Angry reader says I’m lying about being “self made”

Note: This email is one that I wrote earlier in 2021.   I got a bunch on my plate this morning, so I’m resending this one (it’s a good one)

I mentioned in an email a few weeks ago that I was a “self made millionaire” which apparently ruffled one guy’s feathers.

He responded by saying…

“No one is a self made millionaire.  People helped you along the way.  And you profited off the work of the people that work for you.  So you’re not self made“.

Yikes.

I’m not sure this guy deserves a response.

But I’m gonna give him one anyway.

Mostly because he’s missing the point of what “self made” actually means.

To me “self made” simply means you didn’t inherit your money.

It doesn’t mean that you didn’t have help…

Or that you did every single thing on your own…

All it means is that the money you made was earned by you. 

So if you’re self made, that means your parents didn’t give you a trust fund with a couple million bucks…

And you definitely didn’t win the Powerball jackpot…

The money you have is because of your own effort.

To me that’s what “self made” is.

And by that definition, I’m a self made millionaire.

Which is something I’m quite proud of.

Cause the reality is, I shouldn’t be this successful.

If I would have stayed on the path I was supposed to be on, I’d be working at a Verizon store in Sandusky, Ohio right now.

Honest to God.

That’s what half the guys I hung out with in highschool are doing. 

But that was typical for where I grew up.

You basically got a job at the Ford plant…

Or your friend got you in at a retail job…

And if you made $50k a year, you were killing it.

That’s what I was destined for.

So the fact that I escaped that…

And built something on my own…

Is something I’m proud of.

That’s what “self made” means to me…

So there ya go…

Hope this little story inspires you to make it on your own…

And to live a life on your terms…

Enjoy your Thursday…

– Justin