The rich and the successful

“Look at that guy, he’s so filthy rich. He has his own plane and owns a fleet of expensive European cars.”

“There’s the Taipan.” 

“That one standing over there, he owns the very building we are standing on.”

“That guy is extremely smart.”

Have you ever admired those successful people who seem to “have it all?” You see them chatting confidently at business meetings or comfortably at social parties. They’re the ones with the best job, the nicest spouse, the finest friends, the biggest bank accounts, and even the most fashionable zip code.

I have. There’s just something about these people. Confidence? Of course. Good looks? I have to think about that one a bit more. Maybe it’s the expensive Italian suits they wear. Oh, I can spot that expensive Patek on their wrists. Written all over them is the word “SUCCESS.”

When these people walk into a room, heads turn toward them. Others who pretend not to care continue to give a sideways glance. What’s with these “successful” people anyway?

A thought occurred to me, and I want you to think about this too. While we admire these people of accomplishment, fame, power and great wealth, a lot of them may not really be any smarter than you and me. I am pretty sure many of them are not more educated or even better-looking.

So what’s the big deal here? What makes all the difference?

During the Industrial Age, John Paul Getty was considered as one of the richest man on the planet. Countless number of people, magazine and radio interviews would ask him one question: “How does one become rich?”

Getty gave the most stunning advice. He says that to be as rich as he was, one must:

1. Wake up early.

2. Work late.

3. Find oil.

Not many of the rich and successful found the same oil that made Getty rich. Other have discovered another kind of oil, and cashed in on it. People may suspect that they have just inherited it, a family name of good repute passed on to them. Others may think they married into it or were just plain lucky. If this is how we think as well, then we miss a vital lesson in life. We need to think more and think a bit deeper.

One key reason why the rich and the successful are who they are today is because they are skillful in the way they deal with their fellow human beings. It is impossible for anyone to get to the top alone. People who seem to “have it all” capture the hearts and conquer the minds of hundreds of others who in turn boost them, rung by rung, to the top of whatever corporate ladder they chose to ascend.

Social climbers and wannabes look at successful people with envy rising up their hearts. They accuse the ones on top of being snobs, because they want to climb up the social ladder as well, but the ones on top won’t let them. When big players don’t give them their friendship, love, or business, they are called cheats and all sorts of nasty names.

Why not develop people skills instead? Why not learn from their successes (and failures too)? There is absolutely no need to envy the rich and the powerful - they have their own pressures which we may not be capable of handling. The important thing is to discover the kind of life God wants us to live and to live it productively for His sake.

There are two kinds of people in this life: those who walk into a room and say, “Well, here I am!”, and those who walk in and say, “Ahhh, there you are.”

If we can’t have this experience now in this lifetime, we make sure we experience this in the life ahead, when we meet our Maker.

(Attend Francis Kong’s one-day life changing seminar “SUCCESS THROUGH EXCELLENCE” on Aug. 13, 2010 at the SMX Convention Center. For registration and tickets, call Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)