I spent the first part of my career following this kind of advice, working as hard as I could, and chasing some mythical prestige I thought would make me happy.

Now I make $320k, work remotely about 20h/wk, and have never been happier than I am right now, checking boxes and fixing bugs as a senior engineer on a minor product team at FAANG.

I don’t care if I ever get promoted, maybe I will, I probably I won’t. I get great feedback from my managers and I have a friendly relationship with my coworkers, most of whom are happily chomping at the bit to get promoted next cycle.

I realized during the pandemic how much better the world outside the internet is, and now I spend my spare time hiking mountains, painting murals, playing in a crappy cover band with my high school buddies, and eventually finding a wife to settle down with. I refuse to believe I’ll spend my time on my deathbed wishing I’d written more code and spent less time outside; life is just too damn short.

I’d like to give the exact opposite advice of this author - find an easy, comfortable, well paying job and fill the rest of your life with things that actually matter. I truly believe you’ll be happier for it.