Choices: Endless Breadsticks or Salad

I’m trying to figure out what happiness is because I’m in a similar position [as you] because it took me 8 years to get through college. And everything I’ve done has been not because I wanted to do it, but because I’ve been impacted by someone in my life. The reason I went to Madison was for a girl. The reason I stayed as in spite of her. I’m traveling now because I met Amanda at Olive Garden, over breadsticks and endless salad. It’s not because I’ve made the decision but because of other people in my life. I’ve done so many random things so where I’m at today isn’t because of anything I’ve decided to do it’s because of the people in my life. I think that’s awesome. There are things that I think I should want, or things that I think I should have or places that I think I should go and places I should be in a month from now, a year from now, 10 years from now but it’s probably not going to happen the way I want because of other people that are going to impact my life. I look back at five years ago or 10 years ago at where I thought I was going to be and it’s not even close. So where I was going with that was I think that happiness for me is having options. Having the opportunity to make a choice. Some people get into a position in their lives where they say ‘okay, I have a family, I have to go to work, I cant quit my job because I have to put food on my table, I have to put a roof over their head, I have to save money for their college.’ So they have no choices. They cant quit their job, they cant do the things that they want to do. Like right now, if I wanted to I could say, ‘Hey Amanda, this has been fun you go do your thing, and I’ll go do my thing.’ That’s because I’m in a position to do that. Amanda and I can make the decision to go to Australia next. We were talking about that in the room like ‘What should we do next?’ Go to Australia, Europe, northern Thailand? Or when I get back, I can go travel again, or I can grow my business or I can pick up and move, I can sell my business. I have choices, I have options. I think that’s really what brings you happiness because you’re not so wrapped up. That’s why people don’t have happiness because they don’t think they have an option they don’t think they have choices. They think that they have no control.

Happiness is free shots.

Money isn’t happiness. But having options allows you to be happy. And Olive Garden."

-Erik Ikhoff, 27
Entrepreneur running an ATV, Jet Ski, Snowmobile business from Madison, Wisconsin backpacking through Thailand
[pictured with Jenny from Liverpool]