I'm an Asian entrepreneur who's somewhat successful. Here's my two cents.
The statement should be changed to: It's better to work harder now, so that you can relax for the rest of your life.
I had strict Asian parents. No video games, and no TV except on weekends. And even on weekends, they only allowed me to watch TV/play video games for 2 hours... per week. I hated the rules. But I learned to respect it. The strict rules kept me from wasting time doing unproductive things. I spent the extra time learning how to code and making websites, which later paid off (more on this later).
They used to push me to do things I didn't like. For example, they wanted me to learn how to play piano, even though I wasn't that interested in it. So I spent years learning how to play an instrument I didn't have that much of an interest in. I was really good at it, but just wasn't interested. I later stopped playing, and eventually had forgotten how to play altogether. What a waste of my time. But I did learn some things out of it. I learned to never pursue a career that I didn't love. I learned that choosing to be a doctor or lawyer would not be for me if I didn't actually enjoy it (no matter how good I would have been at it). I also learned about dedication to the task at hand and never giving up even if it's tedious. Simply doing the things you love doesn't mean that there's no hard work involved. I didn't get to become a great pianist without the 2 hours of practice every night. I learned that with practice, you could be good at pretty much anything you set your mind to... even making money.
Despite my father being a doctor (herbalist to be exact), he and my mother never pressured me to pursue a career I didn't want. They heard stories about how Asian kids were committing suicide or going crazy because of the pressure their parents put on them. They instead wanted me to learn how to pressure myself. And that's exactly what I did. I put the pressure on myself to become successful. And that's really where your mindset comes into play. If you can discipline yourself and put down the XBOX controller and instead pick up a book or play around with whatever you're trying to do, then you're at step 1 to becoming successful. And it's significantly easier if you're the one pressuring yourself to stay focused instead of someone else telling you to stay focused. Because, 1) that person is not always around to pressure you, and 2) you have to associate working hard with a reward instead of with a punishment. I used to see studying and doing homework as punishment and taking away time from having fun. But now, I study and work because I'm learning, and I relate learning with becoming more successful. Now I see having fun as taking time away from being successful haha (sad side effect of having an entrepreneurial mindset).
And some people might say, "Well I rather play XBOX and work less than work hard and be miserable." Guess what. The hard work doesn't have to last a lifetime. I'm still in my 20s now and not miserable at all. My work schedule went down from 80 hours per week (had a full time job as a web developer/programmer and coded apps on the side) to now just 1 hour or less per week. Some days I have bursts of work (like two weeks ago, I spent 48 hours straight just coding). But they are all by choice now. I get to work whenever I feel like it. And that's really the greatest pleasure of being a successful entrepreneur. Having no more alarm clocks and no more stress of deadlines and office politics is pretty much the best gift you can get (besides the money).
The statement should be changed to: It's better to work harder now, so that you can relax for the rest of your life.
I had strict Asian parents. No video games, and no TV except on weekends. And even on weekends, they only allowed me to watch TV/play video games for 2 hours... per week. I hated the rules. But I learned to respect it. The strict rules kept me from wasting time doing unproductive things. I spent the extra time learning how to code and making websites, which later paid off (more on this later).
They used to push me to do things I didn't like. For example, they wanted me to learn how to play piano, even though I wasn't that interested in it. So I spent years learning how to play an instrument I didn't have that much of an interest in. I was really good at it, but just wasn't interested. I later stopped playing, and eventually had forgotten how to play altogether. What a waste of my time. But I did learn some things out of it. I learned to never pursue a career that I didn't love. I learned that choosing to be a doctor or lawyer would not be for me if I didn't actually enjoy it (no matter how good I would have been at it). I also learned about dedication to the task at hand and never giving up even if it's tedious. Simply doing the things you love doesn't mean that there's no hard work involved. I didn't get to become a great pianist without the 2 hours of practice every night. I learned that with practice, you could be good at pretty much anything you set your mind to... even making money.
Despite my father being a doctor (herbalist to be exact), he and my mother never pressured me to pursue a career I didn't want. They heard stories about how Asian kids were committing suicide or going crazy because of the pressure their parents put on them. They instead wanted me to learn how to pressure myself. And that's exactly what I did. I put the pressure on myself to become successful. And that's really where your mindset comes into play. If you can discipline yourself and put down the XBOX controller and instead pick up a book or play around with whatever you're trying to do, then you're at step 1 to becoming successful. And it's significantly easier if you're the one pressuring yourself to stay focused instead of someone else telling you to stay focused. Because, 1) that person is not always around to pressure you, and 2) you have to associate working hard with a reward instead of with a punishment. I used to see studying and doing homework as punishment and taking away time from having fun. But now, I study and work because I'm learning, and I relate learning with becoming more successful. Now I see having fun as taking time away from being successful haha (sad side effect of having an entrepreneurial mindset).
And some people might say, "Well I rather play XBOX and work less than work hard and be miserable." Guess what. The hard work doesn't have to last a lifetime. I'm still in my 20s now and not miserable at all. My work schedule went down from 80 hours per week (had a full time job as a web developer/programmer and coded apps on the side) to now just 1 hour or less per week. Some days I have bursts of work (like two weeks ago, I spent 48 hours straight just coding). But they are all by choice now. I get to work whenever I feel like it. And that's really the greatest pleasure of being a successful entrepreneur. Having no more alarm clocks and no more stress of deadlines and office politics is pretty much the best gift you can get (besides the money).
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