

Life Lessons at 40 - akingyens
http://versiononeventures.com/seven-life-lessons-at-40/

======
shubb
I have some questions for older posters (me - approaching 30):

1\. There is always a new wave in tech. Currently, it's datascience, and
previously it was web applications. Is it important to skill up and ride
these, or can you keep going as e.g. an applications programmer during the web
wave?

2\. Does 30 look as young and naive at 40 as 20 looks at 30? If so, what
didn't you know at 30?

3\. You probably earn more at 40 than you did at 30. Broadly, what changed
that made you more valuable?

~~~
porlw
1\. Computer tech seems to move in a ~20 year cycle, so after that amount of
time you will have "seen it all" to a certain extent, and you can apply your
early experience to the new wave of technologies. For example, centralized
mainframes -> personal desktops -> centralized web servers -> personal
portable devices.

2\. At 20 I was an arrogant know-it-all, 30 I had solid experience in certain
things, by 40 the experience broadens and you find you can take a higher level
view of things.

3\. A 30yo offers knowledge of a certain specific technology (what to build).
A 40yo offers experience (especially what NOT to build), which makes them more
valuable.

------
mcphage
Inre #6 ("Spend your money on experiences, not stuff"): personally I have
really bad memory... so I'd rather spend my money on stuff so that I remember
it. Experiences I enjoy, and then as the years pass I remember them less and
less.

------
guynamedloren
While I have plenty to learn, I feel extremely fortunate to have internalized
much of this at a young age. Being able to understand what's important in life
makes decisions (both big and small) so much easier to make.

