Is life a race for eternal growth?

If you ask me, the purpose of life has to be more than climbing a self-constructed ladder. Like, it has to be more than a 3BHK in a metro, with two kids, a car and a prestigious job at a faceless corporation, 2 weeks of vacation and a movie on the weekend. Isn’t this weird that, we all continue to fool ourselves? When you know nothing matters the universe is yours, and I've never met a universe that was into it. The universe is an animal, it grazes on the ordinary. It creates infinite idiots just to eat them. You know? Smart people get a chance to climb on top and take reality for a ride but it'll never stop trying to throw you. And eventually it will, there's no other way off - Rick, Rick and Morty.

Just trying to understand the purpose or the motive of the people on GV that keeps you going by pushing yourself. I'm sure we've all been through a phase where this feels pointless, but still we keep at it.

If there is one thing you can learn from Ambani’s wedding, it’s the fact that money is the only objective measure of power and influence in this world. - The biggest rivals politically, share the stage and greet each other The biggest rivals in cricket, dance with each other The biggest rivals in cinema, greet each other The biggest rivals within family, help each other The biggest rivals in business, hug each other - You should strive to make as much money as you possible can because money is power. You don't do it for pleasure; you do it because that's how you win. You do it because in this ruthless world, being on top is the only safe place to be. Money is your shield and your weapon, and without it, you're nothing. - You make as much money as possible because, let's face it, money's fun. It's the key to all the cool stuff—power, parties, private jets, you name it. Sure, it's also about proving yourself and not being the screw-up everyone thinks you are, but mainly it's about the thrill. Making money means you're in the game, you're relevant, and you can do whatever the hell you want. - Plus, it gives you the leverage to tell people to screw off and actually get away with it. So, yeah, stack that cash and enjoy the ride. - You make as much money as possible because it’s your ticket to security and status. In this family and in this world, wealth is what keeps you safe and respected. It’s about climbing the ladder and proving you belong at the top, even if you weren’t born into it. With money, you gain leverage, influence, and the ability to protect yourself in a cutthroat environment. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to enjoy the finer things and have a buffer against the chaos that comes with being alive in this world. - You make as much money as possible because it’s about breaking boundaries and redefining what’s possible. It’s not just about the money—it’s about the disruption, the innovation, and staying ahead of the curve. - Continued in comments

My current salary is 42LPA. I am from IIT, have 7 years of experience and work in product. Honestly, my value in the market is higher than what I’m being paid but I am very demotivated to optimise for that. When I do see less deserving people minting more money, I feel that I am doing injustice to myself and playing the wrong hand. More and more though, the thought of earning more money chokes me a bit. I have dreams of building something of my own - that gives me control to build something my way and freedom to live my life as per my terms. But the mindset of “zyada paisa pareshaani hai” doesn’t leave me. My family also is not dependent on me and whatever is needed from my side, I actively contribute to. I also lack any motivation to focus on my investments and see my money grow. I just have money sitting around in my bank account purely for nothing I also look at my lifestyle choices from time to time and go into existential debate of why we need the things that we do. This has come to a point where I really do not understand my relationship with money and why we earn and spend it. For me at this point, it’s just a show for the world. There’s very little that you need, and really no limit to what you want to show. And I just don’t see a point in it anymore.

So here's the thing. I'm 4 years into my SWE career & have realised this field is not for me for long term. I seriously want to get out of this rate race early. But I don't have any skill or talent other than SWE which can earn me decent money. Since SWE pays well my lifestyle has become of higher standard and I am now used to this lifestyle and don't want to compromise on this lifestyle by leaving the well paying SWE field. I have around 50 lakh of savings invested and interested in some business of my own but don't have a clue where to start. Please give me ideas of how I can get out of this rat race early ?

I turned 30 last month and I still feel i am a 20 year old. I lost the last 4 years of my life working from home and have started to go to office recently. I never worked together in a team, never been out for team lunches/dinners, never presented my work to the seniors/leadership. I have 4.5 years experience on the paper and my interaction with colleagues in person has been almost zero . I don’t know how to do my taxes, can’t do basic servicing of my bike, extremely indiscipline’s, rarely track my expenses, can’t say ‘No’, haven’t upskill we and hence stuck in TCS, can’t stick to a hobby or interest, pathetic in managing my time, have no sense of punctuality, socially awakened, overweight with a pot belly and hence have confidence issues, can’t take care of myself in terms of self grooming, couldn’t maintain friendships as I used to get offended when someone made fun of me or mocked me- my inflated ego is just useless. I can’t control my emotions, I sometimes get emotional and have tears in my eyes, I show emotions easily on my face, not smart when it comes to dealing with others, don’t know how much to talk to whom, whom to talk to, how to talk to and when to talk. I’ve been told I’m pessimistic and highly negative about myself but I’m just saying things the way it is. I have no responsibilities on life. I’ll be getting married the next year and I know I can take up the responsibility. But I still have the fear of putting my fiancé down. I love her a lot and I never even would do anything to put her down. My bad time management skills, inability to focus, getting distracted badly, being a slow learner, not networking, not having idea on making switches regularly, being too lazy and impatient to learn new things, not being updated in terms of on demand skills, tools , technologies, reluctance to learn something new and hence staying in comfort zone has screwed up my career. I feel stuck and lost in life. I honestly don’t know what to do.

Please respond honestly based on your experience. no words from books or random thoughts.

Has anyone thaught what's good and Bad?why shud we exist in first place? We all make money to live , to eat food , to find a family that we like it or not but forced to get used to it sometimes, work hard for money and then die someday , just like any other animals , what's the point of it . Why die someday after hard work and no enjoyment or die with enjoyment ? Why!!... Anyways noone's gonna remember me , you , or anyone in 100, 200, 1000 years... What's the purpose of living a life according to someone as good or bad ...why live in first place?... If we are born to die , then why be born? Work hard to get a good job , and then to get a good wife ? Do they work that way nowadays? Do you think that if you get rich and find a partner, is she attracted to you or to your riches? And at the end of the day everyone wants a beautiful person who is also rich and doesn't contradict with you..... And I am losing hopes in this generation, in this era , in this world and the entire humanity which is fading away , in the form of society we let humanity die, This world is not for humans alone but for animals also....but we never respect the dogs we see on roads , This world is not fair , and why shud we pretend to be good in an unfair world ? I don't believe in life after death anol, you are made of cells and they do decompose after you are burried and whatever consciousness is it's nothing but release of chemicals that creates an illusion..... And we all believe in that illusion....

I noticed a pattern in myself. I chase a goal, I achieve it, be elated about achieving that goal for a few hours (A few days at best, if it's some really really great achievement), and everything feels the same again I'm off thinking about the next thing. Once I've got it, my mind just goes "this wasn't such a big deal". I got a pretty nice rank in NEET UG and also cracked the internship at Microsoft. I have won hackathons. I have overcome my shyness about talking to strangers. I have a lot of things to be proud of. I came really close to killing myself but have managed to live on, and this is my greatest achievement by far. I just wish I could be happy.