We recently posted an interesting update on Facebook saying that self-made money as well as inherited money held the same value in the sense of success. Now, while we did this as a means of banning negative people who polluted our community with their negativity and constant rant against those who have made it because they struggled, there is also a lot of value in that argument all together regardless of why that is the case.
Why do we believe that there is a lot of merit in those who succeed even though their baseline monetarily may have been more as a result of their inheritance or parental situation? If you have been following us for a while or have at least read Third circle Theory, then you would know that our baseline for success holds no relevance to money but rather one’s ability to overcome their fears, which means that despite what many may think as to the value of a person’s success or their business growth being attributed to their revenue, we feel otherwise. You see, its true that you cannot compare a business that has revenues of $1M and started from $0 with a business that started with $20M and now does $100M, but what you can compare is the journey of the brilliant minds that helped drive such results. While neither of these two businesses will ever be on the same scale and the exceptional people who helped drive these results will never share the exact same journey, they are both still exceptional in their own ways.
This leads us to a very important point that perhaps many seem to not understand as it pertains to some people’s success. Success looks different for everyone and the path to success is often very different for each person. While there are attributes everyone must master to be successful, the mental and physical journey to the top looks different for everyone.
Many may assume that those who started with an inheritance or who are born into families who have done well monetarily are at an advantage over others, then perhaps your view on entrepreneurship and business is broken, and you need to read Third Circle Theory.
There is also another perspective in play here, it is the one that only those who have never succeeded nor have attained their goals being the ones primarily criticizing the success of those others who are born with a monetary advantage. The reason being simply nothing more than bitterness that they must work to build their survival while other can simply focus on growth.
That is a valid point, but one that is irrelevant to someone’s success as you can only control what you do and how you do it, not so much waste time worrying about others who are doing better (whatever better means). Those who waste their time worrying of other people’s success also forget that it is only because they have never gone through the trenches and survived that their take on money varies from others who succeeded.
After all, do we not all work and focus so that we can provide for our families? Perhaps, those people forget that someone has put in the hard work which led to that new person being born into money, and therefore provided for their families, no different than what you would work for and do if you could. If your answer is that you wouldn’t give your children any money so they can learn to make their own, then it is simply because you never made any to know the struggles and hardship it really takes and no parent in their right mind would want their children born with nothing, that is the poor people’ mentality that keeps this country doomed.
Wealth is grown through multiple generations being able to carry on other people’s work and use new methods and perspective to grow it further. Wealth does not come from one idiot making money, and choosing to not share it with their children so that the cycle of poverty starts over and over again.
Finally, it is important to note that the stories we share at Secret Entourage regarding other people’s success is not determined by how much money they have made or the cars they drive but rather their ability to do something exceptionally better than others. While someone may look at the story we did on Allen Wong and appreciate his struggle to the top from nothing, and yet look at someone like Brett David (coming soon) and say that he inherited his money and therefore his success is obsolete is simply an absurd statement. You need to realize that as admirable as it is to build an app empire form nothing, it is equally impressive for a 20 year old with no experience to take a multi-million dollar car dealership from #7 to #1 and make it into one of today’s most profitable car dealership. These two individuals share different paths and different stories but certainly both are considered very successful in our book. That success once more is not driven by the monetary value of their possessions but rather by their ability to face their fears under stressful circumstances and do the extraordinary.
For 2014, don’t forget to keep in mind that the measure of your actions is not driven by the amount of money you bring in but rather your ability to overcome the odds, face your fears and never allow life’s adversity to keep you from pushing your very own limits. Make 2014 Count!
