[Karawebnetwork]

At what cost?

A career is just one facet of a fulfilled life alongside relationships, health, personal development and joy. Putting everything aside aiming for promotions may look like a success on paper but it often leads to burnout, loneliness and unfulfilled goals in other areas.

You can climb the ladder but if you ignore the rest of your life you may reach the top, only to realize once alone at the summit that your entire kingdom is in disarray.

Perhaps slowing your career can even be wise if the other spheres of your life are suffering. A sabbatical year or even a deliberate downshift can offer the space to realign and rediscover purpose.

There is something to be said about survivorship bias too, many who work hard don't achieve similar outcomes. We often hear from those who worked relentlessly and succeeded but rarely from the many who worked just as hard and didn't see the same results. For example, some studies show that nearly half of the women in tech leave the industry by mid-career, often due to systemic barriers

[eastbound]

Some people are just socially inept. As far as I remember, groups have turned against me for no reasonable reason. Saw therapists for years, the best one I kept a dozen years but she grew irritated.

Some people are just born to bring taxes in.

(And before you bring up the smug: Did plenty of sports, windsurf, judo, snowboarding, racketball, plenty of travels, lived abroad, tried both genders, had all sorts of friends. Sometimes you just don’t get how to do social. I just work to forget. It’s so extremely irritating, I used to want to take revenge, humans are just… Nazis would be proud).

So yeah, don’t be smug about people who just work. Sometimes that’s just where they are the least “toxic” according to their environment.

[LexiMax]

There's a difference, though. From your post, it doesn't sound like you actually enjoy your line of work at all. Instead, it sounds like work is merely being the thing that happens to annoy you the least - something to occupy and stimulate your mind to pass the time.

If my hunch is correct, I think it's only fair to point out that the grandparent was arguing against the career advancement at all costs mindset that the blog is talking about, not situations like yours.

Speaking of which, I am truly sorry you feel the way you do about social stuff. I've grappled with social anxiety and lack of social awareness before, and although I don't think I was ever angry at humanity to the degree you are, I can appreciate how isolating and miserable that headspace can get.

[freejazz]

> reasonable reason

Just a guess that it lies packed somewhere in your use of the word "reasonable"

[Karawebnetwork]

In my opinion, this reflects more on the groups you've interacted with than on you personally.

I don't want to put you in a box, but consider this example:

"There is no significant difference in the effectiveness of how autistic and non-autistic people communicate, according to a new study, challenging the stereotype that autistic people struggle to connect with others." https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/autistic-people-communicat...

This highlights how much of our perception is shaped by context and societal bias.

Our society is unwell and the idea of a "third space" (a place outside of home and work where people can connect and thrive) has largely disappeared.

Working a lot can be wonderful when it brings you joy. Think of the Japanese concept of Ikigai (生き甲斐), which refers to having a sense of purpose: something that brings fulfillment and makes life feel worthwhile. If your work gives you that, then that's amazing, and you're fortunate.

It could be that you were born to bring nothing but profits and taxes to the community. And that's perfectly fine if it genuinely makes you happy.

The issue, in my view, is that in our unbalanced society work often becomes that default third space. But it's not designed to support human flourishing in that way. By design, it is meant to extract the maximum amount of profit from human resources, with little to no concern for their well-being. This often leads to burnout or disillusionment, especially when decades of effort go unnoticed or fail to make a meaningful impact on society.

Imagine if we had more spaces where we could do meaningful work, not necessarily for profit, in safe and supportive environments that foster connection with like-minded people. Many of us who quietly struggle on our own while still performing at a high level would finally feel like we belong to a supportive group.