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I am rich and have no idea what to do

vinay.sh

181–190 of 1001 posts

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#181
post #46

See this is why people need to get married. If I have no idea what to do, my wife will surely think of something.

You can start by taking out the trash, and if you are going to sit on your arse all day tomorrow then here is a list of stuff that needs doing around the house.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#182
"Working at DOGE" for 4 weeks reminds be of "Teach for America"... maybe it's fairly smart people with decent intentions [1] but not what's needed - not people taking a break from getting rich to do some charity work - rather what's needed is dedicated professionals devoting their careers to teaching / governance.

[1] for the record, I don't think that DOGE has good intentions. A lot of the tweets are nonsensical and I think just a rebranding for typical Republican cuts to health and retirement spending in exchange for more tax breaks at the top.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#183

The 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-...

Serious question, but how exactly does Atlassian hope to recoup that billion dollars?

Loom is useful, but given that Atlassian's investors are expecting a large return, do they really hope a screen recorder to eventually add 2B+ dollars to their value? The AI features will eventually be commoditized, so that can't act as a moat.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#184
post #3

Same situation, I truly empathise because it really does seem to take a lot of purpose out of everything. What I’ve found is that you need to replace money/salary/financial success optimisation (assuming you spent a lot of your life and energy to this point focused on these, much like I did) with something else totally unconnected with being measured in that way. For me, I am focused on proving myself as a guitarist…

> For me, I am focused on proving myself as a guitarist in the local jazz and blues scene.

So you’re Dickey from The Talented Mr. Ripely?

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#185

> I should work for Elon and Vivek at DOGE and help America get off its current crash to defaulting on its own debt I’ve got an idea: take some good economics courses so that you learn how government spending actually works.

This stood out to me as well.

A pitfall for experts in one field to assume their skills are transferable.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#187
I’m pretty sure that’s the last point in Naval’s infamous tweet thread about getting wealthy.

It won’t fix you - but it will give you the time and resources to figure out something that might.

The author needs to find himself a good counselor and get to work on himself.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#188

Therapy. 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…

> it's easier for a camel to get through the head of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. I interpret that metaphorically.

I agree that there's a parallel between what Jesus meant and your comment—in both cases, wealth is dangerous because it distracts from what's important. To my understanding, Jesus meant that one's heart will be focused on money rather than wanting to follow God. And, like you said, it's really easy to be distracted by material success (money, degrees, fame, etc.). But, none of these things will follow us to the grave. IMO this sort of tunnel vision is really pernicious, because it's so, so easy to fall into.

If you'll allow a personal rant: I recently heard someone say that failure is—somewhat paradoxically—a crucial part of finding happiness, because it loosens our grip on things that are ultimately unimportant. I've been thinking about all this a lot recently myself. Last year I hit a bump in the road w.r.t. my career, due to factors outside of my control. So, for the first time, I was suddenly failing my subconscious goal to climb the ladder of achievement. I started feeling adrift and demotivated, and the obvious solutions (therapy, medication, more regular exercise) didn't help.

It eventually forced me to really sit down and take a hard look at my priorities in life. Speaking concretely, this meant 1) accepting that I might not get what I had wanted out of my career, and because I'm a Christian, 2) focusing instead on how I can serve God every day (love others more, be much more open about my faith, volunteer at church and elsewhere, etc.). That's much easier said than done, of course, but I've just gotta take the baby steps that I can and trust God with the rest.

It's only been a few months since I came to this conclusion, but I feel like it's changed my life. I've become much less stressed, and I feel much more fulfilled. Honestly, it's like I have hope again in my future.

Naïvely I want to say something like "therefore, everyone should try to find whatever brings them this fulfillment." But this might be too weak of a statement, because I really think there's only one true answer to this question.

P.S. As for the verse you quoted (Matthew 19:24), I'd be remiss not to point out what Jesus says a few verses later: "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." :-)

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#189
One of the most honest and thought provoking pieces I’ve read in a while.

Thank you so much for sharing. It really makes me think what I’d do if I were in your shoes.

For me a big portion would be family, and helping it thrive. And putting my time and energy into some of the crazier ideas I have about how to help improve the world for the greatest number of people.

I wish you serendipity in trying to find yourself, deeply, and in discovering what you truly enjoy.

I’d also say don’t give up on love. The most important part of it all are the people you share your life with. So once you are in a good place, fill your life with them. Keep channels open with those that you know check that box, as you go through this journey of self-discovery that may require more time for yourself.

Re: I am rich and have no idea what to do

#190

Take up trading, it will give you something to do, and afterwards you won't need to worry about being rich!

I became debt free about a year ago and thought I should get into investing. It turned out that it's incredibly boring to me and because of that I haven't been able to learn it properly. I also thought that if I became really good at it, I would just have more money that I don't know how to spend.
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