Would you rather have success earlier in life?

January 2, 2010 in Reflections

I recently went to a seminar filled with many young, successful people. I won’t mention what sort of seminar it is, as the people who brought me in prefer to keep it in silence.

I saw many young people at the age of 19-25 who are earning a decent income and driving cars. To be honest, I wasn’t really impressed at all.

Instead, I was thinking, is achieving success at a young age really a good thing?

To answer that, I looked at my own journey so far. I have gone into trading, property, eBay, and some other part-time work. I’ve struggled with money many many times.

It occur to me that if I had gone into something and became successful in it, would I go into those other fields that I went into? I had made a 5-figure income when I was 19, would I still sell things on eBay? Would I still work part-time? Would I still go for internship?

I think it’s highly unlikely. If I had achieved success that early, I would have missed out certain experiences in life. I would have never experience money issues and would not value money. I may not have track my personal expenses weekly like I do now. I may not experience the joy and fun of closing my first property deal. I may not have worked part-time and know some people.

Maybe if I had became so successful back then, I would not have the dreams that I have now. Most people have dreams of owning something like a house or car. I have a dream of owning something other than that. I have a dream of creating something bigger than myself. Not something for myself, but something that will create tonnes of value to the society.

Before 21, I was obsessed with earning money. My goal was to become a millionaire. When I got past 21, I realized that wasn’t what I wanted at all. All this while I was asking myself what will I be in 5 years time. Then I started asking myself, what would I be doing for the next 5 years? I think that’s a more important question.

But what about you? Given the chance, would you rather achieve success earlier in life or later? Please give me a comment! Thanks!

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