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Wow. I haven't experienced a tenth of what you have. "Now we're 23 and smarter than the average person, technically and entreprenuerly aware, and impatient bec

by oz 16y ago

Wow. I haven't experienced a tenth of what you have. "Now we're 23 and smarter than the average person, technically and entreprenuerly aware, and impatient because we aren't where our 30+ year old friends are in life." Yes, yes, yes! I am eternally grateful about being entreprenuerly aware. I keep telling myself to be thankful - many people only start thinking this way when they're ten years older. This is one of the major contributions of HN to my life: pulling back the curtain on entrepreneurship. "We're not as old as you think man. I waste time on the weekends all the time. It's because we think we can handle 100+ hours a week and hate ourselves when we break down and veg out." How did you know? Especially when I read so many stories of founders working 100+ hr weeks for three years, I'm ashamed to be finding it difficult to do it for a week! I really want to 'compress my working life,' as PG put it. "Remind yourself that there is a world that doesn't give a shit what we think of ourselves or where we want to be, and the only thing that can get us farther in life is our own determination and willpower. Start thinking long term and tell yourself you are badass." Willpower and Will To Power. Nietzsche FTW! "Feel free to hit me up if you want to chat more, sounds like we have some stuff in common." Email sent.

sgentle 16y ago
I think it's too easy to blame. We wouldn't look at a watch that was running slow and say "that watch is lazy", and we shouldn't look at ourselves when we don't achieve what we want and treat it as some kind of failure of will. Psychologists have a term for when you overestimate the actions of a person rather than the environment they're in: the fundamental attribution error. We attribute results to the ego even when it's not really responsible. Your mind and body are incredible machinery that you spend most of your life figuring out how to operate. The difference between 20 and 30 is ten years of operating experience. If you've blown it this weekend, it's not because you were lazy, it's because your machinery's not quite running right. The advice given elsewhere in this thread is great, but at the core is an understanding: the results mostly come from your environment. Not just the external (distractions, workspace, tools etc), but also the one in your head, defined by goals and motivations and ruled by systems and working rituals. You can't change it all at once, and if you expect that the next time you sit down on the weekend you'll just have a new lease on life, you'll be disappointed. If you do this right, you'll just slowly start finding it easier. The distractions less appealing, the tasks more approachable. Eventually it will be harder to fail than to succeed. To get there, you just need to stop blaming the watch, and start listening to the machinery. What does it need to run on time? PS. About founders working hundred-hour weeks without breaking a sweat, I think you'll find the number changes significantly depending on how you define work. I'm currently working 168 hours including scheduled rest breaks and group-oriented social activities.

by oz 16y ago

sgentle 16y ago

I think it's too easy to blame. We wouldn't look at a watch that was running slow and say "that watch is lazy", and we shouldn't look at ourselves when we don't achieve what we want and treat it as some kind of failure of will. Psychologists have a term for when you overestimate the actions of a person rather than the environment they're in: the fundamental attribution error. We attribute results to the ego even when it's not really responsible. Your mind and body are incredible machinery that you spend most of your life figuring out how to operate. The difference between 20 and 30 is ten years of operating experience. If you've blown it this weekend, it's not because you were lazy, it's because your machinery's not quite running right. The advice given elsewhere in this thread is great, but at the core is an understanding: the results mostly come from your environment. Not just the external (distractions, workspace, tools etc), but also the one in your head, defined by goals and motivations and ruled by systems and working rituals. You can't change it all at once, and if you expect that the next time you sit down on the weekend you'll just have a new lease on life, you'll be disappointed. If you do this right, you'll just slowly start finding it easier. The distractions less appealing, the tasks more approachable. Eventually it will be harder to fail than to succeed. To get there, you just need to stop blaming the watch, and start listening to the machinery. What does it need to run on time? PS. About founders working hundred-hour weeks without breaking a sweat, I think you'll find the number changes significantly depending on how you define work. I'm currently working 168 hours including scheduled rest breaks and group-oriented social activities.