I play tennis twice a week and I inline skate twice a week (weather pending) and yesterday I commuted to and from work on inlines (first time I've done it, won't be the last, but won't be often).
Having such hobbies plus a couple of kids (now teenagers so they're somewhat less demanding of my time) means I just don't have the time to do extra hours if I'm going to get enough sleep.
And if I don't get enough sleep then the hours I do work are nowhere near as productive as those when I have had enough sleep.
Work fits around my personality. If that doesn't suit my employer, I find a new employer.
Caveats: I don't hunt the highest paying job. I'm never going to be enthusiastic enough to be chosen to lead - I've had minor management roles in the past, and they lead to, basically, being paid to either sleep less or spend less time as "not work me". Both of those options result in lower productivity.
I'm good enough at what I do to earn a living for the foreseeable future. That's good enough for me career-wise. For my physical and mental health, both of which are indicators of and contributory to happiness and longevity, I will continue to spend much of my non-working time playing tennis and inline skating and lifting weights so I can continue to do those things, that make me happy with life and the world, for as long as physically possible.
I tend not to the machine that consumes humanity, I tend to the machine that gives me my humanity.
Edited to add: I'll never be a rich man. But I will lead a rich life.
> I'll never be a rich man. But I will lead a rich life.
This is the way. I want to earn enough money to live on (and I'm extremely lucky that I get to earn a living doing something I love), but past that point I care much more about doing things I enjoy or spending time with people I care about. More money is fine, I wouldn't necessarily turn it down if someone gave me a raise out of nowhere... but it's not important either.
Here's the other thing: people who spend their time playing tennis, raising kids, hanging out with their dog by the grill, etc. aren't constantly marketing their lifestyles to social media.
>I'll never be a rich man. But I will lead a rich life.
it's interesting how relative this statement is. For a lot of people, being able to lead a rich life means you're already rich; if you're not worrying about money every day (and i mean literally checking your bank account before going to the grocery store), you are rich.
While I understand and somewhat agree with the sentiment you’re trying to convey here… on the other hand: entropy exists, and calories in must be greater than or equal to calories out, over the long term.
I do think there’s too much concern with “what” and not enough “why” or “how” in the world.
> first time I've done it, won't be the last, but won't be often
I used to live close enough to bike to work, but I had nowhere to wash off the sweat. We (work) recently moved to a new building with a fitness center with showers, but it's too far to ride a bike. FML
I actually drove to a convenient location from which to skate. It's a route I've done quite a few times on weekends as both an activity in and of itself, but also reconnaissance for the potential commute.
(A lot of 'doing' is dual purpose, both doing and preparation for some future 'next time')
It's about a 12km skate from there to work / the city.
Puts the 'daily grind' in a different light. Don't be the machine at work, so you have the time to become the (endurance cycling) machine!
While I'm sure the cycling angle brings more tangible benefits, I suspect they (work and cycling) suffer from the same drawbacks of committing to an unending display of exertion and suffering.
It wasn't until I started outdoor skating that I realized just how much of suburbia can be reached by footpaths that are almost entirely shielded from roads.
There are inevitable road crossings, but at a certain basic level of competency that doesn't pose a problem (except if you slip and slightly tear an adductor, for those of us over-forties).
I'm fairly paranoid about putting my bodily integrity at the mercy of device-distracted operators of two-tonne missiles flying past a metre off my right shoulder with no curb or other barrier between.
> I'll never be a rich man. But I will lead a rich life.
> I'm good enough at what I do to earn a living for the foreseeable future.
You are rich, then. You may not be a billionaire, but the simple fact that you don’t have to worry about money and employment makes you a rich person by default.
Having the work/life balance you so proudly proclaim to have is a result of owning wealth. Good on you.
The world is too interesting for me to be happy to limit myself to one thing.
Additionally, I listen to a wide variety of music, read not a very wide variety of books (mainly hard sci-fi), consider myself a connoisseur of film and television, take an interest in at least two other sports (have season tickets to the local teams games), run a slightly more than simple homelab (in a room I built myself in the shed, complete with backup battery power and rudimentary climate control), including hosting my own email server, amongst other parental and husbandly duties.
One of the reasons I'm awake at 3am on Christmas Day.
Everything is interesting. Limiting oneself to one thing is exceedingly boring.
Disclaimer: personal opinion. I see and live off the benefits to the world provided by the single minded. But I'll never pretend I could live like that.
its really possible to top out on some of these things. once you're at the point where you're like 'I could try to do this professionally, but that would ruin the fun of it and its a really tough market'
plus, dont forget about the substantial benefits from cross-training
if you find something thats really your thing, thats great, but the goal is to interest and engage yourself. why is it that important to demand the time to to eek out that last 5%
its also possible to actually blow through a field. the scope of coding projects I can just spit out as rote are well past what anyone is willing to adopt. what would be the point of training any further. there's really a lot more to learn about machining.
There's no such thing as going all in on one thing. At some point you know how to find food and eat, so no matter how much you've devoted your time to one thing, it won't be the maximum possible amount of time
Having such hobbies plus a couple of kids (now teenagers so they're somewhat less demanding of my time) means I just don't have the time to do extra hours if I'm going to get enough sleep.
And if I don't get enough sleep then the hours I do work are nowhere near as productive as those when I have had enough sleep.
Work fits around my personality. If that doesn't suit my employer, I find a new employer.
Caveats: I don't hunt the highest paying job. I'm never going to be enthusiastic enough to be chosen to lead - I've had minor management roles in the past, and they lead to, basically, being paid to either sleep less or spend less time as "not work me". Both of those options result in lower productivity.
I'm good enough at what I do to earn a living for the foreseeable future. That's good enough for me career-wise. For my physical and mental health, both of which are indicators of and contributory to happiness and longevity, I will continue to spend much of my non-working time playing tennis and inline skating and lifting weights so I can continue to do those things, that make me happy with life and the world, for as long as physically possible.
I tend not to the machine that consumes humanity, I tend to the machine that gives me my humanity.
Edited to add: I'll never be a rich man. But I will lead a rich life.