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What do you do after what you do?
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MacNNFamous
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Sep 3, 2020, 12:48 AM
 
Idk where thi si soign im kinda drunk but ... what is the point? I've been working like 10 years in my dream career now. Done alot of cool shit. Made a lot of cool shit. But I feel like it slosing its luster a bit. I'm not the one deciding what cool shit we make, or how w make the cool shit, i'm just sort of a cog in a giant complex machine.

Sometimes I think about just pulling the pin, selling everything, and wandering around. biggest barrier to that is probably healthcare. Ther'es os much of the world to see, hear, experience, but I'm just grindin. Making progress... but starting to feel like hte grind ins't the point of playing.

Anybody else just ... idk... change direction? What happened?
     
Thorzdad
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Sep 3, 2020, 08:00 AM
 
If you can at all swing it (i.e. you aren't encumbered by crushing debt, a family, legal obligations, etc.), I would very much encourage you (or anyone) to jump off the treadmill and go see the world, explore opportunities, adventure, etc. I would also advise you should do all of that without thinking much (if at all) about how any of it might lead to a job or career.

Healthcare is definitely an issue, though pretty much every other country you might travel to will be by-far a much better place to be, if you need healthcare, than the US would be.

Do it now, while you're (comparatively) young. When you're my age, it's far too late. I only wish had had the foresight to not jump on the American Dream Treadmill so quickly back when I was young.
     
andi*pandi
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Sep 3, 2020, 10:57 AM
 
If you want to be a decision-maker, I'm afraid that means jumping up into management or starting your own business. Downside of that is not actually doing the cool stuff.

If your work allows it, take a leave (3 months, 6 months) and see the world. If they don't allow it, and you feel confident the workforce will welcome you back, sign up for cobra insurance, and see the world.

-signed, also on the corporate treadmill of boredom
     
Waragainstsleep
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Sep 3, 2020, 11:43 AM
 
Just start a website iwillbuildanything.com and see what enquiries you get.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
mindwaves
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Sep 5, 2020, 03:14 AM
 
Make youtube videos. Seriously, I am considering doing the same. Post something random that you are good at, make it a bit funny and maybe get some viewers. One guy has 351,000 followers and makes 8k a month (very unprofessionally made videos but very informative). That is a lot. Not saying I can do the same, but for some spare change, it is something to consider.
     
MacNNFamous  (op)
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Sep 5, 2020, 02:16 PM
 
Would love to take some time off. Can't. STudent loans don't stop, and need health insurance.

I did the youtube thing, just hit 1k subs last week. So far I've made $3, thinking about retiring from the day job very soon.
     
OreoCookie
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Sep 5, 2020, 09:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
If you can at all swing it (i.e. you aren't encumbered by crushing debt, a family, legal obligations, etc.), I would very much encourage you (or anyone) to jump off the treadmill and go see the world, explore opportunities, adventure, etc.
This is good advice. Go and see the world, see how things are done in other societies. It’ll teach you tons about yourself, you will learn to see some things critically about your own society while appreciating others more. Ditto for other societies. Two of the most formative experiences of my life were my exchange year during high school in the US and in Japan during my graduate studies. I have never changed as much as during those years.

Plus, I think the older I get, the more I realize how much more important experiences — especially with others — are over material things.
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
Healthcare is definitely an issue, though pretty much every other country you might travel to will be by-far a much better place to be, if you need healthcare, than the US would be.
Most other developed countries will have much easier access to health care than the US. Many credit cards include a travel health insurance, by the way.
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
Do it now, while you're (comparatively) young. When you're my age, it's far too late. I only wish had had the foresight to not jump on the American Dream Treadmill so quickly back when I was young.
Seconded wholehearted as well. Once you have a partner and kids, traveling or fundamentally changing yourself becomes more difficult. I used to be able to easily spend a month in another country, working with a colleague. Now, that’s, ahem, difficult to use a Japanese wya of saying impossible.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
OreoCookie
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Sep 5, 2020, 09:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by mindwaves View Post
Make youtube videos. Seriously, I am considering doing the same. Post something random that you are good at, make it a bit funny and maybe get some viewers. One guy has 351,000 followers and makes 8k a month (very unprofessionally made videos but very informative). That is a lot. Not saying I can do the same, but for some spare change, it is something to consider.
Although it is important that if you want to make your living with Youtube, you will be subject to a different set of pressures. This does not have to be bad, just saying. Streamers, podcasters and Youtubers usually have to work hard to make a living, who would have thunk.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
   
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