NOTE: This is a letter I wrote in the last days in office, intended to be posted to WeChat moments, but I’m afraid it would bring too much anxiety to my parents and friends, then after think twice I decided to post it here.
Hi Everyone, I’m really excited to be announcing that I’m quitting from professional career path and looking forward to a truely meaningful new life.
Since graduate in 2005 I’ve been working for a salary for almost 20 years – getting up early, going to and staying in office at least 9 hours, back to rented house, seeking some fun and fall asleep, EVERY DAY, and 20 years more yet to come! I cannot stop but to think how boring it is. Is this the life I want to live?
This retrospect comes with additional bitterness: the overtime work-hours, the lack of social activity, the 35-years-old curse, the toxic office culture, and more. these seemingly trivial things in junior years become unaffordable as they accumulate.
As a software engineer, I strive to write good code and make the world better, but through the years I’ve learnt that as a paid employee it’s hard to align my personal ambition with company goals. In the industry, oftentimes the project you are working on either is not interesting to you at all, or is merely repeating what have been repeated time and again. Sooner or later one completely loses interest in the job, which then becomes routine, tedious, and goes on and on until you cannot afford any more.
What’s more, looking from a higher perspective, if everything goes as planned, my life will be routine like dead water: study from school, work for 40 years, retire at old age and wait to die. How RIDICULOUS!
As such, I have decided to quit and start some interesting projects for my own. Write a website sharing ideas, start a online shop selling electronics parts and widgets, etc. Further more, I will be having enough time to do other interesting things like martial arts, reading books, travel, taking care of my family members, all really mean a lot to me.
So that’s all. My dear friends, wish you all happy and healthy.
— Yours, GB
2024/06/26