Family Backing Means Everything on
the Road to Wealth
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
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In the D.C. Metro, my
success makes me just another guy trying to make it. There are plenty of young brothers out here
working hard to achieve their dreams.
It's usually not until I return home to my small town in SC that I feel
like I'm doing something. There was no
reward better than the kids on the corner screaming, "That's my car! No, I called it first!" when I pulled up in
the drop top NSX. It generally doesn't
take long before some long lost friend but usually family member says, "A man,
let me holla atcha for a minute." For
those who don't understand that lingo, allow me to translate - it means let me
hold something, let me borrow a very small percentage of your mortgage payment,
give me some money with no thought of ever getting a cent back. They mean well generally, but hey, that's
family applauding your diligent efforts.
That's my story.
I found that to be not
only the case in my family of limited financial resources but also for those
with more money than they can spend.
Family is crucial so don't ever forget it. Whether they are asking for money or not,
lack of family backing dictates whether you will be comfortable or rich. On a side note, don't even reach for being
comfortable because it fakes you out. If
your goal is to be comfortable you will never be rich but if your goal is to be
rich, you'll end up mighty, mighty comfortable.
That's a hard pill to swallow if you just want a little upgrade here and
there but it's true.
As I was saying, family is
of extreme importance and that was proven in a book I read in December called
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. My good
friend Jay Pendarvis and I were out to lunch when I described this to him based
off what I saw from a guy I know who's disgustingly wealthy. He said, "You must have just read the book
Outliers." I had no idea what he was
talking about until I read it. I guess
it was just a coincidence that Gladwell and I were thinking the same thing
because we were surely writing about it at the same time. He just published first I suppose.
Those who attend the
February Investment Forum will see exactly what I mean in real time and real
life as we bring forth a few family members that helped raise a very wealthy
man. I even dedicated an entire chapter
to their family in my upcoming book entitled, Slide 68. The chapter is called A Village to Raise a
Child, A Family to Raise a Titan.
Gladwell points out a
plethora of things that go on to prove the success of the wealthy by the support
of their family. He even casts a brief
light on why the Asian population tends to leave so many of us in the dust when
it comes to mathematics. It made so much
sense and had a lot to do with rice. My
poor son had to usher in the new year getting a lesson in Mandarin Chinese
Mathematics before being allowed to shoot midnight fireworks. He'll thank me for it later.
Again, the point is family
is crucial to your success. If my
parents didn't go euuu-ahhh at my accomplishments, I'd probably work a lot less
diligently. A simple hint of a mom's
smile of approval is worth about 20,000 troy ounces of platinum. That's roughly $40 million give or take...but
who's counting?
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