Self Made?

Gladwell thinks it is wrong that we often define success as a “personal feat” when it is often directly correlated to unseen opportunities and advantages. Typically success stories talk about people rising from nothing. Gladwell argues that oftentimes this is not true and those people were given unseen advantages that helped them get to where they are. Our upbringing, financial status, and parents presence in our lives all play a huge role in our own success, though it is not always visible on the surface.

In Gladwell’s opinion, we emphasize a personal aspect too much when defining success. We think of the individual’s accomplishments as being something they were the only factor in. Recently Kylie Jenner was on Forbes magazine as a “self-made” almost billionaire. This is relevant to Gladwell’s theory of how we define success because it shows people rise from their opportunities and what they already have. If Jenner didn’t have her family’s platform, money from reality television growing up, and connections she would not be in the position she is in today. However many people who saw the article cover could look at it and think wow she did this all on her own. This shows how the personal aspect is overemphasized in how we define success.

I agree with Gladwell’s perspective on how we perceive success. If you look at the world’s most successful people, they were all given some kind of advantage over the general population. I think some people are successful because they choose to take advantage of what they already have, this aspect of success is a personal choice. Regardless of what you are given, nothing in this world is handed to you. Successful people absolutely had to put in a lot of hard work to get where they are. However, without the right opportunities and resources, the path to success is hard to embark on.