In our daily lives, we often hear that if you want to succeed, you just need to really want it, give your all and never give up. It's as if our only obstacles are in our heads, and nothing else can completely stop us. But is this really the case?

In reality, there are very real barriers that stand in our way to success.
Look around you: some people seem to have held all the cards from the start. They are born into wealthy families, go to the best schools, have access to the most enriching activities, and have networks of influential contacts.
Meanwhile, others are struggling just to get by, enmeshed in difficult situations from the start.
We are constantly told that if we work hard as individuals, we can succeed. It's called meritocracy.
It is the principle where everyone is expected to succeed based on their personal and individual merits.
But in real life, our origins, our social background, our ethnicity, our gender, and even the place where we were born have a huge impact on our chances of succeeding. We are faced with social inequalities that limit the opportunities of some and favor the privileges of others.
Studies confirm it: changing social class is extremely difficult.
According to the OECD, it takes on average six generations to escape poverty. It shows how difficult obstacles can be to overcome for those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
To better understand, we can turn to the work of sociologists. There is in particular Pierre Bourdieu who has worked a lot on the subject of social classes. He showed to what extent cultural capital, that is to say everything we learn from our parents and our environment, influences our academic and professional success.
Grandes écoles, symbols of excellence and elitism, are often reserved for children from the wealthy classes, thus reinforcing inequalities. Democratizing access to higher education, without dividing the rich and the poor into elitist schools, could help to reduce the gaps between different social classes.
Maybe it's time to challenge this idea that everyone starts out on an equal footing in life.
Why not recognize the impact of social inequalities on our individual trajectories, instead of blaming those who have not succeeded?
It is important to recognize that our life trajectories are influenced by many factors. We are never alone in influencing our life choices. By questioning the foundations of meritocracy and fighting against social inequalities, we can hope to build a fairer society for all.
Today I encourage you to be kind to yourself. Your failures, like your successes, are not solely your fault. Perhaps it is time to recognize that our life paths are influenced by many factors, not just our individual will.
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