This may not be the most suitable quote to buttress your points, but i would still go on and say it: 'if you want something done well, you ought to do it yourself'. There is enough around us that could simply help an individual to just get by. Small job. Meagre salary. Pension savings, etc. However, if you aspire for more, then you have to be a 'creator', you have to be innovative and do something that will lead you into a better quality of life.
It is 'easy' to live the mundane and ordinary life, filled with 'i should haves'. But i believe we owe it to ourselves to push for something far better, that is why one should never stop learning. Fail, try again. Fail again, try again. Success is never a smooth path, but only the resilient eventually get there.
That quote you used may not be perfect, but the spirit is there: If you wait on another person to do the important work of instead you wait forever.
Where I think it's tricky is "do it yourself" doesn't start from the same place for all people. Some people are born in a calm house with stable parents, decent schools, maybe a bit of savings behind them. Other people are born into chaos, bad health, bad neighbourhoods, zero safety net. The first group is allowed to fail 10 times and still be okay. The second group can't sometimes afford to fail once. Same advice totally different risk.
I agree with you on the core; if you want more than a small job and small pension then you have to move like a creator. Keep learning, Keep trying, eat the failures and go again. I just think that we also have to be honest that the system does quiet punish some people for the same mistakes a huge bit more. That doesn't mean that they should give up. It means we should not disrespect the heaviness of the load they're walking around with, and maybe create communities (like this forum) where people sharing real tools, more than slogans, can do so.
Unfortunately, the freedom we hope for is always under pressure, posed by "regulation," regulations that usually favor and protect certain parties. Ultimately, you are the one who suffers, thanks to regulations that are full of deception in their application.
And who else can save you and lift you up?
"No one, but yourself."
When, "You are more valued if you have power, fame, authority, and a lot of money, that means you live in a normal world, that's how it is."
Similarly, in building a business, managing our finances, and other matters that influence our economy, we alone can make it happen. Only a handful of people or parties can truly provide good support, but the rest? Don't trust them easily.
I love this poem:
Poetry Quote)Saying "regulations are deceptive and protect certain parties", is true very often. But if we stop there we fall into the comfort of a story: "they are evil, I am the victim, and my only job is to distrust". That can be very powerful, but it can also prove to be another form of prison.
You say, "No one can save you but yourself". I'm with you. But if that's true, then we have to accept that our own choices are as much as any regulation. Many people use the word "system" to explain everything: bad job? system. No skills? system. No savings? system. At some point blaming regulation is a way of not looking in the mirror.
On top of that, power, fame, authority, and money are not the only currencies. They're the most visible ones, sure. But in actual life, things that don't like trust, reputation, rare skills, good networks, stuff like that, come into play and they're a silent actor more 20-30 years down the line. I've seen people - they don't have any big title and they don't have any fame at all - and they completely change their life just by stacking skills and building a small, real circle around them. No regulation prevented them, although rules were unfair.
I like the poem though
We are responsible of our own freedom, happiness and satisfaction in life, not the government, the people around or even our closest friends and family. Just only us, our own selves. That is why instead of waiting for the perfect offers and opportunities to come, why not let's create our own, because obviously the world can't help us if we don't start helping ourselves first. And when the world sees that we are already building our own image, that we are already heading to success, then the world starts to recognize and cheer for us. Let's motivate ourselves first before we will expect help and motivation from other people. There's nobody who will save us, so we should take the initiative to move on our own and create our own opportunities and skills to succeed in life.
Nobody will care more about your life than you do. That is just true. Waiting for permission or waiting for help that never comes is a way to be stuck forever. But I want to put in something from my own experience. When I began to build myself, I realized that self-reliance did not mean being solitaire. It means picking and choosing who you learn from, who you trust, who you create with, in other words, who you let into your life. The world does not only "see" you when you are successful. At times you need a single person to open a door. Sometimes you require some information that you cannot find on your own. Sometimes you need someone to believe in you before believing in yourself.
Thus, we must move first. We must take responsibility. But I also think we should make networks of people that think like us. Not waiting for the system, but not pretending that there is nothing we can do alone either. Self-reliance and selected community. That is the real formula that I believe in now.
Don't expect anything and from anyone, especially the government; just like Michael Jackson said, "They don't care about us". The rich always have a head-start, those who weren't that fortunate in life are going to have a hard time. It doesn't necessarily mean that if you were lucky enough to be born in a wealthy environment, you'll have a good life, but you have much better chances than someone who's starting from ground zero. We should only rely on ourselves, develop skills, maturity and self-control, you won't get far with 9-5 in terms of money, unless you're okay with the "safety" it provides.
I think only rely on yourself can be not complete as advices. Nobody who gets far in life did it literally alone. Even rich people are carried in family money, networks, better schools, softer landings after screwing up. Poor people lean on family, community, circles online, whatever they can find. Real power is being able to choose who you are reliant on, not pretending you never rely on anyone.
Same with 9-5. Saying "you won't get far with it" is true for big money, but it also smells a little bit like the Instagram hustle culture lie - as if everyone can or should get out of it immediately. If you're starting out from ground zero, that 9-5 might be the only way you might get your wits together to even think straight. When your rent and food are paid for, your brain can actually think about skills and side income and long term.
So I'd make a small tweak to your formula, which is that stop expecting much from the system, but don't go to the other extreme of thinking you must be a lone wolf. Use whatever you have (even a boring job) as a base for being more dangerous: more skilled, more informed, more connected. The rich have a head-start but the poor can at least stop playing by the script that was written for them. That's already rebellion of a quite way
