Imposter syndrome and life style creep

Jan 10, 2020 13 Comments

I have 15 years of experience. 2 years at Dropbox.
I started my career at 60k TC. Took me 8 years to get to about 160 to 180k. Since then I have hovered around 200k until Dropbox. Year 1 at Dropbox was about 300k, this last year I made close to 420k. Based on the conversations with my manager and skip level, I think I might get a decent bump this review cycle.

My expenses have actually gone down since since I joined Dropbox. I don't pay for breakfast, lunch or the occasional dinner during weekdays. Gym, wellness and a significant portion of my commute is covered by Dropbox. No life style creep and I'm very particular about it.

I'm not doing anything radically different at Dropbox. I have always learned throughout my career, don't slack off, deligent about deadlines, decent at building and maintaining XFN relationships, have reasonably good communication skills, never cared about taking credit and above all I trust people around me and they trust me back. I have had set backs where people took advantage of me or back stabbed me, but I never retaliate - I have either left those teams or companies. Never had any of these problems at Dropbox and I'm happy with the culture and people here. People around me at Dropbox are smart and I usually feel like an idiot.

I worry about what's next after Dropbox. We badly need a bigger place, kids are growing up and they need more space. I drive a 15 year old car which is showing it's age. We can afford a bigger house, but I worry if I will be able to maintain this TC even for the next 10 years.

For those you who have been at jobs that pay 400k or above, how do you deal with lifestyle creep and do you worry about losing your high paying job?

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TOP 13 Comments
  • Grab
    jerrywho

    Go to company page Grab

    jerrywho
    That's not imposter syndrome, that's mid age crisis. Live with it and you will be fine. You are already in better shape than a lot of folks at your age.
    Jan 10, 2020 0
  • Just contribute more to investments and savings. Failing to see issue with half a million in income.

    If you’re worried still at that level, something else is seriously wrong. Maybe doubt your lack of ability to find other work less..
    Jan 10, 2020 0
  • New
    ggjj17

    New

    ggjj17
    Wow, how did you manage to jump from 300K to 420K in 1 year at Dropbox with the declining stock?
    Jan 11, 2020 3
  • Google
    swinglyf

    Go to company page Google

    swinglyf
    I have no lifestyle creep, no desire to own a house, reasonable handle on my expenses, and intend to make far less from salary in 5 years than I do now. My expenses have been constant at around 80k for the last 3 years, I’d like that to go down slightly to 70k or so, but a lot of that could come from flying economy instead of business, so I’m not too worried about it right now.
    Jan 10, 2020 0
  • Microsoft / Product
    Brazuka

    Go to company page Microsoft Product

    PRE
    Bain & Company
    Brazuka
    Keep on managing your expenses. It's reasonable to change a 15yo car to a new 25-30k car if you want, wouldn't call that lifestyle creep. I would think more about the house, but as long as you're saving 30%+ of your net tc (Inc. 401k) after the upgrade you will be fine.
    Jan 10, 2020 0