[bobsy]

While I understand the topic i don't like this example. The article is about a wealthy guy who can travel the world racing cars.. who then got pissy at coming second.

The objective of a car race is to win.. especially if you have the best team and car. You should be somewhat dejected if you didn't. It is the nature of competitive events.

This article has first world rich boy problems written all over it.

A far better example of this topic would be a friend of mine. He started his own business. Worked day and night to get it running. He always said he would enjoy the spoils of his work. He didn't. He had more and more success but he got sucked into chasing ambition and achievement. He never eased up or stepped back. His life became chasing More. His wife left him. He continued to work excessive hours until he completely burnt out. It was only when he met someone else that he learnt to take a step back and appreciate and enjoy what he had created.

If i enter a race in my Punto it is going to be fun. I have little expectation of winning, I am there to say I did it.

DHH went to Le Man's to win. He didn't. This isn't poisonous ambition. This is missing the target.. much like this article. If he went to experience it, got caught up in winning and didn't enjoy any of it then perhaps he would have some sort of point.

[lsc]

>This article has first world rich boy problems written all over it.

I thought that was his point. He's super successful but still not happy, and it seems to me like this was part of him working through that. I mean, the whole tone of the article seemed, to me, to say "gee, it seems like I am pretty ungrateful, and this is a problem."

[KVFinn]

>I thought that was his point. He's super successful but still not happy, and it seems to me like this was part of him working through that. I mean, the whole tone of the article seemed, to me, seemed to say "gee, it seems like I am pretty ungrateful, and this is a problem."

I think you might be right but he certainly could have been more clear.

Hard to differentiate "I'm so rich and successful I have problems you can't even understand. First World Problems."

vs

"What's wrong with my mentality that I can't enjoy coming in 2nd place in a race I've loved my whole life and only dreamed about competing in at a high level."

[csallen]

I think you may have read into it too much, and projected your own ideas on to what he was saying. I can't find a single sentence in which he was bragging about being rich and successful (mentioning != bragging), or asserting that there was anything we as readers can't understand.

[lsc]

Yeah... when I read it, the tone I got was the second one. It sounds like you read it as the first one.

[Hoffenheimer]

I don't see how you can just dismiss dhh's story and then come up with a drab story of a workaholic chasing ambition as a "far better example". I have way more empathy for the 'first world rich boy' than your friend. I can't even tell if he actually exists -- it reads like an 8th grade book report. If you are going to be that dismissive, at least learn how to tell a story.

If he went to experience it, got caught up in winning and didn't enjoy any of it then perhaps he would have some sort of point.

How do you know he didn't get into racing for the experience of it? Seems like that's what his whole point is -- he got 2nd at Le Man's ('rich boy' or not, still a good thing), but instead of enjoying such an achievement, he's caught up in the fact that he didn't win.

[DanielRibeiro]

This made me remember Richard Feynman's going back to just playing with physics, as a part of his therapy for burning out and having very high expectations setup for himself[1]:

It was effortless. It was easy to play with these things. It was like uncorking a bottle: Everything flowed out effortlessly. I almost tried to resist it! There was no importance to what I was doing, but ultimately there was. The diagrams and the whole business that I got the Nobel Prize for came from that piddling around with the wobbling plate.

[1] http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~kilcup/262/feynman.html

[beambot]

This article has first world rich boy problems written all over it.

DHH is ambitious, successful, and contributed a lot of value (much of it open-source) to the world. His disappointment does not justify this sort of demeaning commentary -- least of all on HN.

[mehwoot]

Except this is exactly a first world rich boy problem. For the drivers who earned their spot on their team and who make their living doing that, striving to be the best is absolutely essential to what they do.

Just because he created value somewhere else doesn't mean he is immune to commentary on what he does (and then blogs about, no less).

[bobsy]

Nothing I said diminishes any of his achievements. Just because someone is successful and loved doesn't mean they shit gold. I think the article is nonsense and called him out on it.

[johnyzee]

I knew DHH when all he had was a pair of rollerskates, so it makes me happy to see where he is at, and I didn't read this as coming from some pampered rich kid. That probably makes some difference in interpreting the article. It's about a habit of demanding so much of yourself that only impossible successes can make you happy anymore. And about DHH telling the world that he made it, he is driving an F1 at Le Mans :). I like both angles.

[_progger_]

You might like his other post "Work for us 'Til You Drop": http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3389-your-lifersquos-work

[WhaleBiologist]

Business is extremely competitive. How is that any different from a car race? No entrepreneur starts a business to fail and lose all their money; they start a business to succeed, just like a competitive racer races to win.

Why is it okay to dismiss his example as "just another privileged rich guy" and then you give an example of a friend who started a business. Being in a position to start a business is extremely privileged compared to most people.

I'm not in the financial position to start a business, can I dismiss your example as "just another privileged rich guy (relative to me)"?

[skarmklart]

The article is about a wealthy guy who can travel the world racing cars.. who then got pissy at coming second.

Not my impression at all. I read it as quite humble and self-insightful. He's basically debugging himself and pinpointing how his utility function works, and hinting at how it might be improved (the bit about flow at the end of the post).

[nraynaud]

* who then got pissy at coming second.* While another guy died during the race.

[locusm]

Your comment feels very "tall poppy syndrome" and made me read the post a couple more times. Nup, nothing in it screams pissy at all really.

[zipate]

you know bobsy, you just repeated the story, only with a different example; :)