Quote:
Originally Posted by pumpum
There is no real structure or plan to go by - in the end all you want is the money and for that do whatever it takes.
|
Success and money are not the same thing. Money is a byproduct or benefit of success, and nothing more.
Money is a fun and a wonderful thing to have, and spending money is always a pleasure. But the pleasure of spending money doesn't come close to the pleasure of success.
Success is defined as "the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted". To be successful means to have accomplished something. Success comes in large and small scales, but regardless of how big or small, we all enjoy the moment when we succeed in something.
Education is not a prerequisite for success, nor is ignorance, but education and ignorance can both be fetters for would-be entrepreneurs. Universities do not teach success, they teach knowledge. There are plenty of highly educated doctors, lawyers, and professors who make what many think to be decent money, but they are generally up to their ears in debt, only a few steps from bankruptcy should they lose their positions. The ignorant and uneducated are not substantially different, they have less to lose. When Enron collapsed a few years ago, quite a few well-educated people were buying groceries with food stamps. Similar things happened to traders and bankers from Lehman Brothers, etc. during the recent financial collapse. At this very moment there are many highly-educated people working in part-time menial jobs. University may have provided them knowledge for whatever particular field they studied, but it certainly didn't teach them how to be successful.
An entrepreneur can be anybody from any background or educational level. It is not their knowledge which sets entrepreneurs apart from other people, it is their drive. There is an underlying energy which motivates self-made people. This energy keeps them going when others can't, and motivates them to look in places where others don't. It allows them to pursue distant goals without giving up halfway.
Were you to take half a dozen or so self-made people and take away all that they owned and gave it to half a dozen or so regular people, an interesting thing would probably happen. In a few years the regular people would spend or squander away all that had been given to them, while the self-made people would eventually recover all that they had lost.
How do you become a successful entrepreneur? It starts by thinking of yourself as one. Sell something, anything, for a profit, no matter how small. If you made even one penny, that is a measure of success. Take that penny, and whatever other dollars you have, buy something else, and try to sell it for another profit. If you learned anything at all from your first sale, your second sale will probably be a little bigger, and your third sale even bigger, and so on. Success breeds success, and the feeling can be addicting.
Hang out with other successful people. Listen to what they say, try to pick up on the energy they possess. Use what you learn, and add to it with your own experience.
Don't be afraid to start. You don't have to start big. I started one year ago with only 1000 yen, in the last 5 days I made (netted after expenses) nearly 200k yen. This year I will make 10 million yen. This is the goal I have set for myself, and so far I am on schedule to achieve it.
Don't be foolish, don't squander the money you make, use it to make more. Reward yourself from time to time, but never to excess. Use you time wisely, a human life is all too short, don't waste a moment of it.