I'm glad OP posted this. I'm actually a bit surprised this sentiment hasn't been expressed more often, but I guess it's part of the bubble a lot of Valley entrepeneurs live in. I am just a 25-year old guy working as a regular employee in a small consulting company with flexible hours and freedom to take unpaid leave pretty much whenever I feel like it, but I have some pretty strong opinions on parts of the startup culture.
To be frank, it seems like a lot of startup employees suffer from OCD (literally). Working really long hours and improving the product, changing the world etc. is what it's always about. Lots of people seem to lose sight of the ultimate goal in life, which is being happy. Or maybe they didn't have a goal in the first place, and working really hard is a substitute for something else which is missing in their lives.
Unhealthily hard work is a good idea _for a period of time_, if it _seems as if it's working_, as a means to an end: Making a lot of money in a few years instead of throughout a lifetime, creating something of your own and leaving your mark on the world, reaching your true potential, etc. But if you're working 12 hours a day for _years_ with nothing to show for it, you are on the wrong track and should take a step back.
I realized this after experiencing burnout at 19, spending two years where I was capable of doing absolutely nothing traditionlly productive. Therefore, it's really surprising to me that a lot of supposedly older and wiser do this rat race for years, losing sight of the goal along the way.
Pushing really hard to achieve something great is a huge risk to your mental well-being, and this is something you should go into with both eyes open. It's better to make a tactical retreat if things seem too hard.
You can be perfectly happy not being a Steve Jobs. In fact, if it doesn't come naturally, you're almost guaranteed to be happier by being a little easier on yourself.
> I realized this after experiencing burnout at 19, spending two years where I was capable of doing absolutely nothing traditionlly productive. Therefore, it's really surprising to me that a lot of supposedly older and wiser do this rat race for years, losing sight of the goal along the way.
This hit especially close to home for me. I'm 19 years old, in my second year of university, and looking to get into the industry within the next couple years. Even just finishing high school I was left with this emptiness: I had worked my ass off doing all kinds of crazy stuff--academic and otherwise--to get into a college of my choice, often getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night for weeks on end, only to start the whole thing over again right after I graduated.
I still work my ass off, deprive myself of sleep, overwork, etc, but I definitely see it all in the same context as you. It's short-term craziness for a benefit I want to see slightly down the road. And if it doesn't work out, I'm not going to force it. If you're not where you wanted to be at 35 by the time you're 40, maybe your plan wasn't the right one for you.
So yes, thank you for reminding me the point of all of this.
Working hard is fine, sometimes. However, if you're working hard for years and seemingly getting nowhere, then you clearly what you're doing is wrong.
It's not easy to create and build a business or startup. But that's doesn't mean it's an unachievable goal that, despite working yourself into the ground, you'll never achieve.
If you are killing yourself for years and years, you're probably never going to make it. There's not that much of a difference between those who succeed and those who fail. It's about working smart, not hard.
Yes, you might have to work both smart AND hard at times, but if you are working hard becomes never-ending then you need to assess how smart you are working.
To be frank, it seems like a lot of startup employees suffer from OCD (literally). Working really long hours and improving the product, changing the world etc. is what it's always about. Lots of people seem to lose sight of the ultimate goal in life, which is being happy. Or maybe they didn't have a goal in the first place, and working really hard is a substitute for something else which is missing in their lives.
Unhealthily hard work is a good idea _for a period of time_, if it _seems as if it's working_, as a means to an end: Making a lot of money in a few years instead of throughout a lifetime, creating something of your own and leaving your mark on the world, reaching your true potential, etc. But if you're working 12 hours a day for _years_ with nothing to show for it, you are on the wrong track and should take a step back.
I realized this after experiencing burnout at 19, spending two years where I was capable of doing absolutely nothing traditionlly productive. Therefore, it's really surprising to me that a lot of supposedly older and wiser do this rat race for years, losing sight of the goal along the way.
Pushing really hard to achieve something great is a huge risk to your mental well-being, and this is something you should go into with both eyes open. It's better to make a tactical retreat if things seem too hard.
You can be perfectly happy not being a Steve Jobs. In fact, if it doesn't come naturally, you're almost guaranteed to be happier by being a little easier on yourself.