is “the narrative of my life?” as though their story will be told to posterity, which is an interesting way to examine what you’re doing and whether it is worthwhile.

After listening and participating in many of these dinner table conversations, I’ve settled on a framework for myself specifically and possibly more generally. I think it’s far easier to wonder “what does the world need” rather than “what do I want to do.” One is concrete and the other is fuzzy, if not whimsical. Before money and glory, I think people want more than anything is to feel like they have an impact on what they work on and that what they work on matters on some level. By pursuing “what the world needs” it’s far easier to avoid things that don’t feel like they don’t matter since you probably are already unsure whether it’s what you truly want, let alone whether it matters to anyone else.

I’ve decided for myself that the problems most interesting and worth spending my life solving break down as follows:

1. Access to Information (data, news, know how, etc.)
2. Access to Capital (funding, credit, etc.)
3. Access to Sustenance (food, air, water, etc.)

These basic inputs have massive “leverage” or multiplicative effects on output for people. Improving access to these inputs enables people to do a lot more in their respective fields and improves living conditions everywhere. On a high level, information helps people do anything better and make better decisions. Capital enables people to pursue opportunities otherwise impossible or risky. Sustenance simply makes life possible and enjoyable.

I will go into further detail in what I’m doing, what I want to do, and why I care about each problem in coming posts.

I’m sure there are other fields that have large impact that I may be missing. What are big problems that you are happy to work on for the rest of your life or that you know other people are dedicating their lives to solving?