Some people noted that there are few guarantees in life; I have to disagree. While we’re not always guaranteed to get exactly what we expect, you can’t really say that planning how to use your resources and working hard doesn’t yield better results than busily consuming everything that comes our way. Sometimes what you get is not exactly what you thought you’d get, and sometimes you end up getting even more and better.

I grew up in Russia, and the times after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 were very tough – there was hardly enough food, and no money circulated in the country because of the currency collapse. So when things got better around 1993-94, a lot of people tried to make up for the hungry years by buying more expensive food or clothes. Not my family. We lived 4 people in the tiniest 2-room (not 2-bedroom, 2-room) apartment in a crappy neighbourhood, and we had to do something about it, because constantly being on each other’s heads was ruining our family. So my parents were saving every penny hoping to one day buy a better place. My brother and I were not allowed to buy any food or water, even if we were hungry at school. If we failed to pack our lunch, that was it. We did not buy a new item of clothing in years – all was second-hand. There were no mortgages or any loans accessible for private individuals then, so the only way of saving money was, well, just saving it yourself. In 4 years, we saved enough to buy a 3-room apartment in a decent neighbourhood if we sold the old one. But then, in 1998, the world financial crisis exploded. The U.S. dollar went up from 4 rubles per $1 to 30 rubles per $1, all in 3 days. My parents, who were converting money in U.S. dollars, were suddenly able to buy a comfortable 4-bedroom apartment in a good area, and still have money left. So they did. The sacrifice turned out not just to be worth it, but it brough better results than we could ever hope for.