I believe the great tragedy that we have in the 21st-century is that people lack the chutzpah to think for themselves, by themselves, etc.
For example, if I think about traditional K-12 education, the primary focus should be teaching critical thinking, independent thinking, etc. Yet, traditional schools rather seem to be more about teaching obedience, grammar Nazi rules, etc.
For example, grammar. I think grammar is probably the biggest skins out there; some basic magic grammar is critical to just communicate basic things and ideas. Yet, when we enforce grammar for the sick grammar, we are missing the point.
For example, Seneca, at age 3 years, three months old; he knows Korean Vietnamese is in English, also Spanish. Yet, there is basic things I am teaching him like present future desires etc. These basic grammar rules are critical for higher order communication, but after that, grammar is not very necessary.
Also, street smarts, world Smarts.
What is the number one most critical thing in the child? Make sure your kid doesn’t die in a car accident, getting hit by a car, and also extreme caution while crossing the street etc.
Or when you’re babysitting or watching your nieces and nephews for the weekend; what is the number one most critical thing? Deliver them back in one piece, intact, alive. 
School?
The thing I am the most grateful for of studying college is the ability to unlearn, to challenge societal ideas. 
For example, I credit studying sociology at UCLA as an undergraduate for truly expanding my mind, and leading to almost all of my successes in my life. Why? Ironically enough, sociology is all via negativa;  sociology is all about unlearning, getting rid of nonsense from your mind, challenging traditional beliefs.
Even when I think about almost all aspects of my life, I have always pried myself in going against the green, challenging certain beliefs.
For example, all of my grand innovations in weightlifting, fitness, health, photography and open source, login, social media, and now bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
Why?
If you think about it, do you think about society as this ultra mega macro economic thing; day society isn’t about cultivating a few genuine thinkers, revolutionaries. Rather, it is all about creating mediocre, just kind of OK individuals.
For example, at Trader Joe’s the other day I saw a really funny T-shirt with an older guy wearing a T-shirt saying “the world’s okayest musician”.
Don’t be good, be great. – JAY Z
OK is bad?
What does it mean to be mediocre? Technically it just means the mean; the average, the middle. 
For example, I saw a very disturbing thing; I guess the evil Walt Disney corporation, which purchased marvel is now cobranding with the evil Coca-Cola corporation; selling your kids obesity, metabolic disease, type three diabetes (Alzheimer’s disease) and type two diabetes (purely a lifestyle thing). Essentially the new filter I have is this: 
Were your kids raised on Disney, Disney+, Netflix, Marvel superhero movies, YouTube, Bluey or not?
My greatest parent is that Seneca, ever since birth and up until now has never watched any YouTube, Netflix, senseless media or entertainment.
I often hear parents bemoan the fact that, it is so hard, everyone else is doing it. But just because everyone else is taking heroin and smoking crack cocaine, does that mean you should as well? Of course not. The best way to distinguish yourself is through what you decide not to do. 
Distinguishing yourself
The best way to proclaim who you are, or how to distinguish yourself how you are different, or how you are exceptional is through what you decide not to do, also in someways, rather than bragging about how much money you spent, it is better to brag about how little money you spend. 
For example, I’d like to brag how I have never spent more than $3000 USD on an automobile car in my entire life. My great joy, the recent 2010 Prius inherited from the family I got for free!
Also, my pride that I don’t have any sort of streaming TV services. Also the fact that I don’t use social media, and I don’t have an Instagram. My ultimate dad troll joke: 
When somebody asked me, “what’s your Instagram“? My response, in the serious voice and tone is this —
“What’s Instagram?”
I stare at people, blink, and they are not quite sure about how to respond.
Similarly speaking, your great signal of successes of photography or as a photographer is for you to NOT have an Instagram. If you could be a successful photographer without Instagram, you truly are successful. 
Bitcoin
When I purchase bitcoin for only $6900 in bitcoin, back in 2017 2018, only reason I could’ve ever invested speculated in bitcoin and cryptocurrency was that impact, I thought different. I think different,, for myself. It looks like my regulations have paid off. My bitcoin and crypto speculations have exploded; currently my net investments are easily over 1M. And looking forward, I won’t be too surprised when it is over 10M, or 100 M.
I think my big thought is thinking this:
> That thing I purchased today for $1000, could be worth 10,000 or $100,000 a few years from now.
For example, I saw that one of my neighbors just bought a new Porsche car, and I thought to myself, that 70,000 or $80,000 that you put towards our car today, could easily be worth 1 million or $10 million a few years from now.
Therefore, think an exponential; this is the true way to become rich.
Independent success 
I think and wonder to myself, true success is simply thinking different, being different, dressing different, acting different, lifting different, etc.
For example, all of my great successes in life were polar opposites to what traditional knowledge said. For example, when I told everybody that I was making all my materials available for free open source, people thought I was insane. The same goes with allowing full resolution images of all my images to be downloadable open for free.
And now, Mike grand idea of building the worlds first bitcoin based photography publishing platform; perhaps this will be my second great innovation. Email me: eric@erickim.com if you want to build the future together.
Why?
Ultimately, all thinkers, innovators, philosophers, or all centered around the same general idea of the betterment in the thriving of humanity. Everyone is doing this at a different way.
For example, Elon Musk, even though people are critical of him, ultimately what he wants to do is inject more optimism and hope into humanity. And this is a noble goal.
Steve Jobs, his ultimate vision was creating computers which became “bicycles for the mind”– essentially increasing the leverage of any human being by 100,000x.
Even more recently, my new favorite thinker Michael Saylor, I think his grand mission is economic empowerment. I am currently reading his decade old book, the mobile wave, and it looks like his primary benefit was studying the history of science as a 18-year-old at MIT; Reading the history of technology is in live and, because even for myself now at the age of 36, being born in 1988… I can very vividly see how my life was profoundly shaped by the Internet, the advent of blogging Facebook and social media, and now, my new Second Wave with cryptocurrency and bitcoin; having the privilege of Being alive and wise during the next grand uprising.
For example, Internet, blogging changed everything. It helped me build up the air Kim Empire. And now with bitcoin, cryptocurrency, Ethereum in the likes; maybe this could help me build the next true competitor to Facebook, Instagram etc —
The demise of Facebook is trying to build its own crypto lira, if Mark was really smart he would’ve just integrated bitcoin instead.
Maybe if I think even more ambitiously, I should just create the next social media platform, with bitcoin baked in.
Thinking big
I suppose the upside of living in America, or the modern day world, with the Internet and the like is the fact that there is no glass ceiling, no upper limits.