The Power Of Being A 'Nobody' (very touching)...

 

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.

A nobody is often under estimated, until they aren’t. Below is my update on a 20th century standard.

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.

Here are some recent examples of wealth that came from near nothing:

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.

 
People tend to feel sorry for the poor, but I actually feel sorry for my rich friends' children. I wouldn’t exchange my life, growing up struggling in South Central Los Angeles and Compton, California, for the privileged lives of my wealthy friend’s kids for all the tea in China.

Young people who grew up believing that they were ‘somebody’ are suffering from at least four distinct disadvantages in life.

(1) They never learned how to ‘suffer for the good.’

(2) They were more often than not spoiled rotten, which makes it harder to value a dollar, or even hard work and sustained struggle.

(3) The ‘entitlement’ problem. This is a misguided sense that success is somehow owed to some, which in turn causes you to take your foot off the gas in life and just coast. A perfect work day is then defined as in late, long lunch, and leave early. I always wanted just the opposite of this. Still do. I love to work and to make my own way. Every single day.

(4) Too much private school-only air. Private schools have their value, but if you never went to at least a few years of public school then in my opinion you are really in trouble. Public school is where you learn how to deal with difficult people, diverse environments, and challenging situations. Just like life itself.


further reading

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140325000910-23074630-the-power-of-being-a-nobody