There's a common saying -- it's the journey and not the destination. Sometimes arriving at your destination too fast can be a detriment as you might end up losing out on the opportunity to practice the necessary habits and skills for a successful long run. We've all seen in the news (and perhaps even seen in person) about sports stars having nothing after their playing career is done or lottery winners being bankrupt within 10 years or 20-year old dotcom millionaires going bust.
I remember my brother's ex-girlfriend having very naive ideas of business and the working world. Her family owned several apartment buildings in San Francisco -- an empire built before she was born -- so she grew up with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth. She once had me review a business plan she was putting together and I was surprised at the time on how simplistic it was. She just skipped far too many beginning steps -- the starting steps that required a ton of hard work.
I see something similar with my my brother-in-law here in China. His first job out of school was simply too good. He was able to leverage that job into earning income 3 or 4 times more than the average worker which is typically in the province of doctors or IT specialists or businessmen. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever so when that job ended, he only could find average jobs afterwards. He went from idealistic and earnest to grumpy and pessimistic. He continually dreams of running a business but is not willing to start on the beginning. Over the years, we've made offers for seed money to start small but for him to sacrifice so much effort and perhaps not even get the same salary he made in his first job is very deflating mentally.
There's still value in "paying your dues". Not so much in the original sense of learning a company from the ground up and working your way up the ranks -- that kind of career is in the dustbins of history. Instead, paying dues is a personal journey. I started writing computer programs at the age of 15. Before getting my computer science degree, I was paid minimum wage to develop complex and often critical software for local companies. Next, I spent years wearing a suit and tie in a cubicle maintaining software for a boring insurance company. Finally, while my peers were earning 200K+ salaries at the latest dotcom craze, I worked 12 hours a day on our business venture while sleeping in a walk-in closet at my office. When the phone rang from our east coast customers, I'd jump out of my sleeping bag and answer the calls as if we had non-stop support. So when I get my monthly (now stable) paycheck, I don't see the consumer goods it can buy. Instead, I see the years of hard work to get to this point.
Part 2 and more to come ...
(Filed in philosophy)
Anybody in a consumption-oriented society knows Valentine's day is coming up on February 14. The stores have been packed with V-Day decorations and advertising is everywhere to buy diamonds, chocolates, handbags, etc. for the love of your life. So in... Read More
In my last post about the plethora of languages in China, I ended with a mention of my coming trip to Hainan. For the coming year, I want to see: Beijing - Great Wall, Forbidden Palace, Tianamen Square, Summer Palace,... Read More
Sleeping in a closet
Posted by Mossy
February 9, 2010 1:56 PM
I remember my brother's ex-girlfriend having very naive ideas of business and the working world. Her family owned several apartment buildings in San Francisco -- an empire built before she was born -- so she grew up with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth. She once had me review a business plan she was putting together and I was surprised at the time on how simplistic it was. She just skipped far too many beginning steps -- the starting steps that required a ton of hard work.
I see something similar with my my brother-in-law here in China. His first job out of school was simply too good. He was able to leverage that job into earning income 3 or 4 times more than the average worker which is typically in the province of doctors or IT specialists or businessmen. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever so when that job ended, he only could find average jobs afterwards. He went from idealistic and earnest to grumpy and pessimistic. He continually dreams of running a business but is not willing to start on the beginning. Over the years, we've made offers for seed money to start small but for him to sacrifice so much effort and perhaps not even get the same salary he made in his first job is very deflating mentally.
There's still value in "paying your dues". Not so much in the original sense of learning a company from the ground up and working your way up the ranks -- that kind of career is in the dustbins of history. Instead, paying dues is a personal journey. I started writing computer programs at the age of 15. Before getting my computer science degree, I was paid minimum wage to develop complex and often critical software for local companies. Next, I spent years wearing a suit and tie in a cubicle maintaining software for a boring insurance company. Finally, while my peers were earning 200K+ salaries at the latest dotcom craze, I worked 12 hours a day on our business venture while sleeping in a walk-in closet at my office. When the phone rang from our east coast customers, I'd jump out of my sleeping bag and answer the calls as if we had non-stop support. So when I get my monthly (now stable) paycheck, I don't see the consumer goods it can buy. Instead, I see the years of hard work to get to this point.
Part 2 and more to come ...
(Filed in philosophy)
2 TrackBacks
Anybody in a consumption-oriented society knows Valentine's day is coming up on February 14. The stores have been packed with V-Day decorations and advertising is everywhere to buy diamonds, chocolates, handbags, etc. for the love of your life. So in... Read More
In my last post about the plethora of languages in China, I ended with a mention of my coming trip to Hainan. For the coming year, I want to see: Beijing - Great Wall, Forbidden Palace, Tianamen Square, Summer Palace,... Read More
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