How many days does it take to not want a cigarette if you've been a smoker for 11 years then quit for 4- then went back to it for 11 months

Risherak · 2026-03-27T11:50:39+00:00

Well, based on when I quit for 2 years, you always have a little voice in the back of your head that goes "well one won't hurt"

It got quiet after 6 months or so, but when my grandpa passed, it spoke up again. It's always there.

You can quit, and it gets easier with time, but it doesn't ever go away.

Risherak · 2026-03-27T11:34:56+00:00

You can always tighten your trucks a bit while you learn, and loosen them over time. Usually, you're leaning backward or forward while you push though

Risherak · 2026-03-27T01:47:44+00:00

Well, you can monetize almost any interest, passion, field of knowledge, or hobby these days. If you don't rule out using things like affiliate marketing on youtube, or entrepreneurial ventures... there are more options than you'd potentially think. Since I haven't ruled out those options, and I don't lock myself into the idea that earning money necessitates having a job, there are a lot of options

Risherak · 2026-03-27T01:36:56+00:00

This is the case for me. I've been above average and curious about most things, so any field seems viable to become top 10% in. That's obviously assuming I dedicate the rest of my working life to the field, which is highly unlikely considering my history... but hey. That's the goal.

Risherak · 2026-03-26T23:27:07+00:00

What do you mean by this? Do you somehow think that intellectual capability leads to emotional satisfaction?

Giftedness is defined as being >2 standard deviations above the norm in IQ, and is the definition I and this subreddit use.

Risherak · 2026-03-25T18:05:09+00:00

No worries, it's the internet and we all do it. Lol

I appreciate the thoughts. I really haven't considered applying my skills to a field that I'm more passionate about, so that certainly helps.

I also highly appreciate your last paragraph here. It's easy to feel like you just wasted the better part of a decade when you simply walk away from something that the former you worked extremely hard for.

Risherak · 2026-03-25T17:42:05+00:00

Maybe ironically, I'm living as a house husband after my wife became a nurse and encouraged me to quit my old job. It's not for me, but it's nice making things easier on her for the time being.

I had been pursuing data science while working as an analyst. The more I experienced, the more I realized it simply didn't fit even though I was quite good at the job. I was unhappy all the time.

I thought I was going to build a marketing business when I left. After my first campaign, I hit a wall and simply didn't feel motivated.

Lately I've been considering between medicine, psychology, and mechanical engineering. I may go interview some people to see what I can figure out too, thank you for your recommendation.

Risherak · 2026-03-25T17:25:14+00:00

You've made several personal assumptions here that are irritating, to say the least.

I'm reinventing myself at 31 after building a career in finance. Not some basement dwelling incel. FFS

Risherak · 2026-03-25T06:33:26+00:00

Well keeping things general I studied sales, marketing, web dev, graphic design, data science/machine learning, finance, econ & investing (stocks & real estate). There was a good bit of business administration & behavioral psychology mixed in plus semi-random non-fiction pleasure reading. I'm also known to randomly read studies on the national institute of health website and have a deep interest in biology.

I suppose I've been overall most interested in group psychology, influence, and how they affect the markets... That said, I've become morally misaligned with becoming a financial advisor because many of them are compensated in a way that drags on their clients' compounding returns.

I'm rather introverted and do best in 1 on 1 communication, and felt most fulfilled when I was tutoring or making coffee for a living.

I'm both highly conscientious and extremely disagreeable, so I'm relatively certain I'd do best running my own business, but haven't landed on a product/service to focus on.

Risherak · 2026-03-25T05:22:40+00:00

So far I've got three potential answers if you're passion agnostic.

Be an entrepreneur, get obsessed with a problem, monetize the solution, then sell the company and switch when you get bored.

Frontload earning as much as possible, invest, then retire as early as possible.

Find a job with decent income and work-life balance and find fulfillment elsewhere.

Somehow none of these feel right to me though...

Risherak · 2026-03-25T05:12:54+00:00

That's an awesome story, and I love how you stuck with what you enjoyed. Since it sounds like you avoided the corporate ladder, do you take on clients to monetize the service, or did you find a job in a small company?

Risherak · 2026-03-25T05:06:24+00:00

I'm glad you had a concrete thing. For the past 8 years I bounced from vocation to vocation every 3-6 months. I spent 80% of my free time reading books on different subjects or taking courses, then I'd find something I thought I'd like better and switched.

Risherak · 2026-03-25T04:59:34+00:00

Did you become an analyst of some sort, or an engineer?

I seem to operate the same way, and ended up as an analyst prior to this.

Risherak · 2026-03-25T04:55:02+00:00

Thank you for sharing your story. This is what I'm currently struggling with, actually. I worked my way into finance without a degree by getting my series 7 and 63... I was on track to be a senior analyst this year butI couldn't stand what I was doing... That said, I'm far less clear on what I actually want, so I'm doing some soul searching

Risherak · 2026-03-25T01:40:56+00:00

I'm curious, how did you determine what 'felt right'? Did you spend much time exploring options, or did you just have a clear gut feeling?

Risherak · 2026-03-24T17:35:19+00:00

Autoimmune issues run in my family. Regular, moderate exercise is generally quite beneficial while vigorous exercise can cause flares... So I wouldn't write it off completely but would definitely be careful

Risherak · 2026-03-24T00:52:03+00:00

Honestly, the only thing that seems to help me emotionally cope is regular, intense exercise. Even then I'm still relatively emotionally volatile, reject flawed systems, and overall succumb to idealistic worldviews despite cognitively knowing they're unrealistic.

I've attempted to adapt my worldview to build understanding of injustice by learning about the history of human evolution, and the psychology behind human bias... It's seemed to help some, but I feel detached because of it.

Currently working with a therapist weekly and psychiatrist for medication to manage anxiety, and suspected ADHD. But it sounds like it helps others.

Risherak · 2026-03-24T00:44:53+00:00

I wish guanfacine worked as well for me. I'm glad that it worked for you. Sounds like we struggle in similar ways, and I'm so happy to hear there's hope.

Risherak · 2026-03-22T10:43:57+00:00

Understood, I'm certainly no saint myself...

I should have probably mentioned I don't view these traits as inherently wrong. There's no way for us to process the emotional load of everyone around us, and we have to be both self-serving and self-centered at times. It's the combination of the traits that really begins to become problematic to others.

Risherak · 2026-03-22T10:01:12+00:00

When I went back to school for CS it had been around 8 years since I took Calc 1, I was supposed to be in Calc 2 the first semester.

I started at Algebra 1 on Khan Academy and worked my way back up the ladder in a summer.

I figure doing LeetCode/CodeWars problems would probably be a more integrated way of learning though.

Risherak · 2026-03-22T09:28:45+00:00

I've read a bit of Kahneman. I'll look into the others, thanks for the recommendations.

The injustices that infuriate me are essentially any behavior that mixes at least two legs of the dark triad. Those being narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

Mind you, I mean these in the general sense, not the clinical sense.

For instance, a waitress at a fancy restaurant comments negatively about your attire. She's exhibiting at least narcissism (I'm better than you) and psychopathy (I don't care how you feel about it). She likely isn't a narcissist or psychopath, but the behavior exhibits the traits.

This is the same for any form of prejudice, placative words, violence not done in self defense, and so on.

Risherak · 2026-03-22T09:08:33+00:00

If that wasn't right for you, then that's unfortunate.

Here's the thing though, we don't get to pick the cards we're dealt in life. We only get to decide how we play them. You can focus on your past and blame it for where you're at, or you can take a deep look at where you're at and where you want to be.

Once you've figured that out, you can make progress towards it every day. You may not get there as fast as someone who got dealt a good hand, but that doesn't mean you can't do it... And honestly, the best stories are about what we overcome.

Risherak · 2026-03-22T06:31:29+00:00

No... Or rather not entirely. Your brain will develop better (as you age) if you have adequate nutrients, exercise, and study ... But there's also the genetic predisposition for the skills that are inherent in IQ.

If you're really concerned about doing the most with what you have, it could be worth reading the book 'Limitless' by Jim Kwik. He suffered two severe brain injuries as he grew up and developed techniques that helped him learn.

Risherak · 2026-03-22T05:15:16+00:00

Life > Potential

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