I just finished Po Bronson's latest book, What Should I Do with My Life?. I found it did pretty much what I expected it would do - expose many of the feelings I've had for a while now about the lack of satisfaction I have in my profession and the pull to start over (again). it makes for very good reading, just don't expect any answers (they will come from within. maybe).
Complete change
gnat on 2003-02-23T03:32:10
I see more and more tech people giving up on the exploitative rat race and instead starting something completely new. They start horticulture companies or make furniture or anything else that doesn't involve computers. My uncle Jeff figures that not having a burning love of horticulture might help him in his new bulb-growing greenhousey enterprise--he's not so distracted by the plants and can treat it like a business instead of a Dream Come True.
Anyway, just thought I'd pass on something I've been seeing a lot of lately ...
--Nat
(time to practice the banjo and turn professional! :-)
Just got the book from the library
Purdy on 2003-02-24T16:04:36
Plan on reading it soon. I read
the sample chapter from FastCompany and that got me thinking that the folks leaving tech didn't really get into tech for the right reasons.
After reading it and thinking a lot about my situation, I have come to the conclusion that I REALLY enjoy working with computers, ever since my parents got my a IBM PCjr and playing Rocky's Boots (an AND/OR gate logic "game"). I got swayed right before I went to college to go pre-med (after shadowing a radiologist that made $240,000/year for minimal work), but my poor grades kept me from persuing that route. Instead, I found myself back on the computer track. I would bet that even if I survived medical school and became a doctor, I wouldn't really enjoy it and would find myself back in computers somehow.
I agree with the bottom line - you have to love what you do. But working with computers and loving what you work on aren't mutually exclusive. The answers lie within.
Jason
