don't think anyone associates so much with their career, it's all for money and that's my only motivation to work
You are not your career/job
11–20 of 30 posts
Re: You are not your career/job
#12Most of us probably spend 40-45% of our waking lifetime either in the office or on our way to or from the office. And most of us will spend 30-40 years of our lives, including all your prime years, spending that 40-45% to serve somelse's desires. Even if you in enjoy your job, the reality is work is one of the biggest parts of our lives and wrapped up in our sense of self worth and identity.
> Even if you in enjoy your job, the reality is work is one of the biggest parts of our lives and wrapped up in our sense of self worth and identity.
This is true for all living beings, all animals spend a large part of their day in collecting/scavenging/hunting food, prepaing shelter etc.
Re: You are not your career/job
#13Most of us probably spend 40-45% of our waking lifetime either in the office or on our way to or from the office. And most of us will spend 30-40 years of our lives, including all your prime years, spending that 40-45% to serve somelse's desires. Even if you in enjoy your job, the reality is work is one of the biggest parts of our lives and wrapped up in our sense of self worth and identity.
> wrapped up in our sense of self worth and identity
Speak for yourself.
I can completely fail at work, go home, and sleep like a baby. Conversely, I can have an amazingly good day, enjoy it and then completely forget about it the next day.
It's just a job.
Re: You are not your career/job
#14I'm not a woulda/coulda/shoulda kind of guy, but one of my few genuine regrets is skipping scheduled vacations for client fire drills and just generally not taking more time off in my 20s. I am thankful that my perspective changed before I lost my 30s as well. HN certainly has a selection bias toward founders and early stage employees, but I feel very strongly that your career cannot be your sole source of meaning. B…
if it's any consolation I'm going through the exact opposite. In my 20s I took a year off to travel, came back and only cared about taking jobs that would give me enough flexibility to work remotely and have lots of vacation so I could travel. Now I'm in my early 30s seeing some of my peers from college making double my salary.
Big tech doesn't seem all that interested in me so I'm kind of stuck working for smaller companies. I really do enjoy my job and like the people I'm working with but doubling my salary would be life changing for me so I feel like I should have been more balanced in my 20s.
Re: You are not your career/job
#15I'm not a woulda/coulda/shoulda kind of guy, but one of my few genuine regrets is skipping scheduled vacations for client fire drills and just generally not taking more time off in my 20s. I am thankful that my perspective changed before I lost my 30s as well. HN certainly has a selection bias toward founders and early stage employees, but I feel very strongly that your career cannot be your sole source of meaning. B…
if it's any consolation I'm going through the exact opposite. In my 20s I took a year off to travel, came back and only cared about taking jobs that would give me enough flexibility to work remotely and have lots of vacation so I could travel. Now I'm in my early 30s seeing some of my peers from college making double my salary. Big tech doesn't seem all that interested in me so I'm kind of stuck working for smaller c…
There's no guarantee you'd have double your salary now if you'd worked harder in your 20s. A lot of salary in tech is just location. A few years ago I nearly doubled my salary just by moving to a new city and taking on a new job there.
Also I love working for smaller companies even if they do pay less than big tech. The opportunity to work on greenfield projects and actually have meaningful input into the direction even as an IC is extremely cool to me.
Re: You are not your career/job
#16I'm not a woulda/coulda/shoulda kind of guy, but one of my few genuine regrets is skipping scheduled vacations for client fire drills and just generally not taking more time off in my 20s. I am thankful that my perspective changed before I lost my 30s as well. HN certainly has a selection bias toward founders and early stage employees, but I feel very strongly that your career cannot be your sole source of meaning. B…
if it's any consolation I'm going through the exact opposite. In my 20s I took a year off to travel, came back and only cared about taking jobs that would give me enough flexibility to work remotely and have lots of vacation so I could travel. Now I'm in my early 30s seeing some of my peers from college making double my salary. Big tech doesn't seem all that interested in me so I'm kind of stuck working for smaller c…
It may not feel like it now, but you did the right thing in your 20's. Those experiences you had and the memories that go with them will last you a lifetime, and you'll only appreciate them more, the older you get. You still have plenty of time to land that fat salary, even if it doesn't seem that way at the moment. Most people I know making large salaries didn't start doing so until they were older than you are now.
I ended up with the worst of both worlds, and am working my way out of the consequences now. I didn't travel at all in my twenties and worked my a* off in a low-paying field for too long before making a change in my 30's.
Re: You are not your career/job
#17That cant be right. I thought you were suppose to bring your whole self to work. And work equals you? Especially in Tech and Silicon Valley.
Unless you are suggesting to me they are wrong? Or they have been wrong for 10 years and counting?
Re: You are not your career/job
#18I'm not a woulda/coulda/shoulda kind of guy, but one of my few genuine regrets is skipping scheduled vacations for client fire drills and just generally not taking more time off in my 20s. I am thankful that my perspective changed before I lost my 30s as well. HN certainly has a selection bias toward founders and early stage employees, but I feel very strongly that your career cannot be your sole source of meaning. B…
if it's any consolation I'm going through the exact opposite. In my 20s I took a year off to travel, came back and only cared about taking jobs that would give me enough flexibility to work remotely and have lots of vacation so I could travel. Now I'm in my early 30s seeing some of my peers from college making double my salary. Big tech doesn't seem all that interested in me so I'm kind of stuck working for smaller c…
Thanks for offering contrasting experiences.
Can you be more specific on why doubling the salary would be life changing? I read this as you're prevented from doing things that you're life can not be plentiful otherwise.
A lot wished they did more traveling like you when you where younger, but they cannot go back. Is your case a need for doubling the salary now, or can it happen through time? Would you feel the same if you had the same salary, but none of your peers were making double that?
Re: You are not your career/job
#19I don't think it's that simple. Yes, you are not 100% your career/job, but to what extent are you? For many of us, it's a really big part of who we are. I would also say, if your work forms a large part of who you are, then consider starting your own business. I'm working on a platform to help people to do just that: https://cxo.industries
Re: You are not your career/job
#20Most of us probably spend 40-45% of our waking lifetime either in the office or on our way to or from the office. And most of us will spend 30-40 years of our lives, including all your prime years, spending that 40-45% to serve somelse's desires. Even if you in enjoy your job, the reality is work is one of the biggest parts of our lives and wrapped up in our sense of self worth and identity.
That is exactly the point - that leaves 55-60% of our waking time not working. Why let the minority of your time define your self worth and identity?
Sure, our work time serves someone else's desires... in exchange for money that we use to build the home and life that we want. Hopefully spending our time and energy with the people and family we want. Work is a tool to empower everything else. Do that work - do it well. But let the "everything else" define you.