> Just a lack of other goals for which to substitute.
Ding ding.
I've mentored students/grads from aforementioned prestigious Universities and most of them just genuinely don't know what they want
After a few drinks, many have voiced a fear of there being so many options in life and not knowing which would be more fulfilling for them.
Many reach a goal (graduation~), don't know what's really next, look around at nearby peers/family, and simply emulate what they see.
I never worked on anything related to what I mainly studied and am thankfully programming now (not in Fortran though) and know that this is what I wanted all along.
Consulting, Finance, and Bigtech offer a combination of rapid salary growth, low career risk, and a resume item that almost ensures that you pass the CV stage at every future interview. If you’re unsure about your path it is a great way to ensure you have many doors to choose from once you do.
I think that risk-aversion is part of what keeps people from choosing what they really want to do.
[1] https://academyedstudies.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/jonesro...
They better get used to it, because that is life :)
A Relevant bit of reading, I think, I hope: https://fs.blog/2014/05/hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan/
Generally, they begin with an end in mind. It’s a lot easier to get where you’re going if you know where that is.
Or, as the Cheshire Cat says to Alice, “Which way should I go?” “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t much care.” “Then it doesn’t really matter.” (Abridged)
1. Estimate $X: how much $$$ investment do I need in order for my family to live off interest for Y years so I never work again? For me right now, $X is 5M and Y is 40 years.
2. What do I need to do right now in order to get closer to $X? Maybe it's "study computer engineering". Maybe it's "get a job in tech". Maybe it's "apply for a FAANG company". Maybe it's "Go for promo". Maybe it's "Add more to my retirement savings". Maybe it's even "Change my entire fucking career, I'm at a dead end." Whatever it is will be different for whatever stage of life I'm at.
3. If not at $X, GOTO 1.
4. Retire and do whatever I really want to do with my life.
That's pretty much it for my state machine. I wish I figured this out in my 20s--if I did, I'd be much closer to step 4 than I am now in my 40s.
At some level I think everyone is pushing some part of ‘what I really want to do’ to the future. I know I do. At the same time I think it’s important to remember to enjoy the years leading up to step 4, even if that makes the overall path less efficient.
1: the monk and the riddle
You don’t have to live off interest to retire. 4% withdrawal is good enough [1]. You might be lot closer to retirement than you think.
Do you know what that is? I suspect most people don't, especially after spending 20+ years in various jobs.
Probably. What about the rest of us who aren't really looking to those people for any kind of framework? Part of the whole "thinking there's a grand narrative" that caused me anxiety was trying to model after all of these "successful" people, what they were doing, and realizing I wasn't any happier for it.
Lately, what's brought me a lot of calm wasn't the chase of an "end state" (so to speak) but more optimizing my path. That, personally, and only speaking personally has been INFINITELY more rewarding.
If that's the "it" factor, then so be it ;)
Sergey and Larry tried to sell Google for 1 million dollars, and failed. Zuck thought Facebook would never be profitable. The idea that "successful people" have plan all along is fiction.
They might have a vision and are pursuing said vision, but things rarely turn out anywhere near the way they are intended.
From what I understand, after all the hullabaloos in interviewing, most programmers at these companies are assigned menial, boring maintenance code tasks all day.
Also it’s entirely possible to land in a good team as a new-grad. Be a little picky during team selection.
Couldn't agree more. "Prestige" and the insecurity of people who seek it is the root of why people run the rat race. It is of course a race because we're pushing all our might in an effort to win.
Now I'm not against competitiveness, but if were talking 40+ hour weeks of 30+ years of grinding for this abstract concept of prestige, then it's pointless, and those people accruing checkboxes on their resume are running like lemmings off a cliff. It doesn't help that the chimp mind is wired to feel the pain of low status in the pecking order. But, living life to avoid that pain, through decades of work is just throwing your life away, the only life one gets to live, 90 mph off the cliff. This is why working too much is one of the biggest regrets of people on their deathbeds.
The people working for prestige, titles, paychecks, and status attainment without a larger idea of accomplishing something either for themselves or for the world really don't do anything, accrue far more security than needed, and waste away their time(decades of it) in insecurity, without actually doing anything, except maybe move forward the company agenda (talk about lack of identity, what was the definition of "cog in the wheel"?). No wonder they regret not living their life at 80. Because they haven't.
I would go further: I think a lot of people don't know what they want.
not think(many({
knowswhattheywant(p)
for p in people
}))
!=
think(many({
not knowswhattheywant(p)
for p in people
}))"I don't think a lot of people know what they want." -> I believe it is a rare trait in a person to know what they want.
"I think a lot of people don't know what they want." -> I believe it is a common trait for a person not to know what they want.
These things are not mutually exclusive nor mutually inclusive.
Lots of similar sounding statements are subtly different like this in English. "I am not happy" and "I am unhappy" have slightly different meanings as well.
Taking the most prestigious or most compensation is the safest bet, given that you don't really know what you want to do other than 'I like coding and interesting problems'.
Partly I think that Harvard students have been adapted to seek prestige (else they probably wouldn't be there), but I also think the author is missing that it isn't so much a drive for prestige, but just a lack of other goals for which to substitute.