It's not difficult. I don't know who told you that but it is a lie.
Outstanding people can also be your doctor that every time you get sick, you go to the clinic and she/he takes care of your health. Those people are outstanding.
And yet, If you go on and ask them "Hey are you rich and famous?" most of them will say no, but nevertheless they are there, helping you get better. For me, that's an outstanding person.
They are outstanding people but you get the idea of OP wrongly.
It's about where these outstanding people came and the story behind of their success, there's a possibility that a few of them went through a lot of rough times and probably once came from a poor family.