That's interesting. The reason I wrote a post about it, though, is because it seems somewhat disturbing/alarming to me. I think many first time startup founders have a very visceral, almost animal-like feeling that if they make it big and become a multimillionaire, their problems will be solved and they will have won the game.
It doesn't appear this is the case though. In fact, some of the people I have met have told me they felt worse after succeeding the first time. To quote one of them, who said he got bored:
"I actually learned this lesson even before I had any disposable income by playing the Sims. I cheated and had loads of cash. Made my house amazing, etc. But everybody was still unhappy and there was nothing left to do in the game."
It's good to see the post below by lionhearted, but I get the feeling that isn't a common occurrence.
It's an inside/outside effect. From the outside, business success / influential job / speaking at conferences / being a published author / whatever looks glamorous and amazing, if not a little touched by destiny.
Then you get in there and realize it's full of regular people who are petty, short-sighted, don't work very hard, make mistakes, have personal issues, got where they were with lots of luck, and so on. Just like you. And it doesn't really change your life that much. From the inside, it's not nearly so amazing as it seemed to the outsider you were.
But while disillusioned you is no longer an outsider, there are tons of other outsiders remaining, gazing at you the way you once gazed at your now-equals -- and because you now know that this jealousy/esteem/worship/whatever is unfounded, you feel unworthy of these emotions directed at you and seek to justify or earn them.
It's kinda like finding out that the hero you idolize is in fact an alcoholic and kicks his cat, only that hero is you.
Taken to extremes, this totally normal phenomenon becomes a psychological condition called "imposter syndrome."
It doesn't appear this is the case though. In fact, some of the people I have met have told me they felt worse after succeeding the first time. To quote one of them, who said he got bored:
"I actually learned this lesson even before I had any disposable income by playing the Sims. I cheated and had loads of cash. Made my house amazing, etc. But everybody was still unhappy and there was nothing left to do in the game."
It's good to see the post below by lionhearted, but I get the feeling that isn't a common occurrence.