Reddit Reddit reviews What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question

We found 8 Reddit comments about What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question
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8 Reddit comments about What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question:

u/WanShiTong · 6 pointsr/books

What Should I Do With My Life by Po Bronson

It's a collection of short stories about other people who are asking that question of themselves ("What should I do with my life?") and is arranged in a really thoughtful way with lots of commentary from the author about the patterns he teased out from talking to hundreds of real people. I've lent this book out and bought copies for a few people now and have re-read it myself several times - I really can't recommend it enough.

u/TheFryingDutchman · 4 pointsr/financialindependence

Hey man. I was in the exact same position as you: bigfirm lawyer who hated his job, obsessed with FIRE. Since then I've decided to pursue a different career, and I am MUCH happier and I'm not obsessed with FIRE anymore. Instead, when I do think about retirement at all, it's simply that, oh boy, I'll finally have some time to work on my side projects.

I made the spreadsheets too. Incorporated every variable and assumption. Spent long nights testing out different scenarios. After couple years of this, I realized that I wasn't any happier even though my bank account was much fatter. I realized two things:

  1. Focus on FIRE wasn't making me happy. It wasn't even making me feel reassured. Instead, it hit me with anxiety every time there was a significant outlay. Stuff like, can I REALLY enjoy this Hawaiian vacation when it sets FIRE back by X? I was never living in the moment, but instead always thinking about the ephemeral future. That led me to my second thought:

  2. What the hell would I do after I reach FIRE? I knew that I never wanted to mark up another document or talk law again. So what would I do all day?

    I didn't have the foggiest idea. So I went and found out. I spent about a year exploring every interest/dream I had. And I mean everything: gardening, farming, writing, hell even the religious life, and other careers too like consulting, banking, sales, whatever. I talked to everyone I could who wasn't doing law.

    In the end, I came back to my childhood passion - computers and programming - and now I'm working as a software engineer. Making a fraction of what I did in law, by the way, and in fact, will likely eat into my savings a bit for couple years. And guess what? I don't care! It's a joy to wake up and be excited about what I'll be doing that day. Hell, we just deployed a small feature that I made, and that gave me a greater sense of accomplishment than anything I did in law.

    So forget about FIRE for a while and go explore. You have enough saved up to take a risk, I bet. Set the spreadsheets aside and find out what really motivates you. Start by reading What Should I Do With My Life?, which contains the stories of about 50 people who were in similar situations as you and me. The biggest takeaway is that you discover your calling, if you do at all, by going out there and trying different things and being open to new experiences. You won't figure it out sitting in a room and thinking about it.

    Good luck!

    EDIT: I should make it clear that I explored my other interests WHILE I was working as a lawyer. It's hard to find the time, but totally doable if you've made up your time to leave. Just go talk to a lot of people doing different things. It doesn't take too much time to set up coffee/beer hangouts, and sometimes you can even tell your bosses that you're networking!
u/JumbocactuarX27 · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

Surely you're joking, Mr Feynman is a fantastic book and anyone who would like to know that there's still adventure in the world should read it. Hell, everyone else should read it too.

Also, I was really worried about finding a job after college and reading What should I do with my life? was not only enjoyable but uplifting. I felt a lot better about my life after reading it.

Edit: Added links

u/[deleted] · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

Get your degree first. There are plenty of jobs out there that don't really care what you have a degree in; just that you have a degree.

Think about what you'd like to do most, and start contacting people in those types of positions. Put up with an unpaid internship for a while. Contact papers & tv & radio stations in your area. Start reading.

u/conjunctionjunction1 · 2 pointsr/AskSF

Haha... sorry to skeeve you out!

But I only checked because I was like, "hmm, I feel like I answered this same exact question last week" ... and lo and behold it was indeed also from you.

Anyways- you might check out this book by Po Bronson, it's called "What Should I do with my Life" and it's a nice analysis of people trying to figure out where to live/what to do with there careers/family/finding professional fulfillment etc.

imo sounds like yours is more an issue with attitude than latitude- seems like family/house/hobbies/everything else is good in SD- maybe just start your own company down there, find fulfillment doing something on the side, do some consulting or write a book or something if you aren't professionally being challenged.

Cheers.

u/craig_hoxton · 1 pointr/getdisciplined

When you have the time, read this book.

u/gaardyn · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

I found What Should I Do With My Life: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question inspiring.

I would also recommend Delivering Happiness: A Path to Passion, Profits, and Purpose. It won't necessarily help you find your passion but it will show you how to proceed once you do.

u/mysticreddit · 0 pointsr/AskReddit

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