-I was homeless as a child, grew up in a trailer park, then paid my way through university with student loans and part time work for an engineering degree.

-In my engineering career, I started as a design engineer of a facility and solo-leveled up to being the head engineer 7 years in. I just kept asking for additional work to help alleviate bottlenecks, started running the technical finances, and then when it came time to apply for newly-vacant senior jobs, I had the best experience for it because I was already doing most of it.

-In my finance career, which I did in parallel as a side gig, I just started writing online and then it blew up into a massive business, dwarfing my engineering management work and basically forcing me to leave and focus on it. Even the idea of starting a business was just me googling about it; nobody in my life suggested I do this or served as an in-person example that it's possible.

And yet, I would not for a second think I did this alone. I didn't change my own diapers as a kid. I didn't teach myself English or math. When I was half-deaf from severe ear infections and not learning to speak clearly, it was surgeons who fixed it. Parents gave me love and motivation, if little else. Teachers taught. Occasional articles I read convinced me to do things (start a blog, study bitcoin, etc) often so subtly and cumulatively that I can't point to which ones. It's not like I just manifested in the savannah and hunted for game as an infant and then leveled up to where I'm at now; there was an inherent support network along the way; giants with shoulders to stand on, often without making it obvious.