Hard relate about working hard from someone who grew up in the competitive Indian environment. Hard work didn’t always translate to the outcomes I wanted or thought I wanted, which is a lesson on it own I suppose, but everything worked out for the best still!
I did not understand point #5 in your post though. Would like to understand better if you have the time to share more :)
I think the question I would ask: do you know the counterfactual if you didn't work hard? And do you think it helped yield long term results, even if it didn't short-term give you everything you wanted?
The #5 point relates to this. Asian education (indian, singaporean, korean, etc.) is all about a big consequential exam -- e.g. the JEE as the be-all-end-all for getting into IITs. In contrast, in American education or even in American sports, it's more about your "average" over a long period of time. Admissions to MIT, as an example, is about your GPA (Grade Point Average) over your 4 years of high school. It's your average over a long period of time that determines your success, not a single moment.
Reality is more like the latter than the former. In life, there's rarely a single consequential moment that determines your worth.
That makes so much sense. Thanks for clarifying. I went back and re-read point #5 and understood it better.
I've had a meditation practice for many years now. Every now and then, there are days when I feel restless and give up meditating. I can confidently though say over a long period(years now!), maintaining a practice has had outsized impact on my life than any 1 day or week of practice.
Hard relate about working hard from someone who grew up in the competitive Indian environment. Hard work didn’t always translate to the outcomes I wanted or thought I wanted, which is a lesson on it own I suppose, but everything worked out for the best still!
I did not understand point #5 in your post though. Would like to understand better if you have the time to share more :)
I think the question I would ask: do you know the counterfactual if you didn't work hard? And do you think it helped yield long term results, even if it didn't short-term give you everything you wanted?
The #5 point relates to this. Asian education (indian, singaporean, korean, etc.) is all about a big consequential exam -- e.g. the JEE as the be-all-end-all for getting into IITs. In contrast, in American education or even in American sports, it's more about your "average" over a long period of time. Admissions to MIT, as an example, is about your GPA (Grade Point Average) over your 4 years of high school. It's your average over a long period of time that determines your success, not a single moment.
Reality is more like the latter than the former. In life, there's rarely a single consequential moment that determines your worth.
That makes so much sense. Thanks for clarifying. I went back and re-read point #5 and understood it better.
I've had a meditation practice for many years now. Every now and then, there are days when I feel restless and give up meditating. I can confidently though say over a long period(years now!), maintaining a practice has had outsized impact on my life than any 1 day or week of practice.