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I wrote a whole reply echoing another reply about how this article isn’t about maximizing money or status (though most of these articles are about that), that t

I wrote a whole reply echoing another reply about how this article isn’t about maximizing money or status (though most of these articles are about that), that this article is just about staying competitive. But then I really thought about what you wrote and I think you’re saying that is besides the point, if you have good work life balance and really value that then it’s essentially maybe ok to give up some competitive edge. Here I will caution you, that is a trap which I think the article is trying to get at. I am one of those people who stayed too long at a job where I was losing my competitive edge because I felt like I had a great work-life balance! And work was fun! But one day I realized I’m actually being asked to eat a lot of crap so to speak that I hadn’t really noticed before and once I started to look for the exit it was obvious it was going to be harder than it should be because I had stagnated. Moral of my story (and this article), is stay competitive, you don’t have to crush it, but don’t lean back too far either.

munchbunny 6y ago
that this article is just about staying competitive. Moral of my story (and this article), is stay competitive, you don’t have to crush it, but don’t lean back too far either. There are a large number of people, including smart and successful and accomplished people, who work to live, not live to work. For the people who live to work (myself included), it's a good reminder to stay competitive and avoid complacency. But you have to understand yourself and what you're looking for. And that's what I think the real moral of the story is: understand what you want, what makes you happy, and what gives you meaning and purpose. Then make sure you're working towards that. Too many people forget to do the first thing and skip straight to the second because they inherit the answer from their environment without questioning it. For lots of people the answer to that question is not career related.
- runawaybottle 6y ago
  But my dear friend, the economy doesn’t give two fucks about what you want. It is making part time door dash delivery drivers and Uber drivers out of college educated people. It’s making Classics majors into web developers via bootcamps, it’s hiring out in India, and it’s making the tech you know today sound literally stupid on your resume within 3 years. You’re also in a ageist industry, so there’s time working against you too. What you or I want is no longer a question afforded to us sadly.
  - ganafagol 6y ago
    Sounds like you need to switch jobs.
  - munchbunny 6y ago
    But my dear friend, the economy doesn’t give two fucks about what you want. Indeed the economy doesn't, but, my dear friend, that's not the point. You're not the economy, and you can't escape the shell you were born in (yet). You only get to choose which game you play. So, my dear friend, if you're going to lose the game anyway, at least pick a game you actually want to play.
    - cafed00d 6y ago
      Your comment reminds me of the line from Dead Poets Society: _We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for._ PS: how good was that movie?! So Good!
      - lisper 6y ago
        It's a noble sentiment, but poetry means different things to different people. Personally, I get a much bigger kick out of a well written snippet of Lisp code than I do from your typical sonnet. Here's a poem I wrote back in high school in reaction to the famous quote, "Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads", which I was taught was by Emily Dickinson but turns out to actually be by Marianne Moore. In any case... A poem is a thought that tried In vain, just once, before it died To reach the page's Right hand side ;-)
        kian 6y ago
        Thank you for that beautiful sentiment. They're only words, and always spoken much too late to stay -- only for a moment, then they take the breath away
- nine_k 6y ago
  I can only quote the Red Queen: "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place." One needs to stay competent, if not competitive, to stay employable, even for moderately advanced and moderately-paid positions. There's no chance to learn the craft and expect it to stay the same for a lifetime.
  - Barrin92 6y ago
    >One needs to stay competent, if not competitive, to stay employable if you are reasonably competent you can get a boring coding job at a large firm that pays probably twice the average national salary. Software development pays so well compared to other sectors and is so starved for workers pretty much always, and unemployment is basically nonexistent, I think like the author you might confuse "working hat hip startup XY and making 200k" with being employable and living comfortably
powersnail 6y ago
But the value of "staying competitive" is to better earn money and status. It's less greedy than maximizing money/status, but it's on the same line of pursuit. The parent's point is that there are more aspects in life than work that you can improve on (eating healthier would be one of them). And as long as your work can sustain your life, you are free to choose to work on something else. Of course, you can choose to focus even more on working, too, if you please.
- Ma8ee 6y ago
  The value of staying competitive is also to be employable even after you have turned 50.
- cheschire 6y ago
  Well, there's something to be said about staying competitive if you're in a job you're concerned about losing. Having the ability to get laid off and pick up another job within a few weeks does bring with it a certain amount of safety that complacency might not bring.
- kavalg 6y ago
  I perceive staying competitive as being paid fairly for your work (within some reasonable margin). If you are becoming less and less useful to the company/industry, but your salary is getting higher over the years, your risk of being laid off increases significantly. However, I can't help but mention that if you nurture certain political skills and you are already have some management responsibilities, you can stay "forever" in some big corp even though you are not very useful...
- robocat 6y ago
  > But the value of "staying competitive" is to better earn money and status. Perhaps you are projecting your own beliefs? Plenty of people choose careers for other reasons e.g. that give them personal satisfaction, or a career that revolves around their belief system. The article still applies even if their career goals are neither status nor money.
- shawnz 6y ago
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
I don't know about that, in my experience careers are built on political skills as much as actual ability to do your job. Then there is the obvious problem that winning the rat race makes it pretty clear that you are a rat. I prefer to leave all that to the budding sociopaths.

munchbunny 6y ago

that this article is just about staying competitive. Moral of my story (and this article), is stay competitive, you don’t have to crush it, but don’t lean back too far either. There are a large number of people, including smart and successful and accomplished people, who work to live, not live to work. For the people who live to work (myself included), it's a good reminder to stay competitive and avoid complacency. But you have to understand yourself and what you're looking for. And that's what I think the real moral of the story is: understand what you want, what makes you happy, and what gives you meaning and purpose. Then make sure you're working towards that. Too many people forget to do the first thing and skip straight to the second because they inherit the answer from their environment without questioning it. For lots of people the answer to that question is not career related.

runawaybottle 6y ago
But my dear friend, the economy doesn’t give two fucks about what you want. It is making part time door dash delivery drivers and Uber drivers out of college educated people. It’s making Classics majors into web developers via bootcamps, it’s hiring out in India, and it’s making the tech you know today sound literally stupid on your resume within 3 years. You’re also in a ageist industry, so there’s time working against you too. What you or I want is no longer a question afforded to us sadly.
- ganafagol 6y ago
  Sounds like you need to switch jobs.
- munchbunny 6y ago
  But my dear friend, the economy doesn’t give two fucks about what you want. Indeed the economy doesn't, but, my dear friend, that's not the point. You're not the economy, and you can't escape the shell you were born in (yet). You only get to choose which game you play. So, my dear friend, if you're going to lose the game anyway, at least pick a game you actually want to play.
  - cafed00d 6y ago
    Your comment reminds me of the line from Dead Poets Society: _We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for._ PS: how good was that movie?! So Good!
    - lisper 6y ago
      It's a noble sentiment, but poetry means different things to different people. Personally, I get a much bigger kick out of a well written snippet of Lisp code than I do from your typical sonnet. Here's a poem I wrote back in high school in reaction to the famous quote, "Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads", which I was taught was by Emily Dickinson but turns out to actually be by Marianne Moore. In any case... A poem is a thought that tried In vain, just once, before it died To reach the page's Right hand side ;-)
      - kian 6y ago
        Thank you for that beautiful sentiment. They're only words, and always spoken much too late to stay -- only for a moment, then they take the breath away
nine_k 6y ago
I can only quote the Red Queen: "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place." One needs to stay competent, if not competitive, to stay employable, even for moderately advanced and moderately-paid positions. There's no chance to learn the craft and expect it to stay the same for a lifetime.
- Barrin92 6y ago
  >One needs to stay competent, if not competitive, to stay employable if you are reasonably competent you can get a boring coding job at a large firm that pays probably twice the average national salary. Software development pays so well compared to other sectors and is so starved for workers pretty much always, and unemployment is basically nonexistent, I think like the author you might confuse "working hat hip startup XY and making 200k" with being employable and living comfortably

powersnail 6y ago

But the value of "staying competitive" is to better earn money and status. It's less greedy than maximizing money/status, but it's on the same line of pursuit. The parent's point is that there are more aspects in life than work that you can improve on (eating healthier would be one of them). And as long as your work can sustain your life, you are free to choose to work on something else. Of course, you can choose to focus even more on working, too, if you please.

Ma8ee 6y ago
The value of staying competitive is also to be employable even after you have turned 50.
cheschire 6y ago
Well, there's something to be said about staying competitive if you're in a job you're concerned about losing. Having the ability to get laid off and pick up another job within a few weeks does bring with it a certain amount of safety that complacency might not bring.
kavalg 6y ago
I perceive staying competitive as being paid fairly for your work (within some reasonable margin). If you are becoming less and less useful to the company/industry, but your salary is getting higher over the years, your risk of being laid off increases significantly. However, I can't help but mention that if you nurture certain political skills and you are already have some management responsibilities, you can stay "forever" in some big corp even though you are not very useful...
robocat 6y ago
> But the value of "staying competitive" is to better earn money and status. Perhaps you are projecting your own beliefs? Plenty of people choose careers for other reasons e.g. that give them personal satisfaction, or a career that revolves around their belief system. The article still applies even if their career goals are neither status nor money.
shawnz 6y ago

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

I don't know about that, in my experience careers are built on political skills as much as actual ability to do your job. Then there is the obvious problem that winning the rat race makes it pretty clear that you are a rat. I prefer to leave all that to the budding sociopaths.