"What do you want to be?" is a question we have all constantly been asked since middle school by parents, teachers, career counsellors, professors, recruiters, mentors, managers, HR and lots of other well meaning souls. My answer is the same at 40 as it was at 14 – I don't know. And you know what? I've been fine.

I have worked at some great companies, and some not so great ones. A couple FAANGs as well as a 20-person startup and everything in between. I have been part of some fantastic product teams and a fair number of disasters. I have been a code monkey, an architect, a tech lead, a staff engineer, a manager, a director...and now know that none of these fancy titles really mean anything. And throughout all this I have managed to put a decent chunk of money in the bank.

Most would consider my career to be pretty successful. I like to say that I don't really have a career but simply jump from one project to the next and one opportunity to the next depending on how the wind is blowing. Never once have I had any semblance of a "plan" or a "goal". And despite what all the authority figures in your life will tell you, that is a perfectly fine way to live and be happy.

> Never once have I had any semblance of a "plan" or a "goal". And despite what all the authority figures in your life will tell you, that is a perfectly fine way to live and be happy

That's the ideal career for sure, but how common is it?

It would be great if I knew I could bumble along and become a staff eng/manager/director without any sort of plan or goal. I don't believe that's a common experience though, and it seems even more unlikely for people who are at the start of their careers today (Like me).

I think he covers this early on: if you don't aspire for anything more, congrats. Incidentally I'm in the same boat. Literally told my manager "nope, not really interested in pursuing a promotion. Just want to be paid fairly and continue working at this level." They actually appreciated having one less engineer that they have to try to cultivate a career for.

I'm happy to hear this. Cheers.

Have you had a common theme for these projects you navigated?

A friend of mine, who is quite successful in his occupation, told me that his motto is: "Always do the next thing."

Our culture possesses this weird belief, that people always need to be transformed. This cuts across all ideologies, ranging from religion to Marxism and corporate culture. I think simply declaring "bullshit" to that belief can lead to a much happier life.