51–60 of 545 posts
Leaving (~Western) Europe. The last year made it clear that I'm not compatible with its values and priorities, and I'm now going to live in places that aren't living museums. It's freed up a lot of mental space which has been phenomenal.
Can you elaborate?
Was it the food, the politics, the work culture? Other?
Having a kid born in the middle of the pandemic and work from home situation is amazing. In no other time would a working western father spend so much time with his young child. Reconnecting more and more with religion (Judaism in my case.) To say it plainly, religion represents millennia of people asking deep questions and struggling through answers, which is more honest than the alternative. Though the above senten…
Wife gave birth to a healthy child.
* Built a homemade paddleboard out of western red cedar.
2. taking care of her
2.5. moving to Tenerife
3. taking a side project to 30k MRR in less than 6 months. a lot of motivation to stay up in the evenings came from my kid for sure
4. starting a project purely for fun this month - https://cassandraai.reddit.com
5. Starting a little garden in my backyard
Staying away from the startup hustle and city life. I have been constantly disturbed by the chase in the startup system. Building up something out of own passion is one thing, but trying to act like the investor-led founders has been driving me crazy for years. I live a village life now, do much less software work. Have dialed down my ambitions and I am actually very happy. I do feel that my skills, acquired over 15…
How do you sustain this dialed down ambition? Community? Physical labor? Every time I read HN or watch youtube my ambition goes up. And I tried to retire last year but my mind is still restless.
As the old joke goes, don't do that then.
You say you tried to retire; you must have had a previous big push to follow your ambitions in your life. Did that work out well or badly?
My son's daycare closed permanently almost a year ago, and my wife and I had to adjust to have a 3 going on 4 year old at home with us 24/7. While it hasn't been easy, it's been a joy watching him grow over this past year, having time to bond with him (generally he favours his mom), and to have greater insight into who he is becoming as a person. It has been a difficult time for everyone, but I honestly believe that…
This early stage is also the time when the kids are more dependent and more close in some senses. Can’t roll back the clock later.
BTW, a grammar nitpick. It should be “but for my wife and me”, not “ but for my wife and I”.
- My wife and family. Without much opportunity to see anyone outside our bubble these close relationships have become even more important and special.
- Dialing back on work. Or, inversely, trying to work too hard was the biggest negative contribution to my happiness, and lowering commitments then eventually quitting entirely for a complete break has been a big help.
I was already working from home most of the time, but it becoming full time provided more flexibility.
Increasingly over time, I reduced my actual working hours (being lucky enough to do so) without a pay cut. I know I’m not getting pay rises anytime soon. So it seemed appropriate that I spend lesser time working.
I started exercising regularly, and have included at least one yoga session everyday towards the end of the day. I practice for 30-45 minutes by watching someone’s instructions (either an app or video). I don’t know when I’ll drop the regular practice, hopefully not soon. Next on my list is to make meditation a daily practice.
If there’s one piece of advice I could give people about work, it is that there’s always tomorrow and next week and next month and next year to do it. There are many other things that could matter more in life.