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Angela Duckworth and Stephen Dubner have a great podcast on this. The world is unfair and you aren’t guaranteed success no matter what you do. But focusing on

by Swizec 6y ago

Angela Duckworth and Stephen Dubner have a great podcast on this. The world is unfair and you aren’t guaranteed success no matter what you do. But focusing on things you can control and having grit on average increases your chances. It’s a good default.

agumonkey 6y ago
There's an inverse notion too, that doubling down on efforts in an unfavorable context is just a quicker death.
cbanek 6y ago
Yes, this. I'm reminded of a great Captain Picard line after Data fails his game of strategema: "It is possible to make no mistakes, and still lose. That is not a failing. That is life."
2OEH8eoCRo0 6y ago
Define success. I'm college educated and make nearly $100k a year. To me this is the bare minimum. I don't feel comfortable where I am but I still meet people who envy me. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to. It wasn't even hard to get here.
- throwaway201103 6y ago
  > I'm just doing what I'm supposed to. From what I've seen, this is really the thing. Having a reasonably comfortable life is just about doing what you are supposed to do. Pay attention in school and make a decent effort at learning. Be sober at least most of the time. Get a job and take it seriously. Get married and be in a position to support your children before you have children. We've understood these things for millenia and they are encoded in our religions and cultural norms. One of my favorite quotes from Calvin Coolidge: If all the folks would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves.
  - zx321 6y ago
    Your list is missing a few things. Be healthy, physically and mentally. Be born into a reasonably affluent family. Be able to attend a good school. Be able to find a partner.
- rufus_foreman 6y ago
  >> I'm just doing what I'm supposed to Then you are a total and complete failure.
  - dang 6y ago
    Hey, could you please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here?
- Swizec 6y ago
  > Define success Success is personal. Whatever it means to you, believing you can achieve that and working towards it against setbacks, makes it more likely (but not guaranteed) that you eventually will.
- hindsightbias 6y ago
  A mark of a lot of successfull people is that they don’t feel comfortable no matter how far they go. I know many 40+ folks making 2X what you are, and they’re fearful of being let go. But we’re all survivors. If you got this far w/o working too hard I’d suggest working a little harder to stay above your peers and diversify your future options. Gold rushes don’t last forever. Live to work (own business) or work to live (for someone else) and afford your hobbies.

by Swizec 6y ago

agumonkey 6y ago

There's an inverse notion too, that doubling down on efforts in an unfavorable context is just a quicker death.

cbanek 6y ago

Yes, this. I'm reminded of a great Captain Picard line after Data fails his game of strategema: "It is possible to make no mistakes, and still lose. That is not a failing. That is life."

2OEH8eoCRo0 6y ago

Define success. I'm college educated and make nearly $100k a year. To me this is the bare minimum. I don't feel comfortable where I am but I still meet people who envy me. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to. It wasn't even hard to get here.

throwaway201103 6y ago
> I'm just doing what I'm supposed to. From what I've seen, this is really the thing. Having a reasonably comfortable life is just about doing what you are supposed to do. Pay attention in school and make a decent effort at learning. Be sober at least most of the time. Get a job and take it seriously. Get married and be in a position to support your children before you have children. We've understood these things for millenia and they are encoded in our religions and cultural norms. One of my favorite quotes from Calvin Coolidge: If all the folks would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves.
- zx321 6y ago
  Your list is missing a few things. Be healthy, physically and mentally. Be born into a reasonably affluent family. Be able to attend a good school. Be able to find a partner.
rufus_foreman 6y ago
>> I'm just doing what I'm supposed to Then you are a total and complete failure.
- dang 6y ago
  Hey, could you please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here?
Swizec 6y ago
> Define success Success is personal. Whatever it means to you, believing you can achieve that and working towards it against setbacks, makes it more likely (but not guaranteed) that you eventually will.
hindsightbias 6y ago
A mark of a lot of successfull people is that they don’t feel comfortable no matter how far they go. I know many 40+ folks making 2X what you are, and they’re fearful of being let go. But we’re all survivors. If you got this far w/o working too hard I’d suggest working a little harder to stay above your peers and diversify your future options. Gold rushes don’t last forever. Live to work (own business) or work to live (for someone else) and afford your hobbies.