Yeah I was still feeling pretty motivated (I hate the word "passionate") at 28 but started to lose it in my 40s. I'm in my 50s now and want to retire but will need to wait at least until my kids are done with their educations.
You become much more cognizant of the ticking clock on your lifespan after you pass 50. You realize you have maybe 20-30 years left (which sounds like not much after you've lived 50), and you don't really get enthused about spending it learning yet another framework, language, or piece of infrastructure.
I've read similar anecdotes for a decade now. That has really pushed me towards the FIRE movement and kept me there for a while. Only recently have I realized that my position towards my career (don't get attached or financially dependent, you can be laid off tomorrow, aspiring for days of no more work) has had a really negative effect on my life.
I've been in a perpetual state of waiting for the future of no work. I spend plenty of time living in the moment but at the highest level my current life plan has been "wait" or "rest and vest". Life has been materially better in every single way but I couldn't shake this unhappiness of "waiting". I also felt very similar to OP.
It wasn't until I recently turned down a much better job offer at Amazon and watched Stutz that has made a profound impact for me. Turning down a financially better job at Amazon (to put my sanity and happiness above money) really helped me realize I genuinely have the job I want. Watching Stutz made me aware of the 3 aspects of reality no one can avoid (Pain, Uncertainty and Work). In my mind FIRE was going to solve all 3 aspects for me.
I write all of this only to say I agree with you. But for others who find themselves overcompensating by overlooking/hating work that can be just as big of a mistake. Except for this mental shift my life has been mostly the same for the past 5 years, but the past 6 months have been significantly happier.
Right. My passion moved on from being about the technology itself to using it to help people with their problems. Realizing that something that is trivially easy to me can be almost life-changing to someone else is exciting.
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Yeah I was still feeling pretty motivated (I hate the word "passionate") at 28 but started to lose it in my 40s. I'm in my 50s now and want to retire but will need to wait at least until my kids are done with their educations.
You become much more cognizant of the ticking clock on your lifespan after you pass 50. You realize you have maybe 20-30 years left (which sounds like not much after you've lived 50), and you don't really get enthused about spending it learning yet another framework, language, or piece of infrastructure.
I've read similar anecdotes for a decade now. That has really pushed me towards the FIRE movement and kept me there for a while. Only recently have I realized that my position towards my career (don't get attached or financially dependent, you can be laid off tomorrow, aspiring for days of no more work) has had a really negative effect on my life. I've been in a perpetual state of waiting for the future of no work. I spend plenty of time living in the moment but at the highest level my current life plan has been "wait" or "rest and vest". Life has been materially better in every single way but I couldn't shake this unhappiness of "waiting". I also felt very similar to OP. It wasn't until I recently turned down a much better job offer at Amazon and watched Stutz that has made a profound impact for me. Turning down a financially better job at Amazon (to put my sanity and happiness above money) really helped me realize I genuinely have the job I want. Watching Stutz made me aware of the 3 aspects of reality no one can avoid (Pain, Uncertainty and Work). In my mind FIRE was going to solve all 3 aspects for me. I write all of this only to say I agree with you. But for others who find themselves overcompensating by overlooking/hating work that can be just as big of a mistake. Except for this mental shift my life has been mostly the same for the past 5 years, but the past 6 months have been significantly happier.
Right. My passion moved on from being about the technology itself to using it to help people with their problems. Realizing that something that is trivially easy to me can be almost life-changing to someone else is exciting.