Why Education Isn’t Enough

One day, I was talking to three of my mentors in one room.

All of them were incredibly wealthy.

One of them had a doctorate, the other was a college graduate, and the other one didn’t even finish college.

And then it hit me: The one with a doctorate degree was the least wealthy among the three, the second richest was the guy who finished college, and the richest guy in the room was the one who didn’t finish college. At least in that room, it was absolutely fascinating to me that the more education a person had, the less wealthy he was.

My friend Marx told me this story. Last month, he attended his high school reunion. And Marx noticed the same thing. The guys who were honor students when they were in high school ended up becoming professors of prestigious universities here and abroad. Some became managers and efficient number crunchers for multinational companies. In other words, they became middle class.

But some of his classmates who had lousy grades all their academic life became successful entrepreneurs and multi-millionaires.

Please don’t show this article to your children — or you’ll have a big problem on your hand!

No, I’m not saying we should no longer study. Please finish your studies!

But here’s my point: Formal education can make you a decent living. If you’re aspiration is to be middle class, formal education is your ticket to that dream.

But if you want to become very wealthy, you need more than a degree, high IQ, or academic prowess.

Why do some of these “poor students” become so successful in life? Because of three powerful skills:

1. Back-Against-the-Wall Situation

2. Born-from-the-Streets Strategies

3. Great-Face-to-Face Skills

My message this month is simple: Don’t berate yourself if you’re 35 years old and don’t have the required educational degrees to climb the corporate ladder. You’ve still got what it takes to succeed in life.

Even Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, didn’t finish college. He spoke of this exact message too in his books. He is trying hard to change the educational system by creating Cashflow clubs in schools where kids play his game and learn to think in a different way.

Grow in these three skills I’ll be describing in these next weeks, and you’ll be growing your wealth too.

Keep learning!