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Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

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Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#341

Post by biztos »

theow7384iri wrote: post #85
mjthrowaway1 wrote: post #11

I let a divorce ruin me mentally during a pivotal year of my company. Had a rough valuation of ~100MM and blew my top 3 market position because I let my ex convince me that it was all my fault that our relationship failed. In reality she was just struggling with being gay. I stopped paying attention at work for about 18 months in an attempt to “save my family” but I just ended up losing everything. Oh well.

Been there, employee #12 in 2016 at startup that created one of top ten cryptocurrencies. Was not crypto nut, I worked in research, friend gave me a gig. Disposed all crypto assets a few months before 2017 peak, bcos wanted simple divorce. Friends were telling me to convert everything to coins and run into Thailand LOL.

On the plus side, there are a lot of crypto bros here in Thailand and you could probably still find a blockchain to do research for if that's still your thing.

They keep telling me to buy Bitcoin, I keep buying beers instead...

Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#342

Post by sollewitt »

biztos wrote: post #333
CalRobert wrote: post #174

Buying a thatched cottage in Ireland. It's very pretty, and it checks all the boxes (bike ride from train station), etc. but Ireland's insanely strict protection rules and ridiculous insurance payouts have resulted in every insurer of thatched buildings leaving the country. Additionally, when I applied for permission to build a separate house on the land (it's a few acres) the heritage officer insisted we only build…

Maybe this is a stupid question, but why is it unrentable? Could you AirBnB it?

With no insurance?

Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#343

Post by MrGilbert »

WA wrote: post #102
MrGilbert wrote: post #39

Everything and Nothing. Leaving the comfort zone more often is something which will make you grow. And I didn't do that in the past. Bit of a life story: I'm 36 now. When I turned 22 in 2008, my mom surprised me with her having sarcoidosis, a disease which will turn functional cells into non-functional ones. Quite an issue when it starts in your lungs. A year later, my father surprised me with him having cancer. Long…

Kudos to your strength and caring for your siblings. > I need "the stage". Maybe this can be fixed easily? Like go on conference on behalf of your company and give a talk? I also work from home 99%. Recently, we did a non-profit event and sold some kind of lottery tickets. Proceeds were donated 100% for local causes. Getting out there and selling tickets for 3-6 hours actually gave me energy. I had conversations with…

Thank you! Yes, I'm currently trying to get more involved on that side. Also, outside of my job, but I'd like to have some training there. Which is currently, from a financial point of view, not possible. But I'll figure it out, as always. :)

Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#344

Post by jly »

015a wrote: post #271

There's a lot of very serious ones in here; I'm going to opt for something a bit lighter: I regret not being more diligent in money management throughout university and after graduation. Working a ton, but not saving. Not investing. Living downtown for too many years. Going out to restaurants and bars multiple times a week. Buying a new iPhone every year. Not optimizing the career path for income (or, anything really…

This is mine, too.

I'm in my 40s now but I didn't get serious about saving and managing money until my mid-30s. Lived a very fun but expensive lifestyle downtown in a major city for many years while single.

I'd be a lot closer to some of my financial goals if I had been more focused on saving through my 20s and 30s. While my family is doing fine compared to many others, it feels like I'm always trying to catch up. This really starts to hit home when you add kids.

Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#346

Post by asmr »

Oh, I have plenty. Like not continuing to mine bitcoin circa 2010 while I was in high school, and then not buying a ton of bitcoin between 2014-2016 and then losing over 2 BTC in 2017.

Then there's the fact that I decided to go to a state school because I was entering with a decent amount of credits and entered a special program for tuition assistance (it sucked). Dropped out (which I also regret).

I regret not accepting the NSA's cooperative education program when offered.

I regret not deciding to live with my mother when my parents divorced.

I regret taking on a job with a ~3 hour commute as my first gig.

Should I keep going?

Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#347

Post by apgwoz »

geocrasher wrote: post #335

My past formed me into who I am today, and I am proud of who I am today. Do I wish I had done some things differently? Of course! That's a sign of growth. My advice? Stop living in the past. Your car's windscreen is 100x bigger than the rear view mirror for a reason.

> Your car's windscreen is 100x bigger than the rear view mirror for a reason.

Great metaphor! It reminds me of a song lyric: “The Future’s so bright you’ll have to wear shades.”

Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#348

Post by kormosi »

spicyusername wrote: post #181
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #107

Focused too much on making a living in my teens and 20s instead of college and social life. Never pursued artistic interests seriously because I was just too tired from working and stressing out about bills. Now I’m in my 30s with next to no social life and the realization that I’ve wasted away my time and whatever little talent I have. There’s a “regret” folder sitting in my Google Drive with two half-finished books…

Definitely not too late. 30s are still very young. Whatever your goal is, try to stop having 0% days. You don't need to have 100% days, Just avoid having 0% days. In a few months or a year you'll be surprised at the progress you've made.

100% agree.

Had a realization about small steps making a huge difference a few days ago.

It was so profound to me that I've written a short essay about it.

https://kormosi.com/small-things/

Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#349

Post by jmcphers »

pc86 wrote: post #294
RMPR wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm a developer, and a decent one - not FAANG level by any means, but decent This statement rubs me the wrong way. What does that mean being "FAANG level"? It's either a misconception of what is going on there or underestimating yourself... Or both

It certainly could be both! And I get what you mean, I always feel weird if I say something like that because it's not exactly what I mean but it's the best way I know to articulate it. I'm sure every FAANG has dead weight, but I've always had the impression that in part due to the compensation the best of the industry tend to gravitate there. That certainly may have changed in the last decade when I think that idea…

There are plenty of middling engineers at FAANG-class companies. It is true that they have more rigorous standards and employ above average engineers, but that isn't the primary driver of the comp: these companies have to pay a premium to attract engineers in part because working at a huge (and in many cases unpopular) company isn't fun.

Source: Worked at Microsoft for about a decade.

Re: Ask HN: What's Your Biggest Regret?

#350

Post by prirun »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #107

Focused too much on making a living in my teens and 20s instead of college and social life. Never pursued artistic interests seriously because I was just too tired from working and stressing out about bills. Now I’m in my 30s with next to no social life and the realization that I’ve wasted away my time and whatever little talent I have. There’s a “regret” folder sitting in my Google Drive with two half-finished books…

> Focused too much on making a living in my teens and 20s instead of college and social life

I did this too, to avoid addressing being gay. At times in my life I've regretted working so much, but in my late 50's I developed some health problems because of a goofed-up immune system (CVID). Now, I'm glad I was able to retire at 45 because I was a workaholic in my younger days. I still enjoy my life, but if I had to work full time, it would be pretty miserable and I'd probably have to go on disability.

One thing I try to keep in mind about regrets: when looking back, people always assume that if they had made a different decision, the outcome would have been better. But you don't actually know that: things could have turned out worse.

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