

Ask HN: In your career, what are you most embarrassed about? - freakwit

In your career, what are you most embarrassed about?<p>Have you made a fatal mistake that you, of all people, should never have?
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veyron
Getting used to a salary off the bat. My first job offer out of college was
>250K, and I stopped living frugally too early.

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chromatic
Staying too long in a comfortable job and not leaving solely on my own terms.

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bartonfink
I majored in Latin, thinking that teaching jobs would be easy to come by when,
in fact, they weren't. That cost me around 6 years, with the dubious benefit
that I was fluent in a dead language and that I nearly know the etymology of a
fantastic number of words in English.

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abbasmehdi
Not starting soon enough - but then again would have missed out on a helluva
ride. Embraced, enjoyed, and lived each phase to the fullest. Feel a little
behind now but if I didn't then I'd probably procrastinate, so it's a nice
fire-under-my-ass. :) All in all despite not getting straight there, no
regrets because the journey itself has been great!

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michaelpinto
I find the best entrepreneurs aren't embarrassed by much of anything and seem
to embrace their mistakes.

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rdl
Not firing someone incompetent I'd hired (as a favor) as soon as it became
obviously necessary, who later went on to embezzle a lot of money.

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pasbesoin
Not sticking up for myself.

Don't wait for some theoretical FU money.

The people who have FU money, if they didn't inherit it, seem to have
incorporated my first point into their lives. (Not that money is necessarily
the outcome.) Also, sticking up for yourself does not equal being an ass to
other people. For myself, treating other people nicely/respectfully is
inherent to my own well being. And I actually do worse at it when I am _not_
taking care of myself.

As for the "I should never have made the mistake" aspect. My intellect, and/or
my intuition, could read the situation. But lack of will power, conditioning,
health, or whatever -- something held me in place.

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phlux
I didn't get the PMP cert after it cost me the offer from google.

