#152 Forced to Grow Up (04/05/2025)

Having been in the workforce for several years, I've gradually come to realize that life is often a matter of "you think I'm doing well, and I think you're doing well." Everyone faces their own problems, whether at work or in their personal lives. I have mine, and you have yours too. This week, I chatted with some friends who work for mattress brands, and the fact that everyone recognized the brands perfectly illustrates this point. I think they're doing well, and they think we're doing well. The truth is, we're all at different stages, facing different difficulties at work. No one lives a completely carefree life, without any challenges. You might think someone is doing well, with a large and well-known company, but behind the scenes, they might be under immense pressure, and if they're not careful, investors might cut off their water supply, leaving them standing there on the spot. Similarly, you might think that working for a small company is easy, but behind the scenes, the employee might be doing all the manual labor, and in the end, the boss only pays them a few thousand dollars, which is even less than that of an average office worker. So everyone has their own difficulties.

But the hardest part of work is often when you can't stop—you either keep going or you'll be eliminated… I have a habit of watching different people's successes and failures, because you can always learn something from it. So you still have to tough it out on yourself, believing that tomorrow will be better, that there will always be a way out, saying things like that, even though you don't know if it's true or just a lie to comfort yourself. But of course, the difficulty isn't just about "doing" it, it's about being forced to grow.

On being forced to grow up

Sometimes I still feel like a very young person, fresh out of college and just starting out in the workforce. The good thing about being young is that you can make mistakes and "start over," but the reality is I'm no longer capable of such recklessness. Although I'm 27, I can't just quit my job and go hiking in Tibet for a month next week. The ruthlessness of work is that it doesn't care about your difficulties or how young you are; the difficulty of work doesn't just appear. Your task is to solve problems—that's it. Therefore, I face a feeling of being "forced to grow up."

It's like you're not angry and don't know how to cook Spanish food, you've never cooked it before and don't know how to do it, and suddenly you receive an assignment: to cook a Spanish meal for eight people tomorrow night, from appetizers to desserts, all on a limited budget.

If you do well, you can move on to the next level; if you don't, you'll never see them again. Sometimes, the difficult part is that you'll face skepticism, making you wonder what the point of all this hard work is... Too much misunderstanding and too much difficulty can make you want to give up. But you still have to keep going until someone starts to recognize your efforts.

I've noticed a phenomenon in Hong Kong: whenever a newcomer tries something new, everyone initially offers encouragement and positive feedback. However, once their work starts to gain mainstream acceptance, even with hard work, criticism and skepticism begin. If they truly achieve mainstream success, the criticism intensifies. Classic examples include the YouTube Channel and Casetify phone cases. Globally, this applies to companies like Tesla, Apple, and Xiaomi as well. Reaching mainstream acceptance is often very difficult. There are essentially two solutions: First, never enter the mainstream and continue working diligently. Second, persevere, focus on doing your best, and things will improve.

I hope my journey will be smoother from here on out.

Ryan