Ask HN: How do you think about life/career goals?

Post by akor » Sun, Mar 26, 2023, 1:04 PM UTC

themodelplumber wrote: post #2

I have coached a lot of people about this kind of stuff. The easy answers to "goals, purpose, etc." all sound like an AI wrote them. IMO most people asking about purpose in tech communities are already highly-experienced big-picture thinkers. They see generalized commentary as BS, because they already could have personally guessed as much. For this reason I've found that it's more helpful to approach the topic from t…

I really appreciate your reply and re-framing of the situation. I need to give it more thought to internalize it.

My first thoughts are this is close to what I've been doing. Responding to the events directly in front of me without truly taking into consideration the big picture. It's possible one difference is you're saying to be much more aware of the good (little picture items) and lean into that. I don't entirely think my lack of directed effort is a problem except where it comes to ruling out big picture items because enough of the small items passed that their isn't time for the big picture ones or where some prerequisites are needed and those would take years to master. There is some part of me that without the long term goals would feel adrift. Or possibly the stage of life I'm at just feels like needs to put higher consideration on "legacy".

Part of me thinks that in order to level up the next steps are going to require more focused effort which both requires knowing on some level what I want but also what I shouldn't be working on.

Anyway I really do appreciate your thoughts.

Post by akor » Sun, Mar 26, 2023, 1:28 PM UTC

fuzzfactor wrote: post #6

themodelplumber wrote: post #2

I have coached a lot of people about this kind of stuff. The easy answers to "goals, purpose, etc." all sound like an AI wrote them. IMO most people asking about purpose in tech communities are already highly-experienced big-picture thinkers. They see generalized commentary as BS, because they already could have personally guessed as much. For this reason I've found that it's more helpful to approach the topic from t…

I like this message a lot. I expect my dedication to one career niche years ago got the big picture out of the way. Must have helped me appreciate the near-term smaller things when they come along. I think there can be life/career "obligations", life/career "responsibilities", and life/career "goals" in many ways. Sometimes when it seems like "life" vs. "career" might be at odds with each other, it might be because u…

> But these things are essential to business, especially if you are going to make the most of the (profitable[0]) part you truly enjoy on a daily basis. So you need to get it under your belt early and start devising how you will overcome any compromising effect.

Totally agree. I've seen or been a part of some startups (not the Silicon Valley kind) that made payroll but not much else and the effort that was required to get that (from leadership) was close to what I'd call all consuming. If I start something I want to go in eyes wide open but the more they are open the less I think what you hear about online matches most realities. By that I mean most small business offer a mediocre salary (for the owner(s)) for way more work than you'd do with an job/employer and you're still subject to outside demands that make you do the "not fun" stuff. You hear that if it's something you love then you haven't worked a day... but IME that's BS. Yes, if you work for yourself there are good parts but there may be more parts outside your control (payroll, taxes, employee issues etc) and I've seen it where they take so much effort to stay on top of that it's hard to work "on the business".

With all that said I'm trying to separate wanting the idea of a business from the realities of owning/operating one. I added it because it's been on my list for a long time and I've put a lot of effort towards understanding the "right way" so there is some part of me that feels like I'd be regretful if I didn't try at least one time with 100% effort.

Also the mind space I was in when I asked the question was one of "what do I want to put on my career & life resume for the next decade".

Thank you! I appreciate your input.

Re: Ask HN: How do you think about life/career goals?

Re: Ask HN: How do you think about life/career goals?