Your environment shapes your happiness

Culture and environment shapes what you value, think about, and do. And ultimately your happiness.

I have friends and colleagues who work at large Fortune 100 companies. Although their salaries were not among the elite, it was still dang good.

We often talked about salaries, bonuses, and company stock. And which companies were compensating their employees better. We worked really hard to make a best in class product and gosh darn it, we deserved better. And I too cared about earning a higher salary, bonuses, and stocks - because I didn't have any of those things.

Fast forward to the future, I joined a tech team within a university, whose mission is to advance the public good through cutting-edge research and training the next generation of young people. I care a lot less about cash and stock bonuses.