Betting on Yourself
By: Adebola Alabi
Tags: Success, Lessons Learned, Advice, Life Lessons, Inspiration

I recently read an article in which the author wrote about some distinguishing traits of self-made billionaires. The article got me thinking about these self-made billionaires and the rest of the people who struggle to make ends meet. It got me to ask the question, why is it that some people seem to have more than enough while billions of others are scraping by. How did one man amass wealth to the tune of $150 billion dollars, yet in the same country, millions of people do not have $150 in their bank accounts?

Is there anything special about these self-made billionaires? Are they more intelligent than the rest of us? Are they smarter? Do they have a better education?

If you check properly, you will find out that the answer is “No.”

Okay, what is it then, that helped them to attain a billionaire status?

Is it luck? Luck is the reason most people often give when they talk about highly successful people — they will say it is just luck.

Trust me here, you don’t become a billionaire by sheer luck. (You can argue that some inherit their wealth, but notice that we are talking about self-made billionaires, not those that inherited their wealth.)

Is it hard work? I’m sure they work hard, but so are the billions of other hard-working people who still find it hard to accumulate any level of wealth.

Is it a college degree? Again, the answer will be “No” because many college-educated professors struggle financially.

According to the article, the self-made billionaires are so because they made a bet on themselves. The rest of us don’t do that often enough; we instead place our bet on:

- College Education: Think about it, why did you study your degree program? For the most part, you do so, so that after college, you can find a job and work to earn a living.

- Employer: After college, we place another bet on our employers, that business will continue to do well, and we will continue to receive our salary, and that one day, we will retire; hopefully, we have saved enough money to take care of us during our retirement.

- Government: If you are in the USA, and if you are counting on your social security checks, you are invariably placing a bet on the US government that it will keep the faith and be there to take care of you in the future. This may not be the case with some third world countries, with no social safety nets.

Most people find it rather hard to place a bet on themselves, but we have confidence in others. If you can flip that equation and begin to put some faith in yourself, you will be able to maximize your potentials.

Check this out:

- Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, may not be known today if he did not bet on himself. He quit his high paying investment banking job to start his own business. Today, he is worth over $180 billion

- Elon Musk bet on himself by starting multiple companies — Paypal, SpaceX, & Tesla. Today, he is worth over $140 billion.

- Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is a man that also bet on himself; he did so by dropping out of Harvard to start his own business. Today, he is worth over $120 billion.

- Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, placed a bet on none other than himself, and he built a business empire in the fashion industry. Today, he is worth over $100 billion.

- Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook also bet on himself; he dropped out of Harvard to start Facebook. He has been able to attract billions of people to his platform, and in return, he got a monetary reward. Today, he is worth over $100 billion.

Obviously, it’s not every business owner that will become millionaires or billionaires. Still, the first step to attaining that status must start with people having confidence in themselves, that they can achieve their financial dreams.

To be successful at anything we do, we must learn to bet more on ourselves. We must be able to build confidence in ourselves and follow our dreams. To fully maximize our potentials and live life to the fullest, we must bet on ourselves.

Photo by the blowup on Unsplash

Here are some reasons why people don’t bet on themselves

Fear of failure: If you let the concern of failing in your endeavor, dominate your thoughts, you will find it challenging to move towards your destiny. Don’t let the fears of failing hold you back in life. Failure is not a permanent condition, you learn from your experience, and you keep moving forward. People’s Opinion: What would people say if I do that? What would they think of me? If you evaluate all your decisions based on people’s opinions, it will be tough to accomplish any meaningful thing. You should follow your instincts.

Here are some ways to help you start betting on yourself.

Have a vision: Without a clear vision of what you want in life, it is impossible to know what you want in life. Your vision will be a guide as you make progress towards your goals. Build confidence: Every worthwhile endeavor will take time to come to fruition. If you are launching a business today, it probably won’t become a multi-billion-dollar business within just a week or month of starting, but that shouldn’t stop you from starting anyway. It takes time to build massive success. Start small, build your confidence and faith in your ability, and keep making progress. Learn, become better, & give back: As you continue to move forward, make sure you are learning and improving so you become better at what you do. Ultimately, you must also find ways to give back by helping others rise and find meaning in life. You must empower people.

Here is what it means to bet on yourself.

You put faith in your God’s given ability by betting on yourself. And it indicates that you are willing to do your part so that you can fulfil your dreams.

So, go ahead, and bet on yourself.

- Go ahead and write that book

- Go ahead and start that business

- Go ahead and compose that music

- Go ahead and run for that political office

- Go ahead and apply for that position in your office

It is only by betting on yourself that you will be able to rise up and reach your potentials. You have what it takes to achieve your goals, but you must bet on yourself.