101–110 of 230 posts
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Getting up early is not a sign of discipline, going to bed early is. Getting up early after having slept 9 hours is easy.
> Getting up early is not a sign of discipline Yes it is. Ask any engineering manager.
Related to the topic I can recommend the book Hansen: Great at Work ( https://www.amazon.com/Great-Work-Performers-Less-Achieve/dp... ). It is probably the first statistical analysis on what makes people really successful at work.
Pertinent xkcd, Survivorship Bias:
I don't think I would sleep if that was me!
What a strange, disappointing article. I was expecting trends in annoying behavior, but this was just some low-grade complaining about rich people. And I'm not complaining about people complaining about rich people, I'm complaining about the poor quality of the complaints: - Richard Branson once said that he didn't like when people were late, but Virgin's trains aren't very timely - Tim Cook would probably be just as…
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Is the idea that working on your “important goals” in the first few hours after waking is more effective an evidence based opinion? I can’t imagine myself performing my best at any task I do the first two hours after waking, and that certainly seems to be the case for almost all of my colleagues too, if early AM meetings are any indicator.
Not sure about references but the general consensus I have seen and heard, and is congruently in my own life as well, is that willpower is at its strongest in the morning and as the day goes on we experience "decision fatigue" that drains us mentally. Additionally, there seems to be some kind of slowdown that necessitates sleep. There have been studies (sorry don't have references handy) that show people who are slee…
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You're focused on the actions rather than the results. Common mistake. People become leaders by creating and commanding change that positively affects the company. Land a major deal or create a new product line that doubles revenue? You're getting to the top. Working harder than the others is part of this process, and sometimes that means you come in at 5am, but it's not a requirement nor is it something that anyone…
I remember when I was early in my career and fixed an enormous flaw in ad allocation for a large online publisher. It led to easily over a million extra in revenue that year. My boss was delighted to take credit for it while also ensuring I stayed on message that it wasn't actually a result of him screwing up and being generally incompetent. I eventually figured I had nothing to lose and talked to his boss (politely…
Had a similar experience once. A small change generated $2m/year extra revenue. That amount just about covered the bonuses of two execs while I got the standard 3% raise. Not the only reason, but I left shortly afterwards.
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I’ll add - “they had the privilege of being able to focus their attention and not be harmed for it”.
In betting on opportunity, often times they have everything riding on it. Where does the "harm" you talk about come from? Usually it's because there are other responsibilities you're engaged with. If you literally give everything else up to focus on one thing, these barbs aren't in your life. I'm talking forgoing rent to crash with family/friends, eating ramen, selling/getting rid of your things, live on credit cards…
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> spot an extreme growth opportunity, bet everything on it, and be correct. > Or be born into money. No amount of self-help is going to tilt the scale towards that. While there are undoubtedly success stories which resemble both of these caricatures, I think they're in the minority. I can't say I'm hobnobbing with the Forbes billionaires list but I have personal relationships with many people who built successful bus…
You can't bet on an opportunity if you don't have any money to bet. I've lost count of how many ambitious and talented people I know who had ideas they wanted to bet on, but couldn't because of lack of disposable funds. Having the resources to take risks is the number one factor to succeeding, I think. Being able to identify good opportunities comes after that.
I agree that having financial resources is a huge leg up, but I don't believe it's mandatory. My beliefs are formed from personal experience. I came from a working class family that lived below the poverty line. My parents kicked me out at 18 with a warning that if I ever wanted to come back I'd better be ready to pay them rent. (Resolved that I would never take them up on that offer, never did.) When I started my business I had $250 in the bank and no idea how I was going to pay the next month's rent.
For years I failed and I sacrificed where I had to. I worked long hours at terrible rates, I didn't spend a dollar more than necessary to survive, I gave up on my hope of saving and buying property, I neglected my health, I gave up on my hope of finding a partner and starting a family because women aren't interested in a nerd who has nothing to his name except dreams.
These are the sacrifices you can make if you aren't born into wealth but you want to achieve it. Some people absolutely have success handed to them. They have a safety net which allows them to fail until they succeed. For the rest of us, you sacrifice time, energy, opportunity, and health.
It took years but it worked, one day I hit on a great business and it all turned around.
Being broke certainly limits the type of opportunity you can invest in, but there's always something.
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>>Being a CEO is hard Not necessarily. It completely depends on the company and the industry.
Well, regardless of the industry. Most people would consider the tasks of: -leading a company -dealing with finances -constantly making important decisions As a hard job.
This does not explain how CEOs such as Fiorina and Elop can inject themselves into established companies, run them into the ground, and still walk away with lavish rewards. They are in a completely different category than ordinary Workers.