I heard a fantastic Zen track by Peter Pearson today, an English musician who started composing once he retired from being a doctor. Steff Ben puts his music on YouTube and quite frankly manages to capture the essence of lovely sounds with his videos, you know, the ones that get you wondering if your fantasies will become reality.
If only dreams became reality could be an intriguing realization process. Fortunately for those who go yonder they sometimes really occur. Take Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world who accumulated a fortune. In 1962, Buffett became a millionaire through his partnerships which had an excess of $7,178,500, of which over $1,025,000 belonged to him. Buffett invested in and eventually took control of a textile manufacturing firm called Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett paid a $7 tax in 1944 when he was 14 years old. His income that year was $592.50. At the age of 21, his net worth was $20,000. It took him 13 years to become a millionaire and 33 years to become a billionaire at the age of 55. Another successful entrepreneur is Sir Richard Branson who has a net worth of $4.6 billion, according to Forbes. The majority of his wealth likely comes from the capital produced by Virgin's dozens of brands, such as Virgin Galactic. His company's venture capital portfolio includes Twitter, Slack, Pinterest and Square.
Originally from Blackheath, London, Sir Richard was born into a very wealthy and influential family. Having grown up in a family with connections to British politics, he has a special affinity for the law. It was Sir Richard's fortune that made him extremely wealthy. Of course, in Richard’s case the family ties must have helped him leverage his situation throughout his lustrous career. However, there are those who come from poor families like Oprah Winfrey.
Family wealth isn't the secret to this billionaire and media maven's unparalleled success. Now worth an estimated $2.6 billion, according to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey was born to a teenage single mother in Mississippi. The majority of millionaires didn't even grow up around a lot of money. According to a survey, 8 out of 10 millionaires come from families at or below middle-income level. Only 2% of millionaires surveyed said they came from an upper-income family.
Dreams can never be too big. Dream high for the stars and you’ll be amazed at how far you can go to make them become reality.
Take care!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Frankly (adv) honestly, forthrightly, freely, openly, bluntly, truthfully, candidly, outspokenly, without beating around the bush, straight from the shoulder, (ant) deceitfully, insincerely
Yonder = (n) the far distance. "Attempting to fly off into the wild blue yonder" (adv) = at some distance in the direction indicated; over there. "there's a ford south of here, about nine miles yonder"
Leverage (n) = influence, power, force, control, pull, weight, clout, leveraging, purchase, 1. the exertion of force by means of a lever or an object used in the manner of a lever. "My spade hit something solid that wouldn't respond to leverage", 2. In finance the ratio of a company's loan capital (debt) to the value of its common stock (equity). As a verb, 1. use borrowed capital for (an investment), expecting the profits made to be greater than the interest payable. "Without clear legal title to their assets, they own property that cannot be leveraged as collateral for loans", 2. use (something) to maximum advantage. "The organization needs to leverage its key resources."
Maven (n) = an expert or connoisseur.