< soapbox >monkey hi fi wrote: i don't need hard work i need major money dumpped on me like billy gets dumpped on him. i've done more hard labor then he can even think of. yet i'm broke and he's filthy rich.
I don't know what anyone elses work ethic is like compared to Bill Gates, but I myself would never in a million years think that I've worked harder than he has worked. I have known people that are extremely wealthy, and the one common denominator among them has been a work ethic that goes way beyond the norm. Obviously that has nothing to do with inheritence or lottery winnings, which seem to be the way that everyone wants to get rich now-a-days, but refers to people who have started out early in life with a plan and worked at it unrelentingly. I promise you, the 4 steps work.
1) God: The measure of a man is the degree to which that man makes the world a better place. Love is free to give, and the more you give without expectation of reciprocation, the better you make the world. You've got to have a willingness to let other people have their own victories without being envious. Comparing yourself to other people, with an eye on them having more than you, is a roadblock to your own happiness. The poorest of the poor in America today are vastly better off than well-off people from not very long ago, and yet we allow ourselves to be duped into misery by poverty pimps who make a living out of sowing despondency. What Bill Gates has changes nothing in our life, unless we allow it, and the change that will occur is always a net loss. We should compare ourselves to the person that God wants us to be if we must compare.
2) Family: Freely nurcher those around you with the honest intent of making THEIR life better. People can tell the difference without even trying. They will build bridges to you when they see that closeness to you brings them benefit. Don't burn those bridges and eventually you will find that you are surrounded by connections. Not all of those connections are beneficial to you, but remember that your job is to make THEIR life better. That's the whole point of what others see in you... it's what makes you attractive.
3) Education: Do you watch crap TV or shows about engineering, sociology and economics? College credit shows are on every day. I just surveyed myself and pulled these numbers out of my rear end... 99% of TV is worthless, and over 50% is detrimental to your growth as a human being. The real benefit to education is not where you arrive at, it's who you become along the way. If Ben Franklin isn't on your list of heroes, put him there.
I recommend earning at least 3 credits at your local community college every year, if only for the human connections it fosters.
4) Willingness to work hard: Focus on what you REALLY want. True maturity is when the person that you are on the outside, is the same person that you are on the inside, at the same moment in time. No word filters! No conversion factors! No personality screens! Doing this forces us to expose our weak and ugly parts to others, which brings powerful incentive to change. With this in action, eventually we get to be ourselves, which makes everything so much easier.
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which reduces your Vista experience heavily.