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I'm 31 and have never had a job. I started freelancing when I was 18 - more by necessity than by choice - and continued doing that throughout my six years of co
by puranjay 6y ago
I'm 31 and have never had a job. I started freelancing when I was 18 - more by necessity than by choice - and continued doing that throughout my six years of college.
There is something to be said about having "unordinary" experiences - it cuts you off from your peer group. My part-time freelancing through college meant that I was often too busy to do the things college kids do - party, join bands, etc.
Later, when I started freelancing full-time, my friends would talk about their bosses, applying for jobs, building up careers, etc. and I would just nod my head and attempt to understand but I couldn't. I've never had bosses - or even bad clients - and my idea of career has basically evolved into a series of gradually better/bigger gigs and projects.
I'm very independent person and can get by perfectly fine being completely alone. But I imagine that someone more extroverted and social than me would have felt a little too alienated living a life so different than their peer group.
When the pandemic struck earlier this year, a couple of my key clients dropped their budgets or held off on decision making. So I took that time as a "break". This devolved into eating too much, working out too little, and sleeping at odd hours - all great stuff for a week or two, but extremely grating after a month.
It's a romantic idea - a life without boundaries or bosses - but it's not something everyone is cut out for, nor is it something I would recommend everyone to follow.
- nsl73 6y agoIf a job is the only thing holding your diet, habits, and exercise in place what will happen when you retire?
- mark_l_watson 6y agoI can't answer for the parent comment, but after working just when I wanted to for 20 years (onsite at Google and Capital One were the only exceptions in a 20 year period), I finally decided to really retire March 2019 (except I still write). My diet is even better now because I have time to cook real meals following a hybrid of Dr. Fuhrman/macrobiotic diets. I bought weights, and hike/walk an average of 90 minutes a day, and except for worrying occasionally about how family and friends are doing with covid-19, life is peaceful and fun. One thing that I think is vital is having goals. For me that is spiritual development and studying specific tech, programming languages, etc. I have been an artificial intelligence practitioner since the 1980s but I have very little experience with probabilistic programming, graph models, etc. My goal for the next year is kicking my knowledge up a few levels. These are the only goals I have, and that is enough for me.
- mensetmanusman 6y agoGreat question, this is why many men die shortly after retirement (in the first year even!)
- bananaface 6y agoI've heard this before but I don't trust it. Is it just a statistical measure? If so I think it's way more likely they're retiring because they're ill.