I think most of you have watched the movie ‘The Pursuit of happiness’, it is an astounding yet true rags-to-riches story of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street – starring Will Smith. It is one of my best movies to come from Hollywood in recent years. Will Smith did justice to this story, as he managed to bring Chris Gardner’s life story to reality. Here is a brief background about this remarkable man with a never dying spirit, who rose above all obstacles to claim his rightful place in life. I believe those of us who have watched this movie will agree with me that its a life changing movie which is inspiring and loaded with real life lessons.

Chris Gardner wears a $10,000 watch on each wrist. On the right hand is a Cartier set to Chicago time, and on the left is a Roger Dubuis set to South African time. “I was late once and it cost me $50,000,” explains Gardner. “I figure it was cheaper to wear two watches.” For a man who not too long ago had only two suits to his name and could not even afford to pay rent, Gardner has come a long way. From living on the streets and bathing in public restrooms to owning a successful multi-million dollar stock brokerage firm, Gardner is living out the American dream.

Born on February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Christopher Gardner’s first few years were filled with nothing but difficulty and uncertainty. He was the only son in a family of twelve children. His single mother was trained as a schoolteacher, but wound up taking on numerous part-time jobs in order to provide for her family. “She was probably her happiest when she was teaching my sisters and me,” recalls Gardner. “She was our professor, our Socrates.” The absence of a father is something that would come to profoundly affect Gardner’s life.

Gardner and his siblings were transferred back and forth between relatives and foster homes. His mother had been imprisoned twice; once, for allegedly receiving welfare while working, and the second time for attempting to burn down the house of Gardner’s abusive stepfather. “I’m sorry she didn’t succeed,” says Gardner of the incident. “Until I went to the U.S. military, the worst violence I ever saw in my life was in my home.”

Gardner was a smart student, but had little interest in academics. He studied trumpet for nine years, wanting to be the next Miles Davis. Eventually, Gardner realized, “I had the attitude, but I didn’t have the talent. Besides, there was only one Miles Davis and he already had that job.”

After dropping out of high school, Gardner lied about his age and joined the U.S. Navy. He had hoped to become a medic and travel the world, but never got any farther than North Carolina. However, the experience did introduce Gardner to a cardiac surgeon, who would later hire Gardner as his clinical research assistant at the University of California Medical Centre in San Francisco after both were discharged. Gardner enjoyed the work, but was only making $7,400 a year and he wanted more.

Gardner toyed with the idea of becoming a doctor, but decided that years of paying off medical loans were not for him. Instead, he became a medical supply salesman, earning $16,000 a year. It was in loading equipment into his car one day that Gardner’s life would forever change. He caught sight of a bright red Ferrari and was immediately in love with it and all that it represented. “I asked the guy two questions,” Gardner recalls. “One was, ‘What do you do?’ The second was, ‘How do you do that?’”

As fate would have it, the driver of the Ferrari was a stockbroker. When Gardner heard that the man was earning over $80,000 a month, he decided that his future lied in investment. He had no education, no experience, and no connections, but that was not about to stop Gardner from achieving his new dream.

I hope this article will inspire you to rise above all obstacles to attain your goals. Remember obstacles are stepping stones to greater things waiting for you ahead. The greatness of man is measured not in how many times he falls, but how many times he rises every time he falls. Your life will be a testimony.

To your success!!!!

I am particularly impressed by men and women who defied all odds to reach their goals despite encountering many obstacles in their solemn journey towards financial freedom. There is a saying by William James which says ‘the greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind’. This saying has been a driving force in my journey towards self liberation from the shackles of poverty. George Bernard Shaw summed it up when he said ‘the greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty…our first duty – a call to which every other consideration should be sacrificed – is not to be poor’.

In continuation of my first article, I want to proceed by cautioning prospective entrepreneurs on the widely held view that to make it in business one needs to have a sound educational background. Yes, it is important to have some form of education. It is important to have knowledge about things, knowledge about the type of business you want to do. There are two types of knowledge, one is general and the other is specialized. General Knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of wealth. Knowledge cannot attract money, unless it is well organized, and intelligently applied through practical plans of action. Lack of understanding of this fact has been the source of confusion to millions of people who falsely believe that ‘knowledge is power ‘. Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action and directed to a definite end.

Remember an educated man is not, necessarily, one who has abundance, of specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has developed the faculties of his mind that he acquires anything he wants or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others. I hope I have done justice in trying to dispel this notion which has held millions of people captive for centuries. Business or entrepreneurship is all about your vision; history to me is a great teacher, if you look at Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft Corporation, he is a college drop out, Richard Branson the founder of Virgin Group is also a college drop out. These two men defied all odds and went on to establish what is today two Major Corporations rated in the top 20 Fortune 100 companies.

Developing a wealth mindset is the first step towards developing an entrepreneurial spirit. Earl Nightingale said ‘you become what you consciously think about’, what this tells us is that, whatever, our mind conceives, it will surely come to pass. If our thoughts are always crowded with despair and despondence, there is no way; our thinking can come up with wealth creating strategies. Therefore, mind transformation set should take precedence over anything else in order to align our thinking. Simple steps towards aligning our thinking with our goals takes very minimal effort, it’s all about dreaming and planning….it’s a dream in the sense that you anticipate and visualize yourself in the position or status you intend to be in a given period of time. Personally I visualize myself being a group CEO of my own enterprise. I have already embarked on this dream….it’s not an event but a process. Every time I think about business, Sir Richard Branson keeps popping in my mind. He is not only my role model but somebody who inspires me to thrive and look for opportunities around us. Every Individual can do the same if we are focused and think and live our dreams.

In order to realize and actualize our dreams, you have to consciously tune your mind to positive thinking everyday. Dream and aspire of what you want to be, live the dream. One way to ensure you keep focused on your dream is to write down all the things you desire to achieve. Paste this piece of paper on your head board or wall where you can see this paper everyday. Think about how best you can achieve this dream everyday.

To round off, we need to do soul searching in order to find out what we really love to do. This should be something you are passionate about, your values and your talent. After identifying your values and talents, the next step is to turn these talents into a viable product or service into a commercial entity.

On a parting note Mark Victor Hansen said ‘Poverty is a degrading, dehumanizing, cancer-like disease of the uninformed mind…’

Reprogram your mind to overcome this evil called Poverty and live the life you  have always dreamt about.

To Your Success!!!