The only point of life is whatever you make it. Life's your own video game and you set the rules of what defines winning or losing it. There are definitely lots of external pressure trying to get you to align to what their game is, but I think you've come to realize that those rules aren't the rules you want to live by.
I felt the same way in my 30s. The thing that changed it for me was when my father passed away, my mother was diagnosed with dementia, and the pandemic. I started to realize that life is really short and it made me think a lot about what it all meant. I think you've also come to realize that there really is no point, so you can either be depressed about it and not do anything or you can just do things that bring you enjoyment. Some people find enjoyment in help others and volunteering (I don't) and will say that's the meaning of life. Other's will say finding enjoyment in the process of something is the meaning of life (I don't). I think it's different for everyone and part of life is defining the game. Everyone wants validation that their rules of life are the right rules.
I'm in my late 40s now and I just focus on whatever I want to do that I enjoy - hanging out with friends, spending time with my family, not stressing too much about work, entertaining myself with my hobbies.
On hobbies - I'll pick up hobbies just to try them out now. I have no expectations any longer. If it sticks, it sticks, if it doesn't, I don't care that much. I've come to realize I just really like to try new things, and learning the depth doesn't interest me. If i'm inspired to pick it up again, I do. There's probably some self-help/hustle porn out there that dissuades this, but I enjoy it.
2,200,000 = Delivering $1 of value to 2.2mi people. Just play with that numbers until you can figure out something that you can build that fits into that model....
$1 of value to 2.4mi people (in a year) // (i fudged the number to make the math easier)
$1 of value to 200k people a month
$2 of value to 100k people a month
$3 of value to 75k people a month
$4 of value to 50k people a month
$8 of value to 25k people a month
$16 of value to 12.5k people a month
$32 of value to 6.25k people a month
...
The tricky part is figuring out what people want to pay for.
There are also abstractions to this... like advertising... An average cpm is $2.80. So you'd have to get ~$3 of value from 75k people a month (if they viewed 1000 pages/mo each).. or 75mi page views a month would get you 2.2mi a year.
Exactly, Google has every right to fire Damore. Google can do whatever it needs to do if they think this is going to hurt their reputation, finances, or stock price. If your fundamental beliefs don't line up with the organizations', then you probably shouldn't work there.
feeling the same way. just getting through a crazy release cycle. here's some of my plans for 2017:
1. i'm taking a vacation. seriously, we have them for a reason. if the company culture isn't one that supports this, i'm going to start looking for a new job.
2. create more definitive boundaries for myself. if something is sent to me mid sprint with an expectation to complete it, i'm going to push back and say 'no', or i'm going to ask for something of equivalent difficulty to be taken off my stack.
3. practice gratitude more. as engineers, we're lucky to have these well paying jobs and families we can spend the money on.
4. make time for myself. as parents it's easy to get caught up giving everything to everyone else, but not taking time for myself. i'm going to take time to focus on my health and fitness again.
5. make time for my friends. focusing on work and family isn't enough, there needs to be time with a community of friends.
I felt the same way in my 30s. The thing that changed it for me was when my father passed away, my mother was diagnosed with dementia, and the pandemic. I started to realize that life is really short and it made me think a lot about what it all meant. I think you've also come to realize that there really is no point, so you can either be depressed about it and not do anything or you can just do things that bring you enjoyment. Some people find enjoyment in help others and volunteering (I don't) and will say that's the meaning of life. Other's will say finding enjoyment in the process of something is the meaning of life (I don't). I think it's different for everyone and part of life is defining the game. Everyone wants validation that their rules of life are the right rules.
I'm in my late 40s now and I just focus on whatever I want to do that I enjoy - hanging out with friends, spending time with my family, not stressing too much about work, entertaining myself with my hobbies.
On hobbies - I'll pick up hobbies just to try them out now. I have no expectations any longer. If it sticks, it sticks, if it doesn't, I don't care that much. I've come to realize I just really like to try new things, and learning the depth doesn't interest me. If i'm inspired to pick it up again, I do. There's probably some self-help/hustle porn out there that dissuades this, but I enjoy it.