The question you need to answer is simple—do you create wealth or consume wealth? For many the answer is they consume wealth. If you are not actively creating wealth (and once you accrue growing assets, passively creating wealth), in excess of what you consume, then simply you are not achieving your full economic potential and will find it impossible to save for and consequently achieve your goals.

Goals are dreams with a plan. Dream big it requires no more energy than with a small dream. Visualize what you want from your life. Organize and prioritize your goals in writing with a timeline and take action to achieve them. Without these exact steps, particularly placing your goals from your mind to paper, most all of us will find it easy to lose focus. Not currently having what you desire from life is no excuse for not obtaining. You have within you enormous potential to accomplish what it is you desire, you need to step out of the average with commitment and desire to be more then average. Most people (the average people) work just hard enough to get by in school, their job and in life.

Legendary motivational speaker Les Brown in his DVD titled Live Full & Die Empty states “most people fail in life not because they aim to high and miss; however they aim to low and hit.”

You have an opportunity through knowledge, creativity and perseverance to become a wealth creator and take charge of your future. For some this will be as an entrepreneur, for others as an employee. However entrepreneurial thinking, even as an employee, as well as in life, is increasingly valuable to success.

As an individual, particularly if young, your future earnings capacity (human life capital) and your ability to maximize it through knowledge, creativity and perseverance is by far your most valuable asset.

Since 1974 one-half of America’s 100 largest industrial companies no longer exist. The average college graduate today will have four jobs by the time they are 30. Some predict that employment changes for many may occur as rapidly as every 18 months. Corporations and some argue the Government, cannot be counted on to provide a stable long-term work environment let alone financial security.

You need to create your own opportunities through calculated risks (this measured form of “risk management” is best addressed by knowledge/education). This positions you to take charge of your future. You need the courage to make a decision, to take action, and even to fail before you can understand and measure success.

The role of parents and educators is to encourage children to be curious, courageous and to identify opportunity through innovative thinking and experimenting, not timidity. From as early as possible a child is best served by an atmosphere where calculated risk taking is encouraged. If an undertaking does not work out, encouragement and guidance is provided until another way is found to succeed, or a lesson is learned from so called failure. I say “so called” failure because failure is only feedback informing us that our direction may need redirection.

As an example of such thinking, in the 1930’s and 1940’s when Chuck Jones and his colleagues at Warner Brothers where creating Looney Tunes cartoons, they met for regular “yes” sessions. Every story idea could only be greeted with yes. ONE could only contribute to the idea, that meant all negatives where out. Attendees where free to offer changes or modifications, however they had to focus on the positive. Whether raising our children, or fostering teamwork in school and the workforce, the ability to encourage and celebrate creative thinking as well as to augment it is an essential talent in today’s world.

Perseverance is defined as continuing in a course of action without regard to discouragement, opposition or previous failure and is a learned trait, not an inherited one. As with knowledge and creativity, the earlier in life that this is taught, practiced and rewarded, the better the results. Financial and life success is not easy, it is far easier to become and remain average. Obstacles arise, learn not to be discouraged. Life has many distractions and setbacks: Motivator Willy Jolly as quoted by Les Brown in his DVD Live Full & Die Empty has a saying “a setback is a setup for a comeback.” The direction you take in reaching your goals may need redirection, however giving up is not an option. You need to believe in yourself and have the resolve to make your dreams turned goals come true.

Continuing with an entrepreneurial mindset, at its core, a business idea is one that listens to the challenges that people in position to provide compensation have and provides a solution that can be implemented, preferably quickly and cost effectively. Knowledge is the central source of today’s new economy; most jobs, most innovations, moving forward will be based on the creation of intangibles. Talent is defined in this new economy as knowledge, the ability to think creatively and having the perseverance in undertaking a task. Talent will be at a premium.

Creative and calculated innovation along with perseverance is fine; however, without knowledge, it often is not enough. Knowledge, HOWEVER must translate into decisions, which in effect is taking action (execution), which always trumps ideas. Many people have worthy ideas, however don’t understand how to organize and implement a suitable strategy maximizing these thoughts.

As a country in an ever-changing and competitive world, along with fostering creative and entrepreneurial thoughts and attitudes, we need to emphasize education (AKA knowledge), specifically math and science in our schools and in our homes. Half the Americans who won noble prizes in physics over the past seven years were born abroad. More then half the people with PhDs currently working in America are immigrants. Several of America’s most recent great companies were founded or co-founded by immigrants including Google and Sun Microsystems.

America is home to the world’s greatest universities, which attract some of the world’s brightest minds. This is a significant strength of ours. America needs to encourage the fact that we are the land of opportunity. Immigrants commonly contribute as opposed to take away from society. The world is ever changing, unforgiving and fiercely competitive. We as a country can provide a benchmark for the world to follow where success is measured by raising the standard of living not only for those who “make it”, however for those who are less fortunate as well.

Young people in particular, come together from across the world, invigorating themselves and the university campuses around the country with enthusiasm and creativity. Are we surprised that entrepreneurial activity is often highest in areas where significant and commonly diversified universities flourish?

How many American employees are successfully employed by companies founded or co-founded by immigrants, including the before-mentioned Sun Microsystems and Google? Innovation comes in many forms we best not close ourselves off as a society to the passion and exuberance of many of these talented people. Actually we should be encouraging their interest in America as an educational destination.

Is knowledge, creativity and perseverance enough? Sometimes not, another factor that plays into all of this is luck. Control what you can, however you will find that even luck “increases” when you are alert to possibilities. Luck may reach out to only a minority of ideas/enterprises you are working on. Identify what is succeeding and place the majority of efforts and talents in those.

The imminent retirement of baby boomers (those born between 1946-1964) here in America means that companies will lose large numbers of experienced workers in a short space of time (by one count half the top people of America’s 500 leading companies will leave in the next five years). Undeniably some of these companies will fail while others who are creative and evolving will continue to reinvent themselves and thrive. This continues to drive home the point now more then ever that organizations need talented people more then talented people need organizations.

Unemployment among American college graduates remains very low at around 2% and this is before the baby boomers retire in earnest!

From a company perspective, how can companies provide value in attracting and retaining qualified and creative candidates? Employees, particularly young employees, no longer expect job security, or their employer to fund their retirement. What they expect-and what companies need to deliver-is fostering their talent and providing an environment for growth, particularly in an open and communicative environment with other likeminded individuals. It all equates to improving an individual’s employability.

A foundation for financial security begins with your ability to generate maximum employment income, hopefully early in your career, combined with controlling expenses (wealth consumption) and initiating savings. What you begin creating in your youth through knowledge, creativity and perseverance and carry on through your life (never stop learning) is first and foremost in creating wealth, which maximizes your human life capital (your earnings capacity) as mentioned earlier. Disciplined consumption coupled with savings unites to truly form a foundation for success. Investment performance success is also valuable, however unlike positioning for entrepreneurial/employment success, as well as controlled consumption and savings, it is one aspect that you have the least amount of control over.

Do You Create or Consume Wealth is the first chapter in an upcoming book by author, speaker and entrepreneur Angelo J. Robles, titled “Creating Wealth: A Guide to Self-Empowerment.” Angelo’s latest book is College Money Planning. If you desire to subscribe to Angelo’s FREE eNewsletter send an email requesting as such to [email protected]

About The Author:
Angelo J. Robles is an author, speaker and entrepreneur. His latest book is College Money Planning: How to ‘Ethically Cheat’ your Child’s Way into a College You Can’t Afford. If you desire to subscribe to Angelo’s FREE eNewsletter send an email requesting as such to [email protected]. Angelo’s web site is http://www.collegemoneyplanning.com