A different list

When I was 18 my goal was to get a software engineering job, earn good money, and move out. I thought that if I could achieve those things I'd have made it. At the time, they felt incredibly far away. What I didn't realise was that every time I achieved one of my goals it would stop feeling like a goal at all. The stuff that I spent a while thinking about would eventually become part of my routine, and there's always the next best thing.

The university years

I didn't think seriously about my professional career until I was 17. I chose software engineering at uni on a whim and hoped it would work out. The learning curve hit me hard. Some people at uni seemed naturally better than me. They understood concepts quicker, got better marks, and I felt pretty average. Eventually I caught up and even tutored other students. When I was 19, I took a year off and worked in the data field. Six months as an intern, then another six months full time. Then when I was 21, I went back to uni and realised I wanted to move away from data and back into software development.

Getting the job

At 22, I locked in on software development and got an internship. It lasted six months, then another three months as a full time developer. At 23, I got a graduate role for one year. At 24, I became a mid-level software developer. I'm 27 now.

The thing I had spent years chasing had finally happened. For a while it felt great, and then it became normal. The internship became a job and the job became my routine. The thing that once felt impossible became something I did every Monday morning.

The money thing

For a long time I thought money would be the success indicator. When I was younger, earning six figures sounded like something that happened much later in life. Then eventually I got there.

The first few pay cycles felt different, and then they didn't. The money became normal and it was just another line on my payslip. Not before long I was thinking about the next number.

The pattern repeats

I've noticed this pattern repeating itself throughout my life. The software engineering job became normal, salary, and hobbies became normal. Even some of the things I never expected to have became normal.

At some point I started collecting watches. Years ago I would've been surprised to hear that sentence come out of my own mouth. Now I wear them without thinking about it. There also was a time when having a decent amount of savings felt like financial freedom. Today I spend more time looking at property prices than I do thinking about the fact that I have savings at all.

What I'm chasing now

Right now I'm focused on different things. AI engineering, home ownership, investing, and a bigger salary. The goals themselves have changed, but the feeling hasn't. Every version of me believed the next milestone would be the one that made everything click. The university student thought it was a job. The graduate thought it was a bigger salary. The software engineer thought it was financial stability. Looking back, each goal eventually became normal, and each version of me found something new to chase.

My take

Five years ago I would've been amazed by the life I have today, and five years from now I suspect I'll look back and think the same thing again (provided nothing goes horribly wrong). There'll probably be new goals and hobbies added to the list, which will also become normal. Hopefully I don't forget to blog them too.