I'm not rich, I don't come from a wealthy family, I never graduated college, and I've rarely had anything to offer anyone except my friendship and my ideas. And that's been enough for me to meet and collaborate with almost everyone I've ever wanted to.
When everyone is trying to convince you that your circumstances will doom you to mediocrity or failure, that the world is rigged against you, that nobody who can help you will ever help someone *like* you... tuning all of that out is a legitimate superpower
My advice: consume a lot of information, let yourself get rabbitholed. Read, think, and write a lot, but don't make it a chore. Reach out to your heroes, but also to people who produce great but less recognized work. Don't belittle yourself. Write emails you'd want to receive.
Start helping other people in small ways right away. Really listen to people and think about who you know that could help them do what they're trying to do. Sincerely hope the people around you meet their highest potential, even if it's greater than yours
If you can find a way to believe it, it'll also serve you very well to know that nearly everyone is full of pain and managing it to varying degrees of success. Money or success never spared anybody tragedy. Truly. So try to be warm and gentle even with the people "above" you
