The "full" and fun phase of your life ends. From here on, time will flow ever faster and ever more the same — it is not your fault, it is just how work is organized. My advice is not to lose sight of your friends, even though they will soon marry, have children, and go through all the usual things that happen in the tenth season of a show.
Welcome to the real world
Where before you were evaluated for what you achieved and what you knew, now you are largely evaluated for your ability to "stay in line." I am dramatizing, but not by much.
Every evening for the first few years, you will need to come to terms with yourself in the mirror. Constantly asking whether the game is worth the candle. The working world is largely irrational and inefficient, because those in power are usually irrational and inefficient, because careers are built through relationships — not through thinking ability.
Traps to avoid
You will meet many people who seem straight out of a motivational video and who truly believe in corporate narratives, nice phrases, "values," the idea that HR works for employees rather than managers. Do not be fooled.
Working in the real world largely means "swallowing the bitter pill" and "choosing your battles." Basically, you are nobody. Your brain is nothing. Your skills do not matter. What matters is that you understand your role and make your boss feel important and necessary.
But there is a positive side
This is the real world. Not school. You are one of 7 billion. A small dose of humility helps.
Colleagues can be ravenous hyenas or lifelong allies. You will discover both. Because we are all friends when nothing is at stake. But at work, EVERYTHING is at stake. You quickly learn to distinguish hyenas from potential allies. One conversation is enough.
Colleagues can be wonderful. Precious treasures. People you go to the trenches with and then come home with. Deep, adult bonds form — impossible anywhere else.
Accepting imperfection is meditation. Reaching the point of accepting imperfect projects, imperfect people, terrible organizations, perfect idiots in charge — is like a continuous meditation session. Either you reach this stage, or you go insane.
The hidden benefit of employment
Working as an employee gives you deadlines and a rhythm to life. I realized this when I became a freelancer. An employee gets up at 7, gets dressed, commutes, arrives at the office, has a coffee, works, lunch, coffee, works, commutes, home. I hated this for 15 years. But it honestly does you good, at least in part.
As a freelancer, I greatly miss not being able to have lunch with colleagues and grabbing a coffee or two during the day. There is a delicate balance between pros and cons.
