A lot of wealthy and well-known people were born without a silver spoon. Many were born even without a spoon, and this simply means many world-known people had a rough start.
Jan Koum who is the co-founder of one of the world’s largest mobile app, WhatsApp was born in Ukraine. He later moved to California with his mother at age 16, where he swept local stores to get money to buy food. But he didn’t let this weigh him down. Rather, Koum took the time to invest in knowledge and he picked up a computer skill which he used to hand himself success through Whatsapp. Currently, his net worth is about 9.1 billion US dollars.
What about Sheldon Adelson?
He is one of the highest profiled political donors in America. He was a school dropout who started selling newspapers at age 12. He dropped out of school because his poor father who was a cab driver couldn’t afford his tuition. Despite this tough time, Adelson ran vending machines and sold newspaper ads to promote small businesses. He started saving up and built his fortune through this means.
Roman Abramovich of the Chelsea football club was also born into poverty. He lost his parents when he was 2 years old and was being raised by his uncle in Russia.
When Roman was a student, he started a plastic toy company which later exposed him to the oil industry that made him very popular. He had many promotions and became the sole owner of the oil company. Through his hard work, Roman’s oil company became the number four largest oil company in the world. He gained ownership of the football club in 2003.
There are tons of other examples, but I’ll like to cut it here.
There are two peculiar similarities between all these people:
They were all born into poverty
They were all hungry for greatness!
These people were being moved by the passion to achieve greatness. Sometimes they failed. Adelson lost almost all his fortune when the recession came in, but he didn’t give up. Rather, he worked hard to get more wealth. There is a difference between people that are hungry for success and those that are willing for success.
Most people lie to themselves that because they were born into poverty, they will always be poor. But I know one thing: “if you were not born into a rich family, then a rich family should be born from you.”
NUGGETS:
- Don’t let your background make you keep your back-on-the-ground: Make this resolve in your mind to achieve wealth. I call this the pushing determinant that determines your future. Never relent in hard work because hard work pays.
Do not get comfortable with your current situation. You can be better than where you are now!
Look for problems around and figure out ways to solve them. There are tons of problems around. Koum found a problem, and he looked for ways to solve them by acquiring computer skills on his own.
Learn a skill. Any skill at all. Be a professional at it. Be creative and be open-minded.
Work towards your development skills and watch your wealth grow.
Invest! This is the most important. You can invest your time in self-development. Read books that educate you on things you want to achieve.
Money could be difficult to get, but very easy to spend. This same money, when placed on the right course, no matter how small, yields more money. As they come in bits, get assets and not liabilities. Invest in things that would yield passive income, no matter how small it may seem. Let it grow, keep investing and watch a change in your status.
Follow the strategies that allow you to grow consistently. Invest in knowledge, it pays!