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What was the biggest pill you've had to swallow about your own self or habits? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

173 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'll go first...after 10 years of speculating in the market (read: gambling in high risk assets) I realized I shouldn't ever touch a brokerage account in my lifetime. A monkey would have made better choices than I did. Greed has altered the course of life many times over. I am at an age where I may recover from my actions over the decades, but it has taken its toll. I am frugal and have a good head on me, but having such impulsivity in financial instruments was not how I envisioned my adulthood. Its a bitter pill to swallow, since money is livelihood of my family, but I need to "invest" all I have into relationships, meaningful moments, and fulfilling hobbies.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Could certainly be argued as a choice ultimately. I didn't quite finish my BS in CS, I'm entering my 30s with a wife that depends on me not leaving my decent and steady warehouse mgmt job atm. I've tried a couple of times--last time I was building a great portfolio maintaining a hobbyist arch distro, but I just never got past the interview stages. My network is too small, and the job market seems to be a dumpster fire with no upturn in sight.

I know these are excuses and ultimately it is a choice that I shouldn't give up on my dreams the way I am, but I wanted to answer your question as honestly as possible for some reason. As far as impact, it's basically been a lifelong dream of mine to just make software that helps improve the quality of life of as many sentient beings as I possibly can. I know it's immature and overly idealist, but I can't shake it

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago

Open source projects and/or contributions can be a good way in.

Work that is publicly visible to anyone, proving what you can do
Building a network with the people you interact with
Learning from open source code & the people who are parts of projects

I didn't know anything about coding when I decided to fix a small bug in my KDE system that was bugging me.. I poked around, asked some questions, figured it out bit by bit.. which led to contributing to KDE more, and now I am a paid KDE developer. I now literally get paid to do something I am passionate about, working on a project that I feel makes a very real impact on the world.

I highly recommend open source to help break into the field. Anyone willing to learn and put some effort in can do it, no previous experience needed. :)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I don't think it's immature - I wish more people had that kind of motivation.

But you say you're entering your 30s. I'd just like to remind you how long time you actually still have. I studied computer science myself and I had multiple friends at the university in their 40s. People do switch up their careers if they want it enough. It is possible.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

These are the comments that do me in. Time to repolish the resume and my most practical projects. I can't believe I'm getting serious about this again, but I do believe in my drive, determination, and earnest passion to be the change I want to see in the software world. I know it's pointless, and I will almost certainly fail quite miserably, but I also know I have to go down swinging or my soul will rot from the regrets. I just have to fail better--I have to do it despite the pointlessness.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 13 hours ago

There is nothing pointless about following your passions - in fact I'd say that is the only point of life. It's the opposite of pointless.

Maybe you need to reframe it as not failure, but progress. See how you get better and closer, not how you didn't reach the goal. It's about the journey.