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If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

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Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#101

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

drdeadringer wrote: post #81
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #72

> If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week? Because I like it. But, then, you probably wouldn't think of me as "successful." I'm not on anyone's payroll, and I won't be zipping around in any private jets, in the foreseeable future. I would not agree with that assessment (I feel very successful), but it's not worth arguing about. Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go...

What will happen to you when you retire? Will you ever retire or will you work until you're dead? Are you someone for whom retirement, or not working, quite literally means death? Honest questions.

I am retired. Didn't actually have much choice in the matter. No one wants to work with us "olds."

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#102

Post by Applejinx »

Teknoman117 wrote: post #50
justinator wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having a high wage but not enough stored wealth to feel invincible against an increasingly uncertain future Hate to be the one to tell you this, but there is no guarantee on what the future may bring, money can't fix everything, and true security is a lie. Live your life in the here and now, before you regret wasting it.

Exactly. If society were to fall apart, the number in your bank account will matter very little, if it even exists anymore...

Indeed. Money is a bit of a lie in its own right.

Me, I go for functionality. The catch there is, if I've acquired plenty of functionality for something I consider desirable but then I don't DO that thing, does it still exist?

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#103

Post by wccrawford »

neals wrote: post #38

Because I know what it means to work a 40hour shitty job. And I mean shitty. As in fill paint cans and inhale paint fumes all week shitty. I mean crawl into a conveyor belt that's stuck, use a torch to heat it up and a sledgehammer to straighten it shitty. That I'm now able to what I do and earn what I earn, to me, is like a miracle and I enjoy every minute of it.

I had intended to keep programming as a hobby, but I had a moment of clarity one day when I realized that was my one skill that I already had that could make lots of money.

For the most part, I haven't regretted it, though I was correct that I wouldn't do as much programming in my free time if I did it as a job.

It hasn't really mattered, though. The programming I do during my day job is always towards a purpose and usually has a clear goal. I generally find the programming itself quite rewarding, even if I'm often frustrated with the things around it.

Now that I'm older, I realize I could also have picked a lot of other jobs and learned them relatively quickly, but I still think I made the right decision. Those other things are now my hobbies.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#104

Post by goldenchrome »

codingdave wrote: post #97
slownews45 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. A lot of the "so successful" have a TON of help. At the home front things are covered - stay at home wife, cleaners etc. You come home, home cooked meal, wife happy to hang out go on a walk do whatever, kids taken care of. You go to work, you have the parking spot, the assistant with a schedule. Strong managers. Again, these are the "so successful" folks. The 70 hours of work is mostly meetings, strategy…

> You come home, home cooked meal, wife happy to hang out go on a walk do whatever That also feels outdated. I don't know many people who are happy to sit at home, prepare meals for their absent spouse, and then smile and be happy to do whatever that spouse wants to do when they get home. That feels like an image from the 50s, not 2021.

Yeah my wife hates that she doesn't get to experience endless office politics and instead has to spend her time with our wonderful children and make meals for her loving husband who makes money for her.

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#105

Post by GDC7 »

nomoreplease wrote: post #93
GDC7 wrote: post #22

The only true answer is that out there are 8 billion people waking up every day. And all they do is seeking social relevance, and by doing so they are inadvertedly diluting your own social relevance. There is not a mechanism which allows you to stop working and freeze your social relevance in place as some sort of videogame checkpoint type manner. You stop working and your relevance is eroded away...hell you could ke…

> 8 billion people waking up every day. And all they do is seeking social relevance, No they don’t. Most of this earth is seeking food and clean water and substance. You’re lucky enough to have that and seek your social relevance

> Most of this earth is seeking food and clean water and substance.

You are underestimating the intelligence of people in 3rd world countries.

They might be fighting violently to procure themselves those things, but in their mind there is always the thought of reaching a point when their social status is so high that they won't have to fight violently, but other people in the village would bring food and water to them as a sign of respect.

That's basically the sole reason for becoming a shaman or a sorcer

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#106

Post by andreilys »

milesvp wrote: post #57
GDC7 wrote: post #22

The only true answer is that out there are 8 billion people waking up every day. And all they do is seeking social relevance, and by doing so they are inadvertedly diluting your own social relevance. There is not a mechanism which allows you to stop working and freeze your social relevance in place as some sort of videogame checkpoint type manner. You stop working and your relevance is eroded away...hell you could ke…

I think this is sort of a false dichotomy, and potentially a defeatist take. There is an increasing body of evidence that any work done above 40hrs/wk for thought work is only beneficial for a few weeks at a time. After which overtime is necessary just to maintain what would have otherwise taken only 40hrs. What this tells me is that it's essential to learn how to strategically work longer hours, knowing that the rec…

Depends on what you define as work.

Is going golfing and having dinner with clients considered “work”? How about attending fundraisers, concert events, etc. where you have the opportunity to dramatically alter the course of your business with the right connection?

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#107

Post by GDC7 »

cee_el123 wrote: post #100
GDC7 wrote: post #22

The only true answer is that out there are 8 billion people waking up every day. And all they do is seeking social relevance, and by doing so they are inadvertedly diluting your own social relevance. There is not a mechanism which allows you to stop working and freeze your social relevance in place as some sort of videogame checkpoint type manner. You stop working and your relevance is eroded away...hell you could ke…

no most of those 8 billion are just trying to put food on the table by whatever means - relevance is probably the last thing on their mind - you can't blame people for trying to survive yes everything in this capitalism dominated world is owned by somebody so even for food to survive, you have to engage in economic activity yes if you work on problems that nobody needs solved, nobody's gonna solve any of your problem…

> no most of those 8 billion are just trying to put food on the table by whatever means - relevance is probably the last thing on their mind - you can't blame people for trying to survive

You are underestimating the intelligence of people in 3rd world countries.

They might be fighting violently to procure themselves those things, but in their mind there is always the thought of reaching a point when their social status is so high that they won't have to fight violently, but other people in the village would bring food and water to them as a sign of respect.

That's basically the sole reason for becoming a shaman or a sorcer

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#108

Post by solitus »

adventured wrote: post #68
sharadov wrote: post #12

Why do you suppose that people don't enjoy working 70 hours a week? My dad regularly worked 70 hour weeks - had multiple careers doctor/businessman/public figure. But he had a ton of help - manager, personal assistant, chauffeur. Everything on the home front was outsourced. He loved it. But he had a lot of control. Most people, I observe who burn out, do because of other reasons - work politics, poor health and ultim…

I think it's a fair premise that the majority will never / can never enjoy working 70 hours per week. It's essentially impossible to match so many people ideally up to financially rewarding tasks they'd enjoy doing for that amount of time each week on a persistent basis. I'm skeptical there is much of anything people enjoy doing 70 hours per week; I've only known a few people that even liked to get that much sleep. I…

Out of curiosity what do you do?

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#109

Post by [deleted] »

pb7 wrote: post #98
dvt wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Putting in long hours in your 20s and 30s to have a massive nest egg that will last you the rest of your life by your 40s seems like a good trade-off. Even amassing 7 figures by your late 20s/30s (very difficult to do reliably, also implies no debt, no adverse life events, etc.), is not remotely enough to make a "comfortable" living for the next ~5 decades of your life.

$1M at 30 without any further contributions will be worth (after inflation) nearly $4M at 50, and nearly $8M at 60. If you're not "comfortable" spending every single penny you make while your nest egg grows, you have a spending problem.

[deleted]

Re: If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

#110

Post by Clubber »

pwinnski wrote: post #70
Clubber wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If she can, then I don't see any issue at all. >Why not use “they” instead? It's been 30 years since I've studied formal writing in earnest, but "they," is, or at least was, grammatically incorrect in that sentence, unless you are referring to more than one person. English doesn't have a proper gender neutral singular pronoun. People have bastardized "they" to fit that role though because they don't know the gender,…

They as a singular gender-neutral pronoun is far, far older than 30 years[0], so while I believe that you were taught that, you were taught incorrectly. So was I! It is neither a bastardization, nor grammatically incorrect, to use they as a singular gender-neutral pronoun. 0. https://www.academicwritingsuccess.com/the-astonishing-histo...

Interesting history. According to that article, using "they," as a singular pronoun was improper from 1745 until 2015. It depends on who you ask of course but had I used singular "they," in a paper, I would have lost a letter grade for each occurrence. My Literature teachers didn't mess around.

PS: I enjoyed the use of the old style footnote. We were just getting out of that notation into inline references when I was taught.

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