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>It’s about time that as society we open up about mental health and how to deal with our issues, instead of blaming the people with the issues and calling them

>It’s about time that as society we open up about mental health and how to deal with our issues, instead of blaming the people with the issues and calling them weak or snowflakes I imagine the parent poster you're responding to would agree with me that the problem here is centering your identity on weaknesses instead of focusing on what you can improve. I've had my share of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts, but as with anything else in life it really doesn't matter much what other people say about you and those things but how you alone deal with them. Obviously other people can play a part in this but at its core, success is exclusively individually based.

DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
> Obviously other people can play a part in this but at its core, success is exclusively individually based. Luck plays a huge role in success though. Literally every breakthrough experienced in my life wasn't because I worked very hard but because I was at the right time at the right place. Yes I wasn't lazy but I still won't lie to myself the same way I lie to HR & recruiter types who want to hear how X led me to Y. (X and Y were so far apart that only a miracle could explain what motivated me to "pivot"). Humans are all blinded by hindsight when we are asked to tell the story that made us (or broke us). People parrot Ayn Rand about "being the master of our success" because it makes us sound so much more virtuous than admitting we were at the right place at the right time, instead e.g.: Some poor maggots born in a 3rd world slum getting their limbs chopped as a child and sent to beg. Or that old homeless guy who has been set on fire twice who they call "the beggar king" who is always at the Frankfurt railway station, and who has a story about his father injecting him smack when he was 9 to get him hooked (and under better control). The majority that we tend to forget about simply never gets a chance. We don't count them because the only thing they are good for is so we feel better about our own great life which is perfectly visible when put into the contrast of such people.
- everdrive 5y ago
  >Luck plays a huge role in success though. Literally every breakthrough experienced in my life wasn't because I worked very hard but because I was at the right time at the right place. Longitudinal effort is what allows luck to work for you. If you keep trying things every single day, some of that luck will "compound" and pay off.
- castlecrasher2 5y ago
  I disagree, if only because those who take heed to your advice will find themselves worse off than if they treat themselves as the master of their own success. Clearly work alone isn't the only reason and you need to be smart about it, but effort always trumps excuses, even if the outcome of another's similar or lesser effort is better than your own.

DyslexicAtheist 5y ago

> Obviously other people can play a part in this but at its core, success is exclusively individually based. Luck plays a huge role in success though. Literally every breakthrough experienced in my life wasn't because I worked very hard but because I was at the right time at the right place. Yes I wasn't lazy but I still won't lie to myself the same way I lie to HR & recruiter types who want to hear how X led me to Y. (X and Y were so far apart that only a miracle could explain what motivated me to "pivot"). Humans are all blinded by hindsight when we are asked to tell the story that made us (or broke us). People parrot Ayn Rand about "being the master of our success" because it makes us sound so much more virtuous than admitting we were at the right place at the right time, instead e.g.: Some poor maggots born in a 3rd world slum getting their limbs chopped as a child and sent to beg. Or that old homeless guy who has been set on fire twice who they call "the beggar king" who is always at the Frankfurt railway station, and who has a story about his father injecting him smack when he was 9 to get him hooked (and under better control). The majority that we tend to forget about simply never gets a chance. We don't count them because the only thing they are good for is so we feel better about our own great life which is perfectly visible when put into the contrast of such people.

everdrive 5y ago
>Luck plays a huge role in success though. Literally every breakthrough experienced in my life wasn't because I worked very hard but because I was at the right time at the right place. Longitudinal effort is what allows luck to work for you. If you keep trying things every single day, some of that luck will "compound" and pay off.
castlecrasher2 5y ago
I disagree, if only because those who take heed to your advice will find themselves worse off than if they treat themselves as the master of their own success. Clearly work alone isn't the only reason and you need to be smart about it, but effort always trumps excuses, even if the outcome of another's similar or lesser effort is better than your own.