How the Example of Billionaires Leads People Astray

Smart people fail when they wrongly follow the example of billionaires. Take Oprah Winfrey for example.

The example of billionaires:

Oprah Winfrey:

Oprah didn’t find broadcasting. It found her.

Opra’s first exposure to radio happened after she won the Miss Fire Prevention Contest in Tennessee. See her audition on YouTube.

She showed up at WVOL in Nashville, Tennessee to gather her prize. The local DJ saw her fascination with the equipment and asked,

“Have you ever heard your voice on tape?”

“Think you could read this?” he asked.

“He tore some wire copy, adjusted the mic, and rolled tape as I began to speak. I hadn’t finished three sentences before he called for another guy, then another, to ‘come listen to this kid read.’”

Oprah left WVOL with her first job in broadcasting. She was a senior in high school.

Wrong conclusion:

Oprah Winfrey didn’t seek her first job in broadcasting. It found her. It was probably inevitable. She attended Tennessee State University on a full scholarship after winning a public speaking competition.

The example of billionaires might lead you astray.

The example of billionaires in tech:

Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell, Jack Dorsey, Larry Ellison, and Steve Jobs are/were billionaires. More remarkably, they all dropped out of college.

There are 2,668 billionaires in the world. (Forbes)

Don’t drop out of college because a few billionaires did. Millions of students drop out of college, only a handful become billionaires.

In 2017 Forbes reported that 84% of the 400 richest people in the world have college degrees. Compare that to 37.9% age 25 and older who have college degrees in the U.S. (Pew)

Happy accidents:

People often say, “I didn’t set out to become a ….”

Your perfect opportunity will likely find you while you’re doing something else.

Still curious:

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