What do you do for a living?

[WinterM]

I'm 37 years old and I have no idea what em I doing with my life. I have no direction. I tried many jobs, but no carrier. Right now I work as a junior networking technician. Basically many cables and holes in the wall with minimum hardware configuration. In the long term...who knows how many years I can keep doing this.

Maybe you guys are more successful. We will love to hear your great success stories. But maybe you are just like me. And since we don't have a face, there is no shame. If you also suck at life at my age, come and tell your story and share how you make your money.
You experience for me and for the rest will be for sure a learning curve.

A lot of people have this happen, and some call the next phase a "second act".
So I've been in tech on the development/delivery side for years. Along the way I did corporate training sessions, videos, etc., and that got me interested in voiceover, so that became my second act in my 40s. I now do both tech work and VO and love having a second job that's so fun. Most of my work is audiobooks right now but I'm working towards Video Game VO.

It's still tons of work, takes time, and costs money to ramp up, but I see it now as my retirement job, where I can one day leave tech, just do VO, and be more in control of my own hours.

I did a lot of other jobs along the way too - if you think of the stuff you did, and then imagine something you'd love to do, maybe your "second act" will come to you. For example, a lot of people love the idea of home theater or great tech-connected homes, but could use your help with the "many cables and holes in the wall" part, and you could do people's setups for them.

Anyhow, thanks for putting this here!

 

[Lew Zealand]

Maybe. All I know is, success in career doesn't interest me the slightest. It used to, but then I noticed how much others in the business had to graft to get and stay where they are, and how little they earn in comparison. Of course, they earn more than I do, but not so much more to make it worth the trouble. I'd much rather live a peaceful, comfortable life than break myself to earn more.

Edit: Happiness is not a list of achievements, imo. It's about being happy with what you have.

This this 100% this. That's why I'm still a single step from the bottom of our IT org chart. I looked at what was needed and how that was compensated from the next tiers up and said it ain't worth it.

Before my dad died (a workaholic because he grew up dirt poor and didn't want his family to be the same) said that it seemed I was doing the right thing and easing off is a better strategy. He retired because of corp BS and afterwards said he should have done so much earlier.

The BS ain't worth it.

 

[AusWolf]

This this 100% this. That's why I'm still a single step from the bottom of our IT org chart. I looked at what was needed and how that was compensated from the next tiers up and said it ain't worth it.

Before my dad died (a workaholic because he grew up dirt poor and didn't want his family to be the same) said that it seemed I was doing the right thing and easing off is a better strategy. He retired because of corp BS and afterwards said he should have done so much earlier.

The BS ain't worth it.

One step above the bottom is the best place to be, imo. As a warehouse trainer, that's where I am, too. Actually, training isn't even on the main organisational ladder of the business - we're what you'd call a "support function". Sure, we fulfill shift demands, but we don't respond directly to shift management. We have our own manager, but he's just there for support - we sort out our own daily activities ourselves, unless there's something pre-planned by high above, like new workers arriving. This freedom is worth infinitely more than a higher salary.

 

[HuLkY]

The last couple of posts had a lot of insights, emotions and life experience in them. Seeing older gurus sharing their experience to younger folks and giving them such advice is priceless.

 

[bug]

The last couple of posts had a lot of insights, emotions and life experience in them. Seeing older gurus sharing their experience to younger folks and giving them such advice is priceless.

They've also been going in one direction only.
But there are also those that actually do something meaningful and they like what they do. When that happens, you will work without ever feeling you're working. It's rare though. And there's a high risk of you just thinking you're doing something meaningful, sinking in putting in the hours, only to find out the project is really a joke. Still the world should be: you work to live, you don't live to work.

 

[AusWolf]

They've also been going in one direction only.
But there are also those that actually do something meaningful and they like what they do. When that happens, you will work without ever feeling you're working. It's rare though. And there's a high risk of you just thinking you're doing something meaningful, sinking in putting in the hours, only to find out the project is really a joke. Still the world should be: you work to live, you don't live to work.

Without saying that such an approach is wrong, I should add that there's always the danger of the necessity of working killing the enjoyment of doing the work. For example, I like gaming and discussing games, but if I had to play all the latest games for 8 hours a day, regardless of how interesting they are, while also making sure to finish them for a deadline, and then write articles about them, also for a deadline, I'd burn out in a year. Combining work and your hobby sounds awesome, and I highly respect those who manage to do it, but on contrary to popular belief, it's not for everyone.

 

[Tatty_Two]

They've also been going in one direction only.
But there are also those that actually do something meaningful and they like what they do. When that happens, you will work without ever feeling you're working. It's rare though. And there's a high risk of you just thinking you're doing something meaningful, sinking in putting in the hours, only to find out the project is really a joke. Still the world should be: you work to live, you don't live to work.

You pretty much summed it up there, balance, not just at work but everywhere in life is the key to happiness and fulfilment and often that can take time/effort/sacrifice to achieve............... many don't achieve it, often through no fault of their own.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Still the world should be: you work to live, you don't live to work.

Damned straight.

Another axiom that is part of my philosophy is to never let the things you own own you. Materialism is how they enslave you. While I think Dave Ramsey is a bit of a douchebag, I think it was he that expressed it as - You wake up and go to a job you hate, to make money to buy things you can't afford, to impress people you don't even like.

Mad Men was such a great show. Advertising and marketing are insidious. The way they get so many people to attach their sense of self worth to their possessions. My personal litmus test for whether or not my neighbors succumbed to it is if they can park their cars in their garage. Only one other house on the entire street of 40 homes can. A couple have made it workshops or exercise rooms, so that's cool. The rest have to use it as mini storage for all of the extra crap they have accumulated through rampant consumerism. Good luck with that. That's a hard no from me dawg.

 

[bug]

Without saying that such an approach is wrong, I should add that there's always the danger of the necessity of working killing the enjoyment of doing the work. For example, I like gaming and discussing games, but if I had to play all the latest games for 8 hours a day, regardless of how interesting they are, while also making sure to finish them for a deadline, and then write articles about them, also for a deadline, I'd burn out in a year. Combining work and your hobby sounds awesome, and I highly respect those who manage to do it, but on contrary to popular belief, it's not for everyone.

I understand what you're saying, but I don't think you worded this quite right.
"working killing the enjoyment of doing the work" - if you really enjoy what you're doing, there's very little danger of that. There's burnout if you don't pace yourself though.
Also playing and developing games are two very different activities. But I get you. I am both a (former) gamer and a software developer and I have said from the start that I won't do game development, because that would take the fun out of gaming. I mean, it's not like everybody enjoying sex becomes a gynecologist, is it?

 

[Fokker]

Systems Admin/Network Engineer for an MSP. Hopefully I can move over to something just Network Engineering in the next few months. I'm tired of supporting end users and would rather just keep to myself in a network closet, focusing on fixing the problem.

 

[ty_ger]

Electrician on things that fly.

 

[de.das.dude]

Electrician on things that fly.

Hopefully not who i used to work for previously. (sounds like boing)

 

[mtosev]

Sadly I'm disabled and I get money from the government. I'd like to work but no one wants to take me.

 

[freeagent]

Been working with metal for most of my adult life. Right now I am back to making these:

I also install them because I am just so lucky.

 

[A&P211]

Electrician on things that fly.

I was training for that but I enjoy work in the office more, I'm a a&p.

 

[gurusmi]

Hopefully not who i used to work for previously. (sounds like boing)

If the ger in the userID reflects to his location it would be miuch more Airbus in Hamburg, EADS, Zeppelin, Dornier, ...

Sadly I'm disabled and I get money from the government. I'd like to work but no one wants to take me.

Me either. I was told the same by the unemplyment abency where i get money from. So i decided that i want me. Also as an employee. As a project manager in IT i sit all day long in front of a desk. I'm working in that job since 25 Years. To be honest i don't see any difference in sitting at a desk chair or sinning in a wheel chair. But for employers it seems to be different. I decided that i'm much too young to get a pension and get dumb. I decided to start a new business without much travelling. So i build up my own new company. Then I hire myself. My financial setup is limited so i invest what i can monthly right now. When finished i will have to take an online marketing specialist to get my stuff sold online. With that step ii also hire myself.

The only thing i can recommend is not to cry but to do. Change your situation by changing youzr surrounding. There is always a way to go forward. Just do it like in that song favored by a lot of friends in my youth.

Edit:
My grandma always said: "If your a son of good so help yourself".

 

[FoulOnWhite]

I am my partners full time carer which is sometimes trying, if you catch my drift, but not going to leg it when the going gets tough as that is not the right thing to do. I have not worked for 20 odd years, just got to try and keep myself occupied at home.

 

[bug]

Electrician on things that fly.

You mean like birds? And bats?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

If I had a 100k salary, I'd save 80k a year and retire before I reach 50.

Having retired permanently in my early 50s I highly recommend it. As I opined before in this thread, I worked little in the last 25yrs. Which brings me to a pedantic (it was doubtless implied by you.) point. You don't save, you invest. Money loses its value if not earning more with sweet compounding interest, or gains from stock prices over time, etc.

I don't understand the slippery slope of retirement mentality. I have talked to many that feel that way. So programmed to work that they fear entropy will ensue if they don't have that structure. There are so many things to do that are low cost or free to enjoyably occupy your time. I enjoy the message boards and DIY PC hobby immensely. I do combat sports and martial arts. Surf and skateboard sometimes; both longboards. Read omnivorously, stream content with the Mrs., drink our tea watching the sunset. Cook; I did it professionally once upon a time and still love doing it for my family. Some remodeling work on our home, which seems a never ending task. Have few beers with my adult son and just spend quality time. Lift weights. Go to the gun range. It's bliss.

Almost forgot the best stuff. I don't have to tell anyone what to do anymore. Or worse yet, be told. Though that was the minority of my adult life as homie don't play that.

I can stay up late then get up late, or take a seista, if I want. No rush hour traffic. No work related stress. No corpo bullshit. I don't know what price tag to put on that, but it's extremely high.

 

[xmanrigger]

Oil and Gas Industry. Worked as a drilling rig hand for 12 yrs working my way up to Driller. Then moved on to the service side of the industry as a Drilling Fluids Consultant for about 20 yrs.

Semi-retired now. Since the new era (release of RTX 30XX series) of price gauging and scalping by the major players in the PC industry, my interest have changed somewhat. Cost of components forced some of us out of PC gaming and benchmarking. Especially given the volatility of components. Components are obsolete before you even buy them. That has always been so in the PC industry. But compound that with price gauging, and people's interests will shift.

With that said, my PC lab has been converted to a Home Canna-Lab****(pics if anyone interested). Over the past 2 yrs, I have acquired the equipment and glassware to assemble a very functional lab. Unlike PC components, this equipment does not become obsolete. It will last as long as I dont break it. And hey, I now have a new hobby that serves two purposes: First and foremost, I now make my own medicine. Pure and premium Full Spectrum Cannabis Oil. No pharmaceuticals for this guy! Secondly, it is a subject I find very interesting, and now has become my main interest as far as hobbies go. The most expensive piece of lab equipment was the rotary evaporator. The investment into my canna-lab isnt much more than the cost of the last gaming PC I built for myself (custom water cooled i9-10850K/RTX3070, circa 2020).

Producing a quality and premium oil didnt come easy or cheap. I am still learning. With the Cannabis industry still in it's infancy, processes are highly guarded secrets. There is just enough information out there to make a person 'dangerous'. There is no 'cut and dried' procedure on how to process cannabis flower to a premium extract. Lots of trial and error. Also, most all available equipment is scaled at a commercial level. What I am making is well beyond Rick Simpson Oil. I believe I can confidently say I produce a premium product as good or better than a person can buy in an actual cannabis store. And I have the assurance and satisfaction of knowing exactly what did and didnt go into the final extract. Right from the plant's seed to final extracted product.

I hope there are others here with same interest, and knowledge can be shared.

****Cannabis and it's derivatives are legal in Canada.

 

[outpt]

paramedic no more

 

[A&P211]

Having retired permanently in my early 50s I highly recommend it. As I opined before in this thread, I worked little in the last 25yrs. Which brings me to a pedantic (it was doubtless implied by you.) point. You don't save, you invest. Money loses its value if not earning more with sweet compounding interest, or gains from stock prices over time, etc.

I don't understand the slippery slope of retirement mentality. I have talked to many that feel that way. So programmed to work that they fear entropy will ensue if they don't have that structure. There are so many things to do that are low cost or free to enjoyably occupy your time. I enjoy the message boards and DIY PC hobby immensely. I do combat sports and martial arts. Surf and skateboard sometimes; both longboards. Read omnivorously, stream content with the Mrs., drink our tea watching the sunset. Cook; I did it professionally once upon a time and still love doing it for my family. Some remodeling work on our home, which seems a never ending task. Have few beers with my adult son and just spend quality time. Lift weights. Go to the gun range. It's bliss.

Almost forgot the best stuff. I don't have to tell anyone what to do anymore. Or worse yet, be told. Though that was the minority of my adult life as homie don't play that.

I can stay up late then get up late, or take a seista, if I want. No rush hour traffic. No work related stress. No corpo bullshit. I don't know what price tag to put on that, but it's extremely high.

I'll retire within 7yrs at 50yrs, lucky nvidia stock has done a nice increase this year that took off about 2yrs early retirement. I still have NVDA stock but sold about half of it, put that into a REIT.
I'm looking to a multi family unit for next year, a dual plex might sound good.

 

[Space Lynx]

@DAPUNISHER I think the key thing you just said is "not being told what to do" aka not having a boss makes working not to bad at all. I kind of agree with @AusWolf though, if I made good money, I'd put it all into a high yield savings account, and just live simply/modestly. Especially if I could get a UK visa to live there permanently someday (which I hope to do), get me a couple dogs, live near a forest area, get a cheap little automatic car to get me around, nothing fancy. that's my dream anyway as my friends live in the UK and I miss it there. I was going to go visit them next month, but cheapest air bnbn is 1 grand for a month stay... world has lost its damn mind. so that dream is gone for now.

I'll retire within 7yrs at 50yrs, lucky nvidia stock has done a nice increase this year that took off about 2yrs early retirement. I still have NVDA stock but sold about half of it, put that into a REIT.
I'm looking to a multi family unit for next year, a dual plex might sound good.

I almost bought some AMD and Nvidia stock in 2017/2018 just to have something to lean on in 20-30 years, got cold feet at the last second. kicking myself every day since. edit: the worst part is, I don't think there are any cheap stocks left that will ever see gains like this. so game over.

 

[Bagerklestyne]

I'm a degen screw (correctional officer) and have been for the last 1/4 century, I stumbled into the job and got trapped by the golden handcuffs as we call them here. I dabbled in i.t when I was younger (network engineering etc) and I've been programming on and off all my life. I'm 50 this year and I am planning on retiring at 55.

Don't dwell on the past (several times in my life I was unable to capitalise on my abilities - I had a working concept and design for a hard drive based mp3 player 18month before the ipod first released) or you'll eat yourself alive.


I think finding stable employment, with a view to an end goal (be it higher learning and professional goals) or using it to support you while you work on a business/side hustle to generate income is the way to go. Doing something mundane to enable an enjoyable lifestyle is a sacrifice most of us make. But use it to create some passive wealth through investment (houses, shares etc) It also supports you to start a business, run a side hustle or further yourself (education, skilling up._

I currently work 40+ hrs a week, I have shares, healthy superannuation (U.S equivalent is the 401k I think), some crypto and I stream in my spare time and I am looking to secure 1+ investment properties soon.

Whatever it is you do end up doing, make sure it's got some enjoyable elements/pastimes in it, you can't just grind out 60-80 hours a week endlessly with no enjoyment, it will crush you eventually. I do what I do job wise to support my family, but I have my passions and interests for my own enjoyment.

 

[A&P211]

@DAPUNISHER I think the key thing you just said is "not being told what to do" aka not having a boss makes working not to bad at all. I kind of agree with @AusWolf though, if I made good money, I'd put it all into a high yield savings account, and just live simply/modestly. Especially if I could get a UK visa to live there permanently someday (which I hope to do), get me a couple dogs, live near a forest area, get a cheap little automatic car to get me around, nothing fancy. that's my dream anyway as my friends live in the UK and I miss it there. I was going to go visit them next month, but cheapest air bnbn is 1 grand for a month stay... world has lost its damn mind. so that dream is gone for now.



I almost bought some AMD and Nvidia stock in 2017/2018 just to have something to lean on in 20-30 years, got cold feet at the last second. kicking myself every day since. edit: the worst part is, I don't think there are any cheap stocks left that will ever see gains like this. so game over.

HYSA dont really give you that much, right now, most are around 4-5.1%. You might find a 5.2%, but REIT pays upwards of 8-11%.

@DAPUNISHER I think the key thing you just said is "not being told what to do" aka not having a boss makes working not to bad at all. I kind of agree with @AusWolf though, if I made good money, I'd put it all into a high yield savings account, and just live simply/modestly. Especially if I could get a UK visa to live there permanently someday (which I hope to do), get me a couple dogs, live near a forest area, get a cheap little automatic car to get me around, nothing fancy. that's my dream anyway as my friends live in the UK and I miss it there. I was going to go visit them next month, but cheapest air bnbn is 1 grand for a month stay... world has lost its damn mind. so that dream is gone for now.



I almost bought some AMD and Nvidia stock in 2017/2018 just to have something to lean on in 20-30 years, got cold feet at the last second. kicking myself every day since. edit: the worst part is, I don't think there are any cheap stocks left that will ever see gains like this. so game over.

There are always bubbles to look forward too. I like AI stocks but they all seem to be in a bubble.