If you want to boost your programming chops while doing something you care about, why don't you join an early-stage startup for equity? They need people who are willing to work for lower pay, and you will learn A TON about something you enjoy. And usually super-early stage startups give you flexibility of no official HR to dictate when you have to be there and when you have to take a vacation. Sounds like a pretty simple solution to me.
Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
41–50 of 77 posts
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#42You're groaning in the wrong headspace I would say.
You're looking at your life and groaning about the lack of passion and interest in the things around you.
Everything you find is 'good enough'. Damnit man! Get dissatisfied!
You've got a healthy dose of skepticism, which is highly underrated, now you need to develop your ability to find issues, flaws and opportunities in what is around you. Products, services, the way things are done. They may be done better than you could do them yourself, but are they done the best they ever will be? How would you improve them, then learn how to build it yourself and that makes a better product.
One of the interesting things I've found about passion is that in some ways, it can often be found lurking within you and just needs to be discovered and awakened.
I think one thing shared by all passionate people is that they rarely seem passionate about something that involves only them. It is in the service of others that most people find their passion. As an example, look at the Charlie Rose interview with Andrew Mason of Groupon http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/10/groupon-masin-charlie-rose/ Mason talks about what Groupon does for businesses, what it does for people. It isn't about what it does for him. FourSquare is somewhat useless, but Crowley talks about how people are going to the gym more often and getting healthier because they use it. It is often these purposes which lurk beneath the surface where the passion can come from.
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#43It's the early days of the Internet. We've invented sail and gunpowder, and we're just coming to the New World. If you're on Hacker News, you're a navigator - a captain - a fierce programmer. Marketers and social networks, data gatherers and marketers - your foes are numerous and powerful. Take your desire to do something wonderful, find a crew you want to sail with, and get started.
You'll be happier for having done it.
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I read too much Hacker News, but frankly I find a lot of startups uninspiring. Social this, web-based that, yadda yadda. Again, I might just need an attitude change, or I'm wearing the wrong glasses.
Doing is easy. Finding out what you want to do is not - at least not for me. It also seems you are self-deprecating. You must have some value - you were not paid for doing nothing! But maybe what was found valuable in you by corporate america differs from what you define as a value. Have you tried reading philosophy? It helped me. If philosophy is not your thing you can try more accessible literature. My biased sugge…
Thanks. I just finished the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius not too long ago, and it was sobering but refreshing.
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#45The following video, narrated by Alan Watts, and animated by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, eloquently describes exactly what you have figured out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4&feature=playe... You essentially have come to the realization that the things you have been lead to believe (career, wealth, social status, possessions) are not what will make you happy. This realization can go down a dark path of d…
Thanks! I saw that a long time ago but definitely appreciated seeing it again. It was certainly helpful.
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is "real stuff"?
Excellent question. Something that makes a difference in the lives of real people. In all honesty I don't know any more than that, but I have a hard time believing that it's any of those things you mentioned.
The answers you seek lie not within your browser...
The best way to see what makes a difference in the lives of people is to get out and meet them.
A good start would be just gaining some independence for yourself. The world suddenly looks very different when you remove most of the safety nets and have to sink or swim wholly of your own resources.
I personally don't think you should be considering world-changing events right now. You should be looking towards simple things and expanding your own horizons. You can split the difference by volunteering at some local organizations and maybe joining some groups/clubs that seem at least mildly intriguing.
BTW, in my prior post I didn't mean to imply that I thought you were bragging.
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#47First, decide whether you're going to have a career change or a career interruption. If you decide on the latter, give it a few weeks. Just do whatever you want and don't feel guilty or wonder how it will extrapolate into the future. You are a smart and productive person; eventually you will find yourself doing something you enjoy and are proud of. It's natural that you're scared of the vacuum. A good friend of mine,…
Thanks for your reassurance. The problem is that I have evidence to the contrary. I have already started wasting time and not doing anything worthwhile. In any case, I don't see myself doing anything other than programming for a career, though I ought to take some time to explore as well.
That's why I said give it time :-)
Collapsing is a natural reaction to the removal of pressure. You have spent a long time trying to do work that you didn't want to do. The corporate experience trains you to believe that you are naturally lazy, because you spend all day in agonized revulsion against the productive, useful work you are asked to do. The secret is that just because you do not want to do certain work for certain people does not mean you are lazy.
Other people have been in control of your productivity for a long time, and your only freedom was to resist, shut down, and be lazy. You need to indulge that until you feel completely reassured that you are free and in control of your own life. Then your own tendencies will come out, and I guarantee you that what little I know about you from your question (specifically, that you have skills that took a lot of time and unwitting dedication to develop, and that you worry about what you might or might not accomplish) is enough to know that you will be happiest doing productive work.
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#48Here's what you need to do: 1. Find someone who needs help. 2. Help them. That's it. It's not about you and your skills and your intelligence and your blessings and your depression and your inner psychology etc. etc. etc. It's about others. They may need help in an area you're already familiar with, but maybe not. Either way, you'll learn something new, they'll get where they need to be, and your situation will profo…
Some more thoughts... Travelling:
Go somewhere you don't speak the language, and where they won't be good at English. Don't do the tourist locations. Find out how other people live their daily lives and reflect upon it.
Perhaps you will want to help people less fortunate than yourself. Perhaps you'll want to help people like yourself because you discover that you are actually less fortunate in some other sense.
At the very worse, don't waste your life on video games and internet, unless you're going to create a video game that might need to be online.
I had an even longer-winded reply, but it basically boils down to the 2 steps from edw519.
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#49Go back to School. Get a Master's degree in Computer Science if you are doubting your programming skills. Take or Audit a bunch of weird classes (in and out of the CS branch) and see if anything there interests you. Drink up (now that you can afford quality beer) and get laid.
Argh. Going to get a Master's is NOT a solution to doubting your programming skills! Professors cannot teach you how to write code, because they don't know themselves. (Going to school may or may not be a great move... but not for this reason!)
I did get a Master's. I don't think I did it properly though, since I went there because it felt like the right thing to do, not because I had some great interest to explore there.
Re: Ask HN: Finally have loose change and spare time, but no sense of purpose. Help.
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is "real stuff"?
Excellent question. Something that makes a difference in the lives of real people. In all honesty I don't know any more than that, but I have a hard time believing that it's any of those things you mentioned.
I think that a relationship makes a difference in the lives of real people, at least for the two of you and those close to you. I would check it out. There is a reason that almost every human society ever has been focused on the idea of a relationship. Study the existing ancient cultures and see what they value most.