Sandra Newman @sannewman

THE SEVEN SECRETS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE

  1. Private school
  2. Legacy lvy admission
  3. Nepotism hire
  4. Seed capital from family
  5. Club memberships
  6. Personal assistant, nanny, ghost writer answer
  7. Journalists who ask, “What’s your secret?” and uncritically publish the
  • @surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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    471 year ago

    I’m wealthy now

    Oh honey… You’re on Lemmy. No you’re not. At best you’re on the top of the poors, and have no context of what wealthy really is.

    Unless you’re a secret self made billionaire that likes to slum it? In which case, I’m an honestly surprised.

    • Denvil
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      191 year ago

      Wealthy is relative. It’ll have an entirely different definition to a poverty stricken homeless person than it does to a billionaire.

    • Jo Miran
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      111 year ago

      Wealthy, not rich, not even affluent. Wealthy just means I can afford to live comfortably as long as I don’t get a prolonged illness or get sued. They key to happiness is the management of expectations.

        • Jo Miran
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          81 year ago

          I think people reading my comment and getting stuck on “wealthy” are missing the forest for the leaves. My point was that unless you were lucky to be born privileged, regardless of level of privilege, your only way up is if you have excellent education (especially if that education includes privileged friends like you would get in a private school), a hunger and singular focus to get out from your shitty situation, and copious amounts of luck.

          People born rich have no idea what it takes to climb out from living in public housing. Had my mother not spent a huge chunk of her paycheck on my private education, and had federal grants and low tuition not existed in the 90’s, there’s no way I would have had the life I have now.

          Looking at tuition prices now pisses me off. I guess the crack in the window people like me squeezed through was too wide, so they tightened it down further.

        • Jo Miran
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          81 year ago

          To me:

          Affluent: Nice house, nice car, nice clothes, in debt up to their eye balls. Can afford college for the kids…for more debt. Kids will graduate with crippling debt.

          Wealthy: Can afford to buy nice things. Can afford to send kids to college. No debt.

          Rich: Fuck you money

          Billionaires: Honestly, my brain can’t reconcile this level of wealth. I just can’t comprehend it.

        • Jo Miran
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          31 year ago

          I hear ya. It’s all relative. I remember back in 1997 I had done a little job, got paid for it, and deposited the check. It was the first time I saw that I had $424 in my bank account mid month and I didn’t have to stress about rent. I remember because I thought it was so much money that I had to show my wife.

          My wife was the first to get “a good job” (it was actually terrible) and I remember when she got her first paycheck. It was $998.86 and we just happy cried in the car.

          My mother died during my senior year of high school and her parents are in a poor Eastern European country. No help was coming. These memories stick around because, wether other people think it or not, being that desperate leaves a permanent mark, and these were the first glimpses of hope.

          PS: The place we rented for $275 (yes, it was a ghetto) twenty five years ago goes for $1200 now. I genuinely have no idea how people are supposed to survive.

      • @surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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        41 year ago

        Wealthy usually means multi millionaire that makes at least half a million a year. I guess I assume those people don’t hang out online.

        • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin
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          21 year ago

          Nah, they just hang out on linked in to farm the ego boost of networking connection requests fo dayz

          • Jo Miran
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            11 year ago

            LinkedIn is very useful to keep in touch with colleagues while your coming up. Honestly, don’t underestimate it just because it’s full of spammers. Once you’re established it becomes useless. The networks I’m past of tend to hang out in mailing lists, private rooms (Slack, etc), and stuff like that. Also what gets discussed is super mundane. Does anyone have spare tickets to ACL? Fantasy Football. Book lists. Best places to eat and visit when in “x”. From time to time somebody asks for “an in” with a particular company, or a summer internship for their kid, VC, attorneys, etc. A lot of charity conversations. Ninety percent of the time, it’s very unremarkable.

            PS: I took my companies 100% “work from home” in 2012. When the pandemic was starting and a lot of us suspected that a Chinese style lockdown was coming, there was a lot of exchange of information on how to best, and quickly, implement WfH. Executives from companies in the collaboration space were there and they set a lot of other companies up within hours with the particulars to be figured out later. CEO’s, some from very recognizable names, openly discussed it. I personally provided all the information I could about or experience as a permanently WfH organization. Within days (before the official lockdowns were mandated) most of the companies in that list had already gone WfH. Some, including two really big names, went into it with the expectation of maintaining WfH as a permanent option. I like to think I helped convince them but that’s just my ego talking.

            Networks don’t have to be evil centers of self interest and conspiracy. Most are boring and sometimes some good comes out of it.

            • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin
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              21 year ago

              I’m not saying networking is evil, I’m saying it’s just scummy that networks are the primary driver of being able to find a decent career, especially for people who have enough trouble developing social connections for their own social enjoyment’s sake.

              • Jo Miran
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                11 year ago

                Sadly, you are correct. I wouldn’t call it scummy because it makes it sound conspiratorial, but for most busy managers it’s easier to hit their friends and colleagues for hires than it is to hit a job site. Digging through hundreds of submissions and making calls is very time consuming. Sure there are recruiters but your first and easiest choice is to call up people you know. Maybe you can hire them, a known entity with a skill set you know it’s there, or they can recommend someone. It’s not fair, but once you’re in s hiring position I can guarantee that you will do the same. Cold recruiting is just a pain in the ass

                If you are stuck with only job sites, there are ways to better your odds. The odds still suck, but they can suck less.

        • Jo Miran
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          11 year ago

          I don’t see why you think that. What you describe is essentially my household but I’ve been online since ~1996 with Usenet and IRC, and my wife passes the time by reading gossip sites. People don’t have to change all of their habits the moment they have money.