Self-made.
These words were printed in big, bold letters on the t-shirt that a man proudly wore yesterday.
Is it really possible to be self-made?
I heard and read all these stories of men and women who achieved success only by their own efforts.
For a long time, I believed in the myth of the self-made person.
Because it is just that, a myth.
Nobody can genuinely achieve anything remarkable alone.
All these self-made men and women had families, friends, clients, colleagues, collaborators, teachers. And those are only the ones close to us.
The truth is that if you can achieve anything remarkable today is thanks to the millions of people who came before you and shape the context in which you live, work and thrive. And even more. The pen you use to sign your contracts, the car you drive to visit your clients, the knowledge and the tools you use to create your own success are all made by someone else. Someone you don't know yet they are contributing to your success.
Even that t-shirt with the self-made print on it is the result of the work of many people.
So, let's stop spreading the myth of self-made men and women and instead, let's rediscover the power of gratitude.
Whatever you achieve in life, remember to be grateful to all the people who consciously and unconsciously contributed to getting you there.
I just discovered that there's s book title The Self-Made Myth by Brian Miller, Mike Lapham. The book "exposes the false claim that business success is the result of heroic individual effort with little or no outside help."
An interesting article on the subject:
https://www.sladegroup.com.au/blog/the-self-made-myth-why-hard-work-isnt-enough-to-reach-the-top/