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I always found it weird how many people in tech build their entire identity around their job.

Don't get me wrong: I think it's healthy to take pride in your work and do it well. But don't let it get to the point where every argument at work is an attack on your entire self. "I work at Google" isn't a good tagline for your life. For most of us, our legacy won't be what we did in the office. In ten years, nobody will remember or care about the all-nighters we put in to refactor some JavaScript.

Part of the problem is the mythos of Big Tech: the idea that we're changing the world for the better, no matter how disconnected it is from the reality of 99% of all day-to-day work.

It's probably also a matter of recruiting folks fresh out of college and asking them to move across the country or across continents. This severs their social connections and forces them to rebuild their life around work.

But by the end of the day, tech companies are not your family. Despite the pastel-colored interiors, board games, and lounge chairs, they have no qualms firing you if you bring the wrong "whole self" to work, if they get bored of your project, or if they need the numbers to look better in the quarterly report.

Time flies more quickly than you suspect. In your later years, you probably won't be reminiscing about all the OKRs you aced at BigCo. Find ways to disconnect every now and then. Save some of the energy for your family and friends.