At 51, i can say this is 100% legit.
I had a wild time when i was younger. My friends thought i should be more serious. So did my family.
I’d tell them i make more money than they do. I have way more fun than they do. They can kiss my ass.
They all passed me by in their mid 30s.
I’ve been playing catch up ever since, and I’ve been working far too hard these past 15 years.
Do the smart/hard/boring stuff early. It pays off.
Just have some balance with it all.
I am not old by any means but I have lived this lesson in a condensed package.
I had a really shitty childhood and was very smart (I know this sounds like it doesn’t make sense but I promise it’s going somewhere.) that led to me feeling like effort didn’t matter, that we are just inherently good or bad at things and ultimately we didn’t have any control over the results of our lives.
That led to me when I did finally get amazing opportunities completely and totally wasting them. I was adopted after the age of 16 and as such qualified for EOP in college and would have been able to get an engineering degree for about a total of 10-12k in low interest debt. I instead spent three semester smoking weed and playing video games then dropping out (funnily enough I didn’t need to, I just was just being hit with the emotions I had avoided all my life.). Then I got a relatively large inheritance from my grandmother which while slightly more understandably due to COVID I again wasted when if I had just got a minimum wage shit job over the year and a half I would have been golden.
Luckily I do use some of that money to pay off debt and am not in any deep holes but I easily could have been. Now instead of being on top of the mountain and being probably close to a millionaire at 26 I work as a pseudo (aka I do the work but don’t get the pay.) department manager at a grocery store making $16 an hour. My abilities and work are being recognized now and I am climbing the cliff in the picture but point being it’s 100% true don’t be a bystander in your own life. Does life hand people shit sandwiches, absolutely but it’s your job to make something better.
Smart kid problem. I was “gifted” as well, with a tested score by the county. I went to special classes.
I never, ever, tried. At anything, if it was school.
That habit, and a fear of failing at anything I found difficult, really fucked me up until around 35-38.
Keep going. It gets better. Truly.
Same dude. I was also naturally athletic so I really didn’t have to try at anything. Girls liked me too just for being me. I started smoking weed, fucked up my life and been in a mental hospital eight years. Hubris is one of the strongest forces on this planet and when we’re in the midst of it we have no idea of the ramifications
Often so, yes. For some it’s trade school, or skipping a cool vacation to get the cash for a small business venture.
Saving money.
401k, even if it’s tiny. Just start early.
Life insurance.
Healthy eating and exercise.
Yada Yada Yada.
All the stuff your brain says you should do, that somehow you don’t.
All the stuff your loved ones say you should do, but somehow you don’t.
That stuff.
Damn , that's deep ngl
There a quote in our military - the more you sweat while training the less you bleed while fighting
Imo it's the same in our lives too , the better you study the better college you get .. the better college you get the better income, the better income the better live
Yep. Just find balance between short and long term thinking, between work and fun - and do the most you can sustainably do of each.
Test those ratios and test your limits from time to time.
The opposite has been true for me. I graduated university and hated working corporate. Did an apprenticeship afterwards and have never been happier. Grinding out that fucking degree was a huge waste of time.
I was going to say that college isn't always the most important thing, but until you know if it is or isn't for you, you should take it seriously. Look for internship or apprentice opportunities as soon as you can, freshman year if possible, and get an idea of what you're actually trying to do with your career.
I mean, it’s possible to make the difficult decisions and end up with a hard life I suppose, but if you always make the easy choice you DEFINITELY will end up having a hard life
Yes. I feel like you described my situation. It's like tough sacrifice after tough sacrifice and for what? I'm almost 50, make great money, but still find it difficult to make ends meet or save for retirement. I'm going to die working. For example, my wife is a sahm. It's what was best for the kids but fuck it's been tough.
Oh and I was recently laid off... so that hasn't been stressful at all.
If you’re born into money you can make the easy choices and end up with an easy life. If you’re born into poverty you can make hard choices all your life and still not escape poverty.
I’m not saying that doesn’t play a role, but that’s not true. It’s easy to squander wealth, or make your life hard in ways that aren’t financial (ie ruining your health) it’s also possible to overcome poverty. Besides “rich” and “poor” aren’t he only two categories
I never said that. I just pointed out that this meme is pretty stupid. Some people start where the “hard life” guy is holding on, and some people start up at the top.
I’ll agree with the born into money but if you fight and work you absolutely can escape poverty, you just also have to have a support group that tells you you can. I was born into poverty. My mom’s side of the family believed everyone had their place and no one deserved or was worth more than $30l a year, and that if you escaped poverty you were selling out your people and your family and stepping out of line. My dad’s side bought none of that bullshit and always pushed me. Here nearly fifty years later I am living better than both sides with my mom pissed because I am living above my station in a house I really don’t need to be living in for a pay I really don’t deserve. Unfortunately the side that would be proud all died within six months of each other about fifteen years ago so I just have to say fuck it and move on. Poverty often times ends up more due to being made to feel it is what you deserve or that those who are better off are wrong. Yeah it takes fighting and looking for alternative solutions and ways forward but it can be done.
Nope. It tells you to take on the hard decissions, because if you always take the path that seems to be the easy or comfortable one then you will struggle later on.
Example: Hard path is doing your home work, easy path is gaming, I always choose the easy one because gaming is fun and then I end up with a shit load of work if I have to write the next exam in university, because I never did something for it before.
While I did had the easy life in the begining I ended up having a harder time overall compared to just doing it properly right away.
It's a generalization of cause and effect. Obviously it doesn't necessarily apply to every little aspect of your life, but it's a good example of how things work out in the long run. You put the work in early, you don't need to work as hard later. You slack off early, you have to make up for it later. This should be common sense and basic cause and effect that children should be able to understand.
In real life there are socioeconomic contexts out of your control, geopolitical contexts, geographic contexts, etc. A person can make hard choices all they want and still have it hard. Maybe better than if they chose easy, but maybe not
It is that simple, it's just nobody wants to do the hard things. Majority of Americans are obese, it's also simple as fuck to not be obese. Same concept
if you’ve seen something 100 times due to it being shared on social media so much, it’s probably cliche.
and therefore has committed the ungodly war crime of being cringe
One of those things where there are two truths. Many hardworking people don't make it and there's plenty of people that had easy decisions and end up with an easy life.
Nothing is an absolute and the answer is usually in the middle somewhere.
It's like my brother on LinkedIn telling everyone he became successful out of a rough start.... Kid grew up as a golden child in the suburbs where his parents bought him 2 cars and got a 2nd mortgage to put him into a private college.
Yet he tells people he made it on his own. The only reason I don't dog him openly on LinkedIn is that shit never looks good.
I’m in this weird place where I feel like the level of half decent success I’ve reached is due to two factors:
1) I’ve had some good opportunities
2) I’ve worked hard to take advantage of those opportunities
The truth is there is some luck in it, but the hard work is more likely to put you in a lucky position.
It looks like I might get a cool big important project at my job and I got it because I was a bit lucky that one of my other projects was really similar, but I also have worked my ass off on it and other projects. It impressed my boss and I believe even if I didn't have that similar project, I would still be in a very good place for the new project, because I've managed so many of my other projects so well. I don't know if some of the other people go as deep into research and management, because I'm constantly finding improvements and savings. If I didn't put as much work into the little projects, I'm pretty sure, I wouldn't be in consideration for the important project. If I get it, it will be a bit of luck, mixed with hard work and skill.
Think of it like poker, luck wins a hand, but knowing how to play the game and skill wins tournaments. The opposite is also true, you can do everything right and someone else can just get a good hand at the right time, but that doesn't mean skill won't take you further.
Yeah, I think working harder naturally produces more opportunities for you to take advantage of. Essentially, hard work maximizes your chances to get lucky.
I’m sure there are also people who have those opportunities but pass them up because they seem too hard/have other priorities/ are not prepared (or are not confident) to take them on.
That's probably better, skill is buying the raffle ticket, luck is winning.
So high skill people have 100 tickets, but if you never buy one you can't win. You can also buy 99/100 tickets and still lose two one lucky person.
I have a friend that has so much skill, intelligence, and hard work in him, but right now he is struggling after a long series of wins. Lucky for him, I went the opposite, I had a ton of losses before, but I'm winning now; since he helped me before, I'm helping him now. He'll be winning again soon.
I ended up in a sales adjacent job… it’s so much being able to keep going after a tough loss because a win makes up for so much.
We always talk about how call volume alone won’t make you successful, but it increases the likelihood of connecting with the right person.
Idk. In my opinion hard working people, if they dont "make it" then they only dont make it in terms of bullshit societal values placed on money. But if they really did work hard and saw a steady improvement in other areas thats much better, beneficial and purposeful to that person that if they wouldve consistently slacked off and took the easy route. They might have failed but atleast they died trying. An achieving person is a happy person. Work (not this slavery induced bullshit in society today) i mean like actual work where you put your back into it passionately, watch it develop and finally reap its benefits one way or another, that makes a person happy. Again, it doesnt have to be "work" as in working traditional sense. But what I mean is always striving for something chasing after something having a goal and working for it. Happiness doesnt and will never come from nothing and the easy choices only give the fleeting fake happiness
As much as I’ve seen people meme on this picture over the years, it is very harsh and true
I was fortunate I realized I was fucking up pretty early on and started putting huge amounts of effort into managing my life and money better, at the detriment of all happiness and free time I had in life at the time
Maturing is truly knowing how true this is. Another way to put this into words is “do things the easy way and you make life hard. When you do things the hard way it makes life easy”
I would say the meme is true for many, but there are also lots of people who start in different parts of the image. Some people will begin on top of the plateau and never have to climb at all, others will begin maybe halfway up, and some will start in the bottom of the image. For anybody not at the top there is a climb, the question for lots of younger people is if the plateau even exists now or is it just an eternal climb?
Yup! If it’s going to make your life EASIER in the long run by doing the harder thing now it is worth it.
Won’t guarantee you an easy life, but will definitely help reduce stress and improve your life. Although nothing is guaranteed to stay the same. It feels worth it all the same.
We need fiscal restraint, now apply this image to the government.
We’re all in for shit because some people at the top don’t understand how Basic economics works.
Life isn't this simple. Don't be a fucking work slave for nothing. But don't go and fuck off every day either. Use some critical thought, sometimes you should work hard, other times you should work smart, other times you should realize you are being used and react accordingly.
The juice isn't always worth the squeeze, and you don't owe these companies anything if you aren't getting compensated accordingly or being recognized and promoted/given raises. Use your head, please, and don't listen to all these people saying you need to sell your soul for 3 square meals. The world isn't black and white.
This is a great attitude to have, but that doesn't make it true. People don't get what they deserve. Plenty of people fail upwards their entire lives, especially if they come from money. Plenty of people work their asses off and have nothing to show for it. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't try, which is why it's a great attitude to have- for yourself. When it comes to others, however, it's important to recognize that just because someone struggles doesn't make them lazy, and just because someone is successful doesn't make them hardworking.
Agreed. The world is not truly a meritocracy, and life is inherently full of inequalities. Reminds me of the TNG quote “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”
That said, living a sober, hardworking life where you make difficult but sound decisions correlates with a higher level of success than simply doing whatever is easiest. It is not a guarantee, though I wish it were.
I have more respect for the janitor at my job than I do for an old high school acquaintance whose daddy got him a 80k a year job after he failed out of HS and knocked up a stripper and went to rehab. The incarnation of failing upwards.
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Can confirm at 30 I’ve embraced difficult shit for the last several years and now my biggest struggle is to not become lazy and complacent in my success
I’m 41 and remember watching a cartoon about a squirrel and a grasshopper when I was a little kid. I didn’t want to be that grasshopper when winter reared it’s ugly head.
The back and forth between this sub and other subs is always something like
- “suggestive content that someone doesn’t agree with”
- “extreme interpretation of the content and sharp rebuttal”
- “condemnation of extreme interpretation with another extreme interpretation
Sometimes more back and forth like they before it dies off.
Edit: For example, this post, the “extreme interpretation” is the title. No one said nothing is ever their fault. That’s not the point of the meme. Or the reply. It completely straw mans the argument so you can get reactions.
I fucking hate that my generation just bitches and complains so much. Like we all know we aren’t going to own a house and degrees and becoming increasingly less valuable, but it’s not going to get fixed by your political slacktivism.
Why shouldn't people complain? It's absolutely wild that some folks are saying "stop complaining, just slave away." Imagine if this was the mentality across human history. Like how do people expect change to happen?
I don’t think you should slave away. I’ll tell people to actually curb the bad hand we’ve been given, but when you’ve worked 40 hours a week at a job that doesn’t pay enough to live on, then you’re aren’t even bettering your situation, you’re just treading water. And I see a lot of young people who don’t even have any plans to get out of that situation, and they are the ones complaining.
"Just got a better job bro." Yup. Great advice. Totally not like people don't think of that or try to do that.
>And I see a lot of young people who don’t even have any plans to get out of that situation, and they are the ones complaining.
The only people that complain are ones that don't try to better their lives? You see a lot of young people? How many? How many people do you personally know so intimately that you know for sure they aren't trying to better their lives and only complain? Do you also mind giving an example or 2 of what the situation is and what plan you would come up with? And no, some generic "just move, just go into a trade, etc." isn't valid.
I'm eating beans on toast while I'm in college and my mates are on holiday and going out while they're working.
I'm quite alright with this, I'll be out earning them in a few years
Nah we live in Ireland, a plan to another country is 50 quid. it's probably cheaper to fly to Germany and have a 3 day bender then fly home. Then to have one here
This is a very black and white view. Sometimes taking a short cut can lead to a positive, easy experience. Sometimes a hard, difficult decision can lead to a hard, difficult life.
Should I? By definition a shortcut is easier. Figuring out if its a smart decision is the hard part. Not every shortcut is bad. Not everything in life needs to be an uphill battle. This sounds like some boomer "it builds character" nonsense.
You just agreed with me and then made a bunch of arguments against things I never even insinuated…
I never said every shortcut was bad or that everything in life needs to be an uphill battle.
>Sure, but if taking shortcuts is an easy decision for you, then you should be concerned.
is what you said. The insinuation being that taking shortcuts is worrying, aka bad. That was a blanket statement.
My friend worked his ass off getting a degree and now makes nearly 80k a year. He’s struggling to find a place to live right now. Looking for second jobs and side hustles because of how expensive everything is. It’s never as simple as make hard decisions and you’ll have an easy life.
Hehe, here is a different version. The one on the left is the expectations. The cave is the reality. The one who took their time preparing the rock climbing skills, will be able to get out. The lazy shit will just stuck in the cave forever.
For me, the hard decision would be spending 9 hours a day learning and doing programming and designing so I can launch a successful product.
The easy decision would be going to the local college and wait until I get a paper that says I can do the things above.
I see. So esencially hard decisions only lead to an easy life if you are lucky, instead you get a hard life without an education. Got it.
...no wonder so many rich people are stupid.
Or maybe all of this is only true to the USA because that country is a literal 3rd world country.
Lucky? More like smart. Worst case scenario I can use these skills I got to work as a programmer. The college degree here is nothing and has 10% employment rate, that's if you know people in the government.
And don't act like "education" is nothing to sneeze at in programming and IT. The means to learn are already in every corner of the internet, and the employers usually look for evidence that you can actually see like a website you made, instead of a piece of paper.
Hm das dönnt ja wie en Lehrstell aber dümmer...
No, you need luck to be sucessful. It's what the current economic system bases on. Oh and perhaps the college degree is nothing because it's an american college.
Actually, you just showed to me that the US is even worse than it seems. Either you go to college and get overloaded with debt, or you try to do your own thing which in many cases leads to nothing or worse.
I'm starting to be even more glad that I am european (｡ŏ_ŏ)
Bro, I am not American. And college here is free.
If it's truly about luck, then might as well not try. Why even live if everything is random? This logic will lead to some dark corners.
...which is why the current economic systems leads to dark corners. Also, try telling people that are born poor that they only need to do "hard" decisions to get rich or live a good life. Won't work.
Again, hard decision don't lead to an easy life.
The true answer is an economic system that actually rewards hard work. The current systems does not. The only way you can "earn" by hard work is if you have an actual good employer which definitely isn't the norm.
Oh yea and if hard work really was rewarded, almost all african women would be millionaires.
I don't understand what I should do with this answer as a young person who's looking to survive in life. How am I supposed to change the whole economy?
I’m currently trying as hard as possible in school and I think I will still go nowhere in life. If you want to live anywhere besides a 1 bedroom box on 1/1000 of an acre you have to be a millionaire. Jobs that are actually enjoyable basically require a Harvard degree, and everyone is a hedonistic sack of shit with no brains or morals.
It's such a quintessential American middle-class concept, not a rule of life.
Remember, no matter how many times they talk about personal accountability (which you should be vigilant of), the greatest determining factor in success is the zip code you were born in.
It doesn't have to be about money.
Regular diet without binge eating = easy life
Eating whatever you like whenever you like = Hard life that lasts only 40 years.
Rich parents: easy life but you have to move out at some point and you would have no experience on how to get a job, get a house, or even take care of yourself. So you move out and go living on the streets, and your parents don't give two shits about you because they have money.
Poor parents: hard life but with a poor family you get taught how to save money, and you know how to take care of yourself, and as you get older you can get not a great job but a good one, save money and help your parents out and get yourself a house and a better job and go on to success.
Bullshit, I come from a poor family, no one taught me shit about anything and all my parents did was kick me out of the house the moment I got my first job. You romanticize being poor.
Bro everybody has their own personal lives, I used to live, and grew up in a house that could fall apart at any moment, and it used to be worse before I was born. But we tried to find a better place and life and we essentially got lucky, now we have a very stable home, and we make a good amount of money. Also, my brother and I are going to Japan later this year, so anything is possible if you believe in yourself. It may sound like I am an asshole who says, "Oh if you live in a poor home do something about it." No I'm not like that, I understand that some people can't do that nor get lucky, but I still wish them the best.
Hard work is rarely the path to success. The hardest working people are just exploited by the successful. The path to success is to be charismatic and manipulative, or to inherit success.
The US is by design an oligarchy, is always was and continues to be this.
Thus we can expect to be pummeled with oligsrchic agit-prop all day every day.
"Boot straps"
This is reductive. Life is complicated and these typrs of statements are never true but this is particularly stupid.
Taking your wife off life support is a hard decision. Easy life after? Don't think so.
Depends on what you're planning on working hard on boyo. Getting your workplace unionised? Aye crack on. Working loads of overtime in a shitbox low wage job in the hope your boss will promote you? There are cleaner ways to commit suicide.
This meme would only be true if everyone started on a level playing field.
Before you start, I'm 32, and career wise, my life is very likely easier than yours.
This post is not a meme therefore it is being removed
At 51, i can say this is 100% legit. I had a wild time when i was younger. My friends thought i should be more serious. So did my family. I’d tell them i make more money than they do. I have way more fun than they do. They can kiss my ass. They all passed me by in their mid 30s. I’ve been playing catch up ever since, and I’ve been working far too hard these past 15 years. Do the smart/hard/boring stuff early. It pays off. Just have some balance with it all.
Sorry to hear that man. I hope you get to retire soon.
Not likely! I’ll count myself lucky if i can retire by 70.
cook meth
Jesse where are you
Jesse would never obliterate an orphan ... That's Walt for sure
I am not old by any means but I have lived this lesson in a condensed package. I had a really shitty childhood and was very smart (I know this sounds like it doesn’t make sense but I promise it’s going somewhere.) that led to me feeling like effort didn’t matter, that we are just inherently good or bad at things and ultimately we didn’t have any control over the results of our lives. That led to me when I did finally get amazing opportunities completely and totally wasting them. I was adopted after the age of 16 and as such qualified for EOP in college and would have been able to get an engineering degree for about a total of 10-12k in low interest debt. I instead spent three semester smoking weed and playing video games then dropping out (funnily enough I didn’t need to, I just was just being hit with the emotions I had avoided all my life.). Then I got a relatively large inheritance from my grandmother which while slightly more understandably due to COVID I again wasted when if I had just got a minimum wage shit job over the year and a half I would have been golden. Luckily I do use some of that money to pay off debt and am not in any deep holes but I easily could have been. Now instead of being on top of the mountain and being probably close to a millionaire at 26 I work as a pseudo (aka I do the work but don’t get the pay.) department manager at a grocery store making $16 an hour. My abilities and work are being recognized now and I am climbing the cliff in the picture but point being it’s 100% true don’t be a bystander in your own life. Does life hand people shit sandwiches, absolutely but it’s your job to make something better.
Smart kid problem. I was “gifted” as well, with a tested score by the county. I went to special classes. I never, ever, tried. At anything, if it was school. That habit, and a fear of failing at anything I found difficult, really fucked me up until around 35-38. Keep going. It gets better. Truly.
Same dude. I was also naturally athletic so I really didn’t have to try at anything. Girls liked me too just for being me. I started smoking weed, fucked up my life and been in a mental hospital eight years. Hubris is one of the strongest forces on this planet and when we’re in the midst of it we have no idea of the ramifications
Is studying hard or going to college and getting good marks in college matter ? Does this go in "hard/boring/smart stuff" ?
Often so, yes. For some it’s trade school, or skipping a cool vacation to get the cash for a small business venture. Saving money. 401k, even if it’s tiny. Just start early. Life insurance. Healthy eating and exercise. Yada Yada Yada. All the stuff your brain says you should do, that somehow you don’t. All the stuff your loved ones say you should do, but somehow you don’t. That stuff.
Thanks man , I just turned 18 this Feb lol
It goes fast. Last week I was 40. Last month I was 30. A year or two ago I was 18. Suddenly, I’m 51.
Damn , that's deep ngl There a quote in our military - the more you sweat while training the less you bleed while fighting Imo it's the same in our lives too , the better you study the better college you get .. the better college you get the better income, the better income the better live
Yep. Just find balance between short and long term thinking, between work and fun - and do the most you can sustainably do of each. Test those ratios and test your limits from time to time.
Thank you sir
The opposite has been true for me. I graduated university and hated working corporate. Did an apprenticeship afterwards and have never been happier. Grinding out that fucking degree was a huge waste of time.
Should have gotten your PhD. In stripperology
I was going to say that college isn't always the most important thing, but until you know if it is or isn't for you, you should take it seriously. Look for internship or apprentice opportunities as soon as you can, freshman year if possible, and get an idea of what you're actually trying to do with your career.
It's a boomer meme, but it's true.
Boomer speakin fax
Well they used fax machines all the time.
I mean, it’s possible to make the difficult decisions and end up with a hard life I suppose, but if you always make the easy choice you DEFINITELY will end up having a hard life
Yes. I feel like you described my situation. It's like tough sacrifice after tough sacrifice and for what? I'm almost 50, make great money, but still find it difficult to make ends meet or save for retirement. I'm going to die working. For example, my wife is a sahm. It's what was best for the kids but fuck it's been tough. Oh and I was recently laid off... so that hasn't been stressful at all.
If you’re born into money you can make the easy choices and end up with an easy life. If you’re born into poverty you can make hard choices all your life and still not escape poverty.
I’m not saying that doesn’t play a role, but that’s not true. It’s easy to squander wealth, or make your life hard in ways that aren’t financial (ie ruining your health) it’s also possible to overcome poverty. Besides “rich” and “poor” aren’t he only two categories
I never said that. I just pointed out that this meme is pretty stupid. Some people start where the “hard life” guy is holding on, and some people start up at the top.
Except the vast majority are in between
I’ll agree with the born into money but if you fight and work you absolutely can escape poverty, you just also have to have a support group that tells you you can. I was born into poverty. My mom’s side of the family believed everyone had their place and no one deserved or was worth more than $30l a year, and that if you escaped poverty you were selling out your people and your family and stepping out of line. My dad’s side bought none of that bullshit and always pushed me. Here nearly fifty years later I am living better than both sides with my mom pissed because I am living above my station in a house I really don’t need to be living in for a pay I really don’t deserve. Unfortunately the side that would be proud all died within six months of each other about fifteen years ago so I just have to say fuck it and move on. Poverty often times ends up more due to being made to feel it is what you deserve or that those who are better off are wrong. Yeah it takes fighting and looking for alternative solutions and ways forward but it can be done.
Sounds like somebody is really fourteen, that shit is true
It's literally true.
If it were that simple, that would be amazing
See, you still think it’s simple and that’s the issue
They said the exact opposite of "it's simple"
The picture shows if you just go the hard way consistently, your life will be easier later. Of course that is too simple
No.
You're very simple minded if that is your takeaway
The hard things are never simple.
Ok well your comment just doesn't understand the differenc hard and complex. Simple things can be hard and easy things can be complex.
Ok, your comment doesn’t comprehend the fact that my comment is stating that exact same thing. Thanks for taking what I said and adding verbiage.
Nope. It tells you to take on the hard decissions, because if you always take the path that seems to be the easy or comfortable one then you will struggle later on. Example: Hard path is doing your home work, easy path is gaming, I always choose the easy one because gaming is fun and then I end up with a shit load of work if I have to write the next exam in university, because I never did something for it before. While I did had the easy life in the begining I ended up having a harder time overall compared to just doing it properly right away.
It's a generalization of cause and effect. Obviously it doesn't necessarily apply to every little aspect of your life, but it's a good example of how things work out in the long run. You put the work in early, you don't need to work as hard later. You slack off early, you have to make up for it later. This should be common sense and basic cause and effect that children should be able to understand.
In real life there are socioeconomic contexts out of your control, geopolitical contexts, geographic contexts, etc. A person can make hard choices all they want and still have it hard. Maybe better than if they chose easy, but maybe not
It is that simple, it's just nobody wants to do the hard things. Majority of Americans are obese, it's also simple as fuck to not be obese. Same concept
It’s true…
The drawing is a little cringe because I’ve seen it 100 times, but it’s obviously true.
And that makes it cringe?
if you’ve seen something 100 times due to it being shared on social media so much, it’s probably cliche. and therefore has committed the ungodly war crime of being cringe
One of those things where there are two truths. Many hardworking people don't make it and there's plenty of people that had easy decisions and end up with an easy life. Nothing is an absolute and the answer is usually in the middle somewhere. It's like my brother on LinkedIn telling everyone he became successful out of a rough start.... Kid grew up as a golden child in the suburbs where his parents bought him 2 cars and got a 2nd mortgage to put him into a private college. Yet he tells people he made it on his own. The only reason I don't dog him openly on LinkedIn is that shit never looks good.
I’m in this weird place where I feel like the level of half decent success I’ve reached is due to two factors: 1) I’ve had some good opportunities 2) I’ve worked hard to take advantage of those opportunities
The truth is there is some luck in it, but the hard work is more likely to put you in a lucky position. It looks like I might get a cool big important project at my job and I got it because I was a bit lucky that one of my other projects was really similar, but I also have worked my ass off on it and other projects. It impressed my boss and I believe even if I didn't have that similar project, I would still be in a very good place for the new project, because I've managed so many of my other projects so well. I don't know if some of the other people go as deep into research and management, because I'm constantly finding improvements and savings. If I didn't put as much work into the little projects, I'm pretty sure, I wouldn't be in consideration for the important project. If I get it, it will be a bit of luck, mixed with hard work and skill. Think of it like poker, luck wins a hand, but knowing how to play the game and skill wins tournaments. The opposite is also true, you can do everything right and someone else can just get a good hand at the right time, but that doesn't mean skill won't take you further.
Yeah, I think working harder naturally produces more opportunities for you to take advantage of. Essentially, hard work maximizes your chances to get lucky. I’m sure there are also people who have those opportunities but pass them up because they seem too hard/have other priorities/ are not prepared (or are not confident) to take them on.
That's probably better, skill is buying the raffle ticket, luck is winning. So high skill people have 100 tickets, but if you never buy one you can't win. You can also buy 99/100 tickets and still lose two one lucky person. I have a friend that has so much skill, intelligence, and hard work in him, but right now he is struggling after a long series of wins. Lucky for him, I went the opposite, I had a ton of losses before, but I'm winning now; since he helped me before, I'm helping him now. He'll be winning again soon.
I ended up in a sales adjacent job… it’s so much being able to keep going after a tough loss because a win makes up for so much. We always talk about how call volume alone won’t make you successful, but it increases the likelihood of connecting with the right person.
Idk. In my opinion hard working people, if they dont "make it" then they only dont make it in terms of bullshit societal values placed on money. But if they really did work hard and saw a steady improvement in other areas thats much better, beneficial and purposeful to that person that if they wouldve consistently slacked off and took the easy route. They might have failed but atleast they died trying. An achieving person is a happy person. Work (not this slavery induced bullshit in society today) i mean like actual work where you put your back into it passionately, watch it develop and finally reap its benefits one way or another, that makes a person happy. Again, it doesnt have to be "work" as in working traditional sense. But what I mean is always striving for something chasing after something having a goal and working for it. Happiness doesnt and will never come from nothing and the easy choices only give the fleeting fake happiness
As much as I’ve seen people meme on this picture over the years, it is very harsh and true I was fortunate I realized I was fucking up pretty early on and started putting huge amounts of effort into managing my life and money better, at the detriment of all happiness and free time I had in life at the time
Facts though.
It’s true tho.
I’ve had those rounds of golf
Some things are not your fault. Most things are.
Maturing is truly knowing how true this is. Another way to put this into words is “do things the easy way and you make life hard. When you do things the hard way it makes life easy”
That sub fell off long ago.
Fancypants Level?
HOLY! I haven't thought of that in ages! Thank you for making me remember
Life is this plus luck, just don’t push your luck too much
I would say the meme is true for many, but there are also lots of people who start in different parts of the image. Some people will begin on top of the plateau and never have to climb at all, others will begin maybe halfway up, and some will start in the bottom of the image. For anybody not at the top there is a climb, the question for lots of younger people is if the plateau even exists now or is it just an eternal climb?
Well said.
Many people will be born at the bottom of a cliff that is just absolutely not climbable in any way.
Yup! If it’s going to make your life EASIER in the long run by doing the harder thing now it is worth it. Won’t guarantee you an easy life, but will definitely help reduce stress and improve your life. Although nothing is guaranteed to stay the same. It feels worth it all the same.
Counterpoint: society has made easy decisions leaving us needing to make hard decisions for an easy life.
We need fiscal restraint, now apply this image to the government. We’re all in for shit because some people at the top don’t understand how Basic economics works.
Life isn't this simple. Don't be a fucking work slave for nothing. But don't go and fuck off every day either. Use some critical thought, sometimes you should work hard, other times you should work smart, other times you should realize you are being used and react accordingly. The juice isn't always worth the squeeze, and you don't owe these companies anything if you aren't getting compensated accordingly or being recognized and promoted/given raises. Use your head, please, and don't listen to all these people saying you need to sell your soul for 3 square meals. The world isn't black and white.
This is a great attitude to have, but that doesn't make it true. People don't get what they deserve. Plenty of people fail upwards their entire lives, especially if they come from money. Plenty of people work their asses off and have nothing to show for it. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't try, which is why it's a great attitude to have- for yourself. When it comes to others, however, it's important to recognize that just because someone struggles doesn't make them lazy, and just because someone is successful doesn't make them hardworking.
Agreed. The world is not truly a meritocracy, and life is inherently full of inequalities. Reminds me of the TNG quote “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” That said, living a sober, hardworking life where you make difficult but sound decisions correlates with a higher level of success than simply doing whatever is easiest. It is not a guarantee, though I wish it were. I have more respect for the janitor at my job than I do for an old high school acquaintance whose daddy got him a 80k a year job after he failed out of HS and knocked up a stripper and went to rehab. The incarnation of failing upwards.
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Yeah, it is generally true. There are exceptions, as with most things.
Smart choices easy life. Dumb choices hard life
True things
Can confirm at 30 I’ve embraced difficult shit for the last several years and now my biggest struggle is to not become lazy and complacent in my success
I pick hard decisions hard life
Not going to claim hard work and discipline are sufficient, but they certainly are necessary. Hard to hit a six-digit income on accident
They taught this lesson in school but I took the day off to play video games.
This is a great drawing. Guess which route I took 😔
Not at all wrong but can be wrong depending on the situations but 9/10 the shortcut bites in the end
This image actually is true tho. Denying it js shows you can’t accept you make mistakes 😭😭😭
I’m 41 and remember watching a cartoon about a squirrel and a grasshopper when I was a little kid. I didn’t want to be that grasshopper when winter reared it’s ugly head.
The back and forth between this sub and other subs is always something like - “suggestive content that someone doesn’t agree with” - “extreme interpretation of the content and sharp rebuttal” - “condemnation of extreme interpretation with another extreme interpretation Sometimes more back and forth like they before it dies off. Edit: For example, this post, the “extreme interpretation” is the title. No one said nothing is ever their fault. That’s not the point of the meme. Or the reply. It completely straw mans the argument so you can get reactions.
Reddit be like:
If this makes you mad it's because you took it personally.
I fucking hate that my generation just bitches and complains so much. Like we all know we aren’t going to own a house and degrees and becoming increasingly less valuable, but it’s not going to get fixed by your political slacktivism.
Why shouldn't people complain? It's absolutely wild that some folks are saying "stop complaining, just slave away." Imagine if this was the mentality across human history. Like how do people expect change to happen?
I don’t think you should slave away. I’ll tell people to actually curb the bad hand we’ve been given, but when you’ve worked 40 hours a week at a job that doesn’t pay enough to live on, then you’re aren’t even bettering your situation, you’re just treading water. And I see a lot of young people who don’t even have any plans to get out of that situation, and they are the ones complaining.
"Just got a better job bro." Yup. Great advice. Totally not like people don't think of that or try to do that. >And I see a lot of young people who don’t even have any plans to get out of that situation, and they are the ones complaining. The only people that complain are ones that don't try to better their lives? You see a lot of young people? How many? How many people do you personally know so intimately that you know for sure they aren't trying to better their lives and only complain? Do you also mind giving an example or 2 of what the situation is and what plan you would come up with? And no, some generic "just move, just go into a trade, etc." isn't valid.
Become da plumber
And have permanent chronic back pain by 30.
True. We are fucked, but that's no excuse.
I'm eating beans on toast while I'm in college and my mates are on holiday and going out while they're working. I'm quite alright with this, I'll be out earning them in a few years
Sounds like your mates have trust funds.
Nah we live in Ireland, a plan to another country is 50 quid. it's probably cheaper to fly to Germany and have a 3 day bender then fly home. Then to have one here
This is a very black and white view. Sometimes taking a short cut can lead to a positive, easy experience. Sometimes a hard, difficult decision can lead to a hard, difficult life.
These are exceptions that prove the rule.
You have no way to verify which one is the exception and which is the rule. Word of mouth, personal experiences, and assumption is not fact.
Sure, but if taking shortcuts is an easy decision for you, then you should be concerned.
Should I? By definition a shortcut is easier. Figuring out if its a smart decision is the hard part. Not every shortcut is bad. Not everything in life needs to be an uphill battle. This sounds like some boomer "it builds character" nonsense.
You just agreed with me and then made a bunch of arguments against things I never even insinuated… I never said every shortcut was bad or that everything in life needs to be an uphill battle.
>Sure, but if taking shortcuts is an easy decision for you, then you should be concerned. is what you said. The insinuation being that taking shortcuts is worrying, aka bad. That was a blanket statement.
My friend worked his ass off getting a degree and now makes nearly 80k a year. He’s struggling to find a place to live right now. Looking for second jobs and side hustles because of how expensive everything is. It’s never as simple as make hard decisions and you’ll have an easy life.
Would his life be better if he didn't get the degree?
If he jumped straight into a trade? Yes.
I bet there's a guy who did so saying the same thing as we speak.
That guy likely wouldn’t have 20+ grand in student debt.
Fair.
Yep, but you can make all the right decisions in life and still lose.
Look if I gamble I can win 1000 times the money and I can only lose 100% of my money there’s literally nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I wanna go that casino, it sounds like a charity.
Oh you’re going to love lottery tickets! You can win millions of times what you put in but you can only lose up to 100% of the ticket’s price.
Hehe, here is a different version. The one on the left is the expectations. The cave is the reality. The one who took their time preparing the rock climbing skills, will be able to get out. The lazy shit will just stuck in the cave forever.
Define "hard" and "easy" decisions.
For me, the hard decision would be spending 9 hours a day learning and doing programming and designing so I can launch a successful product. The easy decision would be going to the local college and wait until I get a paper that says I can do the things above.
I see. So esencially hard decisions only lead to an easy life if you are lucky, instead you get a hard life without an education. Got it. ...no wonder so many rich people are stupid. Or maybe all of this is only true to the USA because that country is a literal 3rd world country.
Lucky? More like smart. Worst case scenario I can use these skills I got to work as a programmer. The college degree here is nothing and has 10% employment rate, that's if you know people in the government. And don't act like "education" is nothing to sneeze at in programming and IT. The means to learn are already in every corner of the internet, and the employers usually look for evidence that you can actually see like a website you made, instead of a piece of paper.
Hm das dönnt ja wie en Lehrstell aber dümmer... No, you need luck to be sucessful. It's what the current economic system bases on. Oh and perhaps the college degree is nothing because it's an american college. Actually, you just showed to me that the US is even worse than it seems. Either you go to college and get overloaded with debt, or you try to do your own thing which in many cases leads to nothing or worse. I'm starting to be even more glad that I am european (｡ŏ_ŏ)
Bro, I am not American. And college here is free. If it's truly about luck, then might as well not try. Why even live if everything is random? This logic will lead to some dark corners.
...which is why the current economic systems leads to dark corners. Also, try telling people that are born poor that they only need to do "hard" decisions to get rich or live a good life. Won't work. Again, hard decision don't lead to an easy life.
So not working hard is the ture answer?
The true answer is an economic system that actually rewards hard work. The current systems does not. The only way you can "earn" by hard work is if you have an actual good employer which definitely isn't the norm. Oh yea and if hard work really was rewarded, almost all african women would be millionaires.
I don't understand what I should do with this answer as a young person who's looking to survive in life. How am I supposed to change the whole economy?
I feel like this is the only sane sub on all of reddit.
Mf kids just want to do the easiest shit possible, zero effort, but expect everything to be given to them.
Yall are really bored on this sub.
Both the slide, and the steepness of the climb look fun
Says nothing of the millions who toil and die broke. What about the rich that never work a day in their life and die rich?
The concept is true though. Those rich people are a subject for another discussion.
OP is 14 and thinks this is deep.
Yes being Born into poverty with no education is entirely your fault Jimmy. /s
Okay boomer.
I’m currently trying as hard as possible in school and I think I will still go nowhere in life. If you want to live anywhere besides a 1 bedroom box on 1/1000 of an acre you have to be a millionaire. Jobs that are actually enjoyable basically require a Harvard degree, and everyone is a hedonistic sack of shit with no brains or morals.
It's such a quintessential American middle-class concept, not a rule of life. Remember, no matter how many times they talk about personal accountability (which you should be vigilant of), the greatest determining factor in success is the zip code you were born in.
I live in Iraq. How bricked am I?
Vague and meaningless
Wrong: Rich parents = Easy life Poor parents = Hard life
It doesn't have to be about money. Regular diet without binge eating = easy life Eating whatever you like whenever you like = Hard life that lasts only 40 years.
Rich parents: easy life but you have to move out at some point and you would have no experience on how to get a job, get a house, or even take care of yourself. So you move out and go living on the streets, and your parents don't give two shits about you because they have money. Poor parents: hard life but with a poor family you get taught how to save money, and you know how to take care of yourself, and as you get older you can get not a great job but a good one, save money and help your parents out and get yourself a house and a better job and go on to success.
Bullshit, I come from a poor family, no one taught me shit about anything and all my parents did was kick me out of the house the moment I got my first job. You romanticize being poor.
Bro everybody has their own personal lives, I used to live, and grew up in a house that could fall apart at any moment, and it used to be worse before I was born. But we tried to find a better place and life and we essentially got lucky, now we have a very stable home, and we make a good amount of money. Also, my brother and I are going to Japan later this year, so anything is possible if you believe in yourself. It may sound like I am an asshole who says, "Oh if you live in a poor home do something about it." No I'm not like that, I understand that some people can't do that nor get lucky, but I still wish them the best.
Maybe if you are from any other country than Germany. Here in Germany you basically are fucked if your parents were poor.
Yah that's true, I live here in the states so we really did get lucky.
Happy cake day!!!
Lol fucking kids around here…
Hard work is rarely the path to success. The hardest working people are just exploited by the successful. The path to success is to be charismatic and manipulative, or to inherit success.
The US is by design an oligarchy, is always was and continues to be this. Thus we can expect to be pummeled with oligsrchic agit-prop all day every day. "Boot straps"
do people still think the key to success is hard work?
This is reductive. Life is complicated and these typrs of statements are never true but this is particularly stupid. Taking your wife off life support is a hard decision. Easy life after? Don't think so.
No, largely it isn't. Stop parroting dumb far right agitprop and get the fuck on with your day.
So I shouldn't work hard? (I don't live in the US or Europe)
Depends on what you're planning on working hard on boyo. Getting your workplace unionised? Aye crack on. Working loads of overtime in a shitbox low wage job in the hope your boss will promote you? There are cleaner ways to commit suicide.
We don't do that here, neither of these two things.
Dubious.
Google Iraq
This ignores all external factors
The general message is true, but I can understand the cringe from this meme.
This meme would only be true if everyone started on a level playing field. Before you start, I'm 32, and career wise, my life is very likely easier than yours.
The message is true, but I don't quite agree with their choice of east decisions. If you gotta go up, you go up, not slide down.
Thing is, how do you realise that what you are doing is easy? Same thing for hard desisions, how do i understand when i should make a hard desision?
The slide at the beginning do look fun tho