Similar story for me, started programming at 12, I'm 44 now, never had a win. So I'm not one to listen to for advice on success, but, I feel that studying what

Similar story for me, started programming at 12, I'm 44 now, never had a win. So I'm not one to listen to for advice on success, but, I feel that studying what NOT to do can be just as valuable. Here are some insights that I find helpful: - The industry is designed so that one guy wins and gets rich and the other 99% lose. Go into battle knowing you will lose, and create a different kind of success for those around you and humanity at large. (Borrowed from Fight Club). - This is not forever. You'll be paid to solve problems at the bleeding edge of technology, which means that you're solving something that corporations have likely already solved, which isn't opened sourced yet, that someone will open source the year after you build it. (Try anyway, be kind anyway, love anyway). - The universe will support you in any mode you choose to live in. This one took me a really long time to figure out - well into the pandemic. There's nobody at the wheel above you, you're in control. Or to rephrase, any external definition of God is incomplete until you reconnect with your own personal divinity. So someday we all have to learn to let go and give the universe a chance to help. That's the only way to level up that I've found, and the only explanation other than sheer greed that aligns with how people build wealth beyond their personal contribution. (Applies to all wealthy people). Expanding on that last point: being on call was the main thing that triggered my burnout in 2019. It's something I won't do again, because I've experienced how it's not rewarded. In other words, me overextending myself made my situation worse. Cognitive dissonance is our subconscious (body's) way of alerting us that something is wrong so that we can try opposite approaches. Those messages only come in simple forms. If you're tired, rest. If you're lonely, go out and talk to people so you can go on a date. If you're not paid well, set a boundary on yourself to work 40 hours or less so that you and your boss can discover who isn't pulling their weight. If you can't do any of these things, then you don't have a job, you have a commitment to something. Align with that and peace will follow.