Financial success is such a powerful concept, like an irresistible charm with powers that are nearly universal. Young and old, educated and illiterate, they are driven to strive for financial success, sometimes to the limits of their abilities as they struggle every day to achieve it. They look for him with all the means at their disposal. There are many different definitions of the concept. Some define financial success as the ability to afford the basic necessities of life anytime, anywhere: food, clothing, and shelter. Others will consider themselves financially successful only when their resources are sufficient to eat and drink what they want, wear their favorite clothes, drive the cars of their dreams, and help others in financially disadvantaged positions. Some still measure financial success by a person’s ability to fully meet the needs and wants of himself, his friends and relatives, and the anticipated needs of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Whatever our definition, we can hardly deny that the desire to be financially successful is one of the main motivators of our daily aspirations. For this reason, thinkers and authors have devised different secrets to achieve financial success.
Most of these thinkers and authors recommend hard work as a fundamental principle. Continuous hard work. But some other authors argue that the hardest working people are not always the most financially successful! So they introduced something else: opportunity. Business opportunity, higher education opportunity, opportunity to do something with the nothing you have, etc. But now that I think about it: does this principle of opportunity displace the principle of hard work? Are you suggesting that hard work isn’t actually the most important step? Don’t we still need to work hard to recognize and seize the opportunity? If I told you that your razor-sharp, barely used talent can pave the way to financial success, you still need mental and physical work to make the most of the opportunity contained in my word. You need to think deeply about it, come to a conclusion about it, get the finances to realize it, and diligently process the real business of hair picks.
However, not everyone finds people who draw their attention to such opportunities. Opportunity is not like the air we breathe. We do not find it anywhere, at any time. Then something else entered the picture: good luck. You also need good luck. Good luck leads you to opportunities, whether it’s the luck of your being born into favorable circumstances or the luck of the smart, business-minded friends or relatives you have. You need a bit of luck for someone to bring to your attention the business prospects of your spiky talent. But isn’t hard work again very relevant here? Of course it is, because to fully enjoy your good fortune, you need some serious work to discover and make the most of the opportunities your luck has brought you.
Therefore, the authors have led us to organize the steps to financial success in the following equation:
Hard work + (good luck + hard work) + (opportunity + hard work) = financial success.
Everything depends mainly on you, on your work. Hard work, of course, varies from person to person: what is hard work for you may not be for your friend due to differences in your abilities, natures, and circumstances.
But do hard work, good luck and opportunity add it all up? I once told a friend that he had a great chance of winning a $250,000 lottery because of his age and background. He seriously thought about it. For days, he thought about my advice. He investigated and asked for advice. But he never stopped thinking about all those who failed a similar lottery despite their eligibility, self-confidence and optimism. He remembered all these people and got confused. Then he decided that he too would fail and refused to participate in the lottery. At the end of the day, he turned out to be something of a fortune teller, because only people of his age and educational level were the ones who won the most in the lottery. Yes, he had the luck and the opportunity. He seriously thought about my advice (serious mental work). But ultimately he didn’t progress to financial success with the opportunity.
What fault was there?
It is something less expected that is to blame! To damage! A learned gentleman, Michael Williams, defines prejudice as “a prejudgment that is not based on experience and cannot be easily changed by experience.” (Good definition!) My friend prejudged himself as a failure before he experienced that he was actually a failure. And all the experience he gained from listening to people and from researching him did not change this prejudice.
Interestingly, those whom he remembered who had failed in lottery games were probably not all his age and educational level. So why his pessimistic conclusion? Why the prejudice? A very costly prejudice!
Therefore, a more correct equation for financial success is:
Hard work + (good luck + hard work) + (opportunity + hard work) – PREJUDICE = financial success.
