Career Success

So I've spent quite a bit of time trying to fathom and comprehend how someone has a successful career. It seems that older people in their 30s/40s who work really hard end up having a successful life. Except they work themselves to the bone and do barely else. I can say that there are some people who manage to retire, and it's nice to know there MAY be light at the end of the tunnel somewhere. I do not see the same future for myself, probably why it's so difficult to think about it. At some point in 20ish years, I'll probably be completely and utterly sick, and unable to work. I'm not expecting to have a fulltime job at that point, much less "retire" from anywhere. I'm suspecting I'll have whatever I've managed to build for myself in my time working, and hopefully have enough saved away that I can live off of with disability from the state as well. But then there's always hope for some sort of pharmaceutical miracle, right? I suppose there's much hope after the vertex trials and the billions of dollars that the CFF raised. We'll see what happens in the next few years, hopefully something to give me peace at mind.

Okay so, work really hard, all the time, sacrifice a lot of things, and be successful. But what is success really? Is it measured by how much debt you're not in, or how many vacations you can afford to go on? To me it's a matter of perspective, like much else in the world, it seems to lose focus depending on who you talk to. To me it means doing something from start to finish, in it's entirety. It means picking up the pieces of a puzzle and finishing it, even if you didn't start it. It means being able to survive and live in this world and society, as unfortunate as that is, that's what I attribute career success to be.

So how do you become successful? I'm still trying to understand, do you try to get to the top of a specific company? Do you keep bouncing around from position to position trying to find the best possibly salary and bonus structure with a stable company? Do you just work at the same place for a dozen+ years hoping that they will remember you when retirement comes? What's the answer? I'm not exactly certain, as none of the companies I've ever worked for have any retired people in it. They aren't large scale companies in the slightest. They want to use you for work, and then throw you away and try their chances with the next person. I've never been in a financial situation where I can just try to do things my way on my own, and I'm not certain I ever will be.

My biggest part to comprehend is working a 40 hour work week, nonstop. Why do we live in a country that works everyone to death? That cares so little about each other and their physical/mental health? Why do we thrive on this kind of society? What does it take to change? I wish I knew these answers, I think I'd be better off. But for now I have to play the game - the game where I use every bit of energy to get somewhere quickly in life, in hopes that i can sustain my health before it collapses along with my sanity, and make a mark on this world. All the while pretending I am just like the rest of you... All the while wondering how long I can keep this up for. Only time will tell.