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How to Work Hard

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to Work Hard

#741

Post by ipnon »

varispeed wrote: post #731
rgifford wrote: post #690

I worked my way through college as a mover (and came out the other side with high 5-figure debt). Many of the older guys I worked with had drug habits. I worked 16-hour days with those guys. They'd get on me for not running up stairs, for packing with too little paper around glass, for setting things down more than once. None wrote articles entitled "How to Work Hard." None knew Warren Buffet as a child (see Gates).…

> Having an income 300:1 your lowest paid employee is disturbing I can imagine how and why communist revolutions were so "successful". This ratio simply shows theft from the workers. Probably, if we don't get a regulation in that area, so that let's say the maximum ratio could be no more than 10:1 and heavily tax capital gains, dividends and other means that privilege class use to extract value without having to work…

The Russian communist revolution succeeded because Tsarist Russia was brutal and despotic, and the brutal and despotic Bolsheviks were merely the lesser of two evils and better fighters. The Chinese communist revolution succeeded because the Chinese Communist Party waged a guerilla war while the Nationalist army fought the Japanese invasion by themselves. Once the invasion was defeated the Chinese Communist Party fought a brutal conventional war marked by long sieges where 100,000s of city dwellers starved to death.

I think political and military factors are underrated as explanations for the success of communist revolutions compared to social and economic factors.

Re: How to Work Hard

#742

Post by varispeed »

kentosi wrote: post #720
swman wrote: post #625

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but nobody is going to become anywhere close to Messi without working hard. That's the point. Do you think someone could become Messi by putting in barely any practice or effort? You might get into a team, but you won't be a Messi lol. Be honest with yourself. Obviously luck plays a role, but most people (>90% I'll bet) who are successful in the end get there due to hard work. I could sit on my butt and do noth…

The parent's comment wan't implying that luck was everything, but to point out that luck is also an important factor. > There are three ingredients in great work: natural ability, practice, and effort. And luck, Paul. Don't forget luck. Hard work is only sustainable when you occasionally get that carrot at the end of the stick, before moving onto the next bit of hard work.

And money

If you have money, then even if you do mediocre work (e.g. in music), you can ironically appear as doing great work.

Re: How to Work Hard

#743

Post by uxcolumbo »

pdimitar wrote: post #582
heavenlyblue wrote: post #577

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why sitting through a movie is a bad thing? Have you tried watching some “harder” movies? Maybe you’re just bored with the specific movies you are watching. I for example know that I have a very specific love for sci-fi genre; but unfortunately a lot of sci-fi is basically trash with good CGI and I can’t help myself but think that I am wasting my time when I watch stuff in that comfort zone. However there’s a lot to…

Severely off-topic to the OP but have you tried watching "Battlestar Galactica" in full? (The remake from the 2004+, not the original -- tried the original and didn't like it at all.) I mean, you don't get much CGI there but the premise is extremely realistic and the actors are absolutely brilliant. Plus, you'll get to cry, a lot, during the long series finale.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine. One of the best.

Avoid the newer ones like Discovery and Picard... utter trash and not Star Trek at all, thanks to Alan Kurtzman.

Re: How to Work Hard

#744

Post by rgifford »

ipnon wrote: post #733
rgifford wrote: post #723

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...all successful people are talented and hardworking. I doubt it. Most measures of economic mobility show this is becoming less and less true -- if it ever was. I think believing it is important though.

Suppose someone is average and lazy. They're practically guaranteed to live a life of coasting by from job to job, living paycheck to paycheck, and struggling to get by in America these days. That is not success by my measure.

What if that someone is average and lazy in their work to devote the rest of their time to their family? What if they raise a bunch of kids that love their parents, care about each other and the world and want to make it better? Would that be success?

What if they were molested and use drugs to cope, but live their entire life without molesting anyone else? Would that be success?

What if they have serious depression and they check out by playing video games, but they don't kill themselves? Would that be success?

Holding up a few spectacular achievements as the paragon of human experience is fucking stupid.

I genuinely think really rich (and smart) people do it to try to salve their guilt and signal for others.

Re: How to Work Hard

#745

Post by varispeed »

danielmarkbruce wrote: post #738

Is anyone else surprised there isn't more discussion of focus? I know many people (myself included) who work hard but on too many things simultaneously and the results aren't as good as folks who seem to just keep plodding along on one thing. Two of my friends who are extremely successful seem less interested in the field they are in, and while intelligent not outrageously so, and don't work super hard. But they just…

Sometimes I have an ability to hyper-focus on some task and make it in one or two days rather than weeks, but after that I feel so exhausted mentally, that I cannot do anything sensible for a week or two. What I am getting at, is that often it doesn't matter.

Re: How to Work Hard

#746

Post by jwuphysics »

helen___keller wrote: post #162

When I was an undergrad at CMU, I learned how to work hard. Really hard. After having coasted through too-easy high school, I spent all day every day at CMU either programming, doing mathematics, or thinking about one of those things (to great effect: often the trick to prove a theorem would pop into my head while showering or while taking a walk). I would fall asleep while programming in the middle of the night, dre…

I had exactly the same reaction, and I also went to CMU for undergrad (not SCS though). However I found that it didn't translate to long-term productivity during my PhD program, when I needed to think about my career goals 5 years in the future. There I needed to focus on sustainable work ethic and working "smarter" rather than "harder" -- for example, okay I got an A in my quantum field theory class, but who cares? Other students who took easier courses but were able to start writing papers probably got ahead in the long run.

Re: How to Work Hard

#747

Post by ipnon »

rgifford wrote: post #744
ipnon wrote: post #733

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Suppose someone is average and lazy. They're practically guaranteed to live a life of coasting by from job to job, living paycheck to paycheck, and struggling to get by in America these days. That is not success by my measure.

What if that someone is average and lazy in their work to devote the rest of their time to their family? What if they raise a bunch of kids that love their parents, care about each other and the world and want to make it better? Would that be success? What if they were molested and use drugs to cope, but live their entire life without molesting anyone else? Would that be success? What if they have serious depression…

Yes, in general, but in the context of the original article success would be defined as higher education, well-paying job, able and healthy body, etc.

Re: How to Work Hard

#748

Post by nimih »

mjfl wrote: post #393
nimih wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably not as shallow as not taking vacations so your boss can get some marginal % richer.

The idea that there are only two options in life- world travel or being a corporate slave, is exactly the mindset of a shallow person.

You read a well-written, multi-paragraph comment with an astute, on-topic point, and decided the best thing you could bring to the conversation was a vacuous put-down. All things considered, you're not making a good case for yourself as an expert on what's "deep."

Re: How to Work Hard

#749

Post by Cederfjard »

swman wrote: post #625
bachmeier wrote: post #498

> It was similar with Lionel Messi. He had great natural ability, but when his youth coaches talk about him, what they remember is not his talent but his dedication and his desire to win. I can assure you, there are many kids that practice harder than Messi did when he was young. He is not a great player because of hard work, he is a great player because of luck. I know the VC thing about the importance of hard work.…

Okay, but nobody is going to become anywhere close to Messi without working hard. That's the point. Do you think someone could become Messi by putting in barely any practice or effort? You might get into a team, but you won't be a Messi lol. Be honest with yourself. Obviously luck plays a role, but most people (>90% I'll bet) who are successful in the end get there due to hard work. I could sit on my butt and do noth…

Sure, hard work is often a requisite (unless you luck out in the extreme). But for the most part, it’s not enough, it’s not a guarantee, and it’s not the hardest worker who necessarily becomes the most successful. The point is that you shouldn’t look at the rich and the famous and think ”wow, the reason they’re there and the rest of us aren’t is because they’re so much more virtous and hardworking”.

Obviously it’s all a matter of degree, I’m assuming we’re talking really well off here. A lot of people are in the position where hard work is likely to yield moderate success and a decent life at least.

Re: How to Work Hard

#750

Post by ABCLAW »

pdimitar wrote: post #595
WalterSear wrote: post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is me. Though I didn't just learn this in my upbringing - I feel like my entire working life has been one of false promises and dehumanization, that has left me unable to enjoy anything. I'm 47 now, have worked at 6 failed startups in a row, and can't face work, or looking for a job. I used to blame social media and hacker news, but I now recognize that too much delayed gratification and overwork have had a much…

At 41 y/o I am going mostly through the same. Without my wife I would have become a completely numb robot. But even if you don't have a good partner -- or friends, or your older family -- to turn to, I'd recommend the following: Engage in interviews but be upfront: you're not looking to prove yourself, you are not interested in stocks / futures / options / whatever, you're not scared of tough work but you're also loo…

Your compassion is distilled to crystal purity through these words. Thank you for sharing.
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