31 with one kid here (less than a year old)... I agree completely. Although I haven't done bad for myself financially I often feel I spent my 20s working 60 hours weeks and delaying gratification only to have the gratification not worth it. What little you get in financial return and notoriety is not worth going 10 years of your life doing nothing but sleep and work.

I like this answer. I am only 25, but I have made some recent decisions in life that have lead me to being more focused on exploring the world than my career. I guess, at some point, I thought to myself "What am I going to teach my future kids?", and that's when I realized that I needed to get out in the world, learn some languages, play some music, and do some crazy shit. Best idea I've had so far. Thanks for reminding me.

And as your kids get older they need more time, I have 3; 12, 10 & 9. When they were small I could put them to bed at 7pm and work all evening on personal projects - those days are gone!

Completely agree.

41 with two kids, all that time spent working should have been spent experiencing the world and having a lot more fun.

I think a combination of getting more senior at work and having kids reduces your choices in how you can spend your time (To be fair it opens up new options as well). It highlights the value of your time and how little you got in return for it when it was abundant.