Success Story: Andrew Carnegie The Richest Man In The World!
History shows that Andrew Carnegie was, at one time, the richest man in the world, but he wasn??™t born that way.? His story is a true American rags to riches tale of a Scottish immigrant without a penny to his name rising to become a millionaire industrialist and this country??™s ???King of Steel.???? How did he do it?? How did a poor immigrant, who got his first job working in a textile mill for about $1.20 per week, rise to become the richest man in America and then the world?? He invested.
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While working for the Pennsylvania Railroad under a superintendent named Thomas Scott, Carnegie learned about the American stock market.? He was making about $35.00 per month at that time and invested his extra money in stocks.? As he was paid dividends on those stocks, he invested further.? Soon he had the funds and the opportunity to go into business for himself and found success in the steel industry.
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One might argue that Carnegie??™s success story doesn??™t mean much today.? After all, Carnegie died almost a hundred years ago.? When he was a young man, the nation was young as well.? There were opportunities then that don??™t exist today.? No one can mimic the success of Andrew Carnegie in today??™s world.? Phooey.? While it??™s true that the world is very different today than it was back in Carnegie??™s day, and his story is rare (if it was so easy for everyone to become a multi millionaire, they??™d be everywhere), there is much in Carnegie??™s story that we can learn from and emulate today.
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The nature of investing and investing well is really not much different today than it was when Carnegie started buying stocks.? By following his example, we can also turn pennies into dollars, dollars into hundreds of dollars, and so on.? By seeing the stock market as a long term investment opportunity and not a ???get rich quick scheme,??? people in today??™s world can also take command of their destinies just like Carnegie did all those years ago.? Will everyone become powerful captains of industry and be among the richest people in the world?? Probably not.? But there is no reason why each and every one of us can??™t take control of our own financial lives and start building today for a more secure tomorrow.? That is the spirit of what Carnegie did and it is alive and well today.
Comparisons Should be Avoided: Always Compare Yourself To Your Former Self
When we seek self improvement it is not uncommon for individuals to look at someone who is successful as inspiration. Then again, it is also not uncommon to look at someone who has performed poorly and use such a person as an example of what to avoid. While these comparisons are common they need to be tempered with good judgment and common sense.
Remember, you should always compare your own progress based on your own skills and not someone else’s. Looking at someone who outperforms you and considering yourself a failure because you can’t match that particular person’s skill level is self defeating and unfair. Equally avoidable should be looking at someone whom you are outperforming and saying “I’m better than that person.”
If you received a D on a test and said “Well, so and so got a D- so I must be smarter” what would that prove? And, for that matter, how would it make your next test performance any better. Ultimately, if you want to succeed you need to look at your own skills and weaknesses and decide on how to improve them based on your own performance??¦not someone else’s! This will keep your own self improvement in perspective and on track for actual improvement.
Self Improvement: The Way People Treat You
Are people born with low self esteem? Hardly and the fact of the matter is that most people who suffer from low self esteem feel this way because of things that have been done to them. If a young child is teased habitually at school or harassed at home by overbearing parents then there is little the child can do other then develop poor self esteem. Then again, even an adult can suffer from the same fate. Imagine if an adult had to suffer constant put downs from a tyrannical boss. Would the employee be able to perform at a high level? More than likely, the employee would probably never amount to much in the workforce. Again, it is next to impossible to expect any type positive self image from a person who is always being diminished. Of course, those who are doing the diminishing probably could care less about their effect on the person. As such, it is up to the person being diminished to take a stand against such negative influence.
Gene Simmons, the legendary bassist of the rock band KISS, once said that people need to establish the following rule: ???No one is allowed to treat you in a way that they have not been given permission.??? In other words, you can not allow people to walk all over you. Now, when people look at Gene Simmons they see a world famous multi-millionaire and probably figure it is easy for him to make such statements. Such people are simply not familiar with Simmons??™ background: as a child he was an immigrant who spoke broken English and had a thick accent and ???funny name??™ (his words) and, on top of all this, he was overweight. Needless to say, he didn??™t let the aggravation and the taunts get to him and he used it as a means of building his self-confidence upon as opposed to allowing it to tear him down.
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Ultimately, when it comes to people tearing you down you need to draw the proverbial line in the sand in regards to what you will or will not tolerate. Yes, in some instances this could lead to confrontation, but do you want to remain meek and passive and deny yourself the ability to improve your lot in life? If you want to be an achiever then it starts with letting people know they must treat you with respect.