Wrong. Total bull if you ask me. There's no such thing as not having a choice in life. The problem comes when people argue that they don't achieve anything even after working very hard. The problem? YOU'RE NOT WORKING SMART! There's a huge difference between someone who does not have a choice in their life, and someone who doesn't bother making a change in his/her life.
I personally know a guy who owns a couple of night clubs in Thailand. He was an orphan at 2, left to fend for himself in Bangkok. Although he grew up in an orphanage, one could only imagine the hell he had to go through growing up in that city, of all places, as an orphan. The dude is 32 this year, and is a self made millionaire with some solid business connections.
I'm not going to go into detail about how he got there, but my point is, not only did he work hard to get where he is now, HE WORKED SMART as well.
On your point that some have their talents undiscovered, who do you assume is to blame then? Their parents, friends and society? Talent is something you know you have, there's no such thing as "undiscovered talent", well to me at least. Sure, I know when people say undiscovered, they probably mean that its not out there to the entire world to see. So I ask you again, who is to be blamed? If a person knows that he/she has a talent that society might appreciate, the only reason the world would not know about it would be due to the lack of initiative by the person to showcase that talent. There have been millions of success stories out there of people who have made it from nothing. I'm not only talking about the rags to riches, poverty to hip social status type of people. Look at those SPM leavers who knew that they couldn't bother continuing their education due to the lack of interest. A lot who persevered made it in the end through hard work and dedication, showing their employers what they're capable of, which in a nutshell means showcasing their skills.

Just my 2cents, no offense.

You're looking at it from a reality TV competition point of view. With TV exposure, one can't say that one is more talented than the other just because the person wins a competition, and come on, we all know this fact deep inside, whether we'd accept it or not. My point is, if you're good, you're good. Its a matter of how you portray that to the world and make your gift work for you. I mean come on, I'm pretty sure those who've watched reality TV competitions don't always agree that the person who won at the end was the best, so again, its up to your own perception. Just because a majority of voters decide a winner, that doesn't mean that person would be the best among the rest. Look at Chris Daughtry for example. He was good at what he did, which is rock. He got eliminated somewhere around the last 4 IIRC, but still ended up becoming the most successful contestant for that season. Why? Because after being eliminated, he worked smart, and made the correct choice to make an ALL ROCK album, by starting a ROCK band. He used HIS gift to HIS advantage. I've not heard of the winner of that season since then to be honest, she just disappeared. Carrie Underwood on the other hand, the winner of the first season, went on to become the best selling contestant of all time, bagging country music awards after each album without fail. Why? SHE WORKED SMART. Instead of going mainstream and recording pop albums which is what the current generation look forward too, she followed HER ELEMENT and recorded a country album. Sure, many in the east might not be fans of the southern US genre, but those who were thought she was wonderful at what she did, and went on supporting her all the way. Daughtry and Underwood might not have had to work as hard as the rest to get a contract due to their natural talent, BUT, they did have to work smart to choose the proper path. Daughtry was offered to be the lead singer for Fuel for God's sake, and he turned it down. Why? I don't know, but PROBABLY because he was SMART enough to make a life changing decision.

I agree with you that one can work hard and aim for what he wants, and yes, there will surely be obstacles along the way, and that goes to any profession and/or anything that we're doing. The difference between these people, and the people who explore other options along the way, and are willing to open up to new ideas and views on the other hand is what makes them successful, IMHO at least. Some methods of getting there might now suit well with most people, heck probably even the majority of society, but hey, if you're willing to risk everything you've worked for, for a shot at success, would you do it? Assuming its all legal, and withing moral boundaries of course.



On what made my friend successful, I skipped that part for a reason, not wanting to dwell into it any deeper. But I'll just tell you this much. He was street smart. His social skills were one of, if not the best I've ever seen in a person. He has one of those abilities that make people just lve to be around him, and trust me, he used this gift to his advantage. He worked at clubs, as a bartender/promoter/usher during his teens. Due to his people skills, he managed to make friends with many high profile people who visited the places he worked in. One thing led to the next, and he worked for this ang moh expat who made him in charge of one of the city's hottest spots at the time. There he made even bigger "connections" with people you wouldn't even dare go near, and picked up even more tricks of the trade from them. You see, he worked his way from a no one, to a someone, by using his gift of having really good PR. When he started his own club, he didn't have any problems from any of the competitors as they all knew him personally and grew fond of his attitude of wanting to be successful and trying his best to get it. I've mixed with my fair share of important business people for someone at my age, and trust me when I say they don't hesitate when it comes to giving others advice. They like to see spirited people, ones who keep asking the "wh" questions non-stop and are willing to learn instead of continuously whining.
In my opinion, people who wok hard get there eventually, but its the ones who add a little brain to the brawn who get there even faster.


Again, this is just my personal view on how I live my life. It has been doing me great so far, so yeah, I'd pretty much stick to it and make changes where I think is necessary in order to make myself feel even better as time goes by.