| I did what I wanted, was lazy, did too many drugs, danced to too much music and didn't care about the future. Life got messy at some points and I was almost homeless a couple of times. My career growth was stunted by I ended up about in the same place, or better, as my peers who "applied themselves". I took shitty jobs that made me appreciate the perks of sitting behind a desk. I roamed around a dirt poor social circles which made me appreciate money. I hung with happy hippies who didn't give a shit about what society said thought about them and learned what inner peace means. My perspective about measuring success and failure was changed by my post high school experiences. I chase goals and dreams differently now because I got all the fun and partying out of my system and look back on my life with fond memories of all the excitement I had. Its like I'm not working hard to I can retire and have fun again you know? I know what the uninhibited lifestyle is like and the pros and cons. I choose to live a more calm life because I made a rational decision. Not because I feel like I'm pressured by social norms or external expectations. Now I have a good 9-5 job, some freelance clients, two failed saas businesses, two content sites. I work hard now but only real difference between me and people in similar situations is our age and how peaceful we are internally. If everything around me crumbles and I have nothing again I'm sort of ok with that. I don't worry if I missed out on anything and can relate to the joy and struggles of entirely different classes of people. I guess that brings me a sort of peace when I'm working a long night or putting in extra effort. I just don't get stressed out about things and there is no nagging voice telling me to relax, I did that already. ;) If I were you I'd fuck about, take a furniture delivery job, work in a kitchen and do things only a 20 year old body can handle. Make friends with people who you'll probably never be able to meet again after your CS career takes off and overall, relax. Gain life experience instead of computer experience. |