I want to know what choices people have made, work related or not, that have made you the happiest or most proud over the years. In a field where there is so much money moving around and (in some positions) there is so much opportunity for technological impact, I feel like it can be easy to lose sight of what you actually care about and what has made you happy or proud because you are chasing financial goals or another person’s definition of success (nothing inherently wrong with either). I want to be clear that I am specifically asking about ‘choices’ and not how those choices panned out. I’d love to read about the latter, but its very possible to be proud or happy about a choice that ended up not working out i.e finally working on that start up or side project idea even if it didn’t pan out. TC: 185K YOE: 1 #life #work #happiness
Quitting a job that was making me miserable and had unrealistic expectations, even though it seemed perfect for “my path”.
Work can be such a big part of your life and your happiness so I’m glad you got out of that situation. How do you feel about your new job and ‘your path’ now?
Cutting off a toxic douchebag
Exploring new areas of interest. Learning to let people down gracefully. Following my own voice and accepting the consequences - even if they are negative. Finally rejecting a philosophy of 'relentless and constant improvement' because it made me mentally unwell. Learning to love myself for where I am and accept that although there is always more to learn, do, or become... I'm also just fine as I am. Making a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and making tough decision that prioritize the former... Often at the expense of career advancement.
I got a bachelors of fine arts. I grew up always liking art. I drew since I was a toddler. I learned about graphic design in middle/high school. Took a community college class sophomore year to see if it was something I could do. Loved it. Went to college to get a fine arts degree. I was expecting myself to end up at an agency making 40k a year. So poor but happy. Accidentally stumbled into product design. And I was exposed to ad agencies junior year and discovered I hated it. I also took an internship at a small tech startup. Got my fine arts degree. Love my job (product design). Love what I’m doing with my life. I took a risk getting it but so happy and content. I make more than my parents currently make combined. I’m honestly happy going to work everyday. Hate meetings tho.
I’m so happy for you! This is what I’d consider the ideal. Not everyone is in the position where they have the means or the security to take such risks, but when people do and it works out it makes me really happy.
Picking up music again after several years in the corporate trenches. Learning an instrument is a totally different mindset from coding and a great stress reliever. Can’t recommend enough 👍
Joining a startup as a junior engineer over some big company because I was impressed by the folks there. My mentor taught me a lot about software engineering, testing, code quality, and ownership. I always felt dumb there and my code reviews had numerous comments many of which were embarrassing to me. I swallowed my pride and continued learning from him. I am forever grateful to that person and continue to mentor junior engineers with the same stuff I learned. It is funny that I learned good engineering practices at a startup but seldom see focus on it at my org or most other big names. It is also unfortunate to see the industry focusing on Leetcode during interviews and discarding this aspect of software engineering
Unfortunately, the bigger the company is the more likely the mentality is that code is simply ‘a means to an end’ for the product so it can make money. It seems the care for the code itself is inversely related to the success (or perception) thereof the company has already had. I’m happy you got to have this experience though and that you are spreading your knowledge!
Always learning, staying humble. I learn as much from jr engineers as staff. It's never been about TC for me
I genuinely believe the moment you stop learning is the moment you stop living. I’m happy you’ve kept that outlook! That being said I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with wanting more TC (nor am I implying that’s what you think), especially if you have ways you are using it for yourself or others that is meaningful.