| All good questions to ask! First some context, there is no "win" in life. it is the journey that you will look back on and either be proud of or regret. And understanding that, understand that everyone's journey is different and so it is nearly impossible to compare yourself to others and their journeys and say with certainty your are doing 'better' or 'worse' than them. It is one of the few cases where it really is "all about you" :-) So should you keep growing yourself? Absolutely. It is how you don't get bored and how you move to the next stage of the journey. Some of the choices you make will be less satisfying and being in the practice of always growing and learning you may find, as I have, that you don't feel 'trapped' by them, instead you just change direction. Are you underpaid? Who knows? I have known people with the title "VP Engineering" who make literally three times what you are making as a base salary and have a bonus program besides. Not all of them liked their life. One in particular was constantly fighting depression and guilt over how little time they spent with their family and how their non-work relationships suffered. Their life had plenty of money but not enough joy. So it is a balance. My philosophy has always been if I'm making enough to cover my needs (current and projected), and I've got a life outside of work that is rewarding and enjoyable, then I don't need to change things (at least in compensation). In my career more money has always come with more expectations and more responsibility, which manifests itself as stress when things are not going as they need to. I have turned down raises and promotions when I knew they wouldn't increase the quality of my life and would likely decrease it. Should you pursue a Master's degree? If you have the resources and time, it helps with flexibility later. I have known folks who "grew up" in a company, started as an undergrad and were looking for a new job 20 years later. And their experience gave them a masters or PhD level of experience in their area of expertise, but without the certificate any new job was going to assume their expertise was over stated and there would be a 1 - 3 year 'ramp' period at the new job where the new employer got to internalize if they really were as expert as they thought/said. From a technical perspective, if you're an engineer and get an MBa or business degree that makes you both more valuable and able to 'span' more of an organization. There is only so much you can accomplish as an individual, being able to bring a team together under a single vision gives you a huge boost in what you can get done. To do that you have to be able to talk to everyone in the concepts they understand so that you can clearly articulate a vision they can then help you execute. Lastly, one trick that a college counselor taught me is to imagine you are doing your dream job or living your dream life. Now write a fictional history of that persons life, like someone reading an introduction of you before a TED talk. Start with the end point and work backwards in the history to where you are right now. It can give you ideas about what your next steps should be. |
> Lastly, one trick that a college counselor taught me is to imagine you are doing your dream job or living your dream life. Now write a fictional history of that persons life, like someone reading an introduction of you before a TED talk. Start with the end point and work backwards in the history to where you are right now. It can give you ideas about what your next steps should be.
I'll try it tonight! thank you!