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by solotronics 2025 days ago
I write software because I have always liked computers and always spent all my free time figuring out coding, linux, networking, and hacking in general. I don't expect to become the next Zuckerberg and I think that's the equivalent of telling kids they can make it in professional sports. I'm just content making a comfortable living building systems for someone else.

I think I could have made roughly as good of a living being a plumber, an electrician, or a welder! A good electrician around here makes 150k a year. I think the best career advice I heard was pick something you can stand doing and work as hard as you can at it, try and be as good as you can, not measured against someone else but for your self. If you pick a career where expertise matters and it has demand and you work harder and smarter than other people you will do fine.

2 comments

The thing is, some people don't want to do well and merely be part of the upper middle class. Some people want to get rich. And the strategies you must employ to be comfortable are much different than those required to make serious money.

Different strokes, different folks.

That's naive and unexperienced view on life values and true achievements.

These days, money isn't impressive. What you actually do in your life is. For some of it, some amount of money is important, and if you have plenty its easier to achieve. But that's about it. I live in place swarming with rich folks, both old rich and new rich, while being neither. Most of them live such boring lives it would be sad if I cared for them. Never once met one of them that I would want to swap my adventurous life with. Had to go through a bit of hardship to get where I am obviously but not that much.

What I want to say - striving to get rich from the start is a stupid strategy of a clueless person. Be good at something you do, and more importantly be good at living a great life, being a good kind person. Being rich becomes just a gimmick, whether it happens or not.

> I live in place swarming with rich folks, both old rich and new rich, while being neither. Most of them live such boring lives it would be sad if I cared for them.

I was half-expecting the next sentence to be "Sign up for my webinar and I'll teach you how to make your life as fun as mine!"

Seriously though, what do you mean by "adventurous life"?

> Seriously though, what do you mean by "adventurous life"?

If the post you were replying to wasn’t composed while skydiving above shark-infested waters with a supermodel by their side, I’m going to be terribly disappointed.

Low-cost backpacking in 3rd world (obviously not during covid), hiking, alpinism, climbing, via ferratas, ski touring/alipinism, skiing, paragliding, diving... plus some more usual sports/activities like biking, running, swimming.

It doesn't have to be that many (which is hard to manage with 100% employment), even 1 would suffice if done properly. I have a kid now, second possibly on the way, so even without covid some of this is/will be massively scaled down. But I still want to pick up new ones - right now its precision target shooting and archery.

Its more about mindset - if you feel you have a great life, money is just a tool to keep it. For that you don't need terribly much, heck some full time climbers live in camper vans for the whole time. On the other hand if you don't enjoy your life, money won't make it magically better, sometimes the opposite.

And no I don't sell some stupid coaching :) Those are just my own experiences

Why can't you be rich and be exciting things? I know many definitely rich, and definitely exciting (maybe too exciting) people.
I probably should’ve become a fisherman then.