Millionaires & Billionaires Secrets Revealed. Darren Stephens
Introduction
Some people come out of nowhere and build enormous success and fortune. They seem to be born as forces of nature and to rise like rockets well into the stratosphere, far above the rest of us, as though they were born under a different influence, able to see things and do things that most people can’t. Enormously successful entrepreneurs, self-made people, super-successes and stars—call them what you will, people who elevate themselves to great wealth and success are rare, productive geniuses.
But, do such people really possess secrets or abilities that are unattainable by the average person? Are they born destined for success, whereas the average person is simply not that lucky? Or could we all achieve such success, if we just knew how?
You deal with dozens of Millionaires and billionaires every day. Just think about it.
This morning you awake to your Apple iPhone alarm( Steve Jobs, worth US$5.5 billion). Then, after packing your Louis Vuittion suitcase (Bernard Arnault, worth US$17.5 billion) you jumped onto your computer using Microsoft (Bill Gates worth 53 billion ) you then Googled ( Larry Page, worth US$17.5 billion) your flight details on the way out the door. In the taxi to the airport you caught up on the daily news reading The Australian newspaper ( Rupert Murdoch, worth US$6.3 billion ).
So with a billionaire around every corner, it begs the question: what do they have that most people don’t?
The people who achieve great success certainly haven’t done it by accident. Their achievements don’t come easily and they aren’t accomplished on autopilot. In fact, it is entrepreneurship, above all, that displays effort and deliberate thought. So, in fact, success is something that is available to anyone who is willing to put forth the effort.
So, what are the keys to success and how can you earn some of that wealth, too? If anyone who puts their mind to it can do it, how is it done, and why have we not already achieved it? The truth is, there is a difference between successes and average people. Average people have not yet succeeded beyond a certain point! But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. That’s the reason for this book.
We will be taking a closer look at nine of the world’s great success stories. These stories can be observed as blueprints for how to succeed. We can all learn their secrets. And then it will be time to go out and start building some wealth of your own.
Many of these so-called “secrets” are really surprisingly simple. Anyone can learn them. Look at what distinguishes these people and then apply those lessons. Here are their stories…
Cheers
Profile
“Branson
thinks big.
He dares to think
things that no
one else takes
seriously.”
We will kick off our look at larger-than-life lives with the man who epitomises the term: Richard Branson. The bad boy of self-made men is a colourful figure who seems to be just as at home on television and in magazines as he is in his office. If his face wasn’t recognisable around the world, the beach-boy hair, toothy grin and deep smile lines might give a person the impression of no one more distinctive than a middle-aged outdoorsy type. But, as we all know, there is a great deal more to his story than that.
Branson is a wildly successful entrepreneur with an incredible number of companies under the Virgin name. He is an unashamed self-promoter, being a rare entrepreneur who is as publicly visible as his recognisable red trademark; the Virgin company name. Richard Branson is also an old-fashioned adventurer, having set records and suffered many near-fatal mishaps by sea and air. Branson impresses one as a modern-day buccaneer, a man who screams through life at breakneck speed.
Branson thinks big. He dares to think things that no one else takes seriously, and he runs his business like a maverick pilot, flying by the seat of his pants. He has taken big risks his whole life and succeeded spectacularly.
Background
“He actually
attempted his
first business
venture at the
age of 9.”
Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on July 18th, 1950 in London. His father, Edward James Branson, was a barrister and his mother, Eve, was a flight attendant. Branson was the first born of four children. Early on, he attended Scaitcliffe School. From the first, Branson had a very difficult time in school, due to the fact that he was attempting to deal with the problem of dyslexia. He nearly failed out of Scaitcliffe.
Even at this tender age, however, he showed an aptitude for business. He actually attempted his first business venture at the age of 9. Branson attempted to sell Christmas trees, but this first foray into commerce failed. Another early effort to sell birds also failed.
When Branson was 13, he began attending Stowe School, in Buckinghamshire, England.
He continued with his academic struggle while boarding at Stowe. Struggle is, in fact, an understatement. He agonised over lessons, having to memorise word-for-word in order to recite in public. He was embarrassed over his abilities and had a terrible time with the standardised tests. His talents, while in school, were in sports. Branson excelled in sports, particularly in swimming. His affinity for water would play out later in his life. In the meantime, however, sports were the only bright spot in an otherwise grim educational experience. He could think outside the confines of academia, however.
He had identified a need. He noticed that, while young people were becoming increasingly aware and active, there was no consolidated “voice” for his generation. No one was really speaking to young people and no one was really speaking for them.
“I predict that
you will either
go to prison
or become a
millionaire.”
Branson was looking at the world around him, and he had a great talent for reading people, even if he could not read the written page without difficulty. He was seeing the changing attitudes around him in the youth movements of the late 60s.
Working with a friend, Branson put together Student when he was only 16 years old. He decided to put together a successful venture from the start by thinking big. This paper was aimed at the students of multiple schools, tying together a local population. He wanted to make it much bigger than a typical student paper by selling advertising to major corporations, and printing articles by famous people. The paper was produced out of his friend’s parents basement, and the first issue was distributed for free, a total of 50,000 copies. The paper was paid for by advertising.
Branson dropped out of school, due to his difficulty there, in order to put his efforts into his newspaper. The final word on Branson, as a student, was provided by his headmaster at the time, who said, “I predict that you will either go to prison or become a millionaire.” The headmaster’s prescience was uncanny—Richard Branson has since done both.
The newspaper was a success, because Branson aimed high. He did not let the fact that he was a young dropout stop him from approaching the biggest names he could. Branson says that, “I remember when I was asking Vanessa Redgrave or James Baldwin for an interview and the fact that they took the time to respond meant an enormous amount to me. It inspired me. So it’s extremely important to respond to people and to give them encouragement