about hard work

I’m on the plane heading back to Seattle. I think reading is the perfect activity to do on a plane, but unfortunately I don’t have my iPad with me. Without WiFi, my options are to delete pictures from my camera roll, sleep, or write in my notes app. I haven’t written for Substack in a while, so I figured this idle moment would be the perfect time to do so.

This weekend, I flew to NYC for a design competition. A week prior, I received the prompt: design and prototype a solution that transforms idle time into moments of creative expression. My team and I chose our creative expression to be in the music domain; that is, songwriting. I LOVE music soso much, so I was really excited about this direction. I thoroughly enjoyed researching this space: watching YouTube videos about how people write songs, learning about music theory, interviewing musicians, and studying current music apps was really interesting.

But it wasn’t like I went to NYC just for the competition. In fact, a variety of fun activities sandwiched the competition. The planned activities for the cohort were very unique, and I don’t think I would have thought to attend these experiences on my own. Usually, I just think about getting matcha and trying new restaurants — nothing wrong with that, but I really enjoy new experiences.

Day 1

- Freehand hotel

- One Penn (the conference room)

- Dagg Thai

- Gotham Comedy Club

Day 2

- Tribeca Loft for the competition

- Irondale for the jury duty show

- Dim Sum Palace

Day 3

- Official Ritual

- Central Park

- City Pickle

- Vowels Library

- Beat The Bomb

- Cuerno NY

But of course, a core part of the trip was the competition. Did we cook or were we cooked? TLDR; the competition went well! My team and I cooked — the ingredients were 30 minutes of sleep the night before, prototyping on the ride to the event, and a team that’s strong at communication and storytelling. We were also fueled by pizza slices, Le Croix, Red Bull, coffee and tea.

The design competition really got me thinking about hard work. For context, everyone in my design cohort is so goated. They inspire me so much, and I feel honored and lucky to be part of this community.

I think to be great requires sacrifice. Through conversations, I learned about the many sacrifices people have made to improve their craft, whether that be sleep, relationships, or something else. This weekend, I made the sacrifice of sleep in order to prepare for the competition. However, I’m usually good about getting in my sleep. But my craft is not on par with others: it makes me wonder if I just stayed up a bit longer and worked additional hours, would things be different? I understand sleep is important (I’m currently reading a book called “Why We Sleep”), but sometimes I wonder if I use health as a guise for laziness.

I learned a great deal about work ethic from my design cohort. Firstly, everyone works hard. No one cares that you worked hard. When I first heard this, I reflected on my own habits. I found that for each minute I spent working, I would also take a break. I think it’s good and necessary to take breaks. But I think holding onto the fact that “I worked so hard, therefore I deserve…” or should reap some benefit is not very beneficial to growth. In a sense, I would like to become more humble about working hard. I can work hard silently; there is no need to mention my long hours and efforts to others or feel it deserves payment or compensation, in the form of a long break or attention to the topic in conversation. Especially with design, even if you spend hours tweaking a motion curve, people ultimately judge you on your work produced, not the hours you worked. The great thing is, learning new things always takes time, but eventually, you do get faster. There will be a point where you will quickly produce high quality work, so it won’t always take so long.

The second thing I learned was to enjoy the process and learn to enjoy doing hard things. Sometimes I really dislike hard things. I think it’s natural given that humans are wired to seek comfort. But I realized the challenges are what help you grow. The last couple weeks of my life have been quite tough, but I know I’ve grown more than I ever could in my comfort zone. I actively try to change my perspective when facing adversity. Stuck on prototyping? Great, this is an opportunity for you to learn how to do it on your own and become more confident in your skills. Feeling anxious or sad about crit? I’m so lucky to have this opportunity to get feedback from others in order to rapidly improve as a designer. To speak more about enjoying the process, I’ve also found that the moments when I’m challenged are when I grow the most intellectually, which always feels good.

Last but not least, go the extra mile. Do not cut corners. Many times, people give up and settle for an okay result. I believe that great craft requires an attitude where you cannot settle for something average. Those that are willing to push themselves where others choose to stop is what will distinguish them and their craft. This is so much easier said than done.

I really love when life is going well. Truly. But I’m also learning to love and see the good in moments that are more uncomfortable. I’m working on becoming a more resilient person. I have to be. There really is no choice in this life. When I look at older people, I think about how strong they must be. For all the challenges they faced in life, they persevered up until their age. I think it’s very admirable.

This is really just a letter to myself. I hope I continue to work hard and become a strong, resilient person. I remind myself the difference between me and a more talented designer is time spent practicing. Whatever is possible for others is possible for me too. There’s so much room for me to grow as a person, and I really want to see how far I can go and discover my full potential.