
Ask HN: Are you doing what you want to do or what you have to? - rochak
I have recently started watching the new National Geographic show &#x27;Genius&#x27; about Albert Einstein. The way Einstein was obsessed with Physics took me to my childhood days when I used to ponder over why everything is the way it is. I always wanted to become a physicist. But being an Indian, I was repeatedly bombarded with the idea how essential it is to make a living. As such, I strayed from what I wanted to do and got into engineering (CS). It&#x27;s now the end of my engineering and I am now occupied with the thoughts of what my life had been if I would have chosen the road not taken. It&#x27;s not that I don&#x27;t have a good job, but the thought of losing a chance to do something I love that keeps me awake these days. Personally, I think that the advancement in technology is also responsible for this. The internet, though providing us the means to access a vast amount of information, has also taken from us our ability to question things. Rather than thinking of the solutions on our own with our imagination, we now resort to Googling stuff and finding the answers straightaway.
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meric
"but the thought of losing a chance to do"

Einstein worked at the Patent Office pushing paperwork too. He had spent two
frustrating years looking for a job "he wanted to do" before that.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Patent_office](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Patent_office)

He thought about science and philosophy in his free time.

His patent office job was related to science because he looks at all kinds of
inventions, but is not directly involved in it. Looks like you and him have
that in common! You haven't lost any chance! Go on, keep living.

Other people use Google as people before them used the library, and if that's
not to your liking, you're free to resort to Google less and more on your own
mind's thinking skills!

So it looks like you're on a similar track with Einstein after all!

I apologise, now you have no excuse. Go do engineering and think about
physics.

~~~
jeshwanth
Yes, this is what even I feel. Many gets frustrated about comparing what they
currently doing and what their dream. But, we are humans and we are capable of
managing multiple things, so better stop thinking about current situation and
start doing something which you like along with current things (Sometime
current things are inevitable). If you are really passionate about doing what
you love, you will definitely reach your destination.

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taway_1212
With a CS degree, some planning and luck, you have a good shot at saving FU
money while you're still relatively young (let's say before 40). After that,
you can take a few years to study physics and see if it is really how you
imagined it would be. If it is, great, if it's not - you still have the FU
money and can look for fulfillment in other places (incl. going back to your
CS career, at which point you should be excellent at, which gives plenty of
satisfaction to many people in itself).

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thatwebdude
I always wanted to be a musician. I never thought about anything else. Didn't
even consider it. All my waking moments were spent daydreaming about who I
would become and what I would do.

So I went to school for music. Some might say Music Education but I never
really considered it, honestly, until it was too late.

I placed myself in a highly competitive school with some of the best musicians
in the world as roommates.

I thought it would push me, I thought I had enough drive, but apparently my
imposter syndrome was too great. That's another story though.

Short story; it didn't work out. I lived a little and had some part time jobs
until I forced myself into a situation of coding. It worked out great though,
because my imposter syndrome is pretty much entirely gone (even in a new
industry - ! - which I taught myself into), I have a wonderful family and
great kids. Development was something I could pick up easily that also allowed
me to be somewhat creative in the capacity that music allows.

But it's just something I do. It isn't who I am. I'd tell you who I am but I
tend to question that more and more these days. And I change. People change.

~~~
paulmatthijs
Some say all sound engineers are all failed musicians. And then some became
coders. And then some became founders...

Me and my co-founder regard our "ventures" into music as part of what needed
to be learned to be able to become good coders. Without it, we would be not
this skilled. So we're happy we didn't end up doing what we wanted to. Sounds
like you have the same experience :)

~~~
thatwebdude
Indeed, the parallels are uncanny.

For my family, I'm happy I didn't go down that route. Seems like the most
successful tend to be crazy.

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mattbgates
I am doing what I love to do. I'm a web developer and design landing pages for
companies. I get to go to work everyday and be creative. I also don't mind the
people I work with though sometimes I do find them annoying, but you can't win
at everything. Having my dream job, however, doesn't mean I'm making what I
want to be making. To make up for it, I just do some freelance work for extra
cash. I am also in the process of starting up a (side) business of a bunch of
web apps with a saas model and hoping that will bring in some additional
revenue.

The thought of losing my current job certainly haunts me, but the thought of
having additional revenue continues to drive me and takes away my anxiety
about the possibility of no longer having my current job. Fortunately, I've
been at it for 5 years and my company got bought out. I saw several
departments get sold off because the company that bought us was considered a
monopoly and it was the only way. I also was given a choice about 4 years ago
by this company: Move or get laid off. After some salary negotiation and
asking if they could pay for my move across the country, I continued working
for the company. So I've seen a few things happen.. and I'm still here. We
definitely have a great product and if they ever did sell it off (and lay me
off), I would actually take it upon myself to redesign it the way I want it
and try to become their competitor.

------
mod
A little of both.

My job is probably the best fit for me, in terms of jobs where someone pays me
a salary..but I don't truly want a job. The people I look up to are...scrappy.
They don't work desk jobs for other people.

Anyway, for now it's paying the bills and developing a skill-set that perhaps
I can leverage into something different. Meanwhile I'm building up
infrastructure for pursuing some other, offline things that I'm interested in.
And getting my feet wet with them until I can make a more permanent switch.

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stevenwu
_It 's now the end of my engineering and I am now occupied with the thoughts
of what my life had been if I would have chosen the road not taken._

Isn't it equally as likely that in the alternate universe where you pursued
Physics that you would have either been unhappy with the realities of a job in
the field (maybe too much scut work, lab work, what have you) or even been
facing unemployment?

I ask this because I know a lot of people on the other side of the green grass
(people who pursued something not as employable as CS for reasons of passion
and have displayed regret about not diving into technology for the ubiquity of
it in our present day-to-day)

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tedsanders
If it makes you feel better, many physicists with they had studied CS instead.
CS is one of the most dynamic academic fields and physics is one of the most
stagnant (imo). The grass is often greener on the other side.

------
nojvek
Doing what I have to do so someday I can so what I want to do.

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psyc
Exactly what I want, exactly how I want. This way lies relative poverty, but
I'm happier than I've ever been.

------
miguelrochefort
Neither.

I know the solution to most problems, but I can't seem to properly communicate
them. As a result, I'm consistently miserable.

