1. Good is the enemy of the best
To be better means to be better than the others, to surpass them, and to be different. You can't do what everybody else is doing if you're going to be the best. You need your own path.
You can't be better at everything. While you're studying everything, somebody else is specializing in a narrow field. The best way to become the best is to choose one very narrow specialization and become a world-class pro in that area.
Even if you have been going to ballet class since you were five and have danced 8 hours a day, there will always be somebody who has been dancing for 10 hours a day since three years of age. By the time you're 15, he or she will have 5,000 hours more experience than you. Plus, there are geniuses: each hour of their work equals three hours of your work. And they might have the best teachers in the world, but you're self-taught.
The only way to become the best without having a unique path is to work more than others, be talented, or have good teachers and rich parents. Of course, then you wouldn't be "like everybody else", would you?
But even the fastest and hardest-working horse in the world can't outrun a car. You need your own strategy, your own unique plan to become the best without sacrificing everything.
2. It's not easy to become the best
There will always be somebody who started earlier than you. Somebody who has rich parents. Somebody who studied at the world's best university. Somebody who got a job at a relative's company. Nothing to be afraid of. It happens. This is called 'different starting conditions'. But such people are in the minority. There are a lot of people in the world who have achieved success on their own, by thinking outside of the box, working hard, and constantly learning new things.
Life is like a card game. Anybody can win if she has all the trump cards. But a professional wins regardless of what cards she has. She minimizes their influence with her skills.
Nobody knows that better than professional athletes. Most of them have no more than a few years to take advantage of their opportunity and achieve success.
3. There is always somebody who is ready to work more than you
There are many people like that. They include workaholics, perfectionists, and people who simply love their work. Yes, many of them sacrifice their family and friends and are ready to toil 80 hours per week. Work is their life. This path isn't for us. However, these people may push you onto the career sidelines. You aren't willing to spend 6 months per year on business trips to get a promotion, but they are.
The average Chinese student works harder than the average European student, and an employee in China is ready to perform your work for a quarter of your wages.
Working a lot is not a path to success, but working little is a sure path to a failure.
4. Culture
There are few places in the world where working hard and honestly is the accepted standard. If you study a lot in college, live in the library, and pass your exams on your own, people will label you a nerd. But if you skip class all semester and still pass your exams, or if you find some other way to 'beat the system', then you're cool. There's heavy traffic on the road of 'work more' (there's a traffic jam, if you will). This method doesn't work anymore. You need to look for another way.
It's hard to strive for success when society hates successful and rich people. It hates them and envies them. Poor people who come into money start flaunting their wealth. Extremely rich people behave more modestly: Bill Gates can wear a $10 T-shirt, because he's still Bill Gates with or without it.
Meanwhile businesspeople create work places and drive the economy forward. Employee wages are a result of businesses competing for the best personnel. The more businesses there are in the country, the higher the wages they will offer.
You should love your life and your time. Money is just an tool to achieve financial independence. If you're financially independent, you can do what you want and not do what you don't want.
Be careful with the sacrifices you make on your path to becoming the best. Don't sacrifice things that are really important: Family, friends, health, work that you love. To be financially independent at 50, working at a job you hate, and with no family, friends, or health — that isn't success, it's failure.
Salaries in San FranciscoIf you've decided to become a programmer, then study up. All the power of CodeGym is at your service.