Saw a post a while back that started with “Your income reflects…” that went on to list things like, “the caliber of the people you spend your time with” and “your commitment, perseverance and fortitude.”
And honestly, it really doesn’t.
I mean, these things are variables that have some influence, but they’re pretty far down the list in comparison to things like…
Where you were born.
Your parents’ level of income and education.
Where you fall on the spectrum of inequality because of race, gender, ability, etc.
In a world where your ZIP code predicts your health better than your genetic code, the hard data shows stronger correlation between the circumstances of one’s birth than “mindset” or “attitude,” which isn’t to say those things don’t matter. Often they’re key to a person being able to outperform their social predictors.
But man, I’ve been to parts of the world with some of the highest poverty rates, and I can tell you, it’s not that way because of the caliber of the people those communities spend time with, or a lack of commitment.
Invest in your mentality. I do think that matters a lot. But don’t let it be a thing that makes you think less of people in worse scenarios because you think they simply “don’t got it.”