> No matter what you do, it’s time to stop watching Netflix every night and browsing webshops for the newest clothes.
This is a very narrow view of the world. Success is not explicitly defined as spending every waking hour working. A person who is content with their lot in life, at any level, is already successful.
Someone from our office just died over the weekend, we all found out about an hour ago. They were the type of person that essentially spent their waking hours working for this company. Crack of dawn up, and last to leave, working after hours, and on weekends.
I'm betting in their final hour they didn't wish they were still at work, or got more hours in. Busting your ass working IS a waste of life. You can be passionate about your work, but don't be ridiculous. You're only here once.
So true. I find it crazy how a good amount of people in my generation(I'm in the US and an young engineer so my statistic is probably skewed) find that if you're not spending your time doing then you're wasting your life. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with someone making an honest working a 9-5 job and going home to do whatever they want. Regardless if its watching sports or TV all night.
Also, the end of the blogpost is kind of disingenuous. Knowing when to quit is as important as knowing when not to quit. Hard work does not always pay off.
There’s a quote which pops up in my wallpaper rotation about this: Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time.
Having a stable home life, emotional health, and a variety of hobbies will stand you in good stead as a programmer in he long run; the end goal of our code is rarely the code itself, and being even partially familiar with the domain (via hobbies) will help improve the output of your coding.
Try this experiment. Don't Netflix for a month. Instead, write something, everyday. Post it on your blog if your like but more importantly, try to see, at the end of the month, if your writing has meaningfully improved; if it has, has it made you happy about your progress?
There is obviously nothing wrong in leisure after work but the alternative can often be better. It can make you more skilled and more successful. It's an investment that reaps awesome benefits in the longer run.
There's a market for performance shame in the blogosphere. We love to read about why we're not accomplishing enough and if we just neglected our need for rest (outside of sleep) we could achieve so much more than the person next to us. We often don't actually do it, but we somehow like being told how bad we are for not doing so.
I was with him until this point. Part of “not quitting” for me is having balance. Sometimes quitting is just wanting change because I can’t get out of my head because I’m working nonstop. If I didn’t allow myself to watch some Netflix or play video games I’d never detach enough to be patient and keep at it.
That’s fine, but generally one isn’t going to be monetarily successful doing that. Which is cool, honestly we are collectively way too driven by that for it to be healthy for most of the population.
There are however way too many people who do this and wonder why they don’t get ahead. With few exceptions successful people spent their 20s hustling and their 30s polishing. Whether that’s lots of hours outside of the office coding, or sharpening social skills/building their network, and learning new skills of some sort.
If someone has relatively the same skillset at 32 that they had at 22, they’re going to have a rough time of it when they start building a life with a partner and have kids/parents to take care of.
I'd agree but only if you are doing your working hours (ie: you are doing 6-7 hours of productive work everyday). Otherwise, you might be just looking for any distractions to avoid work.
If you don't quit, maybe you'll never start the next thing that will succeed. A blind 'just work harder' ethic doesn't necessarily mean success. It's such crap to say that everyone who never quits succeeds.
Not only that, but it means that if you decide to do something else, you'll feel like it was a moral failure to stop doing what you were doing. So you'll blame yourself, and you won't examine honestly why didn't it work, what was things were out of my control. Learning from the experience is the most valuable part.
I spent close to 10 years on something that didn't succeed. The problem was it didn't fail either, so you just keep telling yourself that it's going to happen one day. Looking back on it objectively it was never going to work.
Take an honest view, don't just sing in the choir of the church of you.
"Know when to quit and when not to quit" is better advice then just "don't quit". However, I think this article is aimed at the situation where you know you shouldn't quit, but you do because it's hard. For example, regular exercise.
Something that has worked for me is committing myself to a short amount time doing the thing I don't want to do. I'll tell myself "after 5 minutes, if I still don't want to do this then I'll stop". Nearly always once I start washing the dishes or start a run, I'm happy to finish.
Apparently, the Navy SEAL's have a similar philosophy during BUD/S, and particularly during Hell Week where they go five days of gruelling physical challenges with a total of about 3-4 hours sleep.
That kind of stuff doesn't work for me; I can't "outsmart" myself by trying to take ad-hoc self-delivered advice. If I said something like that to myself, my brain would respond "nice try, I'm not that gullible. If quitting after five minutes were a reasonable outcome, then never starting is a reasonable outcome. Why don't I just wait until later?"
If I know it's a trick enough to try it, then I know it's a trick enough to see through it.
> It is that simple when you are, say, running an endurance race.
It isn't. If things are starting to cause pain, or bleed, or you're vomiting, or ... there are many sensible reasons to cut short or abandon an endurance race.
> Abide "don't quit" and you will finish.
Or do yourself damage that will take months to recover from.
An important lesson I have learned recently is that doing hard things never pays dividends in the shorter run; in fact, it make you miserable in that period. The benefits are only realised in the longer run. What if you commit yourself to send one newspaper pitch every week? Quite likely, you will face rejections and it will make feel dejected. However, gradually, your pitches will start improving, you'll get better at writing them, and eventually, one of yours will get accepted. Then, probably another. Hurray! you have broken into publishing industry as a freelance writer.
From all the things related to writing I have read, this advice is present in almost every one of them. The recipe sounds simple but it's easy enough to quit with just one rejections. In writing, business, dating or anything that requires effort. If you persist, however, don't take failure personally, it doesn't take long to get better at that.
But don't persist if it isn't worth it. Which decision should be made independently of personal discomfort.
(Also, in general don't take life advice from 20 something Internet marketers. Why do you clog up the interwebs people? Please quit! Not because it's hard but because volume of SEO junk to sell some coaching books is simply not needed by humanity. Lets improve the quality of the net with original ideas rather than rehashing again and again. Do something worth doing or do not do at all.)
>> Darius Foroux: "I’m an entrepreneur, author, and podcaster. I also research tools to build a better life, career, and business. Join my free newsletter if you want to get my latest articles delivered to your inbox."
Another collection of pseudointellectual predigested positive platitudes.
In the Coursera course about learning, one thing one of the professor say is that every successful people have this in common: persistence. Nothing can be achieved without persistence.
On the flip side of that, don't stick with a failing endeavor just because it is hard and you have put a lot of energy into it. Make an intelligent analysis of your current position and trajectory in life, and decide whether or not to change your direction based on your long-term goals. Sometimes sticking with it is the right answer... sometimes it isn't.
I doubt it's that simple. There are things you should just quit - things that mess with your mental stability. Then there are things that exercise the right muscles but is downright hard, the ones you should persist for the value you gain at the end of it. Being patient is a great virtue till it isn't.
I like that drawing. In music I represent learning as a black map, with gray areas around tiny white spots, which are valid intuitions/concepts.
Learning something really knew, means whole black map, blindness, you can only walk randomly and think you hit a white spot but it's only a gray area. Then you have more gray areas but they don't work right yet. After a while you can finely tune the walk and locate the white spots. When you have lots of white spots, you know.
And if you're fast, it's just because you don't have to walk anymore, you can jumpskip right to the appropriate white spot to evaluate a situation or phenomenon.
Its fine to quit when other peoples goals involve using your man-power for their own gain and you see less and less reason to continue being a part of it.
He is speaking in the context of once you set a goal then don't quit. Eg: I have to get a job in one month.
Now, once you define a goal that is measurable and is important to you. Will you be able to watch netflix if you are consumed by your goal day and night?
If your thoughts are fooling you,then you will get discouraged by every small failure. I think it helps to be less emotional and mechanical in the pursuit of a goal.
>
“There’s a trick to the 'graceful exit.' It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, or a relationship is over — and let it go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its validity or its past importance to our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry, that we are moving up, rather than out.”
Idk much about other things in this essay, but his goal is always on imagination line, while in reality it is, well, constrained somewhere on reality curve (at most).
Given that imagined goal = real, it is pretty easy to not quit. Hard part is, complex goals are often just a mirage.
To look at this article from my own viewpoint(who else's?), this is about "do I stop out now, wait, or move my stop loss and hope it turns around(hah!)".
Know when to keep going, but more importantly, know when to quit. Not knowing when to quit is how you go bankrupt, die, and/or cause other people to do either.
[+] [-] mathgeek|8 years ago|reply
This is a very narrow view of the world. Success is not explicitly defined as spending every waking hour working. A person who is content with their lot in life, at any level, is already successful.
[+] [-] overcast|8 years ago|reply
I'm betting in their final hour they didn't wish they were still at work, or got more hours in. Busting your ass working IS a waste of life. You can be passionate about your work, but don't be ridiculous. You're only here once.
[+] [-] syntaxing|8 years ago|reply
Also, the end of the blogpost is kind of disingenuous. Knowing when to quit is as important as knowing when not to quit. Hard work does not always pay off.
[+] [-] falcolas|8 years ago|reply
Having a stable home life, emotional health, and a variety of hobbies will stand you in good stead as a programmer in he long run; the end goal of our code is rarely the code itself, and being even partially familiar with the domain (via hobbies) will help improve the output of your coding.
[+] [-] romanovcode|8 years ago|reply
- http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2015/09/04/the-fisherman-and-the-...
[+] [-] shubhamjain|8 years ago|reply
There is obviously nothing wrong in leisure after work but the alternative can often be better. It can make you more skilled and more successful. It's an investment that reaps awesome benefits in the longer run.
[+] [-] xhrpost|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yesimahuman|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dpeck|8 years ago|reply
There are however way too many people who do this and wonder why they don’t get ahead. With few exceptions successful people spent their 20s hustling and their 30s polishing. Whether that’s lots of hours outside of the office coding, or sharpening social skills/building their network, and learning new skills of some sort.
If someone has relatively the same skillset at 32 that they had at 22, they’re going to have a rough time of it when they start building a life with a partner and have kids/parents to take care of.
[+] [-] smhost|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] csomar|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] demonshalo|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] TheReveller|8 years ago|reply
Not only that, but it means that if you decide to do something else, you'll feel like it was a moral failure to stop doing what you were doing. So you'll blame yourself, and you won't examine honestly why didn't it work, what was things were out of my control. Learning from the experience is the most valuable part.
I spent close to 10 years on something that didn't succeed. The problem was it didn't fail either, so you just keep telling yourself that it's going to happen one day. Looking back on it objectively it was never going to work.
Take an honest view, don't just sing in the choir of the church of you.
[+] [-] TheReveller|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] datawarrior|8 years ago|reply
In Agile this would be "fail fast". One of the few things I like about Agile personally.
[+] [-] twelfthnight|8 years ago|reply
Something that has worked for me is committing myself to a short amount time doing the thing I don't want to do. I'll tell myself "after 5 minutes, if I still don't want to do this then I'll stop". Nearly always once I start washing the dishes or start a run, I'm happy to finish.
[+] [-] Zelphyr|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Retra|8 years ago|reply
If I know it's a trick enough to try it, then I know it's a trick enough to see through it.
[+] [-] dogruck|8 years ago|reply
It is that simple when you are, say, running an endurance race. Abide "don't quit" and you will finish.
But in real life, you're presented with a continual stream of alternative opportunities.
And these days "I quit" has subtly morphed into "I pivot."
[+] [-] zimpenfish|8 years ago|reply
It isn't. If things are starting to cause pain, or bleed, or you're vomiting, or ... there are many sensible reasons to cut short or abandon an endurance race.
> Abide "don't quit" and you will finish.
Or do yourself damage that will take months to recover from.
[+] [-] shubhamjain|8 years ago|reply
From all the things related to writing I have read, this advice is present in almost every one of them. The recipe sounds simple but it's easy enough to quit with just one rejections. In writing, business, dating or anything that requires effort. If you persist, however, don't take failure personally, it doesn't take long to get better at that.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] baby|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ManlyBread|8 years ago|reply
Unfortunately, most of the time the reward is that you just get to work on even more annoying problems.
[+] [-] s73ver_|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mythrwy|8 years ago|reply
But don't persist if it isn't worth it. Which decision should be made independently of personal discomfort.
(Also, in general don't take life advice from 20 something Internet marketers. Why do you clog up the interwebs people? Please quit! Not because it's hard but because volume of SEO junk to sell some coaching books is simply not needed by humanity. Lets improve the quality of the net with original ideas rather than rehashing again and again. Do something worth doing or do not do at all.)
[+] [-] GeorgeSarkis|8 years ago|reply
Another collection of pseudointellectual predigested positive platitudes.
[+] [-] stefanwlb|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] whipoodle|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rogerb|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baby|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] codingdave|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mack1001|8 years ago|reply
Edit: typo
[+] [-] agumonkey|8 years ago|reply
Learning something really knew, means whole black map, blindness, you can only walk randomly and think you hit a white spot but it's only a gray area. Then you have more gray areas but they don't work right yet. After a while you can finely tune the walk and locate the white spots. When you have lots of white spots, you know.
And if you're fast, it's just because you don't have to walk anymore, you can jumpskip right to the appropriate white spot to evaluate a situation or phenomenon.
[+] [-] eroccatlun|8 years ago|reply
Its fine to quit when other peoples goals involve using your man-power for their own gain and you see less and less reason to continue being a part of it.
[+] [-] mirrormind|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jrs235|8 years ago|reply
"Endings:The Good Cannot Begin Until the Bad Ends"
Sometimes you have to quit the bad or good so that you can start the good or better.
[1] http://amzn.to/2yJiImE
[+] [-] npsimons|8 years ago|reply
― Ellen Goodman
[+] [-] wruza|8 years ago|reply
Given that imagined goal = real, it is pretty easy to not quit. Hard part is, complex goals are often just a mirage.
[+] [-] nsomaru|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] module0000|8 years ago|reply
Know when to keep going, but more importantly, know when to quit. Not knowing when to quit is how you go bankrupt, die, and/or cause other people to do either.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
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