I’m not selling anyone short. Almost everyone has the ability to learn new things, they just lack the desire. I’m merely making an observation that what holds most people back is limitations they place on themselves and it is absolutely true. If you want to achieve success you have to be willing to poke your head through and play on the next level. That might mean traveling to where the work (and money) is. It might mean taking some risks. It always involves developing broad based skills that are marketable. The overwhelming majority of people I meet could be far better off financially if they would spend their idle time doing something productive, as opposed to watching TV, or playing video games, or drinking, or whatever. Opportunity still exists, but you can’t sit back and wait for it to come to you. That will never happen. If you want it you have to make it happen.
I suppose wanting to stay in one place and raise your family personally is sort of backward.