As children, we think things just exist. Buildings, parks, institutions. They’re just there, like mountains or rivers. Part of the landscape.
Then we grow up and realize that, oh, someone built that. But that realization doesn’t do it justice. We equate “someone built that” with “someone made dinner,” a straightforward process with a clear outcome.
But that’s not what actually happens. Consider a hotel.
That hotel didn’t just get built. Someone had to fight for years to get permits. They had to convince investors who thought they were crazy. They had to navigate endless city council meetings, neighborhood associations, and environmental reviews. Every inch of progress required weeks of negotiations, each minute burning through money only the dreamer had to pay. They probably came close to going bankrupt twice, missed payroll at least once, and mortgaged everything on something no one else cared about as much as they did. Their marriage might have fallen apart, they lost countless nights of sleep, and gained a ton of weight.
That hotel didn’t have to exist. Every single thing we see, someone had to will it into existence against the entropy of the universe and the indifference of everyone else. That’s what the entire built world is.
But we don’t see it that way. We see the finished hotel, not the invisible costs. It makes us think achievement is easier than it actually is. That successful people somehow had advantages rather than just more determination.
Every business is the same story. Behind each one is someone who quit their stable job, mortgaged their house, and drained their savings for a dream no one else could see. They had to keep believing through years of evidence suggesting they were wrong. They had to persist through failed launches, departing employees, and family dinners where relatives asked why they were on their phone.
Behind every seemingly effortless success lies a landscape of invisible battles: endless meetings, self-doubts, and moments of near-total collapse.
What truly separates people isn’t some magical talent, but an almost irrational commitment to pushing through pain that would break most people.
That hotel wasn’t inevitable. No success is. Paying the price doesn’t guarantee success. Determination is necessary but not sufficient. You can sacrifice everything and still fail. The world is littered with abandoned attempts.
Everything around you—every convenience you enjoy, every space you inhabit, every service you use—was one person’s refusal to accept the world as it was.
The world progresses from a collection of irrational dedication.