The days are long but the decades are short (2015)

Re:The days are long but the decades are short (2015) by ed25519FUUU on Monday February 08, 2021 @12:33PM (#26067517)

> On work: it’s difficult to do a great job on work you don’t care about. And it’s hard to be totally happy/fulfilled in life if you don’t like what you do for your work.

Here's a trend I see repeating itself. People in their 20s and 30s tend to say things like: "work on what you love."

But if you ask people in their 40s, 50s, even beyond, the advice is: "Learn to love what you do, no matter what it is."

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Re:The days are long but the decades are short (2015) by pwinnski on Monday February 08, 2021 @04:35PM (#26070492)

"Do what you love" is advice that comes from the enormous privilege some people have to make money doing what they love. I'm one of those people, so I get it, but many, many people don't love computer programming or something else profitable.

So yes, "learn to love what you do" is much, much better advice.

I've watched people (younger than I am) struggle with being in jobs they didn't love, as if they were failing. The jobs may have been failing them, but they weren't failing the jobs.

If you're lucky--as I am, as Sam Altman is--then you can do what you love. Otherwise, you have to do what pays the bills and leaves you enough free time to pursue what you love.

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Re:The days are long but the decades are short (2015) by mqrs on Monday February 08, 2021 @07:53PM (#26072514)

“Do what you love” is not so much a privileged thing to say. It’s just an ideal to aspire towards, a north star of sorts, even if you’re currently in a position where you’re only doing what pays the bills. Doing what you love is life advice on how to live a good, happy, and fulfilling life—do what pays the bills isn’t.

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Re:The days are long but the decades are short (2015) by jefurii on Monday February 08, 2021 @01:24PM (#26068141)

This reminds me interviews with Japanese artisans who approach their swordmaking/pottery/baking/tofu-making as a spiritual practice. These all seem to be older people.

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