stopped reading at "NPC coworkers"
Same. Maybe the guy should start thinking of people as people before contemplating what to do about himself.
I am rich and have no idea what to do
111–120 of 1001 posts
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#112You did a speed run of what people discover when they work their entire life for retirement, get there, and realize they don't know what they were working for.
Retirement
F-U money ("FIRE" in modern parlance I guess)
Save n dollars
It's all the same: too abstract. That you were able to discover it now with plenty of life left and plenty of resources to figure it out is worth more than the money.
Personally, I always try to keep enough saved to replace my computer all at once if it dies on me. If I lose that, it's hard to pursue my hobbies and interests while trying to figure out which parts of them I can sell without losing what made them interesting in the first place.
For what to do with it, I found it helpful to pick a hobby, any hobby, and pursue it for a year. You probably have a lot of these left. For me: One for music. One for photography. One for writing (fiction). One for writing (nonfiction). All the skills complement each other. I'm about to pull the trigger on buying a set of tools for recording podcasts and audiobooks to help deal with my significant speaking anxiety. The skills from the writing and music eras are especially helpful here!
This process started back in 2017 when I found myself with no steering or engine power on my way into a turn lane in the rain and fog. I'm glad your existential crisis didn't start with a near death experience!
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#113"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water" You do what you were enjoying before, just now you don't need to get paid in money for it. May be you will get paid in fame, noble prize, smiles of people whose life you impact etc. The money you have can't buy those directly but only when you put effort.
A bit funny to quote "chop wood, carry water." In this context "enlightenment" must be taken to mean "earning a shitload of money."
The author got "enburdened with a shitload of money"
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#114Therapy. Wealth and success is one of the most massive crutches there is. It can make it almost impossible to be truly in touch with your insecurities and pain because its simply too easy to hide in your victory. Your toughest challenge now is to, despite your wealth, find a way to contact the pain that drove you to your hunger for success. As the bible said, it's easier for a camel to get through the head of a needl…
Angels dancing on the head of a pin is another related one. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_many_angels_can_dance_on...
This one was originally used to mock scholars who debated such seemingly obscure minutae at the expense of more pressing issues, the canonical example being theological debate during the fall of Constantinople. But I remember reading somewhere that this debate was actually for a good reason since Constantinople were looking for help from fellow Christians against the Ottomans but needed to convince the potential helpers that their beliefs were closely enough aligned enough to warrant them giving aid. Hoping someone here might know more (and apologies for derailing the thread even further...)
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#115Work on affordable housing tech. There is a huge need for housing at all levels, and I really believe the lower end could be revolutionized by new materials and techniques, along with novel approaches to land use. You could make a real meaningful contribution and choose to make money or not along the way. Or whatever you want really. I recently contemplated what I would do if I won the lottery and arrived at that con…
I am interested in affordable housing. Is inefficient tech the biggest contributor to housing cost?
Of course not! Take the top N problems ordered by “impacted due to inefficient tech” and the top N ordered by social benefit. N has to be pretty large before anything interesting starts showing up on both lists.
The problem is that making tech more efficient is rarely anything more than a simple capital problem. So the real question is - where is there social benefit but no money?
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#116Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#117The author co-founded Loom [0], which was acquired by Atlassian a year ago ~$1B. If the insights are correct, each cofounder netted ~$56M [1] [0] https://vinay.sh [1] https://www.cbinsights.com/research/loom-valuation-investor-...
60M, enough to start another startup and do it all again
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#118I don't think you have to have Fuck You Money to get to this point. Most people eventually become disillusioned with work enough that they reevaluate what matters to them. Getting a very profitable exit is just one way to trigger that experience. In my experience, a lot of people who get into this state start self-sabotaging hard as a way of rejecting what feels, ironically, like losing control. Sudden freedom can fe…
In a way having money makes it harder because it makes it harder to blame your unhappiness on your circumstances.
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#119Sounds a lot like the guy who said I have 23 gold medals and have no idea what to do (Michael Phelps). Although it isn't a DSM recognized condition, psychologists often refer to the depression of people who obtain the pinnacle of success as “post-gold medal depression.” Here is an article about it. [0]
"What shall we ever do?" -- T.S. Eliot - The Wasteland
"What SHOULD we do?" -- Dr. Seuss - The Cat in the Hat
"What should we do?" -- Shakespeare - Hamlet
When I'm bored I like to read poetry.
[0] https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/09/08/493111873/a...
Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do
#120I feel sorry for the girlfriend, invested months or years into the relationship and left with nothing after the dude got rich