Posted: Apr 22, 2012 4:02 am
Lance wrote:Approximately 85% of millionaires are self made. Those who inherit their money, or win it make up only 15%. It is not terribly surprising that the 85% are a bit down on those who have not succeeded, since it actually takes massive sacrifice to become a millionaire
I agree with this.
and they naturally see the 'losers' as those who are not prepared to do what it takes. In fact, there is an element of truth in that belief. All of which does not excuse lack of empathy.
I don't agree with this.
I can only speak anecdotally. I'm not a millionaire yet (I'm only 32) but I'm very driven and hardworking and therefore "further ahead" than most people older than me. Now, obviously "further ahead" depends on what's important to you, most people would be further ahead in a social context than I am. I'm speaking about being further ahead in my career and personal financial equity. I'm probably "further behind" in a lot of other areas.
Anyway, the point is that it does take massive sacrifices to get ahead. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The key thing that I learnt on my journey to where I am now is that you cannot be a victim, you need to take responsibility for things that happen to you and need to find a way to move forward. I cannot see how anyone could become a self-made millionaire without learning this principle first, unless it was a fluke.
So, personally, I'm terrible at empathizing because it goes against a key principle of mine. In the moment, I think the person would be better off if they stopped being a victim and got on with it. Having said that I do empathize when the matter is not in the person's control (which is rare).