There is a common message in motivational videos and books: You are not ordinary; you can achieve whatever you want by working hard and giving your all, and then you become someone special. They should be correct because, looking back through history, there are many people whose names we know among billions. We recognize them because they accomplished something significant, and the underlying message is that we can do the same if we push the right buttons.
I used to believe in such things. They are, however, total lies. Nobody is exceptional, and one can accomplish very little on their own. The one thing we don't notice is that successful people achieve things by not working hard but by utilizing the work power of others to achieve their goals. This has been done by humanity for a long time. Great commanders used countries to accomplish their goals. In recent history, we began doing the same thing by forming corporations. These businesses discovered that by paying people and leveraging their power, they could accomplish great things.
Big names such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs... All of these people became wealthy by employing the same strategy. Warren Buffet... In general, we believe he made his fortune by making long-term investments with his own money, and he is successful because he invested for so long. However, he realized that his personal money was insufficient and began using other people's money, inventing new ways to do the same thing.
Linus Torvalds, how about you? He devised a new method for accomplishing the same goal. He took a risk by making his kernel's source code available to all, and he soon discovered that people contributed useful ideas. Later, he created Git to allow people to implement their ideas, which sped up the process, and by repeating the process for 25 years, he created something special. He did not, however, accomplish this on his own. If you look at the Linux GitHub page today, you'll notice that this project has over 13 thousand contributors. Over 13 thousand people volunteered to work on the project he created. We also did not include the people who work in companies that use Linux to develop new business models. Millions of people worked to bring Linux to its current state.
In a brief, no one is unique. We are all small parts of a much larger system. We achieved great things together, just like ants and bees. The Internet was not created by a single person; many people worked to lay cables deep in the ocean to connect people on different continents. As a result, if you want to be successful, work with others and learn how to harness the power of others. If you believe you can accomplish much on your own and that you are unique, you are just another Buzz Lightyear.
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