I’m 25 and have been in the marketing industry for the past 7 years. Right now, I’m focused on being the best at what I do so I can hopefully rest easier later. But I keep wondering — will all this hard work actually pay off in my 30s, or will I still be grinding just as hard?
One of my biggest goals is to give more time to my family when I reach my 30s. For those who’ve been through this stage or are in it now, how did things turn out for you? Any advice on what I should be doing now to make that goal a reality?
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FOR-EVV-VER
The reward for hard work is more work.
Plan for later, but make sure to live now.
The grind never ends.
Having a family will increase that grind 10 fold and you will lose most of your freedom, no one is interested in your personal opinions (if they ever were).
I can totally understand why depression is rampant amongst middle aged men.
I’m (m49) also in marketing and have certainly served my time in the meat grinder.
The solution I found was owning my own agency. It’s certainly still a lot of work, but I much prefer being the master of my own destiny. I also made it a point to make sure my own agency isn’t a meat grinder. I’ve got young, talented people working for me and I don’t want my agency chewing them up and spitting them out.
Work/life balance can exist, but it takes finding the right job and those are few and far between.
43 here and no it doesn’t it actually gets worse if you don’t control lifestyle creep. If you keep spending more money as you make more money its becomes crushing. The key to happiness is to live WAY below your means from a reoccurring bill perspective.
The grind never ends. You just level up.
But more importantly, you learn what’s important to you.
Well we all die someday
Life isn’t linear and is different for everyone. My grind didn’t get easier until I got my current job at 28 years old.
Marketing is tough to advance in. I did 10 years in marketing and had very little to show for it money wise. I had fun, but when I was let go during down sizing I decided to leave the industry for something completely different. I make a little more money now with a nice and boring stress free job.
30s is as much grinding as your 20s, arguably more.
Your job though, some people find benefits to jumping ship often for raises.
You can choose to add in life experiences on top of your grinding, you shouldn’t try to avoid that. You’ll be grinding till at least your 40s though, depending on how you move up.
Yep, I was in the same boat as you. At 25, I finally had a good paying job where I could save money. The MOST IMPORTANT thing to do is to save up as much money as possible and invest it in high yield assets. All my money went into S&P Index Spyders. Treat your investment contribution as the first and highest priority bill to pay. Everything else is secondary, even if you have to carry a little credit card debt over to the next month. This mindset forces you to earn more money or budget tighter. Only your assets will allow you to escape the rat race. I’m now 47 and getting ready to retire within a few years.
When I was young I was very poor.
But after years of education and hard work…
I am no longer young.
>have been in the marketing industry for the past 7 years.
Sales and marketing is not a profession for someone who wants things to get easier over time. It’s not a basic necessity so you’ll always be hustling to compete.
I picked a trade. I’m doing less work than I’ve ever done while making twice the money any of my friends who are trying to get ahead doing white collar work. Yeah it’s manualish labor but there is zero grind. I just fix things and get paid. If you’re ever needing a change to something that you can do in your sleep eventually and doesn’t lower your hourly wage the more you work, I highly recommend it.
Paid off for me and most of my friends. About 25 was the real start for all of us. We all put in a hard decades. Hit fever pitch for me between 35-38 with 2 kids, properties, real earnings.
43 now. Much easier. Most days aren’t bad. I don’t see myself ever grinding like that again bc I don’t have to. Now let the 25 year olds grind while I collect.
Hang in there. 40s>30s>20s
Depends on lifestyle creep. If you want to continue getting nicer things as you make more money it’s never ending.
If anything, it gets worse. It stops being the monotonous grind and becomes the high pressure inescapable grind.
I’m now in my mid 40s, by all accounts I am doing well at my job. Frequently promoted, well respected in the field. I will clear half a mill this year.
There is a lot riding on my decisions, people want to know what I think. And to do well, I have to ensure I’m always included in the discussion. It’s hard, maybe unsustainable.
I mean, it does pay off. But a lot of will depend on how you do your job, what job you’re doing, etc. Some industries thrive on making employees do enormous amounts of work, and if you stay in that area you’re just going to be doing that forever.
I went into (software) engineering. I spent a huge portion of my 20s working ridiculous hours. In my early 30s I cut way back and had a family. Nowadays I work long hours when I need to, but I’ve developed trust and a reputation and my company and bosses all know that I’ll work less when I don’t need to and will enforce work boundaries, but that I’ll also pitch in and work very hard when needed.
But generally: Expect to work until your 60s or 70s. But the jobs you’re doing will hopefully be less of a grind as you get older, get more experience, and earn trust and so on from your employers. Or you just say "fuck it, I can do with a less stressful and worse paying job". I know people who went from being high-priced consultants to literally helping staffing and then managing local grocery stores.
25 and asking about “grinding forever”. You have a lot of years left, invest and save, by the time you hit 40 you could at least have a solid 6 digits with consistency.
A 40 year old man at my martial arts dojo told me this when I was 20 and it’s stuck with me ever since.
"It doesn’t get easier, you just get tougher".
You’ll die at some point don’t worry my dude
Sorry dude but this is such a pointless post – don’t know anything about you. I’d say if youre only goal is money that is wrong. work yes, but travel, enjoy yourself too.
Still climbing the corporate ladder as I approach 40, and the grind is still grindy. The main thing is I don’t stay late anymore. I draw boundaries because there will always be more work there the next day, and I want time with my family.
The higher you climb the ladder the more responsibility you have, but it’s less time investment.
Like I was an individual contributor for like 15 years with deadlines and long hours. Now I spend most of my days in meetings tracking work others are doing. It’s pretty cake. I mean I do have to talk knowledgeably to important people and that’s stressful for some. Not me though
Doesn’t get easier, you just go faster
50 this year. The grind continues.
If you are betting on just grinding then you will need a lot of luck to have an easier time later in your career.
I’d be ideal if you planned ahead. If your priority is having more free time during your 30’s, maybe you should be focusing on a business or a career path that will allow you to do that. It’s not a general rule and it depends what you consider grinding but for example maybe sr. management in your company seems to have more relaxed schedules then your objective could become climbing the corporate ladder for that.
Maybe in your company everyone is breaking their backs then you should probably aim towards changing companies.
It would help if you can talk to people with more experience in your prefered industry to see if that kind of career path would provide you with what you are looking for.
I think it varies a lot depending of a lot of factors (industry, location, skills, financial objectives, etc) so you’d be the only one that could really plan ahead towards whatever objective you may want to aim for.
For example I’m not in the US. I’m in the IT industry. I’m 41 years old. I hold a C level position in an IT firm where I started 17 years ago. I’d say the grind per se (long hours, work during weekends, etc) is much lighter than when I started or even than when I was in middle management. Challenges are different at this stage.
You can have it all, just not at the same time.
God answers a prayer; the man prays for more.
The grind becomes comfy in a lot of cases tbh. You’ll miss things about most jobs after you move on
Eventually you or someone around you will have some sort of crisis(es). I have found the best way to be at these times is flexible. Listen to yourself, figure out what’s wrong. Don’t be afraid of stuff like don’t think to yourself "if I quit alcohol that means I’m an alcoholic". Don’t listen to the negative thoughts just try stuff. You will grow through it.
The only things I’ve ever regretted in life are usually A.) I could have been nicer to someone and B.) I didn’t give someone a chance. Generally try to be as nice to people as you can all the time. People will fuck you over and betray and hurt you. They were going to do that anyway. You couldnt prevent it by sucking harder than them. they’re trying to grow too
Effort in does not equal reward out. It depends entirely on your circumstances. If you’re grinding and genuinely not getting anywhere, you need to do something else.
Brother it only gets harder. Add padding to your helmet.
I gave up on the grind
Judging by your age and experience it sounds like you didn’t go to college. I would highly recommend looking into getting a bachelor degree. It is the simplest and statistically most effective way for you to drastically increase your lifetime earnings, and are ways to do it affordably using junior college and in-state tuition.
It only pays off if you don’t leave your cash sit in one place doing nothing. Take control of it. Build up a good amount and make it work for you, either in stocks or other form of assets. The goal is not to give more time to your family, it is to spend more time with family imo. I realized it a bit too late and the grind smashed my sorry bump.
I worked my way all through my 20’s and I was basicly workaholic. I connected with a close group of like 4 people and a gf and that’s it. It suited me well btw and if my gf would have stayed I would not change anything. Except for more travelling and enjoying life in general.
What actually happens is that you miss on life experiences. While it is true that you either play now and work later or work now and play later, you will miss a lot of good times because of work.
Also you will get to the point where you have the resources to not work anymore or work A LOT less than you are used to and you have nothing to do with your life. Like a crossroad in life. Hard to explain.
So it depends, if you have your basic needs met (shelter, can afford good meals, have an emotional connection / gf / whatever you crave and a few friends) you are free to work as much as you want and enjoy fruits of your labor later in life. But mind you time is unforgiving. In my 20’s I could sustain 3-day festival solely on energy drinks and this is not possible in 30’s.
It depends on what you do. In marketing/sales, yes, you will probably be grinding forever. If you’re good at it you will make bank. But most people don’t. Hence the grind.
You want to know why so people choose M-F, 8-5 jobs? Because you don’t grind. You work 40 hours per week, sleep 56 hours per week, and spend the other 72 hours per week living life.
I traveled the world until I was 37, I don’t get why people jump into the grind.
It’s mindset. The sort of person who is grinding in their 20s will still be grinding until retirement at 65, and die within two years of retirement. The sort of person who is taking it easy in their 40s also took it easy in their 20s.
Mindset. Start as you mean to go on. If you enjoy the grind, do it. If you don’t, don’t.
Ah, yet another "does it get better?" question on AMO30.
Change your mindset to enjoy your work and seek growth and new skills. Save for your future. Remember to spend some money on what you really desire, if it be travel or cars, or whatever. Find what brings you joy. Take some risks.
You’re about to burn out. I did, albeit a few years later. If you don’t establish a balance, you’re going to enter a funk that’ll take at least 6 months to get out of. I guarantee it. This mindset doesn’t just go away. It builds.
Personally, switching to a lower pressure job with more time off saved my life and marriage. I’m 40 pounds leaner, and I quit vaping, drinking, and smoking weed.
Life is a grind period. You have to learn to thoroughly enjoy the best parts.
Age 17 through 23: some of your best years
-generally speaking, you’re a kid with little responsibility
Age 24 – 35: some of your hardest years
-life happens, job, marriage, start a family, economic situations, maybe even close friends/family pass away
Age 36 – 55: gets better
-hopefully more stabilized, kids getting older
Age 56+: your happiest years
“Suffer now, enjoy the benefits later” – but as others have said – keep your spending and lifestyle steady so you have extra money when you decide it’s time to quit the grind.
The trend I always see is the better you are at your job, the more important you are, and the more time the company makes you work. You get promotions and raises but it just means you’ve increased your hours and stress. Missing any time means more workload to catch up on, so you end up cutting vacation time short, or taking meetings during time off
The people that seem to make it out end up doing their own contracting LLC and charge a lot for short sprints of hard work, but then they have lots of time off. Depends on the industry
There are also "director" roles that seem to do not much and work remote and get high pay and bonuses
Or you can just chug along making medium pay and going home at 5 but have the medium stress of not enough money for family, but if you live below your means this seems to work well for plenty of people.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha….
sigh
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…
The grind stops when you stop grinding… assuming you aren’t a slave or indentured servant etc.
I quit corporate at 32 and founded my own consultancy business as a marketer for startups.
I’ve worked with 100+ startups and lived in Australia, Bali and now Portugal — with remote work. We’re looking at Thailand next.
I’m now 39.
I haven’t used an alarm clock in eight years.
I’m in great physical shape and very happy.
I love my work and I’ve started to present at conferences.
I recently launched my first scalable product (a Figma kit) and started to get sales while I’m asleep.
We don’t have kids yet — but plan to.
I will be able to be very present and financially capable.
Make sure you are taking time off. Even one or 2 days a month. It makes a world of difference. As well as getting plenty of sleep. Because otherwise you risk burning out.
Don’t give up on chances to make memories now, later memories will not replace good memories from today.
I would try to balance regrets you would have about shelving life plans today against regrets you could have about slowing your career trajectory in the future. My father fixated on financial stability and now we don’t worry about money but he can feel the emotional distance from being largely absent from our childhood. He would gladly exchange the money for more time with us.
Don’t plan all your leisure for retirement. Retire in parallel with your career. Invest well.
Buckle up, there’s a reason why every older man you talk to gives you shit about being tired, not having time etc.
Perspective is a hell of a thing. I thought I didn’t have time before. Looking back at my early 20’s now that I’m 32 with a wife and a 5 month old, I had all the time in the world. I look back and just think “What was I even worried about? What responsibilities did I actually have?”
With that being said, it’s crazy how much more efficient you learn to be once you have kids. Perspective comes back into play. Although things do get objectively “harder”, you adapt and it becomes your new norm. Suddenly “difficult” has a new meaning.
If there’s any advice I can give, make a routine and become disciplined at it now. Having a routine is the only thing that allows me to have me-time, and get things done. Lastly, just get good at doing things when you really don’t want to do it. Don’t leave dishes in the sink, don’t leave the trash for the morning. Whatever needs to get done just get it done and your future self will thank you.
The only way the hard work pays off is if you save the money, if you spend it then when you are burnt out and tired you won’t be able to take your foot off the gas.
The grind is forever, so set your expectations accordingly and remember to enjoy life because this is all there is.
Only way that happens. Is invest in things that pay monthly dividends that pay at least 10% each month. Work hard invest for 15-20 years retire early
Do you like what you do? You’ve been doing it since 18.
Might be that you are in the wrong career. You are young now is the time to make moves to find what you enjoy doing.
43m here… still grinding away…
I live with zero debt. It helps, my life is fairly stress free
Depends what you do with the money you make.
If you spend it all, you will continue to grind to meet the ever-increasing lifestyle expenses.
If you are frugal and save the money you make, eventually after a few decades you have fuck you money and can do what you like.
Or get rich quick, which is always going to have questionable ethics.
Lean in to it. Accept it.
Life is like an old school arcade game.
It just keeps getting harder and harder until you die.
The grind never really ends and you’ll never have enough time
The key is to make the time you do have count. That’s the whole point of the grind in the first place
Whether things get easier depends on your industry and whether you have a knack for your work. I’m in banking. After 19 years, shit’s pretty easy. So, yeah, you can get to a point where you’re not always grinding.
If you find a job that you enjoy it doesn’t feel like a grind, even if you work very very hard.
Cynical answer: No one "cares" about hard work really in my experience. I mean, being lazy will hurt you if its painfully obvious. But learning to delegate work out and scale yourself up that way is more impressive and still pretty lazy. Careers are mostly "who you know. who you talk to. who likes you". The stuff everyone hates and assholes thrive at, combined with a bit of luck for being in the right place at the right time.
Make time for your family now and don’t let it go. Find a workplace that won’t punish you for taking it. Its more about you personally figuring out how to be healthy.
Haha yes this is the grind, praying for a fatal heart attack every day now
24-27 were the hardest years for me. I was in between so much bullshit. But I saw a light at the end of the tunnel and went for it. My 30s were amazing. I’m now 40+ and love my life.
I think work has gotten easier overall. In the early years of your career, take the jobs where you’ll learn alot. That test your mettle and are tough. Projects alot of people don’t want to develop an expertise on for whatever reason. Then when you’re more experienced, you can lean on that experience in higher levels at organizations that pay well for not a ton of work and stress. The biggest danger at that point is comfort and not continuing to invest in yourself and grow.
Also, invest heavily in your 401k when you’re younger and you’ll feel more financially secured than you do when you’re starting.
Yes, it gets easier. Jobs like yours become more flexible as you become more senior. More thinking and directing and less “work”
The grind now is good for your future. Think of it this way:
Easy choices, hard life
Or:
Hard choices, easy life
Being effective will pay off far more than hard work.
Hi Op, I’m 42,
It does get better, but you can’t just sit around and wait for it. You actively have to work towards the future you wish.
I was early with kids, they’re now 14 and nearly 16. The grind sucked when they were young but even that got easier as time passed.
Now I’m in the place I want to be, I work 20 hours a week and have plenty of time for my wife, kids and hobbies.
Nothing just comes rolling along, it takes planning and dedication to get there.
Edit: minor grammer errors
The grind gets easy 😎
Plan for the future, take entrepreneurial ventures (you might lose so watch out, but if you get lucky you might get passive income so that you won’t have to work your life away), and be sure to enjoy your day to day, or week to week. Life doesn’t get better or worse just cause you work hard. It becomes worth it when you achieve your goals, enjoy the people around you, and are grateful for what you have. But be prepared for the long haul, it’s a marathon not a sprint
I’m 50. After 30, everything was pretty solid. We had a financial rough point a couple of years after my son was born in 2012 due to expensive delivery bills and therapy related to autism, but we got past it. I haven’t “grinded” in 20+ years.
But when I was 25, I had nothing. Bought my first house at 30 with a $5000 down payment and a $1200 mortgage. I wouldn’t get Toooo concerned at 25.
That depends on your framing.
Generally, the reward for good work is more work… albeit of a slightly different composition.
My husband and I currently enjoy a great deal of free time + the resources to really enjoy that free time.
However, when he’s on he’s on, and there’s almost no time for anything else. The responsibilities are all encompassing.
So, opportunity cost.
Adulting is just everything, all the time, all at once.
Couple things.
If it feels like a grind after 7 years, something is definitely wrong. At that point it’s suppose to feel a lot easier.
If you are burned out, you could find a way to take time off, or change companies.
I’m in sales and don’t give a shitake what the experts say – “if you try hard enough, it just believe in yours (not wrong btw) but these don’t paint a clear picture.
If you are marketing crappy products with poor market fit or lots of alternatives, it may always suck.
If you market a product or service that is in higher demand, you might find your job a lot easier.
I’d figure out where the struggle is.
In my experience, the industry you’re in (sorry no such thing as the marketing industry), makes all the difference. Where there is demand, there’s a lot of abundance vibes. Where there is lack, there’s a lot of grindy, hard times vibes.
Just saying.
It’s good to work hard to get yourself in a position that whoever you work for values. That way you can take it easy, do the important bits, do them well but then take time for yourself and your family. It will never be given to you, you have to take it
We have switched from work hard to earn more money
To
Trade and use money leverage to spin more money.
Keep your sane self. Enjoy life .
Don’t listen to 60+ hrs work is rewarding
39yr old here.
I’ve been in the same industry as you for nearly 20 years and in that time I’ve been fortunate enough to go from intern to ceo of a fairly large company. The grind does NOT get “easier”… in fact, in a lot of ways it’s harder as your responsibility and the number of people that depend on you increases.
Here’s the biggest lesson I learned as it relates to your question: your career will demand even more of you over time. It doesn’t care if you have children. It doesn’t care about your mental health or relationships with family/friends. It will constantly ask more and more of you without any consideration for anything outside of itself. There will always be more tasks/deliverables/deadlines/etc. NEVER less.
The difference that time and title brings you is not the ability to sit back and coast because you’re the “boss” making the big bucks. It’s the insight and experience you’ve gained along the way to understand that YOU are responsible for your work/life balance and need to play an active role in how much “grind” is worth it.
Focus on being the best you can be and always say “yes” to opportunities you’re given. But remember that work will never cease and you’re in the drivers seat when it comes to what you value/want out of your career.
Look up Mr Money Mustache and the FIRE movement. I’m planning to retire in my mid thirties based on this stuff, which definitely makes the grind worth it imo.
It doesn’t become easier, you just get better.
Own the marketing firm.
20s: Try to figure out what the fuck is going on. Make lots of mistakes, barely get by, think I’m getting burned out…
30s: Figured out what the fuck is going on, not making that many mistakes, learning constantly, feeling MEGA burned out…
40s: Pfft, totally got this shit. Literally running the show now, full creative control. Still learning constantly, but mostly how to teach other people how to do more work so I can do less. Zero feeling of burn out, love my job immensely. Planning for my wife to retire at 45 and I’ll keep working this contract until it’s gone because it’s easy and pays too much. I work from home on a tropical island surrounded by mastiffs. Life is good.
So yeah, work your ass off now so you can be lazy later. It’s worth it.
Get out of marketing. It never changes. It’s the culture
I hate that this defeatist, failure mentality is so prevalent on this app
I can’t tell you about marketing. I can tell you about being mid 20s and not seeing a light in my tunnel. If you are thinking about hurting yourself, ask for help.
Things can change, and if you want, you can always change your situation. For me getting rid of a wife who was using me, getting away from a job that was using me, and moving to a different place where things were literally just happier was the push I needed. Make sure you are working for yourself and not living to work. Put hard boundaries on work and take real vacations.
Depends. At 37 it’s started to be amazing , I’m now 42, and loving it
It gets worse when you have kids. Now you have to grind and get stressed out if you lose your job.
Just remember the future is not a sure thing.
No, your hard work won’t see a payoff until 50+ atleast. Unless you get lucky imo.
You can get sucked into the grind. You have to find a work life balance.
Someone here said the reward for work is more work. That’s only half of it. The reward for no work is no work. I have noticed people leave that second part off because it’s not convenient.
You have to work hard but you have to live now too. It’s up to you to find the balance. You owe it to your family to spend time with them now. Especially if you have kiddos. Make date night a priority, tell your boss on certain days you gotta be home on time for family night. You can do it without a confrontation or being seen in a negative light. You just have to be calm and confident.
My boss knows I will give 110% during work hours and about half the week I’ll take call outs and work 13-18hr if needed. But he also knows there are days I will not answer the phone or work late because it’s reserved for me or family time. He knows when I put in for time off it’s not a request, it’s a notification.
In the state I live we have PSL (paid sick leave) by law on top of my PTO. I will use PSL days sprinkled in throughout the year on Fridays or Mondays as a mental health day, take a long weekend and be with my Wife. We travel go on quick weekend trips or something. But when I’m at work I give 110%.
In my experience it has. The hard work of my 20’s has been paying dividends for years now. You get better at managing the grind and finding the right balance in your life. Good decisions accumulate and lead to a better quality of life. You cut out the bad influences. Just stay focused on your goals and keeping yourself accountable. It’s a slow pay off, but for me it has worked out.
Once you’ve reached a spot where you are comfortable financially there’s a trick to make the grind stop.
Change jobs. When you change jobs you set a new standard – only work 40-45 hours a week, never more. Change jobs again until you find a place you actually like and that actually respects you and your time. Once you’ve set the expectation that you will do extra it’s incredibly hard to claw your time back, but if you find somewhere new you can set the expectations for your workload fresh. This works better after you have experience because you will be more efficient and the work you can get done in a standard week is enough to keep you around.
Corporate management trainings actually talk about the need for the "good soldier" who isn’t a Rockstar trying to climb the ladder. They are the ones who reliably get to work on time and reliably do what they’re asked, without going above and beyond. They are consistent. That is valuable.
(I acknowledge that 40-45 hours is still a grind, but it’s extremely rare to see less than that with good pay)
EDIT: I used the wrong they’re/their
Be with your family now. You can’t get that back.
I worked my ass off in my 20’s and 30’s. Didn’t always make the most money, but I always lived frugally. My life is super easy now, and just keeps getting easier. The people who are the most screwed are the ones who don’t work hard at all, don’t climb any sort of ladder in their 20’s. The ones who are the next most screwed are the ones who spend all they earn on materialistic bullshit.
There becomes a tipping point. You push and push and push and it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere, but then all of a sudden, the whole thing just goes. I hit my tipping point a few years ago. I didn’t finish college, I never got a trade, I could have made smarter choices the whole way. But I always stayed on the grind. 15-20 years of grinding is a hell of a lot better than a lifetime of just getting by.