I’ve had a couple of conversations recently that left me thinking.
One guy told me, very confidently, that he’s worth millions (even billions). Not working toward it, just that he inherently deserves that level of compensation. When I asked what he does, it turned out to be occasional catering gigs and some creative writing. No stable income, no real plan.
I mentioned this to someone else, and he said the guy was right. That people should believe they’re worth a billion dollars because they could be worth a billion dollars.
When I said, “As a finance person…” he got defensive, said he’s also in finance because his Robinhood trades have tripled. I said trading your own account isn’t the same as working in finance as a discipline. He disagreed and said anyone can be “in finance” without education or grounding.
So here’s my real question:
Is it healthy to walk around believing you’re already worth millions without doing the work?
Where’s the line between confidence, delusion, and entitlement?
To me, self-belief is important but value is built through skills, consistency, execution, and results over time. No one is owed millions just for believing hard enough .
Curious how other men over 30 see this:
-can confidence exist without evidence ?
-does“I could be worth billions” justify acting like you already are?
-What does being “in finance” even mean anymore?