So, years ago I felt trapped by the success I had built to that point. But I also felt that it was all meaningless and I wanted to something more important. I n

So, years ago I felt trapped by the success I had built to that point. But I also felt that it was all meaningless and I wanted to something more important. I needed a mission. I gave up everything to go pursue that goal. (It turned out that I was giving up much less than I had thought.) My new career didn't work out like I had hoped, but I was doing something that I felt was meaningful. I was about something. I met my wife when I was about something. And she married me even though I was poor. But I was a hell of a lot happier and that was attractive. I came back to tech but with a whole different outlook. What am I about now? I am a family guy, everything I do is for them. I don't think my adventures are over (sure hope not!) but they make even dealing with daily bullshit at work meaningful. We are lucky that we can apply our field to other industries. We can choose nearly anything we want to go into. We have enormous privilege. Life is a fucking playground. Want to help cure cancer? I'm sure they need tech guys for something. Believe in libraries or helping poor or veteran's care or internet access for rural areas? It's a choose your own adventure game. Even those billionaires you mentioned didn't set out to make billions. They had a mission, computers in every home, connecting social graphs online, etc. Finally, I would just say that those people that you feel are so shallow are probably trying to fill the same hole. They're not terrible people, they're just doing what they think will make them happy. My email is in my profile if you want to chat. Just know that everything ends. Good things and especially bad things. This time you're going through will also end and something new will start.