“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”
-Norman Schwarzkopf
-Norman Schwarzkopf
Age 20:
I
participated in 6 robotics competitions, national and international,
along with my team and podium-ed all of them. For this to happen, it
meant that instead of going out for parties on weekends, we would be
locked up in the workshop building and developing new tech.
We had no resources or financial support for any of this; the only money and investment we had was the prize money that came from each competition.
We had no resources or financial support for any of this; the only money and investment we had was the prize money that came from each competition.
I suppose I missed out on the parties and the alcohol, the wild crazy experiences you’re supposed to have at 20 and the “cool” status that comes with it. Somehow though, it just never felt like sacrifice; I genuinely enjoyed what I was doing and learning and didn’t really feel like i was missing out on much.
Age 21:
My
team and I retired from competition robotics and founded our own
company to teach college students the fundamentals of Robotics. We had
built a brand and reputation for ourselves over the previous three years
and so were able to acquire paying customers and turn a profit right
from month 1.
In
addition to this, I also decided to take the non-conventional route and
for my Final Year project, I decided to actually do something that
matters. Most kids in my college would re-use the readily available
project kits that you could just pay for and buy; the kits would
literally come complete with a thesis and report already typed up and
all you had to do was sign it and turn it in. This seemed like a wasted
opportunity.
Instead, I spent my school time that year developing and prototyping a system for autonomous traffic control in Pune. I worked with the Police Department and the local government and was reporting directly to the Deputy Commissioner of Police. It not only gave me a chance to design and build a low cost solution to as existing real-world problem, but also gave me an insight into the realities of government.
Instead, I spent my school time that year developing and prototyping a system for autonomous traffic control in Pune. I worked with the Police Department and the local government and was reporting directly to the Deputy Commissioner of Police. It not only gave me a chance to design and build a low cost solution to as existing real-world problem, but also gave me an insight into the realities of government.
I suppose I missed out on some road trips but honestly it didn’t really feel like sacrifice.
Age 22:
I
decided to not take up a job in tech via campus placements and instead
took a year off to apply for my MS as well as to do the one thing I
loved above all else; birding. I traveled extensively across India, some
solo trips, some with other ornithologists and most leading groups of
students with the company I had worked with since I was a kid. This
helped pay the bills as well as gave me two VERY important life lessons.
- I learned that while I was very passionate about birding and wildlife, it was not a career option for me; I knew that it was not going to afford me the life I aspired to have.
- This year also taught me a great deal about what relationships truly matter in life. The amount of gossip behind why I took a year off, the taunts to my parents, the colossal judgement imposed by friends, family and acquaintances alike cemented in my head the lack of value of these relationships.
I suppose I missed out on that “work experience” everyone wanted me to get; honestly though it didn’t feel like sacrifice because in the tradeoff I got some invaluable “life experience” that has added more value to me over the years and a year in IT ever would.
Age 23:
I
spent the year at Grad school sleeping an average of 3 hours a night
for the whole year. I was not a very bright student and I knew that I
would have to work extra hard just even keep up with some of the most
brilliant people I ever met.
I didn’t really feel jealous or envious of any of them; quite the opposite in fact. My roommates and close friends in grad school for example were already very accomplished; they had all topped their respective universities, had impressive resumes and work experience and overall were just ridiculously smart.
They served as an inspiration and help set a much higher bar for me. I will forever be grateful to them for not leaving me behind and hauling me up with them as they rose; it was not easy, it was probably the hardest year of my life and every morning at when I finally collapsed onto my bed, I felt like I wanted to give up and just make it all stop.
It was hard, there was literal blood, sweat and tears that went into this journey; it did not come easy and it did not come cheap; as a grad student in the US coming from a very average middle class family half way across the world, you’re almost always broke, you’re almost always lonely, you’re almost always fighting the odds.
I didn’t really feel jealous or envious of any of them; quite the opposite in fact. My roommates and close friends in grad school for example were already very accomplished; they had all topped their respective universities, had impressive resumes and work experience and overall were just ridiculously smart.
They served as an inspiration and help set a much higher bar for me. I will forever be grateful to them for not leaving me behind and hauling me up with them as they rose; it was not easy, it was probably the hardest year of my life and every morning at when I finally collapsed onto my bed, I felt like I wanted to give up and just make it all stop.
It was hard, there was literal blood, sweat and tears that went into this journey; it did not come easy and it did not come cheap; as a grad student in the US coming from a very average middle class family half way across the world, you’re almost always broke, you’re almost always lonely, you’re almost always fighting the odds.
I supposed I missed out on socializing with peers at parties and events this year because I never had the time, I missed out on traveling across the country with friends and making that a part of my college experience because I never had the money. It somehow in retrospect doesn’t feel like sacrifice; my goals and objective going in were different and that was what I worked towards and eventually accomplished.
Age 24:
I
got married to the girl I had been dating since high school. We moved
to Seattle to start our new life together and I took up a job at Amazon.
Most of my friends bought fancy sports cars and started taking lavish
vacations. We decided to use the bus that first year and save every last
dime for the wife’s higher education. Life at Amazon was not a walk in
the park, it demands time and a lot of effort if you want to succeed at
it. But somehow this never felt like sacrifice, it was by now a norm and
the value in it was very evident.
Was sacrificing your early 20s for your career worth it?
If
it feels like sacrifice, you’re doing it wrong. We often feel we’re
giving up something while in reality we’re merely trading it off for
something else. I’ve said this a bunch of times in the past but would
like to repeat it here, everything in life is a function of
prioritization. It is up to us to decide what we prioritize in what
stages of our lives.
The
tradeoffs I made in my early twenties today mean that I have a stable
job that I absolutely love; Monday mornings are my favorite part of the
week. I’m married to the girl I’ve loved ever since I first knew what
that word meant. I can afford a lifestyle that not only pays for my
needs but also all my wants and desires.
I have circles of friends who I genuinely trust and who are like family to me; they are not just the people I hang out with during the fun times but also the people who have my back when things get tough; we collectively derive value from each other and help each other grow.
Today I can take risks and explore opportunities, I can choose to do or not do something without the fear of failure and the repercussions that come with it. Today I am HAPPY.
I have circles of friends who I genuinely trust and who are like family to me; they are not just the people I hang out with during the fun times but also the people who have my back when things get tough; we collectively derive value from each other and help each other grow.
Today I can take risks and explore opportunities, I can choose to do or not do something without the fear of failure and the repercussions that come with it. Today I am HAPPY.
One thing however is for certain,
“Jhak aaj maaro ya kal, maarni toh padegi hi.”
(You either slog your butt today or tomorrow, one way or the other you will need to slog it out)
It is up to you to decide; you can either put in concentrated hard work up front and spend the rest of your life in relative ease; or you can go with the flow and spend your early years enjoying yourself silly and spend the rest of your life paying for it. Life is exactly like compound interest; the more you invest early on, the higher your benefits to reap in the long run.
At every phase in your life, you have a choice; you can either strive for excellence, or cruise at mediocrity. The more you strive early on, the more it becomes a part of who you are; you learn to always push yourself to be better; you are always willing to learn and grow; you become the master of your own fate.
-Rohan Kamath
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