Less motivation after transcending stage orange

[ZeldaStar]

I'm (23yo) Been following Leo for some time now, and his videos really helped me gain some higher perspective o life and move forward in life. 

After watching the spiral dynamics series, I realized I've been predonomintally pre-occupied with Stage Orange for some time, and so, I have gotten my life in order and have accomplished a few major milestones: 200k/year salary in a company I am interested in, got a girlfriend I'm hoping to marry in 2 years, bought a car, saved some money, etc. 

Now I noticed my drive and motivation haven't been the same as they use to be when I was deep in stage orange. A lot of my free time I get sidetracked by reading politics (just finishing the conscious politics series) and what's going on around the world recently with Trump, which is distracting, and I realized there isn't really much I could do with all this information besides vote. 

I've tried reasoning through it, and I came up with a plan to keep working hard at my job for ~10 more years, reach some financial independence, and move on to some new cooler initiatives without worrying about money. This would be great to for one of my goals to have kids in late 20s, but in practice, I feel like I already have sufficient money for this, and I feel like my energy levels are low day-to-day knowing I am just working so I can work on something else one day.  

Curious if anyone has any suggestions of things to try? I would be interested in some stage green ideas, but I've also been feeling like the majority of the initiatives done there have such a low global impact compared to someone with more money and resources. Psychedelics is another thing, not sure if it'll help but I am concerned to try since it's illegal here in Canada and people in my circle generally have a negative connotation of them. 

Edited Tuesday at 03:41 AM by ZeldaStar

[PenguinPablo]

At stage yellow focus on building systems and potentially improving the world in a holistic, sustainable, and realistic way. 

[ted73104]

Wealth is not only determined by how large your bank account is, you could expand your social circle or find new hobbies and communities. You could also double down on your career and earn more money. Learn more skill sets and climb higher on the corporate ladder.

[Michael569]

Sounds like you're at a stage where putting your time into something that transcends the usual 9-5 job would give you the motivation. With your age, financial background and skills you might be uniquely positioned to start working on your life purpose before having kids. 

Do you feel a deeper sense of passion or calling towards any direction? 

7 hours ago, ZeldaStar said:

Now I noticed my drive and motivation haven't been the same as they use to be when I was deep in stage orange. A lot of my free time I get sidetracked by reading politics (just finishing the conscious politics series) and what's going on around the world recently with Trump, which is distracting, and I realized there isn't really much I could do with all this information besides vote. 

We all do, given recent events just important not to let it slide you too deep emotionally. I've noticed my day to day mood kinda worsening lately and I've correlated it to exposing myself more to media and news so I'm actively cutting myself away from all of it. 

Edited Tuesday at 11:03 AM by Michael569

[Ulax]

@ZeldaStar Why not focus on becoming good at something  that aligns with your values, you are interested in and can have a positive impact and on the world?

You are clearly very capable and young.

Edited Tuesday at 11:57 PM by Ulax

[ZeldaStar]

Thanks for the suggestions! 

5 hours ago, Ulax said:

Why not focus on becoming good at something  that aligns with your values, you are interested in and can have a positive impact and on the world?

My job generally aligns with my values - I think it's as a good as I could find within the software engineering industry. It's a small startup, very nice and motivated people, have a solid B2B SaaS product used by 1,000+ companies, they are very transparent, no BS beurchracy, and while it's not directly related to impact my salary is bringing a bunch of tax money to the government.

I don't really know if there is something significantly better I could switch to within software engineering field - it's my fourth job I've explored in the field

18 hours ago, Michael569 said:

Do you feel a deeper sense of passion or calling towards any direction? 

On 3/24/2025 at 11:37 PM, ZeldaStar said:

I've been excited by the idea of getting into politics. Like becoming a Member of Parliament. But it seems like such a huge career shift.. I wanna make sure I'm making the correct decision. It would be a massive paycut and risk around the future if I choose to pursue this. 

[Alex4]

First of all, congratulations man! You're leaving Stage Orange at a very young age. The second thing I’d tell you is to fully embrace Stage Green, don’t deceive yourself into thinking it’s the weak or sissy stage trying to jump straight to Yellow. There’s a lot of great stuff in Green.

As for your career decision, I wouldn’t tell you much what to do, you seem to have things figured out. Keep exploring your interest, especially those you do when no one is watching.

Edited Thursday at 02:20 PM by Alex4

[Nilsi]

On 25.3.2025 at 4:37 AM, ZeldaStar said:

I'm (23yo) Been following Leo for some time now, and his videos really helped me gain some higher perspective o life and move forward in life. 

After watching the spiral dynamics series, I realized I've been predonomintally pre-occupied with Stage Orange for some time, and so, I have gotten my life in order and have accomplished a few major milestones: 200k/year salary in a company I am interested in, got a girlfriend I'm hoping to marry in 2 years, bought a car, saved some money, etc. 

Now I noticed my drive and motivation haven't been the same as they use to be when I was deep in stage orange. A lot of my free time I get sidetracked by reading politics (just finishing the conscious politics series) and what's going on around the world recently with Trump, which is distracting, and I realized there isn't really much I could do with all this information besides vote. 

I've tried reasoning through it, and I came up with a plan to keep working hard at my job for ~10 more years, reach some financial independence, and move on to some new cooler initiatives without worrying about money. This would be great to for one of my goals to have kids in late 20s, but in practice, I feel like I already have sufficient money for this, and I feel like my energy levels are low day-to-day knowing I am just working so I can work on something else one day.  

Curious if anyone has any suggestions of things to try? I would be interested in some stage green ideas, but I've also been feeling like the majority of the initiatives done there have such a low global impact compared to someone with more money and resources. Psychedelics is another thing, not sure if it'll help but I am concerned to try since it's illegal here in Canada and people in my circle generally have a negative connotation of them. 

200k/year at your age is incredible. If you keep building your career and invest wisely, you could fully escape the corporate grind by your mid to late thirties probably - if that’s what you want and if you can stick it out that long.

Don’t throw this away too lightly. You’re in a very fortunate position with a clear path to financial freedom. That said, if walking away feels absolutely necessary, that’s valid too, of course.

Edited Friday at 10:35 PM by Nilsi