IMHO: There is a difference between the job you do and your career. My career (programmer/software developer/software engineer/computer scientist) will last my whole life. It's something I like (I chose it) and it's something I can do on my own. It is independent from money and any material thing. It matters to me.

My job (currently: senior software engineer) is a different beast, even if it touches on aspects of my career. I do it to pay the bills. I do it in a professional way but that's all about it.

That is exactly the point - that leaves 55-60% of our waking time not working. Why let the minority of your time define your self worth and identity?

Sure, our work time serves someone else's desires... in exchange for money that we use to build the home and life that we want. Hopefully spending our time and energy with the people and family we want. Work is a tool to empower everything else. Do that work - do it well. But let the "everything else" define you.

> Even if you in enjoy your job, the reality is work is one of the biggest parts of our lives and wrapped up in our sense of self worth and identity.

This is true for all living beings, all animals spend a large part of their day in collecting/scavenging/hunting food, prepaing shelter etc.

> wrapped up in our sense of self worth and identity

Speak for yourself.

I can completely fail at work, go home, and sleep like a baby. Conversely, I can have an amazingly good day, enjoy it and then completely forget about it the next day.

It's just a job.

And so what?

Enjoy your life and just be extremely rude to whoever takes exception at your choices.

It may not feel like it now, but you did the right thing in your 20's. Those experiences you had and the memories that go with them will last you a lifetime, and you'll only appreciate them more, the older you get. You still have plenty of time to land that fat salary, even if it doesn't seem that way at the moment. Most people I know making large salaries didn't start doing so until they were older than you are now.

I ended up with the worst of both worlds, and am working my way out of the consequences now. I didn't travel at all in my twenties and worked my a* off in a low-paying field for too long before making a change in my 30's.

There's no guarantee you'd have double your salary now if you'd worked harder in your 20s. A lot of salary in tech is just location. A few years ago I nearly doubled my salary just by moving to a new city and taking on a new job there.

Also I love working for smaller companies even if they do pay less than big tech. The opportunity to work on greenfield projects and actually have meaningful input into the direction even as an IC is extremely cool to me.

Thanks for offering contrasting experiences. Can you be more specific on why doubling the salary would be life changing? I read this as you're prevented from doing things that you're life can not be plentiful otherwise.

A lot wished they did more traveling like you when you where younger, but they cannot go back. Is your case a need for doubling the salary now, or can it happen through time? Would you feel the same if you had the same salary, but none of your peers were making double that?

Living that long is not guaranteed.