If I were you and in the United States, I would go hike the Appalachian Trail or something.
I was going to recommend something similar. Finding one's connection with nature can be extremely fulfilling
Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
231–240 of 266 posts
Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#232Vanguard Vanguard Vanguard
Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#233Love someone. Help people.
It’s very easy to lose money. I wish my father had been more careful with his millions. He is in his 80’s and completely destitute now. His ex-wives took everything.
When I say love someone… well, choose wisely.
Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#234Find people older than you with more money than you. Always fun to hear what drives them.
Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#235I am not sure if I agree with all the advice here. I think the first thing you should do is celebrate. Take a month and spend it on a tropical beach, or whatever your dream location may be. If you like company, bring along some friends and pay for them. The point is to tell yourself, this is my month to relax, enjoy, and get used to things. No need to think about what to do next, just have fun. Then, when the month i…
I think the problem with that is - if he's already lacking motivation for regular life - going into a dream vacation will just make regular things mundane. He's got a lot of money so he could probably keep up that lifestyle and live off investments ... but have to be careful to not go broke like many suddenly rich people.
Personally, I would be bored as hell after a month at a tropical beach and be very excited to get to work on building something--anything! Maybe that's not what everyone's response would be.
Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#236This is normal. You will get used to it, and you will likely bounce to your personality before the windfall. You have solved one problem in life that most people never solve, and that puts you in a very small group. However, the rest of the problems are still there. The need to work for money can no longer distract you from them. You still need human connection and purpose. You still will age, have to worry about you…
Note: "OP" is in reference to the GP/original poster of this "Ask HN." The greatest irony is that everything that was beaten into your unconscious mind as to what you "should do," and all the ways you learned to seek out human connection: all go out the window when you get a massive windfall. The greatest two "shapes" our culture warps our spirits into are: a need for money (for its own sake) or a need for recognitio…
>> you can never go back
They can, you know give it away :).
Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#237I went through something similar 15 years ago. Your problem is effectively a spiritual problem. You need to discover exactly who you are and learn to fully love yourself in order to be fully alive again. When you know yourself, your meaning and purpose become clear. Exactly how you accomplish this is specific to you, but know that what got you here, won’t get you there. It could be meditation, psychedelics, athletics…
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Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
How can a marriage and having kids move you out of depression? How can you be a good partner and a good parent if you can't even find the drive to live? Feels like one could get into even more difficulties when relationships and parenting get hard, even with money. I see this advice everywhere, "Just have children.". I do not understand how this is sensible advice for people that are obviously not fit to be parents a…
You think too much. When thoughts aren’t purposeful (get from A to B), your mind will wander and frequently lead you to unpleasant places. When you’re married with children, very rarely will you have time to let your thoughts wander.
Yeah, maybe if you find the drive to care about your wife and children. But that's a big maybe. Especially for a person that does not care about themselves.
Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#239If I were ever in your position, I'd spend my time building self-sustaining social ventures, a lot of them. I was fortunate enough to experience life in both developing and developed countries, and I can totally see how technology could be used to help less-fortunate people in developing countries. Some examples are access to affordable education or fintech for those who are unbankable in rural areas. Check out the projects that this CS research lab from my alma mater has been doing: https://www.cs.washington.edu/research/c4d
Re: Ask HN: 27, accidentally became wealthy, lost drive. What should I do?
#240If I were you and in the United States, I would go hike the Appalachian Trail or something.
Similar-length hiking options exist in the EU, like Via Alpina.
Adjacent suggestions for long-distance and/or solo tourism are worth considering.
With the luxury of time, investing in oneself can be done in novel ways, e.g. flying or ocean sailing, triathlon, surfing, craftsmanship, golf.