The Travel-Induced Existential Crisis

The things you will take care of or do after the layoff

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.

The number of times I've heard people say shit like 'traveling makes you grow as a person'. Someone please specify what this growth looks like because I've never experienced it. I don't think traveling is life-changing. I think most people have a romanticized, cinema-like idea of traveling that has been exaggerated even more because of social media. It definitely is fun to go on a vacation. But in most cases, that's all it is -- a source of entertainment. Maybe an ice-breaker the next time you go to some pretentious party. Am I missing something?

what changes would you make ?

List one Activity/book which has changed your life upside down?

Everyone said travel would spark creativity and lead to my next venture. Instead, I'm more confused than ever and feeling the pressure to jump back into a traditional job. Has anyone else taken a big career break that didn't pay off as expected? How did you reframe the experience?

Looking to know experiences of folks who went this path and are blissful with the renewed priorities in life. I don't see -any hope or direction where my current scaleup startup I work at is going -why I have to bear the brunt of yessmens of the ceos who are just collecting paychecks - before they themselves can go solo as consultant/content creator/leader. -point in playing lottery with another startup job switch of landing in another similar environment -point of ruining my prime late 20s social life to collect pay checks when I have enough f*uck you money -future of work will only need me do 15hrs/week in half a decade because of AI and blackmirror like world. -poiny of current career trajectory as currney job will be replaced to need 80% less manpower - again genAI stuff.. So as I embark, want to know more stories and rides both successfull and failures by your own subjective sense!

Doston, I'm a 26 year old, run-of-the-mill MBA grad who has just been coasting through life until a very recent and intense encounter with the perils of modern life. Background brief: Academics : 8/5/8; MBA from NMIMS Mumbai ~2yrs of work ex in sales; have worked in financial sales, currently working in non-alco bev sales I have very few hard skills and am not sure where to start. Still, I'm seduced by other lucrative jobs/profiles such as finance, PM, consulting, which feel inaccessible at this point. I've accepted that there's nothing I can do to change the past, but I'm seeking guidance on how to shape my career from this point forward. Looking forward to any advice about jobs, career planning, and even life. Thank you!