I read most of the billionaire’s self help books and now I for sure don’t want to be a billionaire

Note: I’m not trying to excuse or justify these types of people, just adding some context to what I read. Also, most of these books were written before the current billionaire�� fanfare. <br><br>In an effort to try to understand the mentality of billionaires and to see what parts of their self help books I could try to incorporate into my life, I read a bunch of books written by billionaires. Here’s what I came away with. <br><br>I could not be less interested in becoming a billionaire. Sure, it would be nice to not have to worry about money, but not at the cost of the actual real life required to be billionaire. <br><br>These people are fanatics. They’re obsessive, compulsive, hyper critical of themselves and everyone else, fanatically Type A and they do not seem to enjoy life at all. <br><br>I don’t think there’s anything stranger to me in this life than the fact that there is a whole UHA of people right now trying their best to emulate some of the most soulless, emotionally unavailable people on Earth. <br><br>These people who for the most part seem to lack any empathy for anyone but themselves also seem to lack any capacity to enjoy anything but the constant pursuit of wealth and power. <br><br>Why on Earth would anyone want to be like that? <br><br>To be completely honest, after reading these books, I am just so thankful to be a completely average middle class American with a good job, a full fridge and a for the most part happy life. <br><br>A few other observations: In almost every book I read, the author started off their biography by talking about how poor and uncomfortable their childhood was. I don’t think it’s an accident that people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg in particular are as cold and calculating as they are, and that they come from this place of scarcity and hypercriticism. It will probably make me sound very mid to say this but I think having a pretty normal childhood with parents that loved and supported me and never having to worry about being hungry or being evicted might be the greatest blessings of my life. <br><br>Second observation: it’s all fake. Every word of advice in these books is built around the idea that you should be making whatever sacrifice necessary to accumulate wealth and power. But what if you don’t want to make those sacrifices? What if you want a happy life? What if you want to be able to feed your kids and be present for them every day? But also maybe enjoy life a little bit? This whole billionaire thing just seems like it’s going to be so empty and lonely for 99% of people. If these people are happy, thats fine. But for me, I’d rather have a happy life than an exceedingly wealthy one. <br><br>What are your thoughts?