53 Do YOU Really Want Success?
b'Today let\\u2019s talk about success. Success in the form of getting what you want, and I\\u2019m not talking about the children and stuff like this, but having the money, the investment, the resources that can take care of you and your family. That is: Do you really want to succeed?\\n\\nI know that sounds like a funny question, but how many people are really willing to put in the effort to get that house on the hill or on the waterfront? Every day I see something on TV or in the news that talks about the rich and how lucky somebody is. Let\\u2019s get back to the truths, and where we really are. Want to see what can be done, and who can do it?\\n\\nFirst, it\\u2019s been widely studied and reported that 80% of those who are wealthy actually started poor. Even Warren Buffett, 90% of his money was made after the age of 50. Additionally, I\\u2019ve often heard stories about how people came up from nothing, etc., and we\\u2019ve all heard those. Why did these people do it? What did they do? Do they work so hard for so many years to get what they finally have gotten?\\n\\nTwo different times when somebody saw that I was saving my money for college, I was asked the following question: \\u201cWhy are you saving? You might die tomorrow.\\u201d The first time I heard this, my response was immediate, and I said: \\u201cWhat if I live?\\u201d During the last couple of weeks, I talked to some people and asked them some questions about saving for the future. It was interesting. Many times I got the reply: \\u201cBut we just wanted such-and-such now.\\u201d, \\u201cWe just wanted a new car.\\u201d You have to make those choices.\\n\\nBack to my question: Do you really want to succeed? We\\u2019ve all heard the stories about people saving, and the effect of compound interest after 30 or 40 years. That will make you a millionaire, a multimillionaire, but very few people are actually willing to do it. It\\u2019s actually kind of interesting. If somebody else is willing to give up some of their current income for savings and investment, some of their time in their future, why shouldn\\u2019t they be amongst at least the very well off? Are you willing to give up a little for your future? There are a couple of key things: Time and money, for savings.\\n\\nA little bit of reality: Many years ago, I read a book called The Millionaire Next Door it was by two professors in I believe it was Dartmouth University. There were a couple of key items that the book pointed out that really were surprising to me, and very, very interesting. First of all, many of the wealthy, that is \\u201cmillionaires\\u201d were from non-high-profile jobs. By \\u201chigh-profile,\\u201d I would mean ones where you get the visibility; people notice you, the way you dress, the car you drive, etc. I\\u2019ll explain why in a moment. The authors pointed out how one of the rich was actually the owner of a junkyard, and many others were plumbers or other independent business owners in trade\\u2019s professions. When I heard that, it was kind of funny to me because the guy at the top of the hill in my neighborhood, which is a new neighborhood, also owned a junkyard. Had a beautiful home with columns in the front, etc., and it made me think.\\n\\nThe second thing is: What happened to the executives, or the up and coming management personnel? What happens to them, and you I bet see this amongst your friends, like to breed jealousy, and: \\u201cLook what I\\u2019ve got,\\u201d sort of scenario. They always spend more than they\\u2019re currently making in order to appear they were already at the next level. The middle management wanted to make it look like and be accepted by the directors, the directors wanted to be accepted by the next level executive, so they always had more than they really had in order to look like they fit into that next category. But, they\\u2019ve got these homes that they couldn\\u2019t quite afford yet, so they were overspending their income in order to look like they were already at the next level.\\n\\nThe interesting thing, and I\\u2019ve mentioned this before, the remarkable thing is that everybody who moves into one of these houses that th...'