I spent the first part of my career following this kind of advice, working as hard as I could, and chasing some mythical prestige I thought would make me happy.
Now I make $320k, work remotely about 20h/wk, and have never been happier than I am right now, checking boxes and fixing bugs as a senior engineer on a minor product team at FAANG.
I don’t care if I ever get promoted, maybe I will, I probably I won’t. I get great feedback from my managers and I have a friendly relationship with my coworkers, most of whom are happily chomping at the bit to get promoted next cycle.
I realized during the pandemic how much better the world outside the internet is, and now I spend my spare time hiking mountains, painting murals, playing in a crappy cover band with my high school buddies, and eventually finding a wife to settle down with. I refuse to believe I’ll spend my time on my deathbed wishing I’d written more code and spent less time outside; life is just too damn short.
I’d like to give the exact opposite advice of this author - find an easy, comfortable, well paying job and fill the rest of your life with things that actually matter. I truly believe you’ll be happier for it.
> find an easy, comfortable, well paying job and fill the rest of your life with things that actually matter.
I think that's kind of what the article was about: raising your career status high enough so that you can get one of those nice jobs. You can't just pick a $320k job off of the job tree, that's almost 5 times the median household income.
Without having marketability, the task of finding an easy, comfortable, and well paying job is advice akin to "just win the lottery, that'll cover your expenses."
It's good work if you can get it! [0] But most people out there, even software engineers, aren't going to make 320k with minimal effort. I do agree with the overall idea that you should define "enough" for yourself, and slow down to enjoy life once you get there.
Now I make $320k, work remotely about 20h/wk, and have never been happier than I am right now, checking boxes and fixing bugs as a senior engineer on a minor product team at FAANG.
I don’t care if I ever get promoted, maybe I will, I probably I won’t. I get great feedback from my managers and I have a friendly relationship with my coworkers, most of whom are happily chomping at the bit to get promoted next cycle.
I realized during the pandemic how much better the world outside the internet is, and now I spend my spare time hiking mountains, painting murals, playing in a crappy cover band with my high school buddies, and eventually finding a wife to settle down with. I refuse to believe I’ll spend my time on my deathbed wishing I’d written more code and spent less time outside; life is just too damn short.
I’d like to give the exact opposite advice of this author - find an easy, comfortable, well paying job and fill the rest of your life with things that actually matter. I truly believe you’ll be happier for it.