I worked the whole time and at times too hard. I've been employed in some capacity or another since I was 17. As I was approaching 30 I made a career change t

I worked the whole time and at times too hard. I've been employed in some capacity or another since I was 17. As I was approaching 30 I made a career change to tech. I did work too hard during this period because I was working full time and also spending all of my free time teaching myself new skills. Honestly it was a dark period because I wasn't sure if there was a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of breaking into tech and I was very unhappy with my job at the time. I studied on the bus. I studied after work. I studied on the weekends. It was like working two full time jobs. I got lucky and was able to get a job as a software engineer. I spent the first year working too hard. I reported for my regular hours and then worked every night babysitting upgrades because I felt like I had to prove something or pay something back for the opportunity. Overall, I think I took myself too seriously in my 20s. I'm glad I put the effort in because it was worth it in a way. But my perspective changed when people close to me started get old, sick, or both and passed away. My perspective changed and I don't take myself as seriously anymore. However, I still struggle with feeling like my time is going to waste. Sometimes I have hard time relaxing and doing something for fun like video games because it isn't contributing to my personal development. I guess I'm still figuring that out.