Max Ong Zong Bao
Posted on December 11, 2019
Introduction
One of the things that I feel that is not talked about much is the difference between comfort and hunger.
Coming from an Asian society in Singapore, despite we are blended with western media & influences.
For some, we stick to pursuing our career goal for success from our parent's expectation.
It is actually common for Asian parents to expect their children to embark on a path.
As either an engineer, lawyer, banker, doctor, an accountant and in the civil services if you are in Singapore.
Heck, I could remember the countless amount of times. That my father gave me the advice of studying hard and get a government job to lead a comfortable life.
I always give my father a reply that "I don't really want to live a comfortable life but life on my own terms".
Illusion of Security
Having job security is a myth, especially in the age of massive disruption.
Where we as a developer or anyone who is working in the technology space or startup space.
Daily, is playing our part to speed up the trend of displacing giants of their industry or even governments are unable to deals with disruption.
By developing new technology & business models that potentially create a massive impact on jobs & society.
That creates new and complex jobs which require the blending of technology, entrepreneurship & social skills.
The book The World is Flat & The 4 Hour Work Week was one of the few pivotal books that shaped my thinking a few decades ago.
How are we gonna prepare for the future if we continue to stick to old beliefs, dogmas & thinking where failure is a taboo instead embraced as an opportunity to grow and learn.
Chip in the Shoulder
Looking back, the choices that I made has always been from a place of hunger to become more & better.
To get out of my own shell & biting on something more than I could chew on.
From making a decision in getting my butt to complete my university education.
Despite barely scraping past the barrel in an academic result that was required of me to get in.
Taking the plunge to help to organise PyCon SG, starting my own blog, even becoming a mentor for junior developers in a mentoring programme.
This did not come without its failures in my own part.
As I failed in multiple areas in life as I took on that opportunity that presented itself.
From creating a data science education company by building a learning circle.
Becoming a salesman that can "sell" well during my internship or as a tech salesman after my university.
I guess being an underdog to persist and never give up till I succeed.
Has always been a way of life for me when you are as "academic inclined" like me.
Embracing Discomfort & Failure as a Journey
Journey through discomfort and embracing failure is never easy.
Having someone who has been there & done that could guide you along.
With a belief in you that you can do it can be a grounding & transformative experience.
I am grateful & happy with tons of initiatives and programmes that we have to help us to embrace this from both the top-down or a bottom-up approach.
From overseas internships placement, Code in Community, Scaffold programme, JuniorDev SG Mentoring Programme, MentorsHub, Vivita Singapore, Fuckup Nights
I hope that with these programs will allow us to embrace failure as an opportunity to learn instead of just a taboo topic we fear.
Conclusion
I hope that it will be useful for those who are comfortable to seek out opportunities to step out of your shell and knowing the risk that it involves before doing it.
For those who have the hunger to become a better person that you are not alone fighting the battle.
I hope that it will be useful and it's hard giving up one's comfort zone and admit one's failure which prompt me to write about this article.
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This post was originally posted on Max's blog at Do You Prefer Comfort Over Hunger? - Reading Time: 3 Mins and Photo by Julentto Photography on Unsplash
Reference
Posted on December 11, 2019
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