Lifechanging blog posts

...and a video

Epistemic status: Personal anecdote, low confidence in generalizability

25 January 2026
800 words - 4 min read
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TOC

TL;DR

 The most lifechanging blog posts I have ever read

■ [Candost Dagdeviren] Retiring from the idea of retirement

Retiring from the idea of retirement made me realize that work can be more than something you just endure until retirement. It was one of the first posts that convinced me that self-employment was ultimately a lifestyle choice I wanted to make.

From the post

People tend to think (...) that they will suddenly stop what they are doing after a certain age and let younger generations pay for their salary.
(...)
The problem with this mentality is that people rely on it too much.
They postpone their lives today and restrict themselves from doing what they want.
I have been acting like my job was a disease that will go away in the future.

■ [tala's blog] your life is not a prequel

Your life is not a prequel is a metaphor that PERFECTLY explains how I was living without realizing it. When I was in middle school, I thought, “Real life begins in high school, when I turn 18...”. In high school it became “Real life begins in university when you study what you like and live without your parents”. In university it was “Real life begins when you work and have your own money”. And so on, until I started working (as an employee) and thought “Real life begins with retirement!”.

From the post

For so long, I've treated my life like a transitory period, an interlude.
(...)
I was always waiting, I recall.
(...)
I think I was waiting for a feeling of being prepared and enough. Once I am a better writer... Once I graduate...
(...)
I have come to realize that the procrastination, perfectionism, the ceaseless desire itself all come from the same place: a negation to inhabit the life unfolding right now.

■ [RIBBONFARM] The Gervais Principle, Or The Office According to “The Office”

The Gervais Principle It's the post that made me exclaim, “AH! I'M NOT THE CRAZY ONE!”. When I worked at university and then in a corporation, NOTHING I saw worked well, EVERYTHING could have been done better, and NO ONE was interested in improving the situation. The extraordinary clarity of this post (and book!) made me realize that it's not my fault: I'm simply not cut out for those “pathological” places.

From the preface of the book

Reflection is a dangerous pastime.
It can lead you to rewrite your past, alter how you see your present, and tempt you down paths you never imagined you would explore.
By my estimate, the material in this book has already triggered such hazardous reflection for thousands of people over the past four years.
It has triggered significant (and not always positive) career moves for dozens of people that I know of.
I myself am one of the victims of this book.

■ [Slate Star Codex] Should You Reverse Any Advice You Hear?

Should You Reverse Any Advice You Hear? made me ignore the advice I was given by corporate workers and university professors. Learning from others is a cheat code that I love, but when you realize you don't want to work as an employee, you can't follow the advice of those who have been doing that for a lifetime.

From the post

The checklist could be something like:
1. Are there plausibly near-equal groups of people who need this advice versus the opposite advice?
2. Have you self-selected into the group of people receiving this advice by (...) being a fan of the blog / magazine / TV channel / political party / self-help-movement offering it?
3. Then maybe the opposite advice, for you in particular, is at least as worthy of consideration.

■ Other links

The posts mentioned above have had a significant impact on my life. These have too, but to a lesser extent.

└─ Work better

└─ Be better

└─ Corporate hell