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The days are long but the decades are short

blog.samaltman.com

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Re: The days are long but the decades are short

#321

Post by preid24 »

andyjdavis wrote: post #221
nosuchthing wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to say, but in practice it's difficult to go home satisfied with the concept of a dead end job. Personally I found plenty of little things to love about otherwise horrible dead end jobs, but that wasn't really the reason to keep going back to work, I was there to get paid to live my life outside of work because the job itself was not really fun or fruitful.

>Personally I found plenty of little things to love about otherwise horrible dead end jobs, but that wasn't really the reason to keep going back to work, I was there to get paid to live my life outside of work because the job itself was not really fun or fruitful. I actually think this is a better message for people... Some jobs are going to be great, others are going to suck. That doesn't really matter because for m…

Its difficult to compartmentalize your job so that the negatively doesn't seep into all parts of your life.

Re: The days are long but the decades are short

#322

Post by pbowyer »

hsrada wrote: post #319

> 11) Go out of your way to be around smart, interesting, ambitious people. That is hard.

Especially if your significant other's career takes you from a university city full of smart, interesting people to an industrial town in the middle of nowhere.

The internet is a poor medium for motivation and learning compared to real people.

Re: The days are long but the decades are short

#323

Post by xargos »

astrocat wrote: post #287
jader201 wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Personally I find the increasing emphasis on work as a way to derive personal satisfaction troubling. It looks like a subtle trap to me. A way to convince people to forgo time with their family, hobbies, side ventures and anything else you might possibly derive happiness from in favor of just working more and trying to convince yourself that that is enough. A counterpoint to this is that many people -- myself inclu…

I completely understand the sentiment - 40% seems like a lot to be "burning" for the sake of the other 60. But it's helped me to think about this in a different context: think about the time you spend with your spouse. How much of that time is taken up with "life's necessities" like doing laundry, dishes, prepping meals, cleaning, more cleaning, driving places, even arguing and getting hurt are all part of relationsh…

Those "life necessities" in a relationship are not so bad because the goal, i.e. the relationship is (usually) very important to us. The same goes for a job. If you are working on something that has a great value to you, even the boring tasks are usually not so bad. However if you are in a job where the final goal is of no interest to you things change. If tasks are boring and mundane, you will burn out quickly. In effect I believe that anything we do has to have at least something that is important to us, whether it is the journey or the goal it self, otherwise it would be very difficult to keep being satisfied with what we do.

Re: The days are long but the decades are short

#324

Post by Kiro »

Since these lists are always a lot about friends and family let me list some non-mainstream insights I've gained about my own life:

1. Social activities are mostly a waste of time.

2. If you want to sit at home 24/7 programming then do it.

3. Don't make it a habit coming up with excuses. Learn to say no without an excuse attached.

4. Some people are not meant to be in a relationship. If you're in a healthy and happy relationship but things still feel off, considering terminating it.

Re: The days are long but the decades are short

#325

Post by sagichmal »

ddingus wrote: post #300
lamuerteflaca wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not part of the elite. I do what I love even if that means I'm broke. Saying that you cannot do what you love because you are not priviledged are just excuses. Sacrifice what needs to be sacrificed otherwise don't whine. Find a way otherwise you were never meant to do it if you give up too easily. Most people are just talk though. They will do what they love if you hand them everything in a silver platter. Well t…

Yeah. Wealth is about our time. When we can purpose more of our time than others purpose for us, we are more wealthy. Lots of ways to get at that condition. Having lots of money is one way. Limiting dependencies and costs is another way. Well put. Wealthy people tend to be happy people. And in the sense of time and purpose, I believe that's fairly true. At least they have a good opportunity to be happy. The other way…

This is super off-topic, but what compels you to write like this? Putting paragraph breaks after every sentence, or every other sentence. Did you learn it from someone? Did you fall into the pattern naturally?

I've seen it more and more, and it really frustrates me. In my reading it corrupts your ideas with this TED-talky, breathless, pseudo-momentousness, ruining what might otherwise be an interesting point or story. And I guess I'm surprised I'm (apparently) in the minority on this view.

Re: The days are long but the decades are short

#326

Post by Omniusaspirer »

pkaler wrote: post #270
astrocat wrote: post #68

> On work: it’s difficult to do a great job on work you don’t care about. And it’s hard to be totally happy/fulfilled in life if you don’t like what you do for your work I get that this is aimed at the startup crowd, but I've always felt that this sentiment is pretty privileged. We, the elite, get to cherry pick our work and do what we like. But I bet 9/10 people will never feel they have this luxury, and 8/10 will b…

> I get that this is aimed at the startup crowd, but I've always felt that this sentiment is pretty privileged. We, the elite, get to cherry pick our work and do what we like. But I bet 9/10 people will never feel they have this luxury, and 8/10 will be right. Maybe. Maybe not. My less "book smart" friends that learned blue-collar trades like being a welder or carpenter are much happier than the ones that found white…

I know it's not the case for everyone but I actually prefer graveyard shifts. There's less going on so it can be just me and the job without the outside distractions. I worked for myself for 2 years and I found I always defaulted back to a nocturnal state.

Re: The days are long but the decades are short

#328

Post by godzilla82 »

lamuerteflaca wrote: post #190
astrocat wrote: post #68

> On work: it’s difficult to do a great job on work you don’t care about. And it’s hard to be totally happy/fulfilled in life if you don’t like what you do for your work I get that this is aimed at the startup crowd, but I've always felt that this sentiment is pretty privileged. We, the elite, get to cherry pick our work and do what we like. But I bet 9/10 people will never feel they have this luxury, and 8/10 will b…

I'm not part of the elite. I do what I love even if that means I'm broke. Saying that you cannot do what you love because you are not priviledged are just excuses. Sacrifice what needs to be sacrificed otherwise don't whine. Find a way otherwise you were never meant to do it if you give up too easily. Most people are just talk though. They will do what they love if you hand them everything in a silver platter. Well t…

Well .. nothing against you, but if you can do what you love even if that means you are broke, means you are elite. It means you have some guarantee of a social support. May be your definition of broke includes welfare support from govt. There are parts of the world where people commit suicide if they are broke. All people in the first worlds are elites.
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