<story><title>The Prestige Trap: finance, big tech, and consulting</title><url>https://wesdesilvestro.com/the-prestige-trap</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>thrav</author><text>Yeah, this is a popular saying, but couldn’t be further from the truth for the most successful people.&lt;p&gt;Generally, they begin with an end in mind. It’s a lot easier to get where you’re going if you know where that is.&lt;p&gt;Or, as the Cheshire Cat says to Alice, “Which way should I go?” “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t much care.” “Then it doesn’t really matter.” (Abridged)</text></item><item><author>dvtrn</author><text>I felt that way about my own life. Still so sometimes. Though far, far less than I used to, and feeling noticeably less anxiety about it previously.&lt;p&gt;A Relevant bit of reading, I think, I hope: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fs.blog&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fs.blog&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>seppin</author><text>Exactly, everyone acts like there is some grand plan&amp;#x2F;design to all decision making. Everyone is just winging it.</text></item><item><author>Gunax</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t think a lot of people know what they want. There is just as much guessing as to which job to take as employers have choosing who to hire.&lt;p&gt;Taking the most prestigious or most compensation is the safest bet, given that you don&amp;#x27;t really know what you want to do other than &amp;#x27;I like coding and interesting problems&amp;#x27;.&lt;p&gt;Partly I think that Harvard students have been adapted to seek prestige (else they probably wouldn&amp;#x27;t be there), but I also think the author is missing that it isn&amp;#x27;t so much a drive for prestige, but just a lack of other goals for which to substitute.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ryandrake</author><text>Yea, I&amp;#x27;m a big believer in setting goals, and then taking the &amp;quot;most likely&amp;quot; path to get there. My career decision method (disclaimer: it might not work for you) boils down to this:&lt;p&gt;1. Estimate $X: how much $$$ investment do I need in order for my family to live off interest for Y years so I never work again? For me right now, $X is 5M and Y is 40 years.&lt;p&gt;2. What do I need to do right now in order to get closer to $X? Maybe it&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;study computer engineering&amp;quot;. Maybe it&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;get a job in tech&amp;quot;. Maybe it&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;apply for a FAANG company&amp;quot;. Maybe it&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;Go for promo&amp;quot;. Maybe it&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;Add more to my retirement savings&amp;quot;. Maybe it&amp;#x27;s even &amp;quot;Change my entire fucking career, I&amp;#x27;m at a dead end.&amp;quot; Whatever it is will be different for whatever stage of life I&amp;#x27;m at.&lt;p&gt;3. If not at $X, GOTO 1.&lt;p&gt;4. Retire and do whatever I really want to do with my life.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s pretty much it for my state machine. I wish I figured this out in my 20s--if I did, I&amp;#x27;d be much closer to step 4 than I am now in my 40s.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Prestige Trap: finance, big tech, and consulting</title><url>https://wesdesilvestro.com/the-prestige-trap</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>thrav</author><text>Yeah, this is a popular saying, but couldn’t be further from the truth for the most successful people.&lt;p&gt;Generally, they begin with an end in mind. It’s a lot easier to get where you’re going if you know where that is.&lt;p&gt;Or, as the Cheshire Cat says to Alice, “Which way should I go?” “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t much care.” “Then it doesn’t really matter.” (Abridged)</text></item><item><author>dvtrn</author><text>I felt that way about my own life. Still so sometimes. Though far, far less than I used to, and feeling noticeably less anxiety about it previously.&lt;p&gt;A Relevant bit of reading, I think, I hope: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fs.blog&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fs.blog&amp;#x2F;2014&amp;#x2F;05&amp;#x2F;hunter-s-thompson-to-hume-logan&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>seppin</author><text>Exactly, everyone acts like there is some grand plan&amp;#x2F;design to all decision making. Everyone is just winging it.</text></item><item><author>Gunax</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t think a lot of people know what they want. There is just as much guessing as to which job to take as employers have choosing who to hire.&lt;p&gt;Taking the most prestigious or most compensation is the safest bet, given that you don&amp;#x27;t really know what you want to do other than &amp;#x27;I like coding and interesting problems&amp;#x27;.&lt;p&gt;Partly I think that Harvard students have been adapted to seek prestige (else they probably wouldn&amp;#x27;t be there), but I also think the author is missing that it isn&amp;#x27;t so much a drive for prestige, but just a lack of other goals for which to substitute.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dvtrn</author><text>&lt;i&gt;Yeah, this is a popular saying, but couldn’t be further from the truth for the most successful people.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Probably. What about the rest of us who aren&amp;#x27;t really looking to those people for any kind of framework? Part of the whole &amp;quot;thinking there&amp;#x27;s a grand narrative&amp;quot; that caused me anxiety was trying to model after all of these &amp;quot;successful&amp;quot; people, what they were doing, and realizing I wasn&amp;#x27;t any happier for it.&lt;p&gt;Lately, what&amp;#x27;s brought me a lot of calm wasn&amp;#x27;t the chase of an &amp;quot;end state&amp;quot; (so to speak) but more optimizing my path. That, personally, and only speaking personally has been INFINITELY more rewarding.&lt;p&gt;If that&amp;#x27;s the &amp;quot;it&amp;quot; factor, then so be it ;)</text></comment>