Stop Believing You Have to Do One Job Forever

#ai

(This article is mainly targeting the Japanese because it is believed that doing only one job throughout their lives is a good thing in Japan.)

Hey it's Buono. Quick look at my career history:

10 years — electrical engineer at a precision equipment company
5 years — project manager at a car manufacturer
2 years — IT engineer at an AI startup (currently here)

Yeah. Even I look at this and think "what is this career path." From a strategic standpoint it's a total mess.

But honestly? Zero regrets. Every switch was me choosing what I genuinely wanted to do at that moment. That's it.

Why Doesn't Anyone Switch?

Here's what confuses me. When I look at people I went to high school with, maybe 10% have even changed companies. Changed careers entirely? Nobody.

Why?

If you're staying because you truly love what you do, respect. No one's arguing with that. But if you're staying because of "I don't want to waste my experience" or "you're supposed to stick with one career" or just some vague sense that quitting is wrong — that's a huge waste of your life.

Those aren't real reasons. That's inertia dressed up as logic.

Freedom to Switch = Peace of Mind

I was nervous when I jumped into IT with almost zero experience at 40. Obviously. But I'm so glad I did it.

And now? AI is making the IT engineering role increasingly questionable. Not disappearing overnight, but the math is clear.

From what I've experienced firsthand, productivity has gone up at least 10x. Meaning in theory you only need 1/10th the engineers. Even accounting for new demand that AI unlocks, maybe 1/5th is enough.

That leaves 4 out of 5 engineers on the wrong side of the equation. Specifically:

People who can only do implementation
People locked into one language
People who can't communicate with clients or teammates
People who can't do requirements or high-level design

I check every single box on that list. I can barely write proper code to begin with.

So yeah. I'm clearly on the chopping block.

And I genuinely don't care.

Why I'm Not Worried

My mindset is basically: "Wait, AI can build apps for me now? That's amazing. Guess I'll go do something else."

Here's the backstory. I became an IT engineer at 40 because I wanted to be someone who could build apps. That was the goal. Then AI showed up and Claude Code basically handed me that ability overnight.

So... mission accomplished? My original reason for being here is already fulfilled. Staying in this role just because I'm already here doesn't make much sense anymore.

Now I'm in exploration mode. Trying different things, seeing what sparks something, waiting for the next thing that genuinely excites me.

And that's the key. When you give yourself permission to switch careers freely, "what if I lose my job" stops being scary. It starts feeling more like "what do I get to try next?"

The anxiety doesn't disappear completely. But the excitement wins.

What's Next?

I'm genuinely looking forward to figuring out what I'll do next.

Funny thing — I used to stress about the fact that I could never stick with part-time jobs in college. Thought something was wrong with me. Now I'm starting to think that might actually be a strength.

The internet. AI. Remote work. None of this existed when we were making career decisions as teenagers. Clinging to choices you made in a completely different world is just... not logical.

I get the attachment though. I held onto it for years too. And if you can't fully let go, at least document what you've done — share it on YouTube or wherever. It helps you mentally close that chapter without feeling like it was wasted.

But if you're still carrying around this idea that you have to do one thing for your entire life — drop it. Start from zero. Ask yourself: "What do I actually want to do right now?"

Not what made sense 10 years ago. Right now.

Catch you later ✌️