Selective Schools Test (How does Steve “The Selective Guru” Xu use holidays to his advantage?)

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

holidays, work, dreading, relax, scattered, vicious cycle, wake, enjoy, felt, spend, kids, remember, year, Christmas, week, waste, love, trapped, monday, friends

Merry Christmas guys. So I know everybody is wrapping up the year, you guys are all going towards Christmas and New Year’s. And I wanted to record this very quick video on my thoughts on holidays and why I am actually the most sad, anxious when I go on holidays, which is why I actually don’t take any holidays. So I have a very interesting take on holidays. I think most people spend most of the year looking forward to holidays, right? It’s where you guys get together, you guys can enjoy yourselves, spend time with family and friends. And it’s great. Like, look, when I was a kid I loved doing that I loved you know, the family get together movie, marathons food, like all that kind of stuff is was was really, really fun. But as the years have gone by every single time when I actually go towards holidays, I kind of dread it. Because generally speaking, it’s kind of when I don’t really know what to do with my time because I just want to work and everybody else is like, you know, having fun

And I just want to work. And this is not something that I’ve developed recently, this is something that, you know, I always had in me, you know, growing up. So I remember when I was like 11 years old, I remember feeling like looking forward all year towards Christmas. And Christmas day came. And then you know, we had the movie marathon, we had the buffet, we had all that kind of stuff, it was crazy. And I remember like watch movies, doing all that kind of stuff. And I remember on Christmas day, I was like 5pm. And I’ve just felt this amalgam of guilt, like pleasure, but also like emptiness. And I was like, is this it is this really, it’s, I’ve been waiting all year for this one day. And this is it. I just wasted the day watching movies and stuff. And so I didn’t realize it when I was 11. But let’s say a few years laid off. And afterwards, I found out that my you know, for me, I wanted to grow. I didn’t want to just waste my days away just enjoying myself and you know, pleasure filled fun, I wanted to grow. And I started spending my holidays very strategically to get ahead.

And so I remember every holidays, instead of just enjoying and you know, kind of wasting away my time relaxing, like all my friends were, I would sit down, I’ll practice three, four hours of piano. And then I’d follow that up with like a lot of study. And that’s when I felt powerful. That’s when I felt like I was in control. Because that was feeling or fueling my personal growth, rather than just, you know, doing what everybody else is doing and relaxing. And what was really funny was because I worked so hard on the holidays, I’d probably learn way more during the holidays, even the two week holidays than I did during the time. And so by the time I started time again, everybody else was kind of like really sleepy. And you know, they were kind of all scattered and stuff. And they take like three or four weeks to warm up, I was really funny

And I loved that at like an age 1314 days worked really, really hard during the holidays, because I knew you know what, this is a time for me to grow. This is always a time for me to grow when everybody else is relaxing. I’m gonna work hard during the holidays. And I think what I managed to find, especially in recent years is because I love what I do. I don’t need a holiday. You’re not I mean, everyone saw it. Like I have so many friends and there’s nothing wrong with this. I have so many friends, because I’m still rather young, who are like, Steven, let’s go out let’s you know, let’s party. Let’s do that. And I see them trapped in this vicious cycle. And I’ll talk about how it’s relevant to your kids in a second. I see them trapped in this vicious cycle where they go to work, they go a job that you know, let’s say they kind of do just for the to collect the paycheck, which is fine.

On Monday, they go in, they’re not happy. On Wednesday. They’re like, Oh, my life is so bad data data, but call away for the weekend, Friday, they spent all week looking forward towards Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so that they can just get wasted and have fun and party and all that kind of stuff. And then they end up going back into Monday. dreading it spending Monday kind of recovering Tuesday getting into the swing of things. And then it keeps going and they’re trapped in this vicious cycle of holiday and work holiday and work holiday work. And I used to be like that as well. I used to think you know holidays you should relax. I deserve it. You know, I’ve been working hard during school time. But later on I was like, Well how about we try to blend the two together? What if my work is my holiday? What if my work is so enjoyable that I don’t need a holiday? What if my work is so enjoyable that I could just do it seven days a week every single day for the entire year. And that’s literally what I’ve been doing over the past two years.

I haven’t stopped work. came one day, even on Christmas Day, I’m so working. And I don’t say that I’m not I’m not a workaholic. It’s not like I enjoy working so much. But it’s like, you know, I’m getting to a point in my life where I’m like, You know what, I don’t feel the urge to do anything else, but just work because I know it’s going to pay dividends in the future. And I really, really enjoy it. And so I think, you know, even with your kids, it’s very, very important to escape the vicious cycle of looking forward to holidays, and then experiencing holidays, and then dreading the work that comes afterwards. All right, that’s partially why I work seven days a week, because I know if I take like two days off, like, my brain is just going to be so scattered.

You’re not I mean, so like, I think it’s very, very important that you communicate with your kids, and try to find a way to enjoy the work that they’re doing so that they don’t need to take a holiday don’t need, I’m saying, obviously enjoy Christmas, and New Year’s and all that kind of stuff. But, you know, if you’re truly in love with what you do, and you’re truly happy all the time, then you should be okay. You should be able to work and prosper and do all that kind of stuff for ever indefinitely. Right. And that’s why I think retirement is an absolute joke. And that’s why I don’t want to retire anytime soon. I might be young, I might be naive, but I think I’m in a very unique position, where I just love the work that I do that it’s kind of like, you know, why take a break? So hopefully that you know, kind of enlightened zoom a little bit, right? Perhaps that might have shifted your thinking pattern.

I think so many parents who say, hey, you know, Steve, we just want to take a break during the holidays, we want to relax, I shake my head, because I already know what’s going to happen. And when they take the break, when they go back to school, they’re going to be even more scattered. And it’s just going to start this vicious cycle. And what I tell parents is the reason why you you know, the first few weeks of school was so tough is because you didn’t do the preparation, the holidays beforehand, right? All the smart kids know that during the holidays, that’s when they will get the most amount of work done.

Your productivity levels are crazy. You’re able to do anything you want. You know why? Because you don’t have to go to school and sit in a classroom for six hours a day. You’re at home. And you’re somebody who would just waste away that time. They’re like, You know what, relax, let’s wake up at like 10 o’clock. 11 o’clock today. I woke up at five yesterday on Sunday, and I woke up at five as well. I don’t need to wake up this early. Okay, I’ve got many, many choices, right? I’ve got a whole team on for me, I don’t have to wake up to selling. But I do because I just love it.

There isn’t any other thing that I will be doing apart from waking up at five, going to the gym, getting fit, doing all that kind of stuff. And so I invite you guys to really rethink the strategy. Stop thinking about holidays. Don’t worry about that. Enjoy your life so much or figure out a way to enjoy your life so much. Holidays don’t matter anymore. Hopefully you guys found that useful. I’m going to be recording a lot more videos.

Please let me know what your thoughts are. If you think that this is a toxic way of thinking, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you enjoy your life? Do you look forward to holidays? If you look forward to holidays, and you look forward to the weekend that happened you expect the kids to do any different? Anyway. Thanks guys have a puzzle soon. Bye.