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Ambituous SFUers
So, I've been doing my research. I wiki'd the owners of the top 21 websites. Almost all of them went to some prestigious school in the states, and almost all of them dropped out.
Now I've seen their websites (Facebook, WordPress, deviantART, Digg, etc), and sure, they're great sites, but with a bit of effort a couple of us Comp Sci'ers could make any one of those sites. It's not a matter of technical expertise. So what really separates them from us?
I think it's their attitude. It was their attitude that got them into the school; they were hard working and ambitious before they entered the school, and when they got there, perhaps it was their like minded colleagues that inspired them to do something great.
Why don't we have that here? I don't see a lot of people striving for anything more than a "good job" here. It's depressing. I want more than a crappy 9-5-65 job. Where's all the inspiration, the passion, the ambition? The hopes, the goals and dreams? Where has that gone, and why don't we see much of it here?
Is it that people don't think they're good enough? Is it that they don't think that they're worthy of more? Or is it that people don't know what's out there, and available for the taking?
We too can have wonderful, lavish lives, and I don't think that's a guilty pleasure! There's nothing wrong with enjoying the riches of life. Don't kid yourself and think you're taking away from someone else, or hurting the poor. Being great is not a crime!
Now I've seen their websites (Facebook, WordPress, deviantART, Digg, etc), and sure, they're great sites, but with a bit of effort a couple of us Comp Sci'ers could make any one of those sites. It's not a matter of technical expertise. So what really separates them from us?
I think it's their attitude. It was their attitude that got them into the school; they were hard working and ambitious before they entered the school, and when they got there, perhaps it was their like minded colleagues that inspired them to do something great.
Why don't we have that here? I don't see a lot of people striving for anything more than a "good job" here. It's depressing. I want more than a crappy 9-5-65 job. Where's all the inspiration, the passion, the ambition? The hopes, the goals and dreams? Where has that gone, and why don't we see much of it here?
Is it that people don't think they're good enough? Is it that they don't think that they're worthy of more? Or is it that people don't know what's out there, and available for the taking?
We too can have wonderful, lavish lives, and I don't think that's a guilty pleasure! There's nothing wrong with enjoying the riches of life. Don't kid yourself and think you're taking away from someone else, or hurting the poor. Being great is not a crime!
Comments
why am i not surprised..
but thanks for the shovel..
@Shi2: Seems a lot of people are still banking on that.
@toast: So what, is no one creative here?
@Insatiable: I didn't say I was certain. I said I *think*. And what environment? High school environment? I *was* implying the environment at their post-secondary school was more inspiring. That's exactly my point. SFU doesn't really sell dreams. Original idea? C'mon. It's just a coincidence that those guys had ideas and we don't? No, it's attitude. SFUers are perfectly capable of thinking of ideas, it's just that no one is willing to act on them. No, you don't have to invent stuff to be happy, but I still think those people are missing out and don't realize how much more they could have. Realistically so? What's not realistic? If you ever want to accomplish anything, I think the first thing you have to do is believe in it. There's no reason for it not to be possible, for anyone.
@IVT & Meesh: I *was* bitter, but you're only going to dig yourself a deeper hole by keeping up that attitude.
@siuying: Good luck. I hope you have good looks then. But then again, if you really are ambitious, I'm sure you could find someone.
You guys are just proving my point. None of you *really* aspire to be anything.
FYI: I'm not responsible for any snide comments in this post. It's pub night.
I once read a very interesting article (I foget whom it was written by and I can't even recall the title :embarassed:), one thing struck me in particular: for the most part, we ought to praise people less (for their successes), blame people less (for their failures), and consider the environment in which they were brought up more seriously. It may run counter to what we're accustomed to (when was the last time you saw an award for innovation given to something impersonal?), but I believe the environment has a significant impact on whether or not one will succeed in life (this is not to disbelieve that there can be geniuses out there).
What I'm essentially saying doesn't necessarily contradict what you're saying: being put in an environment conducive to success may precede things such as ambition, creativity, etc. In fact, it may likely give rise to them. Hence, you may only be looking at the end result of being placed in a good environment. Sure, it may be amazing to some, but I'm not exactly blown away, considering where these successful people came from.
Just continue to get on with your life and quit feeling so insecure. If you don't make it, that's all right; if you do, then good for you. But I certainly wish you the best of luck with your innovative pursuits, whatever they may be.
. . . . . and don't forget about me if you do make it out there, you know? :wink:
I'm not sure what you mean about me feeling insecure. I'm very confident in my abilities, and I know I will succeed, at least to some extent. Am I nervous? Hell yes. Do I know where I'll be in 5 or 10 years? Not a clue. But I've never been more excited about what the future holds in store for me.
Oh..or did you mean feeling insecure because I wasn't brought up in the same as environment as those people? Casting doubt in myself? I see what you mean. You're right, that does bother me a little bit, makes me feel like the odds are slightly lower (no thanks to my jerk friends for pointing that out). What I was really hoping to do with this thread was find some like-minded individuals. It's been said that your income or success is the average of your 5 closest friends, so I'm looking for some people to keep my morale up :p All my friends have settled with their jobs, they're pretty much done with their lives already, in my opinion. Sure they might change jobs a few times, but I don't see anything really big happening for them. And that's fine if they're happy, but it's not what I want.
It's all good though, I've got a game plan now, and my first real major goal. In fact, just to make it a little more real, by Sept 1st this year I will have accomplished something significant. Yes, that's vague, but I don't want to give out any more details than that just yet.
I'll buy you a cookie (or a beer, your choice) in Sept to celebrate Insatiable ;)
anyway.. back onto the topic of ambition.. while everyone wants to be successful you have to take into consideration that your ambitions are realistic and attainable.. you can't say yourself that i'm going to become the next Warren Buffett because he's successful.. not to say it's not doable.. but realistically.. how many Bill Gates or Warren Buffett do you think you'll see in your lifetime?
on top of that.. you also need to think about whether you have the resources to complete your ambitions.. success does not come overnight but food and shelter doesn't come for free either.. can you provide for yourself or even family while you pursue your ambition? i can see how it's easier if don't have a family.. but for those who do.. they also have to be responsible for them.. but most importantly.. do you have what it takes to achieve your ambitions? many find out halfway that they just don't have the endurance nor resources to go on..
my point is that we aren't people who don't try to aspire as you have so hastily concluded.. people want to aspire within their limits.. knowing that their ambitions are attainable one way or another.. and what is your definition of ambition anyway? Isn't obtaining a university degree also a form of ambition? you start with small steps up the mountain.. and instead of looking up at your destination.. you'll find it easier to just focus on the path ahead of you.. which is what i think most people are doing here.. just focusing on completing school.. there's a difference between daydreaming and really getting down to what you want.. but all that should be proceeded in realistic terms.. at least that's how i see it..
I think you need to set your goals high, maybe just slightly out of reach, or you won't push yourself. And if you miss your goal by a tiny bit, when your aim was that high, you've still done pretty damn good for yourself.
The reason I'm going to school is so that I *can* pay for food and shelter while I work on my bigger goals and dreams. Yes, having a family makes it even more difficult to find time for your ambitions, but it doesn't make it impossible. Thankfully I'm not in that situation though. Are you saying that many people are ambitious but they just can't pursue their goals? I think that's just an excuse for most people. If they really were really serious, they'd find a way; make time.
Aspire within their limits? That's the thing though, I don't think people really know what they are capable of. I think they could accomplish a lot more than they expect of themselves. How can you know if you never try? I guess post-secondary is ambitious for some people, depends where you're coming from. For me, I wouldn't call it that ambitious because I don't think it's terribly difficult get a university degree, and it really doesn't have much value (in itself) to me either.
It's easy to make excuses not to pursue you goals. Not enough time, not enough money, bad time, wrong connections, not skilled enough... and I think that's why there aren't many rich and successful people out there. Not many people are willing to rise above these excuses. If they did, I think they would find themselves fully capable.
Some people might say I'm daydreaming, but I think my goals are very realistic and achievable. Again though, if you you don't think it's possible, then it isn't. I do think it's possible, so it *might* be.
I'm glad someone agrees with me, at least to some extent.
I too kinda want to get the heck away from SFU though. I'm just not finding this material valuable, and I'm anxious to really start my life. This is really just my fall back plan now. If my schemes don't pan out, or they take a bit longer than expected, I can still get a job to pay the bills while I work things out.
Cheers.
i'm not trying to deter you from you goals.. if you think they're realistic.. go for it.. i just see a lot of people neglecting the realistic factor with their ambitions some times.. and they would wonder/complain why they aren't accomplishing anything..
Never thought about that last bit... it will be pretty sweet when I stop and realize, "Holy crap, I've actually done it!!"
@siuying: Depends how hard the door is slammed. Thomas Edison failed to make the light bulb countless times, or as he put it, discovered a 1000 ways NOT to make a light bulb. It's a good thing he didn't quit.
But then again, if the door is slammed, and you haven't quite removed your fingers from the doorway, and they all fall off, and you start bleeding all over the darn place... then maybe you should step back and re-evaluate whether or not this is a door you really want to walk through, or if it's a trick door. (Yes, I overkilled that metaphor).
Anyway, back to the point. I know my goals are realistic because I've already seen other people accomplishing them (doing similar things to what I plan on doing), and I know I'm more talented than at least a handful of those individuals. As for everyone else; what then? They aren't pursuing because they don't think those goals are realistic? But then we go back and say they probably don't think those goals are realistic because of the way they were raised to think. Or maybe they're right, I don't know.. but I guess if I keep this up this discussion is going to start going in circles :) I can see it's going to be hard changing anyone's mind. If I lead by example, would that work? If I come back to this thread in Sept and start waving some money around, would anyone start to believe the possibilities? Or will they just say, "Oh, he's different. I could never do that." or, "He got lucky and found something special"?
PS: I don't plan on being rich by Sept, I'm not that unrealistic :)
PPS: Not that it's impossible.
I also grew up hearing the saying "if another human can do it and you're a human, then you can do it too." But how many Bill Gates are there in the world right? Competition is so great that people truly need a legendary idea to make big money.
I don't know what the criteria you guys have for being "rich and successful," but I'm not going to be too naive. I just want enough money so that I can buy whatever I want (within reason) once in awhile without having to fret about financial issues.
Anyways, I'm just going to point out that there is a lot of luck involved in being successful. Do you honestly think that Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg got rich because they were that much better than the competition? Of course not. There are probably thousands of people just like them who were just as talented, just as hard working, and just as ambitious. The difference is luck.
Bill Gates? Wasn't aiming *quite* that high.
@Ether: I don't think Bill Gates got lucky. It was pretty much him vs apple, and from what I've heard, he stole a lot of apple's ideas and "made them better". That was skill, vision, and proper marketing. (and perhaps thievery).
Mark Zuckerberg on the other hand, may have had a bit of luck. I don't think either of them knew their ideas were going to explode like that, but had they never made them, their ideas would never have been able to take off.
If you're not big enough to handle the competition, go somewhere there isn't so much competition. You can do extremely well for yourself with skill and a bit of vision alone, if you're willing to work at it. To have your idea explode beyond your wildest dreams however, might take a bit of luck. But maybe you can improve your odds by trying many ideas, until something clicks.
@Steven: My plans? I'm going to start with a web site. I don't expect much out of it, I'm aiming for about $1500-2000/mo, which I know is achievable because I've seen lesser sites do that much. It's more of a learning experience though. It's going to take many months to complete. I'm aiming for launch by Sept 1. I've already got some unique features planned (and working) that should blow my "competition" out of the water, although I'm tackling a small niche which I hope to gradually expand if all goes well.
Next, I'm going to make a computer game. I have no idea what to expect out of this, as I haven't researched the market much. Actually, from what I've heard, a small game like this can go for about $10,000 to $250,000. If it goes well, I'm going to attempt to sell it to XBox's and Wii's arcades, or maybe get it on Steam. I'll have to figure out what works best. If that fails, I'll enter it into the IGF which has a grand prize of $20,000. Winning won't be easy of course, and probably isn't very likely with the game I have planned, but regardless, it should earn me some exposure if I at least make it into the finals. This project is really more for myself, and for fun though.
After that, I have numerous other plans, mostly consisting of software and web site ideas, seeing as that's what I'm good at, but also some very unthought out ideas for a nightclub, store, and restaurant, assuming I can ever come up with the money to finance these. Those I definitely wouldn't expect to make me rich, because they simply couldn't unless I opened a massive chain, which also just wouldn't work, but theoretically could bring in some extra cash. I'm also considering opening a chain of small web sites that practically run themselves, but only generate a few dollars (5-$20) a day (again, very doable). Once I generate a bit of income, I'll hire people to assist me on more ambitious sites or software.
Goals? My goal started at a $100K salary which I think is incredibly feasible for a programmer. However, my eyes have grown much larger after meeting and hearing about some very wealthy people, very close to home. So, the new aim is $1M, which I think is about as much as I'll ever need. Ridiculous? Maybe. But if I miss the mark by a couple 100K, I won't cry.
Other goals? Get married, have kids (preferably after achieving SOME financial success), get a townhouse, upgrade to a dream house, travel the world, buy some pretty cars, win the IGF one year... not sure. I hardly know what's out there.
I've thought about the video game idea (pc games) and actually made 2 crappy ones during high school. But I quickly scrapped that idea since I felt like no one would see the effort and time I put in.
I also thought about the website idea but not too sure about what target market to have. I made a non-profit one for testing just to see how much traffic I can get (for a game) but closed it down when school started. A few of my friends did a blog-type website and say those can make quite a lot of money if you manage to find people to get interested.
The latest idea which my friends and I have been thinking is some sort of tutoring school.
As well, do you have a portfolio of your work to show us?
But I guess I'll have to wait . . . :smile: