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You need to prepare yourself to have a happy life. To be happy, you need two things: 1) A career that pays well so you can live comfortably. 2) A life mission,

You need to prepare yourself to have a happy life. To be happy, you need two things: 1) A career that pays well so you can live comfortably. 2) A life mission, so you can spend your life building towards something, doing something you feel contributes to the world in a valuable way. Luckily programming is perfect for these goals. Choose your mission, make a career plan consistent with your mission, and proceed to become a badass.

flachsechs 9y ago
i'll provide the alternative point of view here. i know broke people who just surf or hang out all day and they sure seem happy. i also know rich people on a mission in life, and they are very unhappy, or will constantly find something to be unhappy about, so the net effect is just never being happy.
akaij 9y ago
You definitely don't need a career to be happy, let alone one that pays well. This is usually the society we're in that tells us that this is the only truth. Same with posts about {m, b}illionaires being portrayed as "successful at life", when in fact being a CEO probably ranks high on the list called things-that-aren't-guaranteed-to-make-you-happy-but-people-think-they-do. Society draws a circle and says "these people are winners" and anyone outside of it are losers and should strive to be back inside the circle. I don't have much work experience, but I am employed at a global top5 tech company and the number of people around me who are miserable even with all the benefits the company provides that outsiders consider sources of happiness (above median salary, indoors swimming pool/gym, free food, onsite medical personnel [gp, dentist, therapist], flex hours) tells me that it's not entirely up to the environment. The happiest people are the ones that seem to do whatever they feel like doing. I've also noticed that almost all of them, fit or not, go to the gym and do some sort of physical exercise. I'm in my early 30s, and two very important things I've realised are: - Life is happening right now. Not in a year or 10. Plan ahead if you want to, but don't sacrifice so much that you're not enjoying yourself. - Nothing is black and white. Life is not a piece of code; things are not 'either 1 or 0'. Everything exists on a spectrum; everything is a shade of grey. Even the things you think are absolute truths can be inferred to be different in other circumstances. Pink Floyd's lyrics have always resonated with me, and I guess this is one of my favourite bits: For long you'll live and high you'll fly And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry And all you touch and all you see Is all your life will ever be which is followed by a take on modern life and how it requires us to work at all times: Run, rabbit, run Dig that hole, forget the sun, And when at last the work is done Don't sit down, it's time to dig another one Do whatever you feel like doing, but know that with every decision you're choosing a path which is different than the one you could have taken before the decision. Sure, you can follow multiple paths and achieve more goals, but there will always be something else you could've done... ...and that's OK.

flachsechs 9y ago

i'll provide the alternative point of view here. i know broke people who just surf or hang out all day and they sure seem happy. i also know rich people on a mission in life, and they are very unhappy, or will constantly find something to be unhappy about, so the net effect is just never being happy.

akaij 9y ago

You definitely don't need a career to be happy, let alone one that pays well. This is usually the society we're in that tells us that this is the only truth. Same with posts about {m, b}illionaires being portrayed as "successful at life", when in fact being a CEO probably ranks high on the list called things-that-aren't-guaranteed-to-make-you-happy-but-people-think-they-do. Society draws a circle and says "these people are winners" and anyone outside of it are losers and should strive to be back inside the circle. I don't have much work experience, but I am employed at a global top5 tech company and the number of people around me who are miserable even with all the benefits the company provides that outsiders consider sources of happiness (above median salary, indoors swimming pool/gym, free food, onsite medical personnel [gp, dentist, therapist], flex hours) tells me that it's not entirely up to the environment. The happiest people are the ones that seem to do whatever they feel like doing. I've also noticed that almost all of them, fit or not, go to the gym and do some sort of physical exercise. I'm in my early 30s, and two very important things I've realised are: - Life is happening right now. Not in a year or 10. Plan ahead if you want to, but don't sacrifice so much that you're not enjoying yourself. - Nothing is black and white. Life is not a piece of code; things are not 'either 1 or 0'. Everything exists on a spectrum; everything is a shade of grey. Even the things you think are absolute truths can be inferred to be different in other circumstances. Pink Floyd's lyrics have always resonated with me, and I guess this is one of my favourite bits: For long you'll live and high you'll fly And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry And all you touch and all you see Is all your life will ever be which is followed by a take on modern life and how it requires us to work at all times: Run, rabbit, run Dig that hole, forget the sun, And when at last the work is done Don't sit down, it's time to dig another one Do whatever you feel like doing, but know that with every decision you're choosing a path which is different than the one you could have taken before the decision. Sure, you can follow multiple paths and achieve more goals, but there will always be something else you could've done... ...and that's OK.