Sorry, there is no such thing as a self made man (woman, person, millionaire, etc).  A person may have had extraordinary skills, insight, intelligence or timing, but somewhere along the way, there was a person—or if they were very fortunate, several persons—that came into their lives and supported them, sacrificed for them, and taught them.  Perhaps that person was a teacher that went the extra mile or a coach that set their expectations for that person a little higher than others.  It could have been an employer that gave someone an opportunity that no one had given them before, because they saw something unique.  Maybe it was a parent that worked three jobs because they saw in their child an ability that one just doesn’t see every day.  Whoever it was, be assured that person sacrificed something, whether it be time, money, emotions, to pave the way to enable another person to achieve their dreams or to just help them realize they had a dream.

In this age of hustle and bustle, those mentors are becoming more difficult to find, as their time is consumed with other things.  And, we also live in an age of entitlement, where many think something is owed to them just because of their circumstances, which makes mentors a little hesitant to step up.  What if we threw a few mentors into the mix of those that felt they were entitled or those whose situations dictated they would repeat the mistakes of their fathers?  My prediction is that we would see an increase in mentors and an increase in “self made men”, because regardless of who we are, what age we live in, or what our circumstances are, we could all use that one person that can help make us shine; that one person that pushes us beyond our limits; that one person that believes in us when we don’t believe in ourselves.   And when a person becomes a “self made man”, perhaps they will remember who helped them achieve that status and play it forward.