As a late professional bloomer in corporate America/megacorp tech and someone without a traditional CS education background I struggle with this a lot.
But in the moment of envy it comes down to what your personal goals are and if you are reaching them. Personally, when I see others flying high I wonder how many long hours and weekends they have put in for that 10-20% extra they might be making. When others get more acclaim I wonder how long the glow of that lasts until they are expected to raise the bar even more to outdo their last accomplishment.
If your goals are acclaim and more money then it would be good to talk to the high flyers and find out what their special sauce is. If your goals lie elsewhere its okay to take a minute to be frustrated, but see how that frustration could be used to fuel your own drive toward your goals. High-flyers only have so many good years anyway until they are eclipsed by someone younger, prettier, more skilled or dynamic.
Just for reference, I realized that I am not cut out to be a high flyer but had specific compensation and work/life balance goals for myself.
We’re talking about the difference between an engineer approaching forty at an ordinary company earning a little over $100k versus someone ten years younger at a FAANGMI earning $250k+. There are a lot of people in the former group who would happily give up a few weekends and put up with more stress to be a part of the latter group.
But in the moment of envy it comes down to what your personal goals are and if you are reaching them. Personally, when I see others flying high I wonder how many long hours and weekends they have put in for that 10-20% extra they might be making. When others get more acclaim I wonder how long the glow of that lasts until they are expected to raise the bar even more to outdo their last accomplishment.
If your goals are acclaim and more money then it would be good to talk to the high flyers and find out what their special sauce is. If your goals lie elsewhere its okay to take a minute to be frustrated, but see how that frustration could be used to fuel your own drive toward your goals. High-flyers only have so many good years anyway until they are eclipsed by someone younger, prettier, more skilled or dynamic.
Just for reference, I realized that I am not cut out to be a high flyer but had specific compensation and work/life balance goals for myself.