(originally posted on twitter)
been thinking a lot about what building a career looks like when you don't have to grind to the extreme anymore to make a good life for yourself after being ambitious for a good long while
do you take the path that is obvious, that follows from the one you've been on, with all the natural advantages that accrue
or do you do something that fills you up with joy and purpose, even if it's profoundly different from before and is more specific in scope and "impact" and from the outside looks unambitious
the hope is that there is something that lives at the overlap of those two choices—something joyful, ambitious, and natural—but that's not always the case
it can be hard to choose the new path, especially when overt, outsized ambition feels like a central currency to existing successfully in this community we call tech
sometimes, the key is to not care what other people think, and just go forward with enough introspection of your own values and drive to make a good call
in other words, follow the vibes of your own life
/ramble over