One could make the case that following all three of the above success rules could be complied with by most of those who are poor. Of course there are exceptions to the rule. Widowers and widows. Those who are mentally or physically disabled, etc. But in terms of the general population, those who don't follow the above rules could do so for the most part if they wanted to. Ask yourself, which of the above rules are prohibited by law? Who can't complete high school? Millions of immigrants with less than perfect command of the English language do it every year. If they tried, who couldn't avoid having a child, as father or mother, prior to age 20; especially out of wedlock without the benefit of a parental partner?
Think of all those unfortunates who are in grinding poverty because they don't have enough education to qualify for the most basic jobs. Or who are trying to cope with parenthood while they are still children themselves. Or those who must juggle a career with the demands of day-care, school, and parental supervision. As long as there are government programs to help support them, they'll be able to exist on the margins of mainstream America, forever locked out of the American dream of prosperity and financial security. And all because they weren't willing to invest in their own future by completing their education. Or to wait to marry before having kids. Or to have kids too young, then striving to find a way to survive.
The first step along the road that leads from failure to success is for a person to take responsibility for the current situation. Be accountable for the things that are holding him or her back. Do something to change behavior into a more successful mode. Here are a few additional rules that seem to apply to those who succeed:
Get a paying job and keep it!
If you're an entrepreneur, make every day pay-day!
Unless you win the lottery, the money that starts you on the way up the ladder will come from a paying job, or from a loan that a paying job repays.
There's nothing wrong with earning a living while you save up enough money to become an entrepreneur. What happens to many people is that they switch jobs or get laid off just when they've accumulated a nest egg to start their own business. By the time they start earning money again, they've spent their savings and have to start all over again. Even after they've become entrepreneurs, danger lies lurking.
One working couple I knew quit their jobs and moved to Florida with a substantial sum to be used to buy their own portfolio of rental houses. For a year, they let time slip away from them, along with their money, because, in the absence of dire necessity, they kept putting off getting down to work. Instead, they had a terrific holiday, spent their money, and returned home broke, looking for work. Entrepreneurs should set out to make a profit every day. That profit may take the form of cash payment or equity in property or 'paper' as opportunities arise.
It's hard to go broke when you can earn a net profit every day, no matter how small; even if it consists of merely passing along an opportunity to someone else in return for a 'finders' or referral fee. My chosen vehicle as an entrepreneur was real estate brokerage. I counted my daily profits in terms of sales, listings, leases, options, Notes, and favorable loans. Rarely did a day end that I hadn't found some way to create a profit. Some days I made paper profits in the thousands, some days I closed sales and came home with cash, and some days I tied up a property through the use of a lease, option, or listing.
