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Comment by cushychicken | Hacker News Reader

Another thing you need: patience.

I'm 34, and just in the last year reached the point where I have:

- enough experience and context to do great work, and

- the right people to leverage that context and experience on meaningful applications

It took a lot of waiting for that ideal blend of circumstances to come around. I wish I'd have been able to tell my 26 year old self that as he slogged through an entry level EE job. The choices he made affected where I am now, but he definitely made some sacrifices on my behalf.

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I think people can do great work at any age. Sometimes newcomers look at a long-standing problem and discover or design a new approach that is substantially better. Other times established experts can leverage the breadth of their experience to develop a better solution or offering. For me, the key elements are the desire to create something of value or make a contribution, a willingness to collaborate to extend what you can accomplish, and the self-discipline to work hard for extended periods of time.

Exactly, I'd reckon you have a better position to do great work when you are older, given you know yourself better and what makes you tick.

This is IMO impossible without experimentation and doing stupid stuff during the 20s.

I just turned 35 and only starting out on the best work of my life in the shape of offering something of value except for just my time at work prior.

have you got any kids? I'm 30 and one of my biggest worries is that starting a family will mean I will never get the time to do great things. I also got a fair share of skills under my belt and a lot of motivation. My relationship always ends to taking time away from my projects however and that's only going to get worse once there's a kid 5 years down the road.

Then again Bach had a lot of kids, and look at the body of his work.

There are two peaks of entrepreneurship, the 20's and the 40's. Catch the second peak.

this makes me smile, thank you

Was about to respond but somebody did it already below (mkoubaa) :)

Sounds about the right time for you to have babies and ruin all that readiness for great work.

My experience having a child is that it made me more ambitious, not less. And not for the child's sake, necessarily

If anything, my kid being born helped increase my output.

Limited time makes it a lot easier to decide what to focus on.

Limited time? Congrats, Lol with a full time job I didn't have time to do anything.

Similar but more confidence.

And ignoring all self doubt and imposter feelings has made my career way less stressful.

Hofstadter’s Law:

It always takes longer than you think, even if you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

This is an important point…..

Great work and your craftsmanship/experience/wisdom/capabilities are interrelated.

Being able to do great work is partly a function of your ability to work.

> the right people to leverage that context and experience on meaningful applications

Whss as t does this entail, business context?

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