I was taught, like everyone else, that I should grow up to be brilliant, rich, famous, hard-working, caring and empathetic. Someone who can code software in a flash, hustle up a great deal and then send Christmas cards to the relatives. But in the end, "doing what it takes" would break me and my limited personality. I might be able to manage the Christmas cards.
There's a whole big world out there, and I take posting on HN as a nice little luxury in it. Hard to appreciate, I guess.