People compare their wealth to Lionel Messi or Bill Gates, not their neighbors or fellow workers.
But this is an impossible standard.
Lionel Messi had some personal talent, a huge amount of work, and, likely, some luck and some circumstances.
Bill Gates had relevant studies, was born in a wealthy country, and had the luck to be the right person at the right time.
How many people at the Messi or Gates level did Romania ever have? Only a few, and in other areas, not in football/computer software.
Of course, if you compare yourself to an impossible standard, you’ll likely feel discouraged and do nothing. „I can’t ever be Messy, so I’ll do nothing!”
But Messi is the exception.
In my opinion, people should compare themselves with the people next to them: a colleague, a nearby person, some friend.
Surely, most of them will not be enormously wealthy, but they’ll likely set a standard you can attain.
You can’t be Messy? OK, but how about being the person who works at a stadium in Bucharest where Messi will only once come in their lifetime?
You can’t be Gates? OK, how about you sell some computer software, even if it’s not a revolutionary and prevalent operating system?
And another article.
