Comment by ip26
2 months ago
One did a lot of reasonable little stuff but never did anything with much impact again
This always stymies me. If I were to make it big, I’d want to go on to do other very useful things. But so commonly that doesn’t happen. Is it because they lost the fire? Because they were really lucky exactly once? Or perhaps their talents were suited only to that one thing?
That's always a good question. Were you smart, or were you lucky?
This is most often a problem with traders and investors who made a good bet. Less so with something that took a lot of effort to make work.
I know a married couple who blew through an amount in eight figures and had to get low level jobs. Lost their house.
Maybe somewhat less, but effort doesn't really imply value and value doesn't imply successful extraction.
Skill, luck, timing.
Few people achieve something big. Even fewer can achieve another big thing. Even less can continue achieving.
Personally I get immense enjoyment out of not doing anything useful, especially not on a big scale. So if I were to accidentally "make it big", I'd most likely not do it again and keep enjoying the small inconsequential things.