I think people don't realize how many doors are automatically open for them if they're polite and hard working. Lots of interactions go way smoother if your end is always covered and the person you're talking to wants to help you because you're being nice.

Compare this to someone who is lazy and impolite. I think polite people would be genuinely surprised at how shit the day-to-day life of someone impolite is. Of course we'll never hear it from the impolite because a defining characteristic is that they're self-centered and ignorant.

The key is asking for it. Someone lazy and impolite who asks/demands that things go their way will get a lot of validation (externally at least)

But if you're polite and hardworking and ask to get your way (which is not necessarily impolite, no matter what the perpetually anxious try to tell you), you actually have even more opportunities laid out for you.