This is one of those places where I've been really conflicted for as long as I've been back with programming.
Right now, I'm going with the path that not only makes more money(and thusly induces less stress), but also has a higher probability of making people's lives better, through the kinds of things I want to put my time and effort into being focused around enabling people to create their own jobs.
Yet I know extremely well what I want to do, what makes me happy. It will make some others happy, but a significantly smaller number. It certainly won't change lives for the better. But doing it would make it so the things I think about in the margins of my mind, all day and night, for as long as I can remember, are what I spend my life working on.
In essence: I can't tell if it's a better idea to do what makes me happy, or what makes others' lives better.
Comments
This is one of those places where I've been really conflicted for as long as I've been back with programming.
Right now, I'm going with the path that not only makes more money(and thusly induces less stress), but also has a higher probability of making people's lives better, through the kinds of things I want to put my time and effort into being focused around enabling people to create their own jobs.
Yet I know extremely well what I want to do, what makes me happy. It will make some others happy, but a significantly smaller number. It certainly won't change lives for the better. But doing it would make it so the things I think about in the margins of my mind, all day and night, for as long as I can remember, are what I spend my life working on.
In essence: I can't tell if it's a better idea to do what makes me happy, or what makes others' lives better.
Given that money has a time value, it makes sense to do the latter in your early years and gradually tilt the balance towards the former.