Or be very lucky. I'm finding that luck is one of the key things in what many call "success".
C
Keep thinking that.
At some point you'll learn that you have to set yourself up to have an opportunity to even have a chance of being lucky.
Sure it's nice to think we made our wealth by the skin of our own hands, and in a sense that has some merit, but I know way too many dot.com people who worked like hell at places like intercon, digex, and the like who ended up with dick. And some people from ftp and the like who made out exceptionally well. And some people who got lucky, thought it was "skill" and promptly lost it all in the next venture.
And luck is a tricky thing: Looking back I see that I was exceptionally lucky to be kicked out of college in 1986 for inadvertently crashing the VAXes (hey, you run batch jobs that resubmit themselves and sometimes shit happens) because my compatriots went on to extremely ordinary lives.
Never confuse luck for skill, or skill for luck.
It seems we are on the same page, your original post just seemed a little "you didn't build that!" for my taste. Out of context, nothing political I promise.
I entirely understand that it's not just pure ambition that makes money, but it sure does help your odds a whole lot. One of the best things about crypto, in my opinion, is that it follows no business hours. I can still be deeply into crypto, yet still have enough energy and time left for other plans should it all go bust. That doesn't mean it's no energy, it still takes time and lots of reading (everybody hates that step!) for me to feel knowledgeable enough to dump cash into profitable ventures though. If someone else did the same I imagine it would reduce the amount of lucking out you'd need to remain profitable, but not eliminate it
I also had a pretty big life altering situation that I hated for all it was worth at the time, yet now I realize it's probably the best thing that ever happened to me! College is for chumps
But, hey, I don't want to lost hope...