Make it easier for the next person

Hey friends 👋,

I love a good underdog story. It's inspiring to hear tales of people going from nothing to something. I get to come away feeling like, "If them, why not me?"

But this week, I've been thinking about what happens when these same underdogs become biased to their own success and use their story as an excuse to limit social progress. They weaponize the reversal of this question and say, "If me, why not them?"

It must be because you aren't working as hard as I did. It must be because you don't want it as badly as I did. It must be because you aren't making the sacrifices I did. It must be because you aren't fully committed like I was. It must be because you're not as good as me.

We use these narratives to justify making others walk the same difficult path we traveled – like some kind of childish form of hazing. We insist that others "pay their dues" or "struggle like we did."

But this attitude is selfish. It's saying: "I don't want your journey to be easier than mine, because that might diminish my accomplishments."

This is a form of gatekeeping fueled by success bias. It's akin' to having a door opened for you and then slamming it shut on your way in.

This week, news broke that the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office has had 60% of its staff agree to take Elon Musk's "fork in the road" proposal of quitting with severance instead of waiting to be fired.

The LPO is a bank run by the government that provides loans for projects that can't qualify for financing from private banks. It is a highly efficient, profitable government program that has primarily given energy start-ups the capital they need to get started.

One of these young up-starts was Elon Musk. Musk received half a billion dollars from the LPO to build Tesla's factory and charging station infrastructure.

And instead of bolstering the program that he benefited from, he's gutted it.

If we want the world to get better, we need to use our success to make the journey easier for those who come after us. We must strive to be giants so that others can stand on our shoulders.

Making someone else's path less rocky doesn't erase the obstacles you overcame. Your story remains just as valid and impressive.

In fact, using whatever privilege, knowledge, or resources you've gained to create wider doorways for others makes your story more inspiring.

And doing the opposite makes you look like an asshole.

Until next time,
Drew