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The Myth of Making It (2019)

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Re: The Myth of Making It (2019)

#31

Post by ip26 »

This seems like selection bias. Is somebody who has "made it" going to continue striving every day to be the greatest in their field? Personally, I don't think so, which means anybody making 8 figures is by definition someone who will never feel like they "made it". The people who see a couple million as having finally attained success will have already phoned it in & dropped out, contented.

Indeed, I'd argue it's a little dangerous to declare you've "made it" too early, for this reason. Most of the world would consider a stable six figure job to be success. But many of those jobs are very competitive; if you let it go to your head & start to check out, will you still have that job in five years? Will you still be a success then?

Re: The Myth of Making It (2019)

#32

Post by cafard »

"The American Dream, that anyone can work hard and ultimately come out on top, is like an anti-happiness plan: A good life is not measured by social support or freedom or empathy, but by material gain."

Last I checked, admittedly a while ago, The American Dream was not about coming out on top, it was about achieving a level of comfort and security.

Re: The Myth of Making It (2019)

#33

Post by idontpost »

rufus_foreman wrote: post #22
technothrasher wrote: post #6

My life’s goals when I was a child were to get married, raise a kid, and to own the same Ferrari as Magnum PI. Done, done, and done (although the last one was mostly a bad idea). So I guess according to my standards I made it. The rest now is gravy.

>> although the last one was mostly a bad idea You did it wrong. Magnum didn't own the Ferrari, he just had a rich friend who let him drive it.

A rich "friend". A sweet older man. A ... sugar daddy.

Re: The Myth of Making It (2019)

#34

Post by WalterBright »

circlefavshape wrote: post #27
WalterBright wrote: post #19

If you stop striving towards goals, you die. Your body and mind fall apart. One of the most boring experiences is traveling around and looking at things. I'm happiest when I'm working hard trying to achieve a new goal.

> If you stop striving towards goals, you die. Your body and mind fall apart. This simply isn't true, Walter, and you know it

Are you sure about that? It's well known that there are spikes in deaths among older people:

1. after retirement

2. after the 70th, 80th, and 90th birthdays

3. after a family event that had been long anticipated

and that "keeping active" is necessary to keep living.

One's body falls apart without regular exercise, and the mind does, too.

Re: The Myth of Making It (2019)

#35

Post by j7ake »

This article talks about people at the very top. The phenomenon is definitely not modern or American specific.

The people who are winning awards and accolades (aka “making it”) would literally still be doing what they’re doing if they did not get paid for it.

These people aren’t looking for more money or more awards!p, they’re internally driven and will never stop striving to push the boundaries of their art.

LeBron James would still play basketball if NBA stopped paying him.

Nobody who is a regular employee of a company are in the same game of “making it” as these people.

Re: The Myth of Making It (2019)

#36

Post by imetatroll »

katzgrau wrote: post #26
imetatroll wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While this is nice as a thought exercise, not having at least "enough" money is very painful in my experience. As for power and recognition, recognition comes first and then, I suppose, power in terms of ... importance. I'm not at all sure that power is actually important at all. Are people actively pursuing power? Those that do I suspect already have easy access to money and recognition. I cannot relate. I think tha…

> While this is nice as a thought exercise, not having at least "enough" money is very painful in my experience. Of course. Consider this - when you're poor - it's not specifically money you're after. You want the baseline items to survive, and money is a convenient way of obtaining them. But your end goal is not the money - it's what you need. But beyond that, especially in society, the money has a tendency to becom…

We either barter every transaction or we have a means by which we exchange values. Money is inescapable.

Re: The Myth of Making It (2019)

#37

Post by katzgrau »

imetatroll wrote: post #36
katzgrau wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While this is nice as a thought exercise, not having at least "enough" money is very painful in my experience. Of course. Consider this - when you're poor - it's not specifically money you're after. You want the baseline items to survive, and money is a convenient way of obtaining them. But your end goal is not the money - it's what you need. But beyond that, especially in society, the money has a tendency to becom…

We either barter every transaction or we have a means by which we exchange values. Money is inescapable.

If you believe that without qualification, it's true for you and you'll probably live with the cascading results of thinking that way. If you believe it's a useful societal tool for solving some basic problems but not much more beyond that, the same applies.

Re: The Myth of Making It (2019)

#38

Post by imetatroll »

katzgrau wrote: post #37
imetatroll wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We either barter every transaction or we have a means by which we exchange values. Money is inescapable.

If you believe that without qualification, it's true for you and you'll probably live with the cascading results of thinking that way. If you believe it's a useful societal tool for solving some basic problems but not much more beyond that, the same applies.

I am failing to see the alternative in your comments.
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