Long-Term Career Plans for Programmers?

zeno_lee asks: "Over the weekend, I spoke to a successful man in his 50s. He works in finance, but has had jobs in construction, trucking, and accounting. All throughout he has had concrete goals and pursued them vigorously. In his 20s he set a goal to be an expert in his field in finance, and achieved it successfully. I'm in my 20s and he advised me to envision what I want to do when I'm in my 50s, set my priorities and goals, and achieve that vision. He mentioned that success (career wise) depends on carefully planned goals with a vision, not a haphazard obstacle course with no end in sight. Beyond receiving a paycheck in the short term and steadily gaining expertise in my field, I have not given my long-term career any concrete thought. I don't have a vision of what I will be doing when I'm 50. Has anyone thought of their long-term career thoroughly and are working towards it? By this I don't mean the usual vague response 'I'll probably be in management one day.' I'm looking to hear from both junior 'careerists' in their 20s who have concrete goals, and the older folks in this field who have established careers and have an opinion about this."

Comments

my goals

[tongue]

I'm going to retire as a millionaire by the time I'm thirty. I'm well on my way to this goal. My business plan is to sell cat litter on the internet. http://dumbshit.com. I'm figuring on an IPO in the near future that will make me millions, after of course the venture capitalists get done throwing their money at me.

what? its been done? not like this my friend... you see, the difference here is, i'm selling CAT LITTER... on the INTERNET... it's a guaranteed sell! how many people do you know have cats? and don't they all need cat litter? and everybody has the internet! its a match made in heaven.

Re:my goals

[inerte]

To cue:cats?

Re:my goals

[ivan256]

You're going to be working too hard. While you're doing all this, I'll be laughing my way to retirement. I'm just waiting for the replies to all the information I sent out responding to the "Unclaimed Funds" opportunities I've been recieving through a friend I met on the internet.

That, and I know this guy in Nigeria. I gave him $10,000 to cover some legal bills he had, and when he's finished he's going to let me have 10% of a huge fortune that he's filtering through my checking account! I should go check with my bank now to see if the wire transfer has gone through.

With my two pronged approach to quick riches, I can't go wrong!

Older Folks?

[NickDngr]

I'm looking to hear from both junior 'careerists' in their 20s who have concrete goals, and the older folks in this field who have established careers and have an opinion about this.

Jeez... just become I'm not im my 20's any more I have to be grouped in with the "older folks?" How depressing.