What Happened When My Rich Friend Told Me to Stop Programming

How would you react in this situation if you are told to stop doing what you love?

I recently visited Ben who is my childhood friend on his birthday. We usually used to stay super busy with our work schedule and never got a chance to meet for the last 4 years.

We sometimes used to message each other or randomly voice call each other once a month. Yes, social media works as a blessing to stay connected with people you really care about.

It was a public holiday and I was super excited to meet him as we were going to meet each other after 4 years.

A few interesting facts about Ben are that he operates his Dad’s business for the past few years. He has 1 supercar and a mansion which basically his dad gifted him. So basically his family is super rich and in my childhood, I always dreamt to have a life like him.

So, on Ben’s birthday, I got ready and took the keys to my car, and rushed to his mansion. When I reached Ben’s mansion I noticed that Ben was eagerly waiting for me at his gate. He was super excited to meet me live. I was super happy to see this.

After 2 or 3 minutes his smile got quite blunt as my car arrived towards him. When I parked my car near his gate and pursued him to hug him I saw a very strange gesture from him.

We simply hugged like brothers for 1 whole minute and greeted each other with formal greetings.

He asked me what exactly I do for my living as he never got a chance to know about my career. I simply replied that “I am a programmer now.”

Ben’s response got on my nerves when he said “So that’s the reason why you are driving that old blue car?”

And I was like, “Wait, what? I simply don’t like spending money on expensive things and It has nothing to do with me being a programmer”.

I told him statistics that programmers earn a decent salary and I love programming.

Ben simply replied, “You should quit programming and do something that makes you super rich like me”.

I didn’t tend to overreact to his statement and gave him his gift which I bought for $90 from my local gift store we simply enjoyed his birthday and later we parted away from each other to again get busy with our schedule.

Does Money Matter?

I love programming and that’s something that I will keep doing until I find a new passion. It has nothing to do with money. I am happy with what I earn and I have no complaints about my lifestyle.

So for me after earning a certain amount per month which full fills my needs and my wants, I don’t think money would play a big role in having a successful life.

I invest a significant amount and I am proud of it. It is obvious that buying a mansion like Ben would be a difficult task for me but, I simply don’t care. I would always keep focusing on my self-improvement than random criticisms.

What I know is — “I work hard to earn and it is what makes my earnings super valuable”.

Currently, I am doing what I love and that’s what really matters.

What Should You do?

I know the awkward situation which I faced is simply common and there are many people who need to deal with the same situation.

I simply don’t understand the rationale behind criticizing people based on the money they have. It took me years of hard work to become what I am now and I feel like a total piece of crap when my friends with little to no talent earn more than me. But, I let it go and remind myself that comparing is my worst enemy.

Hence, stop comparing no matter what situation you are facing.

When my rich friend told me to stop what I am doing because he thinks I am poor is currently none of my concern. I simply stayed calm in the situation and continued what I loved doing.

Whenever you compare yourself with a person who earns more than you then you feel like you are useless. But, in reality, you are simply doing great and you just need to keep doing what you love. Focus on self-improvement and make sure to invest most of your time in productive things.

You simply need to improve yourself and result is just the by-product of your process

 

Getting criticized on things that I love doing really gets me angry. I know it sounds stupid but I will always tend to ignore such criticism as it can completely kill my productivity.

The key point which I would like to highlight is that I didn’t overreact in the situation. Reacting unnecessary would’ve ruined our friendship and I will hate it in the future.

Currently, I am only focusing on my self-improvement and trying to build a successful career around my skills. I hope these points will give you the power to deal with unnecessary criticism.

That’s it, hope you will find it valuable and informational. Also, I am sure some points will help you to regain your motivation.