Youth Career Regrets

As someone who is older, and spent much of their 20s working on their career, I regret that I hadn't spent more time on my personal interests when I was young. If I had it all to do over again, I would spend less of those years trying to climb the ladder as a Software Engineer and more of my time writing and performing music.I'm certain I'd still be working in tech today, some 30 years on, but I bet it would have been a lot more fun to have been in a band and had a serious musi

I did that in my teens, 20s, and early 30s.Looking back I say F** that, what a waste of my youth.I could've worked half and accomplished just as much, maybe more in different areas had I taken the time to explore not just more of the world but myself.

I wish I had continued programming after high school, instead I pursued a career as a furniture maker, scraped a living for 10 years, it formed my entire personality which in retrospect was really unhealthy. I also realised too late that everyone around me was being propped up by their rich parents/partners.Recently changed careers and now happily programming and on my path to being a bit more financially secure. I can now design and make things I want in my spare time, without having to

I struggled with this for ages. I have spent loads of time playing MTG and WoW, eschewed a traditional career path for something more relaxing. I am not a software wunderkind and for a long time that bothered me. But then I decided to just do my best, enjoy the time I spent coding, the time I had with my friends, and somehow it all fell into place. I am coming up on my 30th birthday quickly now and I am happy, at peace. Don’t lament what could have been but instead what could be my friend. Now t

I wish I had the drive / focus / interest that you sound like you had when you were at school. I hung around with the wrong people, didn't put enough thought into what I might like to do for a career, valued the wrong things, and as a consequence spent my twenties in lots of meaningless, unsatisfying jobs. I'm in my early thirties now and am lucky in that I've managed to change my circumstances and begin a career as a software developer. But I feel I will never be able t

Anecdote:I have wanted to do this at several points in the past few years (3 years out of school now, first real job). Although I can't say for certain what life would have been like had I done it, I'm currently glad I didn't. I have learned a lot about myself and about perseverance, and the experience I have gained has unlocked more interesting opportunities for both the present and the future.

High school / College years:I had lots of free time that I spent on playing games alone at home. I should have spent more time on social activities or a part time job within technologyCareer:My first job at a smaller company was so interesting that I worked there for too long (almost 10 years). That set my career back significantly and I don't have a significant network within the industry. It did not help that my second job was for a company that lacked the opportunity for me

At age 40+, my biggest regret is that I mess around with a lot of things but never focused on one long enough to make any meaningful progress.My list of messing around:- Back in high school, I read a biography of Bill Gates and found it cool to learn some programming. Back then we were taught FOXBASE but I taught myself FOXPRO because it is more pretty with all those Windows UI. I asked my parents if I could do some work for their university (they worked as professors back then) but didn&#

I'm jealous, honestly. When I was in my early teens I wasn't doing anything impressive, but looking back I feel like I had momentum. I had always idolized college/academia, though, so I started at 16.The next 5 years of my life were the most empty I've had so far, and it still pains me to think about how pointless it all was. My social skills only deteriorated over time, till the last semester when I ended up just ghosting all my classes and let my minor burn. Dropped my G

I wished I spent more time with friends. Early days I wanted to learn and make the next big thing, and spent a lot of my time after work reading up on design patterns, stacks, etc. Even launched a product, but it failed.Looking back, I saw a lot of my friends went on trips to Europe, Asia, Africa, and across America. They had a lot of fun and made memories. I have none of that, and less.Now that we're all reaching middle age, maybe I have more money, but I can tell you it's not w