I really wish I could do this. This is privilege that H1Bs don't have. I hate my job despite it being well-paid ($900k/yr). I wish the system were more equal.
Wondering if you could alternate day fasting on weekends. Social life on Saturday evening and restrict yourself to 500 calories on Sunday. I struggle with this as well. Just curious as to how people manage.
This is exactly what I posted a while back about my situation - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17938307. I turn down VP Eng roles almost every day and internally cry every time I do it. I also know that I won't get these opportunities, to work on cutting edge technology with great peers, in other places.
I don't think it's helpful to copy what they do as CEO. I look for what they did in their lowest paying job and how they changed as they progressed in their careers. Of course, very few autobiographies cover this.
I'm currently at an exec-level role making $450k and just landed a juicy role which is interesting and pays more than $550k but of course I can't change jobs because of this decision. This is frankly stupid and makes me a highly paid indentured servant. If it weren't for my kid that was born here and has been entrenched here, I'd go back to my country.
Add me to that list. Became sole breadwinner at 22 for a family that had $2M in debt due to failed business. At one point, I was held hostage at gun point by a debt collector. Deeply scarred by debt to this day. Scared of investing anywhere and just hoarding for a rainy day. No family to speak of except wife and child. Very few friends. No purpose to life other than seeing my child grow up and be successful.
The only reason I'm addicted to my smartphone is because my work email is connected to it. I've fallen into this habit of checking my work email every few minutes to make sure there are no fires or when I'm in meetings. On weekends, when I consciously keep my phone away, I find myself less attached to the phone though it's more than I'd like it to be.
I was laid off once. Got a call from my VP when I was on my vacation. It was an extremely painful experience since I had been repeatedly told that I was a good performer and was critical to the team. I used that as an opportunity to reevaluate how I was operating and swore to make myself as valuable as possible. Also, I started keenly observing how the business was doing and jumped before layoffs happened. Today, I'm in a senior middle management role but still operating very cautiously and taking nothing for granted.
Yes, except that I won't be able to switch jobs easily or grow in my career as fast as I want to. Every time I go to India, I have to do this elaborate dance to get my Visa stamped. I haven't traveled out of the country enough just for this reason. It's very stressful. I have a child who was born here and doesn't want to go back. I'm really stuck here for no other reason than the fact that the immigration system is horribly broken. Every American (white person) in my management chain thinks I'm skilled enough to be here in the country and pay me north of $400k. Terrible state of affairs. I'm a well-paid slave or at least feel like one.
I've been employed for 13 years and I started with a low-paying job ($35k). I had to pay off some loans in the early part of my career and didn't save much for the first 6 years. After that, I bought my house which ate into my savings. The house is currently worth $500k more than what I paid for it. Currently, I try to save at least $4k per month. I drive a cheap car (pay $134) per month and have no other debts other than my mortgage. The only thing we splurge on is food and even with that, we don't spend more than $15/person when we go out.
I'm in the same boat as you were. 16 years of being in the US and no green card in sight even though I've been approved thrice over. I could potentially become a permanent resident in 2022 but even that's not guaranteed at the rate the process is going. If I may ask, what was the tipping point that made you decide to move?