A Service Mentality Will Get You Everywhere, Hacks Will Not.

Shortcuts are just instant gratification. The road is long, but fun.

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Most of the naysayers in my life: frenemies, toxic family members, envious friends, and arrogant school mates, they all had this in common: Hacks. They all loved hacks. They all took the shorter routes to get to where they wanted to go. When they arrived at their destinations, there’s usually a lot of drama. It’s as if all they wanted to do was to arrive with a BANG. They were entitled to arrive and make a big noise. They wanted everyone to hear it. What they really want is for everyone to applaud and say, “You are great! You are awesome!” Through short-term hacks and working “smart”, they were seeking attention, approval and some kind of emotional fulfillment from life.

Awesome, they arrived with a bang.

I’m not this kind of person. In fact, I’m far from it. I’m often criticized as a person who sought too much perfection and needed to let things go. I’m often criticized as not working “smart”. People often say to me, “Don’t work hard, work smart.”. For many years, I thought there was something wrong with me. Today, our world is full of “hacks” and instant gratification. I thought I am a dinosaur. But, this part of me can not be changed. It’s how I am built.

A long time ago, an Asian guy told me that I will never get married. Because Asian guys look for women who can get their hands dirty and work alongside men who “hack” in order to have a better life.

My reply to this person was that I do not need to be married. I will find my kind of people.

It’s been a long road. Perhaps I’m a little idealistic. Perhaps I’m even stupid. Perhaps I’m not doing it right.

I’m happy with my decisions. And I will tell you why. Recently, I just realized the true meaning of “delayed gratification” and working for long term goals.

Understanding the “short-term” hacker

You can not fake a service mentality. A narcissistic person whose one motive is to self-serve will not be able to be contained by the mask of service. When hardships come, a person whose main objective is to self-serve will show everyone their true color. I have seen this over and over again. A reputation built up by short-term gains and hacks will create an illusion. In time, that illusion is vulnerable.

Two things that are the nightmare of short-term hackers:

Competition from other less experienced hackers. Competition from experts who are truly knowledgeable.

This is why short-term hackers and people who are working “smart” are prone to jealousy. They are jealous of anyone who gains any popularity over them at all. They will literally get their hands dirty when they encounter their object of jealousy. Their preferred methods of battle are gas-lighting, sabotage, emotional abuse, and physical abuse.

I have encountered all of these in my long career working on Wallstreet. I developed PTSD and recovered from it after I left my career.

My conclusion is that my kind of person did not belong, working on Wallstreet. One thing I’m eternally grateful that I learned early in my career is the “service mentality”. It was tested on Wallstreet. And it’s tested right now. But, I believe in it.

Understanding the Service Mentality

People mistake the person with the service mentality as someone who is working hard for the sake of working hard. This person must be a “martyr”. This person must be a workaholic.

They don’t realize that having a service mentality is the ultimate form of working “smart”.

Let’s take writing as an example. You can refine your craft. You can think of writing as self-serving. You can write all you want about everything that you are interested in. Then, you put it on Amazon and hope some literary agent will read your book and give you an award. Perhaps, you are such a great writer. Perhaps, this will happen to you.

I’m not a great writer. I know this will not happen to me.

What I know is that writing for me is just another vehicle as is programming. These are tools for me to live a great life. A great life for me involves other people. It is not a life for me to live in a great big house, surrounded by fancy silverware, and sending my kids to fancy school where I can donate money to feel a sense of superiority.

Life for me is getting up each day, feeling the world around me and their needs. It is being able to speak to these needs with my experiences and knowledge. It is a great privilege to have a voice at all. When I have the voice, I would want to use it to solve some real-world problems, have some real impact on people’s lives, and seeing some smiley faces.

I am in service of the world and myself all at the same time.

That is the service mentality. It is both unselfish and selfish at the same time.

The main point is that you are involved. You are immersed in the world. You are sharing your most valuable to create more.

The main point is that you are abundant. Your well will never deplete because you are constantly creating more.

Your most valuable today will mean more to the people you can share with. Those people will turn around and share with you.

This is how new ideas are created.

This is how new frontiers are explored.

This is how new problems are discovered.

This is how new solutions are provided.

Without all of us being in service of one another in this world, we are all useless. We are all useless robots who are just hacking away fulfilled by instant gratification, satisfied in our fancy houses, with our fancy cars, and take our fancy vacations.

It’s a house of cards that will fall.

Do you see how the service mentality can potentially transform a writer, an artist, a programmer, a marketer, or a business manager into something greater?

We are all influencers. We need to think as if we can influence the world.

When you use your professional experience to serve people around you in some way other than your day job, you are influencing the world.

If each of us did that, this influence is immeasurable.

Ultimately, the best of you can only be made better by sharing experiences with others. We are human. We are social beings. Being social will both bring out the best of us and allow us to improve.

By constantly improving yourself and the world around you, you are living your best life every day. Money does not buy happiness.

But, satisfaction, more than happiness, is something to celebrate.

When you are improving every day, you will be satisfied, fulfilled like you never thought possible.

This is when you treasure the journey much more than the destiny.

This is when you have won the lottery.

What are you waiting for?