Now, I'm not the kind of guy who wastes keystrokes, so when I write an article, you know it is something meaningful and deep. I was talking to Justina Kirk about life in general. We were talking about adoption and life and how things are just the way they are, and sometimes no matter how much you want to do something about it, you can't. Her daughter's boyfriend is apparently a similar version of me 10 years ago. In talking with Justina, we discussed this kid's life, he is a kid even though he just turned 20, in my book you are a kid until about 28-30 years old.
We discussed how he is a hard worker and wants to something amazing with his life and some of his biological family basically told him he would never amount to anything in life. The thing is that with a person like Matt, his biological family may be right about him not amounting to much BUT THEY ARE COMPLETELY WRONG as to why he wouldn't amount to much.
He has the intelligence, he has the drive, he has the will power, he can get the education, but what he is going to have a nearly impossible time getting that needs is the CONNECTIONS to get where he WANTS to be in life. I am 32 years old now, and Matt is only 20. At 22 years old, I was already making $50,000 a year and on a career path to success because I had made some VERY VERY good connections in life. Matt also lives in a remote area of North Carolina and living in the suburbs or country is another factor in not “becoming something more” in life. Don't take this the wrong way, yes there are exceptions to every statement in this article, but the problem is that it is 2010 now, and the economy has shrunk, and the ratio of people wanting jobs is likely more than 4 times higher than in say 1960, when women basically NEVER worked. In talking to Justina Kirk, her daughter actually has THREE JOBS. I couldn't believe that someone has to work THREE JOBS just to survive. In 1960, women went from not working at all to 50 years later, having to have 3 jobs that pay basically NOTHING to help support their family.
To succeed in 2010, you need a whole range of things that you didn't need 50 years ago. First and foremost, you need six degrees of separation in your favor to some really talented, connected, important people who can pull strings or throw a bone your way when you need one.
You also need to be located in or near an environment that is conducive to “higher thinking” jobs. If the best job in the location where you live, is still only a restaurant manager, your chances of “higher success” in life are stacked against you. Luck is the third most significant factor in succeeding in life, who doesn't need luck?
Now success is obviously NOT defined by your job, or where you live, or how much money you make, success is defined by HAPPINESS. If you are happy making minimum wage and your family supports you emotionally and that is all you need to be successful, good for you. I need more than that, I need to be challenged constantly, I need to be put in situations that make me think about all my options and force me to pick a solution which may have SEVERE consequences. I cannot stay in the same geographical area, I need CHANGE from time to time.
I got a fortune cookie the other day, the saying made it into my TOP 10 fortune cookies. Here is what my TOP 10 fortune cookies said in no particular order, except close to the order I got them in, which happens to be a really great order:
So, as you can see from my fortune cookies, there is great advice in there, BUT some of those fortunes are meaningless if you cannot capitalize on opportunities because opportunities are not presented to you or your environment is not conducive to opportunity.