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People Start Hating Their Jobs at Age 35

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Re: People Start Hating Their Jobs at Age 35

#91

Post by _ncxu »

apeacox wrote: post #40
_ncxu wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm only 31 and found out the hard way that 90% of the way successful people got to where they are is through charisma, lying, and cheating others.

I'm 40 and I've found out the hard way that 90% people under 35 adopt absolute statements for everything, as if they think they already know how the life, the world and the universe work. Good luck.

You're right. I actually only had one or two people in mind when I wrote that comment, and I didn't even realize it until you pointed it out. Thanks.

Re: People Start Hating Their Jobs at Age 35

#92

Post by SubuSS »

beezelbo wrote: post #84
SubuSS wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you meant 90% of successful people's way is paved by those things, I don't agree: It is very easy to discount hard work and forgive our own laziness by zeroing in on 'bad' stuff. If you meant 90% of the successful people got there by those things - then I would want to understand your definition of success. The folks I consider successful have always used their opportunities well, not just rode out the luck. We al…

I think it depends a lot on the field and where you work, and how you define "success". I used to think the way you're describing until I got where I am and saw just how dysfunctional the system is in my field--the corruption and sheer luck. It gets worse the higher up you go. I think there's also problem with these types of discussions because of survivorship bias, which is rampant in contemporary society. That is,…

Very possible and true in general that successful people attribute success to hard work (who wouldn't). I have had trust fund folks defend their situation similarly as well.

But my point is to take the focus away from them and their life and point it at self. It has always helped me to assume that the world is a place where hard work wins against all odds because then my search is for hard work rather than luck.

I don't have much other than internet encouragement :), So good luck. I really hope you turn it around!

Re: People Start Hating Their Jobs at Age 35

#96

Post by synicalx »

I've always hated my jobs, but I keep doing them because I'm good at what I do, and I get paid well for it (at least I do now anyway). For me, work is just a means to an end - I earn money so I can spend it on the stuff I actually like.

When you do something you love as a job you'll (probably) either quickly stop loving it or you won't make any money doing it. I used to be fairly heavily involved in my local "freelancer" scene and I've seen countless young and enthusiastic creatives turn into stressed, angry, bitter, and cynical baristas.

Re: People Start Hating Their Jobs at Age 35

#98

Post by ironic_ali »

scrumper wrote: post #46
zingar wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment made me think of a book that I read recently, Developer Hegemony[1]. It explores how the modern corporate forces us into three roles: pragmatists who opt out of the game and find their identity elsewhere ("I'd rather be fishing"), idealist middle management who sacrifice perspective and work twice as long for 10% more plus the illusion that one day they'll be recognised for their hard work (they won't),…

Losers, Clueless, and Sociopaths: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...

This is the first time I've heard of the 'Gervais principle', that was an awesome read!

Re: People Start Hating Their Jobs at Age 35

#99

Post by dkersten »

gagege wrote: post #41
sharkweek wrote: post #10

I started to notice this in my late 20s. It felt kind of like a "the emperor has no clothes" moment when I was working at a tech startup that pushed long hours/weekend work in order to fulfill some "mission" and "greater purpose" and that I should feel a part of this for the greater good. It kind of hit me that this was mostly just a fantastic way to extract more work out of young, impressionable 20somethings who did…

I recently sat through one of those company/product mission presentations at work. It was one of those "am I the only sane person working here?" moments. I like our product, I want to see it succeed, but I really can't stand the religious fervor marketing departments and managers give off. And the amazing part is that my co-workers seem to completely buy into it. Everyone talks like what we're doing is going to chang…

This rings so true! Those all-hands meetings are typically a bunch of business people getting excited telling us about the trips they were on and some milestones they reached and how excited we should be and I'm just sitting there trying to stay awake thinking about how it really doesn't affect my life and I really don't care beyond what I need to meet my contractual obligations.

Usually, I feel those meetings have the opposite effect on me. They talk about how exciting it is and I leave the meeting wondering if maybe I should become a farmer or something instead and feel disillusioned and deflated. Sigh.

Although, I think part of it for me is that I've done some startups in the past and would much rather work hard soul crushing hours on something that 1) I actually care about and 2) something where the pay off is mine and not some rich guy who I've never even met and really don't care if he gets richer or not.

Re: People Start Hating Their Jobs at Age 35

#100

Post by dkersten »

nostrademons wrote: post #81
nasalgoat wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My personal perspective is cynical like yours - that it's generally a scam to try and extract more "value" out of workers - but my wife works at a large corporation where they seem to genuinely try to make it an enjoyable place to work and the people involved, all the way up the ladder, are committed to that ideal. Praise flows freely, they do a ton of charity work, and it's not a thin veneer over a corporate machine…

Why is it a scam to try and extract more value out of workers? They're going to spend that time on earth somehow , and if they're not actually working when they're at work, it'll just be Facebook or Zynga or YCombinator or Reddit that's extracting value out of them. Actually caring about the work just means that they'll actually learn some skills and develop a good professional reputation, which'll set them up for a…

Its a scam because its often used to justify paying below-market salaries.
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