Name: The Real Trade-Offs of Choosing a Career Over Family
Uploaded: 2025-01-22T16:15:01.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The Real Trade-Offs of Choosing a Career Over Family' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-01-22. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The Real Trade-Offs of Choosing a Career Over Family' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-01-22. Transcript available.

Yeah. I feel lucky to have an audience. You know, I think it's sometimes it
kind of blows my mind,
you know, and I think I'm mostly just keep working. Yeah. You know, that's like
the only
feel like, like the thing I know how to do best. Like my biggest relationship
is probably with my
work. You know, I was thinking the other day, somebody's like, are you going to
get a wife?
And I'm like, well, I have, you know, 40 hours a week. I have this woman, you
know, I have this
work is like, feels like my wife, you know, a lot of times. Um, but I just to
press pause there,
I think that's, I think young people have to have a sober conversation with
themselves around
trade-offs. And that is, I ask my kids, when I say my kids, my students, where
they expect to be
economically and in terms of influence and 70% of them expect to be in the top
1% within 10 years.
And what I have found is that if you want to be in the top 1% from an influence,
from a real spiritual reward, from your work, from a financial standpoint, you
pretty much have to go
all in for 10, probably 20 years. The capitalist society is very good at
figuring out who's really
in, you know, in it for the full 110%. I don't know anyone who's reached the
level of success
you've reached without pretty much going all in on work. And it comes at a
trade-off. It comes at a
trade-off of relationships. It comes at a trade-off in terms of your own
fitness, your own mental
wellbeing. But from the age of like 25 to 45, I really don't remember much else
than working.
Really?
Yeah. And I'm not saying that's the right way, but it was my way. And I don't
regret it.
Huh. Yeah. It's funny. Cause I think I do. I think I lament sometimes. Like, it's
so funny you say that.
Like this afternoon, I know I have like about two hours, you know, and I'm like,
do I go to an AA meeting
or do I stretch? Right. Those are like my two, like, which one is going to help
me more for tomorrow?
Like, you know, like, but really like, it's like, yeah, do I do some type of a
fitness thing or do I do
like a wellness thing? You know, like a, like a recovery thing. But, um, yeah,
it's funny. I just,
I thought about that a lot recently. Like, cause work was like a, something
that I think was like,
I knew what the return could be. Right. So it was a manageable relationship.
Whereas I think other
relationships for me and I'm not, uh, getting into self pity. Those have been
tougher to manage or I
didn't have as much luck and, um, not, not luck in meeting women, but luck in
actual managing
relationships. And so then, uh, I, I was like, well, but this relationship I
can manage, you know,
and I know what the return can be based on my investment. And there's not a ton
of emotional,
uh, pain involved in it for me or other people, you know, unless you work for
me,
sometimes I can get a little heady, you know? Yeah. And this is going to sound
crass, but
the opportunities, your selection set for mating will broaden as you become
more successful
professionally. That's just a cruel truth of capitalism. The trade-off will
become the
relationships with your parents, your relationship with God. I know you're a
spiritual person,
the relationship you have with yourself, but you'll, uh, it's, the world is
unfair as it
relates to men. And that is, as long as we, our trajectory of success
professionally and
economically is upward, we are afforded a disproportionate number of mating
opportunities.
So wait, so say that part again, that the end part again, just, if you have
money, you can get laid.
Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. If you have money, you can get laid. Um, but then, but
there's trade-offs too.
Huge trade-offs. Yeah. One of the things I wish I'd done, I wish I'd started
with kids a little bit
earlier. I only, I have two boys. One of my biggest regrets is I wish I had a
third. I wish I had a
daughter. I think a lot about like how much I'm enjoying it. And I was working
so hard that I didn't
have a lot of time with them and, you know, they're gone. You know, that, that
eight-year-old
that, you know, used to come in and sleep in my bed with me on the Sunday
mornings, he's gone.
And I see the kind of the gentleness my friends have with some of their girls.
You know, I really
messed up, uh, and I'm blessed to have two boys. I'm a glass half empty kind of
guy. I look at stuff.
I know rationally I'm blessed to have two boys, but I look at it like, I wish I'd
had
more kids. How old are you? Yeah, I'm 44. I need to have, I need to get some
children. Uh,
so I'd like to get some, I, I mean, I don't know much about you, but I would
argue that
I, I'm not one of these people that says you can't be happy without kids,
but I didn't want to have kids. I wanted to be rich and awesome. Those are my
priorities
in that, in that order. And what I found is all of that as a means to an end in
a capitalist society,
you have to be able to be economically viable. Otherwise your kid's going to
feel that stress.
It's going to put stress on your partnership. But for the first time in my life,
you know,
there's these moments, Theo, where you're, you're watching premier league
football and your kids
roll in and they jump on the couch and the dogs come over and your kids just
sort of naturally
throw their legs on yours. And it's the only time I've ever had this feel. And
maybe if you've had
it other places where I'm like, this is enough. You know, when I was your age
coming to New York
stand hotel like this, I wanted every afternoon, I'd start thinking, where am I
going tonight? That's cool. I was at Equinox yesterday. Is there a cooler gym?
I'm at
zero bond. Is there a more exclusive club? I'm hanging out with this
interesting, hot
group of people tomorrow. Can I hang out with more interesting, more hot people?
This is
how much money I made this month. Can I make more? It was just like more, fuck
it. I want
more.
Where did it come from? Sorry, go on. And more. And the only thing.
The only time I've ever been like, okay, this might be enough isn't usually in
the presence
of my kids.