Blog #2: What are the chances of becoming a public figure?

Blog #2 in the series on success foundations, Context: Male, 29 years old

In today's internet culture it feels like success is all around us. We see it among athletes on tv, celebrities on social media, and politicians on the news. These individuals exude the idea of "having" which we so often associate success with in American culture. Money, power, fame these all go hand in hand with the individuals we see on TV. It is no wonder so many young people aspire to it and reach for it. 

But at the same time it seems so distant. How many of your friends are actually celebrities, world class athletes, or powerful politicians? The answer is probably close to 0. What is the likelihood that you turn into any of those? Again probably close to 0. But let's be a bit more reasoned than that. Given the amount of content produced on a daily basis, you would assume that celebrity, pro level athletes, and celebrities are common place. But in reality a small fraction of the US population is any of these. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 16,700 pro athletes in the US. According to the Government and wikipedia there are 542 Federal Offices (President, Vice President, Senators, congressmen and women) and 55 Governors. And according to the New York Post there are roughly 4,763 celebrities. This is a conservative estimate as a large majority that fit the description are likely utterly unrecognizable by the majority of Americans. However, in summation this amounts to 22,060 people (assuming no overlap which there may be). Today the US population sits at roughly is 329.5 million people. 

So what we are inundated with on a regular basis is really the amplified actions of 22,060/329,500,000 = .0067% of Americans or the non 99.9933%.

That puts your likelihood of entering this group at 1 in 14,936. For comparison, getting struck by lightning during your lifetime has been calculated at 1 in 15,300.

I share these odds not to suggest that becoming a celebrity is impossible but more to suggest that becoming one requires either extreme luck or an uncommon plan & execution. Click here to read one reason why becoming a celebrity isn't enough when we think of success today.