Being born into this world a
nobody just might be the best thing that ever happened to me. The world undervalues the economic nobody, and grossly over-values the wealthy somebody. On this point the world is wrong.
You have nothing to lose when you are a nobody. And because you realize that 'you can’t fall from the floor,’ you’re not all stressed out about whether you are going to actually fail at something or not. Everyone born as a 'societal nobody’ has the exact same middle name, inserted sometime after birth, which translates roughly: DO SOMETHING.
Most wealth, and especially the now big companies or enterprises behind that wealth, originated with what we would call 'relative nobodies' at the time. They may be a big deal now, but when they started, no one took them seriously. A nobody is often under estimated, until they aren’t. That’s how I feel the pattern is:
First they will ignore you.
Then they will criticize you.
Then they will try to copy you.
And then you will win.
When a self-knowing economic nobody wins at life, they almost never forget where they came from. They are often the kindest, philanthropic, most positive, confident (yet understated) people you will ever meet. Crazy as it sounds, it is often the off-spring of the one who created from nothing that then somehow gets it in their heads that they’re some kind of a big deal. And it is this other thing -- of becoming ‘important,’ or seeing oneself as a ‘so-called somebody,’ that is a really dangerous thing. It can ruin you in ways that poverty never could.
Jan Koum, the CEO and co-founder of WhatsApp, once lived on food stamps
before Facebook made him a billionaire.
Starbucks' Howard Schultz grew up in a housing complex for the poor.
Born into poverty, Oprah Winfrey became the first African American TV correspondent in Nashville.
Luxury goods mogul Francois Pinault (think Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent) quit high school in 1974 after being bullied for being poor.
Oracle's Larry Ellison dropped out of college after his adoptive mother died and held odd jobs for eight years.
These brilliant and hardworking folks were not sitting around thinking deeply about how great and noble they were. That had no time for any if that nonsense. And they weren’t publicly profiling either; trying desperately to look a certain way before a bunch of strangers. They weren’t sitting around, endlessly choreographing their every next big move in life. They just moved.
They worked, hustled, did what it took to win. They were focused on getting the job in front of them done, rather than simply looking good for those standing in front of them.
But most of all — they just never took themselves seriously. Never. Taking yourself seriously is the kiss of death. I read somewhere “men fail for three reasons: arrogance, pride and greed.” Enough said.
I have a lot of experience with people who really believe that they’re somebody, and they’re really exhausting to deal with. It’s a lot of work dealing with someone who takes themselves so seriously. And if they don't change, they are doomed. It is simple, let go of your ego. The place where I work has clearly stated on a big poster, “Leave your ego at the Door” so true.
Starbucks' Howard Schultz grew up in a housing complex for the poor.
Born into poverty, Oprah Winfrey became the first African American TV correspondent in Nashville.
Luxury goods mogul Francois Pinault (think Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent) quit high school in 1974 after being bullied for being poor.
Oracle's Larry Ellison dropped out of college after his adoptive mother died and held odd jobs for eight years.
These brilliant and hardworking folks were not sitting around thinking deeply about how great and noble they were. That had no time for any if that nonsense. And they weren’t publicly profiling either; trying desperately to look a certain way before a bunch of strangers. They weren’t sitting around, endlessly choreographing their every next big move in life. They just moved.
They worked, hustled, did what it took to win. They were focused on getting the job in front of them done, rather than simply looking good for those standing in front of them.
But most of all — they just never took themselves seriously. Never. Taking yourself seriously is the kiss of death. I read somewhere “men fail for three reasons: arrogance, pride and greed.” Enough said.
I have a lot of experience with people who really believe that they’re somebody, and they’re really exhausting to deal with. It’s a lot of work dealing with someone who takes themselves so seriously. And if they don't change, they are doomed. It is simple, let go of your ego. The place where I work has clearly stated on a big poster, “Leave your ego at the Door” so true.
People who believe they are ‘somebody’ are doomed, precisely because they believe they are somebody. A so-called nobody has any of this needless baggage. Those who have a nobody’s mentality actually have what they need to win, right from the start.
The power of being a nobody is an asset everyone on the planet owns from birth. It’s your birthright, to fulfill your God given destiny. It’s the new definition of freedom, called self-determination.
And you thought someone calling you a ’nobody’ was an insult.
No comments:
Post a Comment