What are you doing with your life?

It’s finally happening. And it feels weird. Growing up, we all admired public figures, celebrities and the mega-rich, but always looked up to them as if they were on a higher level than us. These very successful people obviously became so because they were older and had more opportunities and experience than us, right? That’s what I thought too, but then I had a moment of realization. For the first time, instead of strictly looking up at the older generations, I am looking sideways at the kids my age rocketing to success with the capital and status needed to play with the big leaguers.

These socially accelerated children have mostly either gotten lucky or worked hard to seize a special opportunity. Regardless of the process, their achievements and status serve as motivation and inspiration for more ordinary observers.

The music industry is full of prime examples of lucky youth. They are the ones that made the overnight sensations, belting a verse from their small startup studio that explodes into the ears of millions. One such artist is Lil Pump, who seemingly emerged out of nowhere after being catapulted to fame by his hit single “Gucci Gang.” In a few short months, Lil Pump achieved a status and income that some of the hardest working adults could only dream of. Perhaps the most surprising detail about Pump’s rise to fame was his age—the young rapper released “Gucci Gang” at 17 years old, and since then has risen to be the 42nd most streamed artist on Spotify, boasting a strong 27+ million monthly listeners.

While some stumble upon success, Benjamin Kapelushnik worked restlessly to claim his own spot among the titans of industry. Going by the straightforward moniker of Benjamin Kickz, Kapelushnik built his enterprise in the sneaker industry. He was one of the first to recognize the legitimacy of reselling sneakers, and leapt at the opportunity. He stocked up on the rarest shoes he could get his hands on, and began reselling them to big name celebrities like DJ Khaled and Travis Scott. The business snowballed, with Kapelushnik selling to every celebrity anyone has ever heard of and simultaneously running a successful shoe resale website. Benjamin Kapelushnik, who at the age of 19 now owns over a million dollars in sneaker inventory alone, shows no sign of slowing his “Boomin” business.

These young musicians and moguls invoke admiration from their peers as a result of their immense success. We look at them and think, “Wait, they’re as young as me. I could be doing what they’re doing. I can do that!” Hoban’s own Ben Vrobel creates YouTube content and streams video games on Twitch in an attempt to “become the next Ninja” (a young video game streamer with millions of followers). The teenage successes only serve to prove to us that our wildest dreams are a real possibility. Whether we look toward a music career, a startup business or content creation, the time is now to start working, because at any moment we could be presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.