"stay hungry. stay foolish."

I’ve been thinking about family and parenting styles a lot lately.

My lil sister is about to start her degree program after completing her foundation program in communication. The other three of us are pretty settled in our careers for now. R says, the choices my siblings and I have made over the years, that have led us to our studies and careers, were guided by our parents and their support for us. Which is true. In a sense, we’ve been lucky. We might not be a perfect, typical family (we can be quite dysfunctional at times) but when it comes to studies, careers and basically our financial future, my parents have always been a wealth of support – both in terms of financial and moral.

My mother is the one who pretty much single-handedly raised us; sending us off to countless of tuition classes, extra curriculum sessions, sports and music classes and whatnot. She was our anchor; our moral support – and our hugest supporter/counsellor/friend. My dad was the one who worked a lot – over the years, he has been very demanding and somewhat controlling over our choices – but I think in the end, his heart was always in the right place. And with his hard work and knowledge, we were able to thread through our choices and work out our own career paths.

But it also comes down to pure hard work and determination. In addition to our parents wanting the best for us, we ourselves wanted the best for ourselves. I don’t think it’s fair to discount that factor. Sure, we were lucky but we planned our studies/careers and we work really hard to have gotten where we are today.

So honestly, it disheartens me a lil bit to see some people who just want to live in their own little world and not strive to be better at what they do. They’re just very complacent with what they have. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with being happy with what you have but I also believe you have to keep improving yourself; whether it’s your studies, career, or even just your interpersonal skills or knowledge.

I feel extra bad for those who are just so single-track-minded that they don’t see the bigger picture. Sure, it’s important to get really good grades – but you need to keep in mind, what are those grades for? They should just be a part of your stepping stone so you can move on to bigger, better, things. Good grades without savvy thinking is a waste. If you want something, you need to figure out a plan on how to get it. You can’t just wait for things to be handed to you. My parents have always taught us the value of asking questions. If you don’t know, ASK. What does it matter if some people think you’re asking a stupid question? At the end of the day, it’s your gain. And with the internet, everything is possible these days. You just need to know how to use the resources you have.

In the words of the great Steve Jobs, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”