The Only Two People Who Matter in Your Life

We often spend our lives trying to impress everyone around us.
Bosses, friends, strangers on the internet.
Even people we don’t like.

But in the end, when the noise fades, there are only two people who really matter:

Your younger self.
And your 80-year-old self.

That’s it.

Let’s start with the first one.

Remember who you were before the world told you who to be?

The version of you that played pretend, that asked “why” five times in a row.
The one who built castles out of pillows and believed in flying cars.
The kid who wanted to be a writer, or an astronaut, or an inventor.
The one who believed anything was possible, because no one had yet told them otherwise.

You had no strategy. No resume. No five-year plan.
Just dreams. Curiosities. A deep, natural pull toward something you loved.

That version of you still exists.
It’s just buried under expectations, deadlines, bills, and the fear of not being “good enough.”
But they haven’t left.

They’re watching.
Waiting to see what you’ll do with the freedom you used to crave.

I’ve had people tell me to be “realistic.” To slow down. Play safe.
Even my dad looked me in the eye and said, “You don’t have it in you.”
—When I told him I signed up for a 10K run.

But the 7-year-old me didn’t care about being realistic.
And my 80-year-old self?
She’s counting on me to prove them wrong.

Now zoom forward.

Imagine you're 80. Maybe 85.
You're sitting in a quiet room, maybe on your porch or in a favorite chair.
Your phone’s not buzzing anymore. Your to-do list is blank.
There’s nowhere to be, no one left to impress.

It’s just you and your stories.

This is where Jeff Bezos' “Regret Minimization Framework” comes in.
When Bezos was deciding whether to quit his Wall Street job to start Amazon, he didn’t run the numbers.
He imagined himself at 80.

He asked himself:
“Will I regret not trying?”

And that simple question gave him the answer.

He said in an interview:

The 80-year-old version of you is quietly keeping score.
Not of your wins, but of your courage.
Of the things you meant to do but didn’t.
Of the words you never said.
Of the ideas you never explored.
Of the love you didn’t allow yourself to feel.

Most people spend life juggling expectations from every direction.

Parents. Partners. Managers. Audiences.
But here’s the truth no one tells you until it’s too late:

None of them will be with you in your final moment.

Not in the way your younger self will.
Not in the way your older self already is.

Those two voices—your inner child and your older reflection—are the only ones that stay.

They’re the ones who know your full story.
They saw the dream.
And they’ll feel the weight of whether you honored it.

Ask yourself two questions:

If you can live a life that answers both those voices—
one with innocence, one with wisdom—
You’re on the right path.

Everything else is background noise.
Temporary. Fleeting.

But these two…
They’re with you forever.
The world may never understand your choices.
But if your 7-year-old self smiles, and your 80-year-old self nods…
You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.

See ya next week,
-Kanishka