What would you consider to be ‘elite’ careers?

Common characteristics of these careers are high pay, competitive employees from top institutions with top grades and skills, a sense of prestige, fast pace, responsibility, etc.

I would say medicine, corporate law and investment banking (and the associated exit opportunities) are definitely on that list, but what others are there? I guess the top tech firms, too, although I don’t know much about that industry.

People seem obsessed with prestige? is it important to you?

Astronaut.

soft elite careers are just careers that sample for traits and experiences mostly held by those from the upper middle class or above. confidence, eloquence, conscientiousness, schmoozing skills, strong educational foundations (in terms of numeracy, literacy, good grades, and being well read), well-roundedness from sports and enrichment programs as kids, brand names, having connections in powerful places, being mentored etc

it's nothing particularly special once you're part of that crowd. and you certainly don't *feel* elite, it's just your new normal..

the bulk of successful .... officers in the military, etc are drawn from this pool

Actually, in the RAF, this is a myth brought about by the 1940's/50's preference for actors with received pronunciation starring in all the war movies. The RAF officer cadre has always been a place people could 'make themselves', regardless of background. Being much more academically/technologically inclined across all branches, and particularly 'the sharp end', the RAF has always been much more meritocratic in terms of officer entry. It's really the Kenneth Moore/Michael Redgrave/Richard Todd factor in the films that generated the idea that the RAF officer was generally upper middle class. They are and always have been, recruited on merit, regardless of background/accent. The training in how to adapt to a new normal, which might mean dining with royalty, speaking in public, leading etc is then inculcated during officer training.

I didn't overlook how smart they are, where did I?

Some definitely have the brains (the likes of Zuckerberg do) but then there are a lot of self-sustaining entrepreneurs who don't (my cousin owns 4 or 5 shops now and he dropped out of sixth form).

What I'm saying is, great entrepreneurs don't necessarily need to be book smart, they don't necessarily need to be a genius. But what they all have is a sheer persistence that their idea will succeed. All successful entrepreneurs have this trait.

You don't necessarily need to be a billionaire to be a great entrepreneur, nor a millionaire. If you'd ask me what would you rather be: a surgeon who earns £150k a year or an entrepreneur who earns £100k/year, I'd easily pick the latter.

You don't necessarily need to be a billionaire to be a great entrepreneur, nor a millionaire. If you'd ask me what would you rather be: a surgeon who earns £150k a year or an entrepreneur who earns £100k/year, I'd easily pick the latter.

and you certainly don't *feel* elite, it's just your new normal..

owning and operating small businesses is not entrepreneurship

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Entrepreneurship over everything.

By definition it is.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/entrepreneur

In addition to my previous point, a highly skilled employee (with the exception of some extremely rare cases) will hit a pay ceiling at some point throughout their career, for some professions this can be as early as your 30's...

A successful self-employed person should have a mechanism for increasing yearly/monthly earnings, if scaled correctly, this won't lead to a pay ceiling and given enough time, your earnings will surpass the overwhelming majority of employed persons (including those in 'elite' careers)

Money and prestige are not really the same thing, it's quite rare to meet someone who truly, and I mean truly just wants money. Many people with 'elite' careers live in high cost of living areas, go out to eat frequently (including consuming expensive drinks), start families, buy sports cars/expensive watches etc... They don't plan for the future, and have fairly mediocre savings/portfolios.

Others (including some with 'elite' careers) run their entire life like a business, saving and investing anything they can.

I've worked in finance and the overwhelming majority of people (easily 90%+) fall into the first group, you have countless examples, just look at anyone 40-50+ in a highly paid career but not self-employed, they are still owned by their employer.