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Instead of following the notorious "do what you love and money will follow" advice, the author suggests instead to: > And so, the advice I would give to young

Instead of following the notorious "do what you love and money will follow" advice, the author suggests instead to: > And so, the advice I would give to young people is this: structure your life so that you have the time and money to do what you love. That’s not easy to do by any means, but it is a much more realistic goal. I often tell people that when I first entered the tech industry many moons ago, I wasn't chasing the money. I simply loved working with computers. And it just so happens that working in tech is lucrative. But I do wonder, fast forward 15 years later, if I would've stuck around if the field wasn't as booming. I wonder if I tricked myself into believing that working in tech is really my passion ...

baxtr 4y ago
Don’t be hard on yourself. Things with traction are usually interesting per se.
jdbernard 4y ago
I have found myself in a similar position for most of my career. I also got into for the love of working with code. But I've stayed in the industry largely because it enables me to provide a comfortable lifestyle for my family. I am still passionate about writing software, but the software I like to write doesn't pay the bills. It's avocational. The tech industry afforded my family the lifestyle I desire, but it didn't really ignite my passion, it was just lucrative. I've since shifted into management. I'm finding new fulfillment in creating the kinds of teams I wish I had as an IC, that lets individuals work in ways they find fulfilling.
bradlys 4y ago
Broke: “figure out your passion and make that your job” Woke: “get a lucrative career and find time to do your passions on the side” Bespoke: “find a lucrative profession and gaslight yourself into thinking you loved it all along” I know what I liked originally about computers was gaming, modding, hacking, and building them. I didn’t have a huge interest in programming and I definitely didn’t have an interest in having shitty managers. Yet here I am - big head SV engineer.
moe091 4y ago
If you did trick yourself, then maybe that's actually a good thing. New advice: instead of "do what you love and the money will follow," find something lucrative and learn to love it. Though I think in most cases that might be difficult/impossible, maybe you just got lucky
shubhamjain 4y ago
I was making computer programs just for the heck of it even before I knew it was possible to make money with them. Even if the field wasn't booming, I would have stuck around and kept making them on the side. Doing what you love doesn't mean it can only happen full-time.
enobrev 4y ago
I've wondered the same, with the same lead into the industry. I don't think it's possible to extract the two from one-another. I've nerded-out on the majority of the projects I've worked on through my career - especially in the latter years. But there are quite a few projects in the past that would not have come to completion without a big fat carrot to keep my belly full and my favorite bartenders' rent paid. Some weeks - no matter how interesting the problem is - I couldn't possibly care. The money remains a great fallback motivator; And unfortunately, often can end up being a shackle to a project that's well past its sell-by date.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  I would be solving puzzles using computing for free (and often do at home, with or without the kids). I find it very fortunate that others are willing to pay handsomely to be able to specify the puzzles that I work on. Win-win.
allenbina 4y ago
I wonder about this all the time. In the past 5 years I've learned a lot of IoT projects, electronics, arduino. I've played around with linux for decades, but my passion was originally music. I went down the music path but the money was awful. It taught me how to apply myself to different projects, and I don't love tech as much as I love music, but it allows me to have the freedom to do other things, which I also love.
comfypotato 4y ago
They aren't mutually exclusive. I think you and I both have enjoyed the happy coincidence that we like programming more than most things that pay equally.

baxtr 4y ago

Don’t be hard on yourself. Things with traction are usually interesting per se.

jdbernard 4y ago

I have found myself in a similar position for most of my career. I also got into for the love of working with code. But I've stayed in the industry largely because it enables me to provide a comfortable lifestyle for my family. I am still passionate about writing software, but the software I like to write doesn't pay the bills. It's avocational. The tech industry afforded my family the lifestyle I desire, but it didn't really ignite my passion, it was just lucrative. I've since shifted into management. I'm finding new fulfillment in creating the kinds of teams I wish I had as an IC, that lets individuals work in ways they find fulfilling.

bradlys 4y ago

Broke: “figure out your passion and make that your job” Woke: “get a lucrative career and find time to do your passions on the side” Bespoke: “find a lucrative profession and gaslight yourself into thinking you loved it all along” I know what I liked originally about computers was gaming, modding, hacking, and building them. I didn’t have a huge interest in programming and I definitely didn’t have an interest in having shitty managers. Yet here I am - big head SV engineer.

moe091 4y ago

If you did trick yourself, then maybe that's actually a good thing. New advice: instead of "do what you love and the money will follow," find something lucrative and learn to love it. Though I think in most cases that might be difficult/impossible, maybe you just got lucky

shubhamjain 4y ago

I was making computer programs just for the heck of it even before I knew it was possible to make money with them. Even if the field wasn't booming, I would have stuck around and kept making them on the side. Doing what you love doesn't mean it can only happen full-time.

enobrev 4y ago

I've wondered the same, with the same lead into the industry. I don't think it's possible to extract the two from one-another. I've nerded-out on the majority of the projects I've worked on through my career - especially in the latter years. But there are quite a few projects in the past that would not have come to completion without a big fat carrot to keep my belly full and my favorite bartenders' rent paid. Some weeks - no matter how interesting the problem is - I couldn't possibly care. The money remains a great fallback motivator; And unfortunately, often can end up being a shackle to a project that's well past its sell-by date.

sokoloff 4y ago
I would be solving puzzles using computing for free (and often do at home, with or without the kids). I find it very fortunate that others are willing to pay handsomely to be able to specify the puzzles that I work on. Win-win.

allenbina 4y ago

I wonder about this all the time. In the past 5 years I've learned a lot of IoT projects, electronics, arduino. I've played around with linux for decades, but my passion was originally music. I went down the music path but the money was awful. It taught me how to apply myself to different projects, and I don't love tech as much as I love music, but it allows me to have the freedom to do other things, which I also love.

comfypotato 4y ago

They aren't mutually exclusive. I think you and I both have enjoyed the happy coincidence that we like programming more than most things that pay equally.