This post originally appeared on the Honeybadger Developer Blog
I’ve met some hugely successful people. Some of them are happy. Some of them… aren’t. I’ve noticed some things about the ones who aren’t:
- They’re obsessed with their careers
- They spend a lot of time at work
- They aren’t fulfilled by the work they do
- They aren’t content with what they have
In many circles, these people are way more successful than most of us. They probably have better networks. They might have fancier job titles. They certainly make more money.
The Silicon Valley meme goes, “start a company and sell it for so much money that you can say ‘f*ck you’ to anyone in the world.” Or maybe an alternate career path is to climb the corporate ladder at Google until you’ve banked that privilege.
So much toxic bullshit stems from that line of thinking.
I’d rather have f*ck-that money—e.g., a moderate amount of money that empowers you to live a meaningful life. F*ck-that money isn’t about being a pretentious asshole; it’s about keeping your priorities straight. For example:
- Miss your kid’s soccer practice to catch up on emails? F*ck that!
- Power through lunch? F*ck that!
- Skip the gym? F*ck that!
- Work over the weekend? F*ck that!
- Save that side project for when you have more free time? F*ck that!
- You get the idea…
At Honeybadger, this mindset has led us to turn down acquisition offers and investors—to stay small and grow naturally. We’re not in this business to be rich; we’re in it to be free.
Regret the best years of our lives?
Fuck that.
