Ever since we were kids, parents constantly taught us to study hard, so that we could get a decent job with decent pay. However, this mindset was occurred due to the parents who were growing in an entirely different era than ours. They were growing while facing social and economic crises that varied, so that many were not be able to attend school – only until junior high school, if there were any.

Nowadays, the conditions are entirely different. We grow up with parents who make ends meet with their job or their own business so that we live in a more comfortable environment than they did.

Furthermore, we are the generation who lives in an era where technology can be used commercially and be accessed at a relatively reasonable price. Technology has opened many doors of opportunity for us with the presence of creative start-ups which are able to support us in many unthinkable approaches.

For example, there is a father of three who is leading a rather difficult life because of his low income. After the development of GO-JEK, people who share similar problems are now able to get a better life.

The question is: what comes first, money or experience?

In today’s technology era, we could say that opportunity is everywhere. Which is to say that money is everywhere.

The reality is, there are many people who were born before us. They get the chance to prior learning about the world and which way it is heading. They know more about how this world works and why things are the way they are.

Those are valuable lessons. We need to learn all that we can from those who arrived first on earth, those who are more experienced than us.

We need to learn and look for experience first.

Money sure is important, but in this world, there are many problems that can be solved without money—without our own money. At times, the experience is more needed. As an illustration, to solve the dirty water problem in a remote area in Indonesia, we can establish volunteer teams and request funds from local government, so that we do not need to use our own money (I am fully aware that writing is easier than doing, however, I just want to show that there is a way to do this without using one’s own money).

The point is, this is our era! This is our time to eliminate the injustice of this world with our actions and experiences. We have advantages over the previous generation which is the easily-accessible technology and many available places to train passionate souls to accomplish their dreams. So, don’t waste it!

Don’t chase money, chase excellence.

Money follows excellence.

The article has been translated & edited by Riani Sanusi Putri. This original article was here.