[DelaneyM]

I can't help but feel career plans, even inherently flexible ones such as the 80000 hour plan, discourage serendipity and encourage sunk-cost thinking.

I'm not saying this is a bad idea, just that for the specific HackerNews demographic it may be a bit of an anti-pattern.

[spraak]

In my experience as one who tends towards spirituality, intuition etc over science - this type of path is jut the balance I need to keep moving towards my life's goals. I overly focus on serendipity and synchronicity to where I often don't accomplish much practical

[nsomaru]

Strange that you think spirituality and science are mutually exclusive.

[spraak]

Can you explain how you think they aren't?

I think they can still be found together but generally they're at opposite ends.

Also science was just one term I could think to describe that end of the spectrum

[nsomaru]

Sure.

If you mean 'science the world view' which means the philosophical stance that Consciousness (Spirit) is an emergent property of matter (amongst other things), then yes there's a spectrum and they're opposed.

On the other hand if you mean 'science the approach' — then there are many spiritual paths that follow the approach of the presentation of results and a method by which those results may be verified or refuted by a practitioner.

[spraak]

Thanks for explaining! I appreciate the differentiation you've made between the world view and the approach, as I'd forgotten about that. I agree that many spiritual paths do follow a very precise approach. And in fact, I'd reverse this:

> Consciousness (Spirit) is an emergent property of matter

to this:

> Matter is an emergent property of Consciousness/Spirit

from a spiritual point of view :)

[cottsak]

Yeh, I'd also like to know whether the HN demographic really has a hard time at finding work?

[ryandrake]

It's not super hard to imagine. It's not like awesome jobs grow on trees, or that they're giving them away at the airport. If you're one of the few people in the world who can simply point to their ideal company, declare "I shall work there!" and then [poof] you're there, then congratulations on your good fortune. For the rest of us, finding the next rung on the ladder is an endless struggle, and there are not a lot of practical "how to" resources out there.

I'm 40, have been working in technology for close to 20 years, and have had the great fortune to have stayed employed for most of those years, but for the entirety of this I've considered myself "underemployed". I've woken up each day thinking "boy I could be doing so much more if only I wasn't limited by [ ROLE | COMPANY | GEOGRAPHY | BOSS | ETC ]. Don't get me wrong--I feel grateful that tech is one of those careers where you at least have a chance to improve where you are, but these opportunities are still few, far between, and you have to pound the pavement to find them. You do need to plan and you need to ask the right questions of yourself. I like this article because it provides some structure for your plan and helps you to think about the good questions to ask yourself.

[morgante]

Planning isn't just for people who have a hard time finding work. It's not even just for people who are unsatisfied in their work.

My entire professional life I've never had trouble finding, often very fulfilling work with great compensation. But I always had a niggling feeling that I could be doing more. Planning helped me to realize that my true goal is to make an impact (even a small one) on millions of people, so now I'm taking the steps to make that happen.

Also, to paraphrase Eisenhower, it's often not the plans which are most beneficial but there mere act of planning. My plans usually turn to rubbish, but the process of planning helps me to center and crystalize my thinking.

[shimon]

Finding work easily doesn't mean that you'll just be automatically swept into the career you want. Some thoughtful planning is important even if it just helps you know what to say no to.

[ryhamz]

This is not about simply finding work. It's about finding the work you want in the long run, which is different.

[isxek]

Some of them do.

[ethbro]

Related question, what's the opposite of sunk cost / escalation of commitment?

In this context, your comment made me think about the counter point, i.e. "I'll be able to make that decision later". Is there a name for procrastination bias?

[DelaneyM]

"optionality bias"