I have an anecdote of this from literally yesterday(and it's personal enough to be a throwaway).
Status from my 20s to early 30s: at home, occasional small gigs, not much steady work or career prospects. I got badgered with "we worry about you" or "maybe you should get a second job" all the time.
Status as of yesterday when I reported that I had successfully speculated several hundred thousand dollars through multi-year cryptocurrency trades: Wow, that's great, you should diversify your wealth and marry someone now. The dinner table conversation was relaxed for once.
Which is still them imposing a narrative on me, but it's one I feel a lot more able to negotiate than the money question, where any plan or project I announced was simply met with further doubt, dismay or disinterest. They didn't want to engage with the prospects or pay attention to anything but results and it was leaving me constantly gloomy and self-doubting and frustrated with them.
And I don't think it's exactly that the money itself is making me happy, since I'm pretty spartan in my lifestyle - I'll go out for coffee drinks most days and that's my biggest and most common indulgence, but I don't spend on big luxuries or travel more than once every year or two. It's the side effect of the story changing to "I'm not totally dependent anymore, I'm free to do what I want right now" and subsequently changing their outlook.
Status from my 20s to early 30s: at home, occasional small gigs, not much steady work or career prospects. I got badgered with "we worry about you" or "maybe you should get a second job" all the time.
Status as of yesterday when I reported that I had successfully speculated several hundred thousand dollars through multi-year cryptocurrency trades: Wow, that's great, you should diversify your wealth and marry someone now. The dinner table conversation was relaxed for once.
Which is still them imposing a narrative on me, but it's one I feel a lot more able to negotiate than the money question, where any plan or project I announced was simply met with further doubt, dismay or disinterest. They didn't want to engage with the prospects or pay attention to anything but results and it was leaving me constantly gloomy and self-doubting and frustrated with them.
And I don't think it's exactly that the money itself is making me happy, since I'm pretty spartan in my lifestyle - I'll go out for coffee drinks most days and that's my biggest and most common indulgence, but I don't spend on big luxuries or travel more than once every year or two. It's the side effect of the story changing to "I'm not totally dependent anymore, I'm free to do what I want right now" and subsequently changing their outlook.