SUCCESS STORIES
The glamorization of rare success stories
I receive frequent emails about new posts from a business/finance website I am subscribed to, and I am overwhelmed by all the stories about Warren Buffet and how he made his big bucks, and the steps that I have to follow to be a billionaire too. Apart from the online sources, walk into any bookstore and you will be knocked off your feet by how many authors claim to have the formula for success.
Success stories are great. They tell you what everyone who has made it big did right. Although, what are the chances that you would be as successful as Warren Buffet by following his whole system including his exercise, weekend and all other trivial routines? The answer is, very slim to none. The overwhelming detail of Mr Buffet's life, a host not even relating to business practices but to everyday routine keep circulating the internet and bookstores. Now if I see some article about how Mr Buffet picks stocks I don't mind digging into it and learning one or two things. But to completely fixate on a person's life and try to implement their success formula in the hope of striking out as they have is not a very realistic approach. You have just as good a chance to succeed as they had by creating your own formula.
Another case in point with regards to the glamorization of rare success stories is Steve Jobs. This amazing man made Apple such a huge success without the widely acclaimed university degree our parents have advised us to get. At the time he was alive (and even now) people use Steve Jobs as an example of why the school system is ineffective, or why we really don't need education and how school is a waste of time. People forget that Steve Jobs was gifted with creativity much like Warren Buffet is gifted with the gift of number crunching.
The point is not that you will never be as successful as my two examples, it is that the same formula is unlikely to work for two different people. Every individual's special talent when built upon can pave their way to success, with a little bit of luck. Building on that gift is better practice than wining and dining the millions of books on how to be successful.