
Ask HN: How to not think about Money first? - cryptozeus
Any project&#x2F;career I get into in starts with passion and love but eventually it becomes about money. I am 35 years old software developer who makes choices by money first approach in every situation. I feel disconnected from my career, my community my life. I can&#x27;t figure out if this is due to living in bay area or just the life choices I have been making.<p>Does anyone else feel this way and have successfully connected back to your life ? Its getting depressing, seriously thinking of just quitting everything and taking a sabbatical.
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fouc
I've attempted to work on things from a money-first perspective, but that
often ends up with short-term thinking and ignoring producing things of real
value to others. "Shut up and take my money" value. So maybe just swap "money"
for "value" and focus on value instead?

Might also help to reduce your cost of living so that you don't have as much
pressure to generate an income?

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cryptozeus
good thought....how to swap money for value ?

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CyberFonic
I think that the suggestion is to focus on value first and when you deliver a
lot of value, the money follows. If following this plan doesn't yield enough
money, then look at how you can increase the value of what you are offering.

Personally I found Cal Newport's concept of "Career Capital" very useful.

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CyberFonic
I too used to focus on money first. Eventually realised that it didn't make me
truly happy.

I weaned myself off the money first way of thinking by reducing my living
costs so that I could actually save some money, invest it in real estate.
These days I can choose which projects I take on. The funny thing is that
since I am not desperate to get any contract, I end up earning more and
enjoying the work and the people I work for.

Living in high-cost of living areas, like the Bay Area, keeps you running on
that money treadmill. You might want to consider moving to a city with lower
cost of living.

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cryptozeus
Yeh but its tough when your family friends are in the same area. Everyone I
meet suffer through the same issues. You could be right but it would be good
to work on your self and somehow achieve the value first mindset instead of
leaving the area.

