The expression refers to people who take what they have and make something out of it. Maybe they inherited a positive attitude and good work ethic and of course if it weren't for their parents and grandparents and great grandparents and eventually the creation of the Earth they would have never been successful, but that's not what it's about.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

So what about the people who take what they have, and are trying with all their might and understanding to do and accomplish so they can succeed? I was always taught growing up that if you play by the rules and work hard you can and will succeed. So far, I have not lived that experience. It is not for lack of desire, hard work, knowledge, or ability.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Do you think you've reached your full potential to achieve what you want? If so, how do you know you're trying the hardest than you ever possibly could? Could it be possible that your definition of success might be setting the bar a little too high for you to meet your goals? I'm not criticizing you or anything.. just asking questions. These are good questions to ask yourself. How do you properly gauge who has more desire to do something?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Just read your bio.. There's no shame in not knowing what you want to be--even if you're middle aged. It sounds like you've experienced a variety of things in life and to me, that is admirable. I'd personally rather be a Jack of all trades than be knowledgeable or good at on only one thing. And welcome to Amirite! Glad you left Reddit. haha

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Thanks for your welcome gesture and the input. I could easily use myself as an example of what I am trying to say, but if I left myself out of the equation and went entirely on my observations throughout my lifetime, I would conclude that there is no magic formula, or step by step program a person can implement to achieve or become whatever they want. I would say that most people (if not all) want to improve themselves and be better than they are. Who wouldn't want to drive a nicer car, live in a better house, have nicer and finer things? I look at the world I live in and see that Americans have a fairly high standard of living compared to the rest of the world. But, even in this country, we have families struggling to survive, pay the mortgage, buy groceries, etc. Did those people actually choose that? I would think not! It would be hard to imagine anyone putting themselves in a deliberate worsening situation or condition. So life and things happen, we take a few spills and falls, and we always try to rebound.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

But what about people who do all the right things (meaning they do everything they understand how to), always have a job, are law abiding, love their families, and spend their entire lives struggling to just make ends meet? That was kind of my thrust. Migrant workers probably put in as many hours (or more) as any Wall Street Executive, but one is barely able to exist while the other enjoys "success." And I realize success is measured by far more than material or financial gain. But, we can not live in a world that requires money for pretty much everything we do without lots of money! And many people DO fall in to their wealth, so they are not self made. Some folks never have or had to work an honest job or do what it took to get what they have. We all know of the "silver spoon" - and it has been around for a long time. I listen carefully to people who have made it big or succeeded, and some of them set out to become such and such, while others seem to have had it fall in to their lap. I could ramble on and on about this topic and will do so as we go along.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You're saying you aren't successful? I think you might have a skewed definition of successful because it doesn't mean millionaire, and it doesn't even mean an office job. Something tells me that you have had a decently comfortable middle-class life, otherwise we probably wouldn't be seeing you here with internet access. Also, your bio details that you've been one to experiment with life trying to find yourself. I fully understand and support that desire as I have also been going through a similar phase, but you can't not take part in the system and then blame it for not fulfilling its purpose. If you truly wish to make it big in a capitalistic society, you need to have focus and drive towards a goal; not experimentation. Again, I'm not faulting you for this kind of lifestyle, but it's a choice; it's not often that somebody can have the best of both worlds

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I take no offense to any comments or suggestions another person may offer me. Actually, I am a student of LIFE. I am trying to get through it just like you or the next person. I guess I will break myself down a little more here for illustrative purposes. I have always been able to get and maintain a JOB. My dilemma and frustration has been not being able to ever get a quality decent paying job. I have struggled my entire life just to pay the bills with no extras or frills of any kind. I could tell you stories that would probably make your hair stand on edge. I KNOW and have lived broke, and have always wanted better. When I married my first wife, I was 19 - way too young and as green as they come. We had our first child the following year, and needless to say, that put a huge strain on the relationship and career pursuit. And though I have done many things in my lifetime, all of them have paid very little money. Most jobs I have had paid $10.00 per hour. The job I presently hold does not pay quite that per hour - almost. So, I am constantly looking for side or part time work to supplement the income just to make it. My wife does not work and is unable to do so. I carry the load.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Keep in mind, I am NOT crying tears, or complaining. In this economy, I count myself as fortunate to have a job at all. I know how many there are out there that don't have one. And at my age, we are not the most desirable in the work place. The trade I have just entered (going on 2 yrs.) offers hope and promise in the days ahead, so I believe I am on a good road. I have never sought fame or fortune. My goal and dream of "succeeding" would be to have enough money coming in each and every month to KNOW for certain that I could pay the regular bills, and then have a little left over for enjoyment. My wife and I are not druggies, we have no hard core vices, and we live very simple moderate lives. I have read tons of books on making it big, positivity, etc., but most of them seem to help people who already have money or who are doing quite well. Case in point: I read Loral Langemeir's book called the Millionaire Maker. In the book she makes the claim that she can take ANYONE and turn them in to a millionaire. The book takes several families of various backgrounds and income levels, and shows what she did with each of them to put them on the path to a million. But in each and every case, the people all had decent incomes, nest eggs, and holdings. They had something to work with. There was not one example of anything with as low of an income as myself, with no savings, no property, no nothing! Anyway, I will continue commenting on here. I am open to lots of ideas and I see there are other comments here to read. Keep talking to me. I really am a good listener.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well since I don't much about your life or career choices I might recommend some things you've already tried. For one, maybe you (or anyone in a similar position) may not have put enough time into schoolwork at an early stage. There truly is work out there, the shortage is of qualified people. For example, I saw a small business owner give a presentation about his poultry nutrition business. He said that there are many 6-figure jobs waiting in his field in our state alone, but nobody bothers to get the education to fill them. Not to sound judgmental or anything, but maybe getting married and having kids at an early age wasn't the best choice. People like to say they live their own life and it shouldn't matter to anyone else, but some choices are still better than others and that one is one that will have everlasting repercussions as it no doubt made it difficult to education yourself or put much time into career opportunities. Next, I'd like to impress upon you the truth that everyone has trouble to know that they can pay the bills. From the very rich to the very poor. The difference isn't in being "successful", but in the quality of life that that person lives. Living with my parents in a nicer middle class house, I know that they have to sacrifice a lot to pay the mortgage every month and even myself, whose only major expense is gas, has trouble living in between pay checks. Again, since you apparently have internet access, I would guess you aren't quite impoverished, so I might try scaling back you expenditures until you're on better ground. Lastly, it is commonly thrown around that only those that already have money can make more. Only a fool would deny that it is easier to make money when you have preexisting assets to your name, but you don't need a trust fund to be successful. Everybody knows that name of John Rockefeller. He was that bastard capitalist that treated workers like crap and kept everything he earned for himself. What isn't too commonly know about him is that he grew up dirt poor. As a child left by his father, he sold rock candy to neighborhood kids to support his entire family. He then invested in a shovel, and helped people digging ditches, graves, etc. Eventually he kept trading up and became the richest man the world has ever known. And keep in mind, that was the golden age of laissez-faire economics when there were no regulations, safety nets, or government programs. The pattern is trading up. Check out this story http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2171378#.UXOCCLVQHWg The point is this: it doesn't take a large amount of money to be successful. Take what you have, and make it into something better. And then make what you get into something better. That's what all the greats do. Everybody knows the "self-made" men, not those that inherited and invested their parents' money and got even richer.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I appreciate your well meaning, and just read your profile. I am a 54 yr. old man, and since you are a junior living at home, there is not too many things you could possible tell me that I have not been through. I read your profile after I read your reply only because I thought your reply had a lot of simplicity and immaturity to it. I am not trying to put you down or slight you in any way. And at my age, I have spent many years reflecting on what I have and have not done. And of course, there is no way to go back in time and redo anything. We get one shot and that is it. I don't know of anyone who deliberately or willfully goes out and makes the worst or poorest choices they possibly can. In my youth, I made the best that I understood at that time. And you have probably heard the saying "hindsight is 20/20" - meaning it is easy to see clearly once you have been through something and then look back on it all. Since our life does not come with an instruction manual, much of what we learn is on the "fly" - experience teaches us many things. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and do better as we move ahead. I wish you all the best and keep that level head. Learn all you can now because once you leap out in to the real world on your own, the scenery drastically changes.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

"Self-made" means you took the initiative to make your own success. You didn't inherit it, or take handouts to get there. It doesn't mean that you never had any help in getting there. Society builds off itself, but that doesn't mean peoples' work and innovation aren't their own. This post is really just arguing the meaning of a common phrase

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It really isn't an argument. I just present things and pit things against themselves as I see them. That is the way my brain is wired. We all know the song that made Sinatra famous - "My Way" - and not knocking or slighting it in any way. But there are lots of people who have initiative, drive, desire, hope, wish, or whatever else you may say they need to "succeed" - but they have not experienced it. They aren't looking for charity or a free ride - they want an OPPORTUNITY or the VEHICLE to get them where they would like to go. Some people are good at making their own vehicle, while others need to be shown or pointed in the right direction. And I have observed that every money making opportunity on the internet, multi level marketing, or mass mailing - all play on the desire that so many people have. The "opportunity" they offer is that IF you send them a small fee, then they will send you a money making program that won't fail. And I have sent for my share of them hoping and thinking they might work. Needless to say, I am still looking.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

"Self-made" means you took the initiative to make your own success. You didn't inherit it, or take handouts to get there. It doesn't mean that you never had any help in getting there. Society builds off itself, but that doesn't mean peoples' work and innovation aren't their own. This post is really just arguing the meaning of a common phrase

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I think so many people fail to realize this! Sure, yeah some people did work their way up and became "successful", but statistically speaking if you were born poor, you're gonna die poor and vice versa. Now if you're talking about spiritual or intellectual success I think that is something that comes from within and that would make you "self-made"

by Anonymous 12 years ago

The "haves" and the "have nots" have always existed. And yet we live in a country that offers more than any other. The gut wrencher is trying to figure out how to cash in on having more or better. And we have all heard the phrase "it takes money to make money" - and that seems to be pretty correct. Most anything I would want to do to better my situation would/does require money. Another common phrase we all know is "its not what you know but WHO you know" - and I have observed plenty of that in my time. Many who have succeeded admit openly that they were in "the right place at the right time" - and they were not necessarily out busting their butts or planning to hit the big time. The real thrust behind my statement is in another post I have about there being a plan or formula in existence that ANY and EVERY person can follow to succeed (especially in the financial realm). Many of the self help, positive thinking, or money making books want you to believe that it is in fact possible. And all I am saying is, I would like to make or have it happen in MY life so I can say I have experienced and lived it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago