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Zachery Crocket and Thomas Frank – The “self-made” myth: Why hard work isn’t enough to reach the top

Summary:
Without effort you're unlikely to get anywhere, but luck can give us the big breaks.  A toxic myth pervades the business world: Hard work and perseverance are the only things required to achieve immense success and reach the top of your field. It’s a mantra championed by everyone from Wall Street titans to our sitting US President (“I built what I built myself,” Trump told Charlie Rose in 1992. “I did it by working long hours, working hard and working smart!”). This idea is staunchly rooted in the very foundations of America — a nation built on the cornerstones of rugged individualism, picking oneself up by the bootstraps, and accruing riches through sheer determination. Those who do make it big often fancy themselves to be “self-made.” But these stories overlook a crucial

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Zachery Crocket and Thomas Frank - The “self-made” myth: Why hard work isn’t enough to reach the top


Without effort you're unlikely to get anywhere, but luck can give us the big breaks. 

A toxic myth pervades the business world: Hard work and perseverance are the only things required to achieve immense success and reach the top of your field.


It’s a mantra championed by everyone from Wall Street titans to our sitting US President (“I built what I built myself,” Trump told Charlie Rose in 1992. “I did it by working long hours, working hard and working smart!”).
This idea is staunchly rooted in the very foundations of America — a nation built on the cornerstones of rugged individualism, picking oneself up by the bootstraps, and accruing riches through sheer determination. Those who do make it big often fancy themselves to be “self-made.”
But these stories overlook a crucial ingredient of success: Luck.

Thomas Frank interview 
The Hustle 
Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

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