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[-] durtysamsquamch 1.5k points · 1 day ago
Yes I think it's something that any intelligent person will eventually consider.
When  you're young the future seems full of possibilities. You're told that  your dream job is out there somewhere if you just work hard enough to  reach it. You're told that satisfaction and fulfillment can be found  from a career with good financial prospects. You're aware of this thing  called the rat-race but you don't really understand what it is.
And  then when you have a few years of work experience you start to see that  effort and merit aren't what enable you to climb the ladder. You come  to realize that time is the most valuable commodity and that your boss  is using your time as a multiplier for his success. And he didn't get  that position by being the best, he got it by making people believe he  knew what he was doing.
But nobody  truly knows what they're doing. Being an adult doesn't magically answer  the question of "what is this all about". There are some personality  types who are so self-absorbed they believe they're always right, and  they're the ones who get ahead because they don't show self doubt. And  they recognize that trait in each other and promote each other. They  recognize that other people haven't realized that yet, the ones who are  still working their socks off to get ahead, and they use them. They  assemble teams of those other introspective and self-aware personality  types and they get shitloads of work done, under their name.  And they move up and up the ladder until they're getting paid multiples  of what you are. But they're not doing the work and often they don't  even understand it.
IME that's  what makes many careers unfulfilling and soul destroying, at least in  the realm of office jobs. So look for that fulfillment outside of your  career. And if you're lucky the stars will align and you can turn that  into a career that you do actually love. I mean there are people who  wash dogs for a living that make more money than someone who spent 200k  on education and spent 10 years getting up before dawn to put the hours  in.
I'm sorry if that sounds too  depressing or defeatist, but the takeaway point should be that the  cliche about following your dreams isn't always a cliche. I know it's  hard to see a way out of your current situation but you do need to find  something you like and keep doing that. The opportunities will appear,  believe me. There are millions of niches that you didn't even know  existed. And when your time is spent doing something you enjoy and that  you find fulfilling, is it really work?