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I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

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Re: I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

#41

Post by another_devy »

AussieWog93 wrote: post #6

Poor bastard. I think a lot of older people really don't understand this, but our generation (late millennials, or at least middle-class late millennials) were genuinely fed the lie our whole life that we were special and could do anything. At some point, you have to admit to yourself that you're just an ordinary human being and Elon Musk has something special that you don't have. Only when you're in this mindset can…

> you have to admit to yourself that you're just an ordinary human being

This sort of thinking comes from place when you see that to achieve anything ahead in your life you need different skill set than you got and also most of time influence over people. I myself am victim of this thinking, it seems rational but it is demotivating.

What I found comforting in this thought chain is there may be limited possibilities that really can happen for me but can I find the best one of them, if I could that would still make me a Elon for so many people around me.

Re: I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

#42

Post by fxtentacle »

xvector wrote: post #39
cik wrote: post #28

There's something cross cultural here that just doesn't cross. I can't relate. I'm responsible for me - my success, my failures. I also sure as hell better check on my neighbour and lend a hand. Fulfilment comes from within, not externally. Results driven fulfilment comes from the gradual achievement of small goals, slowly combining into larger goals. They can be as small, as simple as reading a book. The best advice…

> Fulfilment comes from within, not externally. I am 26 and this is has been the hardest thing for me to come to terms with over the past few years. I thought I'd be happier with a high paying job. So I got a job that pays at the 99.9th percentile for my age. Didn't really make me happier. Then I thought my unhappiness was because of my weight. So I lost 90lbs. Hardest thing I've ever done. But it didn't make me happ…

I believe you mistook the path for the goal, or the future for the now, if you want.

Exercise will make you happy, but only while you're doing it. Getting a raise will make you happy, but only for a short time period after that raise. "Having" a relationship won't make you that happy, but the process of building the relationship is highly enjoyable.

The key to happiness is to do those things that make you happy while you do them. Sacrificing your personal now for a better future is one of those church ideals that always struck me as weird. That said, if you work on making the planet better, that work will probably also make you happy as long as you keep doing it. But the "better planet" itself is too abstract to make you happy long-term.

Re: I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

#43

Post by antupis »

a1445c8b wrote: post #15
asplake wrote: post #9

Personally, I’ve done some of my best work in my 40’s and 50’s. And so different to anything I was capable of doing in my 20’s and 30’s. The funniest thing is that I chose not only my university degree but also my optional modules based on a career choice that I moved on from well before I was 30. I don’t generally do regrets, but older me would tell younger me to relax a bit. There’s plenty of time and lots of thing…

> Personally, I’ve done some of my best work in my 40’s and 50’s. Reading this makes me feel better about my current trajectory. Mid 40s male.

I think career peak comes somewhere between 45-60 especially when domain is something which needs multiple skills like founding company or writing book. https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/a-study-of-27-million-startup...

Re: I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

#44

Post by dagw »

supermatt wrote: post #36
dagw wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon Musk was born privileged Only relatively speaking. There are a whole lot of people grew up with a hell of a lot more "privilege" than Musk and who have accomplished far far less.

And theres even more less privileged who cant take a risk because they dont have anything to catch them when they fail.

Of course. As someone who ticks most boxes on the privilege checklist I can witness first hand how much easier that has made my life compared to several of my friends and colleagues who ticked far fewer boxes. At the same time I've known people from even more privileged backgrounds than me completely fuck their lives.

So while coming from a 'privileged' background is important, and perhaps even necessary, in becoming the next Elon Musk, it is far from the determining factor.

Re: I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

#45

Post by jl6 »

Our amazing global technology allows us to compare ourselves with almost every other human being. We spot someone who’s a better programmer, another who’s a better athlete, another with a bigger family… and soon we start to feel inadequate across a multitude of dimensions which all start to flatten into a single dimension of worthiness.

We have invented the total perspective vortex.

Re: I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

#48

Post by htlion »

dagw wrote: post #44
supermatt wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And theres even more less privileged who cant take a risk because they dont have anything to catch them when they fail.

Of course. As someone who ticks most boxes on the privilege checklist I can witness first hand how much easier that has made my life compared to several of my friends and colleagues who ticked far fewer boxes. At the same time I've known people from even more privileged backgrounds than me completely fuck their lives. So while coming from a 'privileged' background is important, and perhaps even necessary, in becoming…

As Bourdieu presents it, there are the economic, social and cultural capitals from your parents. I believe more and more that the social and cultural capitals can vary wildly even among seemingly privileged families. We can only gauge the economic capital from the outside after all. I saw it firsthand where rich parents educated their children way too softly, which made their children unable to cope with challenges of real life. Maybe Elon got the luck to be born in a family with very good capitals on all axes. It does not mean that he has no talent, just that his initialization may have been particularly good.

Re: I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

#49

Post by [deleted] »

cik wrote: post #28

There's something cross cultural here that just doesn't cross. I can't relate. I'm responsible for me - my success, my failures. I also sure as hell better check on my neighbour and lend a hand. Fulfilment comes from within, not externally. Results driven fulfilment comes from the gradual achievement of small goals, slowly combining into larger goals. They can be as small, as simple as reading a book. The best advice…

[deleted]

Re: I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)

#50

Post by 5350-uiop-1130 »

my idea of success, in order:

1. financial independence (enough passive income not to work if i prefer)

2. own my own home (large enough to grow a family)

3. have a family

In my mid 30s, pretty much given up on 3 and 2, as 3 depends on 2.

So I am just left with 1 to aim for.

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