In a Reddit thread about an old man who bought a Rolls Royce in his 20's and drove it his entire life, never replacing it, the discussion turned from the vehicle's longevity to how it could be possible to buy a Rolls in your 20's in the first place. After the typical yammering about people who inherit everything, the subject turned to coding (because that's how everybody who is rich does it. Nobody has ever gotten rich in B&M business). This precipitated the following exchange, which IMO is absolutely legendary:
I'm always amazed when I get asked questions about what I do for a living when I'm getting gas. Why? If I said I was a neurosurgeon, would you drop everything and go to med school? If I said I was a materials engineer and my company just got a 9-figure government contract for new body armor, would you go into that field?
Usually, I think, they're just looking for some easy out that assures them that whatever led to success was some cruel twist of fate that could never happen to them. "I was born rich" or "I hit the lottery."
Because if there were methodical, reproducible steps you could take to get there in a relatively short period of time, by, say, tossing out your current script, it might mean you'd actually have to sit down, take stock of your life, and make big changes... or admit that the reason your life is the way it is, is because you saw what it would take to make a change and you just didn't want to do it.
Incidentally, "go do it, show me proof, and I'll be your first customer" is now going to be my stock response to any declarations like this. Damn it's brilliant.
I'm always amazed when I get asked questions about what I do for a living when I'm getting gas. Why? If I said I was a neurosurgeon, would you drop everything and go to med school? If I said I was a materials engineer and my company just got a 9-figure government contract for new body armor, would you go into that field?
Usually, I think, they're just looking for some easy out that assures them that whatever led to success was some cruel twist of fate that could never happen to them. "I was born rich" or "I hit the lottery."
Because if there were methodical, reproducible steps you could take to get there in a relatively short period of time, by, say, tossing out your current script, it might mean you'd actually have to sit down, take stock of your life, and make big changes... or admit that the reason your life is the way it is, is because you saw what it would take to make a change and you just didn't want to do it.
Incidentally, "go do it, show me proof, and I'll be your first customer" is now going to be my stock response to any declarations like this. Damn it's brilliant.
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