[closeparen]

Liking what you do for at least half of your waking hours is a pretty significant input to happiness. You may as well ask why people try to find jobs that pay them well, or partners whose company they enjoy.

Software engineers with the right personality have a better chance of genuinely enjoying our work than the average person, so it’s on our minds. Coding isn’t something you automatically have to drag yourself through kicking and screaming like some other jobs.

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

And as part of building the life you want, you're going to have to do things you don't like a lot of the time. Sacrifice is almost always necessary to achieve one's goals, that's just part of how the universe works.

I guess what I'm saying is that, just because you don't like doing it doesn't mean it isn't contributing to your satisfaction with life in the aggregate.

[closeparen]

For a lot of people in Silicon Valley, the sacrifice was working one's ass off in school to become a competitive candidate. The BigCo job is the reward.

Or for people in startups, the sacrifice is mediocre cash compensation and long hours, with the reward being a higher-than-usual probability of striking it rich.

Those of us who grow up with an affinity for software development have won the game, so to speak: we don't really have to sacrifice just to make a living.