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Quitting the rat race

seanbarry.dev

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Re: Quitting the rat race

#161

Post by roflyear »

rubicon33 wrote: post #14

Posts like this frustrate me. "I'm quitting! But I'm not telling you anything about how I plan to pay for life." The message mostly resonates with me, right up until they leave out the most crucial part of the post. How do you escape the rat race, and still pay for things like health care, food, rent, etc. Even if you're making $100k+ a year, those costs aren't insignificant. No how do you handle them making $0k a ye…

Retire on a boat for like $3-4k/m and live pretty well, see the world. That's still a lot tho and your money will run out in a few years, unless you figure out a way to make $50-60k/yr on a boat (so you have some cushion, because you won't be employed all the time in this scenario).

Couples routinely live like this for $2k/m, so it is possible.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#162

Post by paulpauper »

BizarreByte wrote: post #8

It’s a short piece, but it resonates with me, specifically this part: > I’m earning the most money I’ve ever made and yet I’m the least fulfilled I’ve ever been. I’m making the most I’ve ever made and I’ve never been less happy and more depressed. I despise being a cog in a huge corporate machine, it’s like the job was designed to be as unappealing as possible. At the same time I can’t get over the fact that I have i…

If you think you feel bad being a cog and making a lot of, money, imagine how much it sucks being a cog and making much less in the service sector. Go to a Chipotle..there is a near 100% likelihood that the people preparing your food hate their jobs way more than you hate yours.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#163

Post by yawnxyz »

> Around the 30 second mark is a scene where the protaganist rat is waiting for a train to arrive at a packed platform

I was visiting London and took the train in the morning to the airport (this is a really bad idea), and saw that exact thing play out. Some girl was smushed into the crowd in train by someone outside so she could make the train, like a cartoon character.

Definitely convinced me I couldn't do a 9-5 after that

Re: Quitting the rat race

#164

Post by gymbeaux »

sudoit wrote: post #112
lapcat wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think I'm old enough now to confidently say that, yes: Happiness really does start from within. What does age have to do with it? You're one person. It's anecdotal data. I'm old enough now (5 years later) to confidently say that, yes: Quitting my last job really did make me happier.

Same in my case. I quit my first software job because it made me feel so meaningless and depressed. I was immediately happier. I quit my second job because they overworked me. Same result. I have less money now, but I don’t care. I’m much happier being where I am now. People underestimate just how much work life affects your entire life.

You spend most of your life at work (at least in the US). 24 hours in a day. 8 of them spent working. 1 hour for lunch. ~2 hours getting ready for work/sleep each day. 8 hours for sleep... that leaves you with ~5 hours per day, but you also have to do chores around the house, maybe pickup/dropoff kiddos, commute (if you don't work from home), and cook dinner and clean up afterwards. If you have 2 hours a day to yourself to pursue your interests/dreams, you are "fucked".

Re: Quitting the rat race

#165

Post by bbarn »

jyu wrote: post #38
dinobones wrote: post #12

I am in my mid 20s. I have about $200k saved and I think about quitting everyday, even though it would probably be disastrous for my career. I look up and I see colleagues in their 40s-50s. 20-30 years of experience in the industry, with the performance of their RSUs they probably easily have $2m+ net worth. I really don't understand why they don't quit. Just a naive example: Buy a cheap house ($250k) and live off of…

Inflation is a bitch, and the current status quo cost of living will be exponentially more in the future. What I thought was an unfathomable amount of money in the 90's ($100k / yr, and $1m net worth) is not good now in 2020's. Healthcare in the 90's was $500 / yr and is $1.5k / mo with $5k deductible. Property taxes, utilities, continue to increase. Basic child daycare is $2k / mo after tax. $300k / yr is the new $1…

Salary alone is an irrelevant number.

200K in some places won't let you have a nice apartment in a safe place, 100k in some places and you can live in a king with your own private kingdom.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#166

Post by resonious »

ghshephard wrote: post #31
piecerough wrote: post #15

"The truth is: nothing I’ve done or experienced in this place has given me any experience comparable to walking along the ridge between two mountains. Nothing has made me feel alive like getting in to freezing cold water despite my body screaming at me not to. Nothing has made me feel anything like that feeling when you summit a mountain after 2 hours of solid climbing in the rain, and the clouds part to reveal the m…

This article suggests it is not the contrast, but the inherent positive impacts of being outdoors. Even people who do it as their day job are happier. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/01/06/happiest-...

Unfortunately I don't have any links right now but I also remember reading that primitive tribes are far more "happy" than the average modern city dweller. I'm pretty sure "happiness" was measured by average amount of time smiling each day - take from that what you will.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#167

Post by gymbeaux »

paulpauper wrote: post #162
BizarreByte wrote: post #8

It’s a short piece, but it resonates with me, specifically this part: > I’m earning the most money I’ve ever made and yet I’m the least fulfilled I’ve ever been. I’m making the most I’ve ever made and I’ve never been less happy and more depressed. I despise being a cog in a huge corporate machine, it’s like the job was designed to be as unappealing as possible. At the same time I can’t get over the fact that I have i…

If you think you feel bad being a cog and making a lot of, money, imagine how much it sucks being a cog and making much less in the service sector. Go to a Chipotle..there is a near 100% likelihood that the people preparing your food hate their jobs way more than you hate yours.

If I worked a blue-collar/service job, making 1/5th what I make as a SWE, having to commute, stand on my feet all day, deal with customers... I'd do drugs. Like I get it. I get why people do drugs. I get why people don't save money for retirement. Life sucks SO MUCH, that it's basically the daily $5 Starbucks drink or suicide. Make no mistake, for most people, life fucking sucks. Then some of you come into that Chipotle and cop an attitude because the cashier misheard you or they got your order wrong or whatever.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#168

Post by riemannzeta »

I believe Mr. Barry is simply doing what very few of us are brave enough to do: To think for himself!

We are social animals, and many of our goals are the defaults set for us by our social cohort. Very seldom do we take the time to think deeply about what we really enjoy, much less have the courage to act on what we might think in a way that would mark us as different. After all, any rejection of the defaults is a subversive threat to undermine the entire system!

Good for you, Mr. Barry. I for one am very excited to hear more from you in the future!

Re: Quitting the rat race

#169

Post by rafaelero »

fsckboy wrote: post #35

You being unhappy in your life does not mean that there is anything wrong with the world. Looking to pin the blame on society at large and other people's choices is a convenient escape from looking at yourself and your own fears, disappointments, choices made, etc. I grew up in a rural place, no mountains but we substituted beaches, marshes, and ocean. When I go back to visit I can't believe how beautiful it is. But,…

> You being unhappy in your life does not mean that there is anything wrong with the world.

Right? London is a great city. If you can't enjoy it, maybe it's just not for you. Try a different one.

Re: Quitting the rat race

#170

Post by rexpop »

dylan604 wrote: post #124
lapcat wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think I'm old enough now to confidently say that, yes: Happiness really does start from within. What does age have to do with it? You're one person. It's anecdotal data. I'm old enough now (5 years later) to confidently say that, yes: Quitting my last job really did make me happier.

It's one of those things like "time heals all wounds". Nobody likes to hear it when the wound is fresh, but it's absolutely true. When you're younger, FOMO is much stronger. As you get older, FOMO starts to get replaced with "who gives a...". With that in mind, age might matter

Some wounds, emotional as well as physical, far from healing actually leave chronic and debilitating scars. The aphorism is far from "absolutely true."
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