| Yes. I am now 32 and realized how hard my personal life suffered from thinking I could accelerate my career by working as hard as I could starting around 2013. Sure, I got promoted around once a year and my salary jumped 10-15% per year without ever having to switch jobs. I learned a ton about enterprise software and architecture from real world experience. I went from zero to hero at my last job and became one of the most dependable people in my department in less than a year of working there. But it took a heavy toll. I went through two wonderful relationships that turned sour from resentment. I worked 58-70hr weeks on average this year with no weekends for four months. The worst was a year ago when I worked 100hrs/wk for 5 weeks straight which led me to severe depression, a failed project, and a missed 10k bonus. I never had energy to do side projects or anything else except play video games, which didn't counterbalance my work. I spent very little time on cultivating my relationship with my partner so being around them wasn't relaxing. I had ego issues even allowing myself to relax and give myself alone time because it wasn't time spent learning and growing. My life revolved around helping everyone but myself. I turned down a 42k raise before I left my last job because I knew what the stakes were had I accepted it in exchange for staying. More money and accelerated experience won't give you a happy life. It will destroy it instead. I finished my last consulting project a week ago and I'm just taking a few weeks to heal. No responsibility, no coding, no stress, no worry, no chip on my shoulder holding a club over my head. I meditate an hour a day now, which is very therapeutic, and I allow myself to play video games all day without judgement. It's time to celebrate me, and I'm loving it. After I heal, it's time to start my own business. I'm tired of spending my valuable time and energy helping other people become rich while I clean up after every stupid political decision they make. People are way too aggressive on timelines and cost without understanding the consequences on the software and on the morale of their employees. I need to get out of the rat race and attain financial independence, which was my original goal before I worked so hard, I forgot where I was going. |