Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#81

Post by jasim » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 4:48 PM UTC

"Most things are forgotten over time. Even the war itself, the life-and-death struggle people went through, is now like something from the distant past. We're so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past, like ancient stars that have burned out, are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about every day, too many new things we have to learn."

- Kafka on the Shore, Murakami

Under immensely troubling times - not as bad as war or famine, but much worse than a startup or relationship failure - these books kept me going:

  - The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
  - Mastery by Robert Greene
  - Courage Under Fire by James B Stockdale
  - Gratitude by Oliver Sacks
  - Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#82

Post by techwizrd » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 4:51 PM UTC

I would love to say that my motivator is some great inspiration or having a system. I'd love to say it's some greater purpose. The truth of the matter is that while those exist, my chief motivator is the fear of admitting failure to myself.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#83

Post by bogomipz » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 4:58 PM UTC

mathgeek wrote: post #28

bogomipz wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"To paraphrase Churchill, "you can always count on humanity to do the right thing after it has tried everything else" The quote is actually: "Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing…after they have exhausted all other possibilities." But of course the same sentiment can be generalized for any group. Even though Churchill is credited there is no actual record or evidence of him ever saying this. And…

> But of course the same sentiment can be generalized for any group. I wonder whether this is a fair statement, as the original quote can be interpreted to mean that the group in question has terrible efficiency and/or is unreliable until their hand is forced.

I just meant you can insert any group you were looking to make a back-handed compliment about.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#84

Post by Sakes » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 5:02 PM UTC

For me, it's fear, fear of being dependent upon an economic/labor system that does not favor labor. If you are not an owner, and make a living selling your time, you are threatened by both outsourcing and automation.

As a programmer / engineer / whatever label you want to give, it is a little easier for us to adjust to changing labor conditions because our careers, as long as not overly specialized, require constant learning.

But I'd prefer not to live a life competing with people all over the globe, or being blindsided by some tech that can execute a majority of my responsibilities as an employee.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#85

Post by clamprecht » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 5:03 PM UTC

imgabe wrote: post #68

The only option if you want to succeed is to keep trying. A while ago I went to China. After visiting Hong Kong, where I had a few friends who lived there to help me out, and the city itself is fairly westernized and friendly to foreigners, I flew directly into Xi'an. Xi'an is where the Terra Cotta warriors are, but despite those being a fairly large tourist attraction, the city itself is very...Chinese. Very few peo…

> I just got over it, walked up to the first friendly looking person I could find,

One thing I started doing was to find the least friendly looking person and ask them. Great way to break stereotypes based on looks! Or (in a public place), ask the guy who looks like a gangster. Of course, in a foreign country, you also want to ask the person most likely to speak the language you speak.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#86

Post by toxik » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 5:05 PM UTC

imgabe wrote: post #68

The only option if you want to succeed is to keep trying. A while ago I went to China. After visiting Hong Kong, where I had a few friends who lived there to help me out, and the city itself is fairly westernized and friendly to foreigners, I flew directly into Xi'an. Xi'an is where the Terra Cotta warriors are, but despite those being a fairly large tourist attraction, the city itself is very...Chinese. Very few peo…

I'm trying to learn Mandarin, and I think it gives you _a lot_ of adversity. There is nothing fun in rote learning, but there is also really no way around it when it comes to new languages. A friend of mine speaks it fluently now, and you'll be moderately surprised by his path to success: religiously practicing his routines.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#87

Post by rrggrr » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 5:07 PM UTC

johnnyg wrote: post #79

atroyn wrote: post #48

I realized a while ago that inspiration isn't very helpful for getting you through adversity. Inspiration gets you going, but grit and discipline ultimately help you push through. I'm going to go against the grain of most of what's being said in this thread and say that the best way to get through adversity is to discard a goal-based mentality entirely, in favor of a system-based mentality. Figure out the stuff you h…

This is right. Business is a suffering contest. Life ends in death. There are beautiful things in both, but more times than not, despite all signals and urges to stop or give up, you must will yourself to keep moving your feet. Those few who do give themselves the best chance to overcome adversity.

Gosh, this was great. Have an upvote.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#88

Post by rrggrr » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

Absurdism. Shake your head and laugh at the absurd struggles we endure as humans and subvert the inevitability and absurdity of it by persisting anyway. Continuing to show up and push is the ultimate satirical act of defiance against the human condition.

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#89

Post by jankotek » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

atroyn wrote: post #48

I realized a while ago that inspiration isn't very helpful for getting you through adversity. Inspiration gets you going, but grit and discipline ultimately help you push through. I'm going to go against the grain of most of what's being said in this thread and say that the best way to get through adversity is to discard a goal-based mentality entirely, in favor of a system-based mentality. Figure out the stuff you h…

There is also video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJVxkr9eE9A

Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

#90

Post by atroyn » Sun, Jan 22, 2017, 5:14 PM UTC

rrggrr wrote: post #88

Absurdism. Shake your head and laugh at the absurd struggles we endure as humans and subvert the inevitability and absurdity of it by persisting anyway. Continuing to show up and push is the ultimate satirical act of defiance against the human condition.

That's Camus right?