| Also I've done similar research to the GrandParent commenter on the internet and there is a lot more to it than just having open parents. A lot of orphans or adopted children are also spectacularly successful. Imagine having to live the fact that your biological parents "abandoned" you or something along those lines. Here are some of those people. 1. Steve Jobs 2. Jeff Bezos (you could argue that he had a relatively healthy upbringing, went to Princeton, etc). 3. Roman Abramovich (probably not most upstanding example). Other (financially) successful people that grew up poor: 4. Howard Schultz (Starbucks): "Growing up I always felt like I was living on the other side of the tracks. I knew the people on the other side had more resources, more money, happier families. And for some reason, I don’t know why or how, I wanted to climb over that fence and achieve something beyond what people were saying was possible. I may have a suit and tie on now but I know where I’m from and I know what it’s like." 5. Oprah Winfrey (grew up relatively poor, had a harsh upbringing, I think she was assaulted when she was younger?) 6. Luxury goods mogul Francois Pinault quit high school in 1974 after being bullied for being poor. Here are some more stories from rags to riches: http://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-who-came-from-no... There are also a ton of people that are excellent in their fields (academics / science / NGO founders) who are successful by a different metric (not wealth). I think the key determinant is to keep trying, keep learning and persevere through stuff life throws at you. It can be difficult in the moment but you need to objectively keep asking yourself what you can do everyday / regularly to achieve what you want 1 year from now, 5 years from now, or generally in the long term. Also, in the worst case scenario if you are relatively healthy you should be able to get yourself to live a modestly comfortable life and be a successful husband/wife, mother/father, member of community, contributing member of society, etc. |