I am NOT a self-made man. Anyone with an ounce of humility and self-awareness knows, appreciates, and is deeply grateful for the help they have received along the way, starting with what Warren Buffet calls winning the “Birth Lottery”. If you are reading this, odds are you were born in a developed country with systems (education, health, rule of law) that support your ability to become the best that you can be. That alone is a tremendous, unearned assist. (For my part, I am eternally beholden to my great grandfather for choosing to immigrate from Ireland in 1866.)
I am, however, very much a “self-sculpted” man. In my early childhood I experienced a period of poverty which left me with a profound passion to create prosperity in my life. To use Tony Robbins’ terminology, I relentlessly pursued that “moving away value” (pain of poverty) until it transmuted into a “moving forward value”, the growth challenge of leadership and maximizing my personal and professional development. Toward that end, with dogged determination, I steadfastly sought to master any and all subject matter related to my goal. I chose to take the evening and weekend hours that many spent on TV (today add social media) and used them to chisel and hew my mind and personality (for example, I am by nature an introvert, out of necessity I developed a business extrovert side) in order to become and achieve all that I wanted to be.
Closing Quotes:
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton, 1643-1727
“Man cannot remake himself without suffering for he is both the marble and the sculptor.” – Alexis Carrel, 1873-1944
“There is no such thing as a “self-made” man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.” – George Matthew Adams, 1872-1968
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier