Every time I start focusing on early retirement, I get depressed. I hit my FIRE number to never work again back in January of this year. This was followed by one of the most soul-crushing depression feelings I have ever had in my life. I realized I had organized my entire life around achievement for survival. And once survival was taken care of, achievement started to not lift me up the same way it did for the last ten years. This caused me to uncover the most uncomfortable belief that many men in America feel, I equated my productivity with my worth. So every step towards early retirement was a step towards worthlessness. And wow, realizing the destination I was yearning for since I was 21 was actually a state of worthlessness shook my entire body. So, I decided to travel and see the world. I saw Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, India, Thailand, and Taiwan. I came back from my travels, and I was still depressed. Nothing had actually changed. My productivity and worth were still inextricably linked. So, is there a way to contribute while also being retired? Or do you just put your head in the sand and move back to San Francisco? 😂

I hate to say it but product manager is the safest role from AI. Data engineer will feel pressure. Analytics engineer will feel less pressure. Data scientist will feel even less pressure. PM will be elevated. CEO will be put on the stratosphere. Why is PM so safe? Strategic roles that involve tons of in person interaction are the safest roles. CEO and founder are also extremely safe from being disrupted. PMs act like mini CEOs over their product areas. Roles that are closer to the business that require more interfacing with stakeholders are safer than roles that are “behind-the-scenes.” This is why I believe analytics engineer roles are safer than data engineer roles. Analytics engineers are closer to the business and require more business acumen to be good at while data engineer roles require more technicals. Technicals are what is getting commoditized by AI. This is why I’m starting an analytics+data engineering boot camp next month in October! Let’s build a skillset together that’s less vulnerable to AI!