17-YEAR-OLD Makes More Money Than All of His Friends
How Much of Success is about Luck and How Much is in Our Control?
When I started my personal finance journey, one of the first books I read was The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. A book on the simple principles of building wealth. In this book, I came across the following idea: “The truth is this: good luck can be enticed by accepting opportunity” The Richest Man in Babylon (Page 53). I want to reflect on this idea today.
I think everyone can agree that luck is a sensitive subject. When we see people who are successful in life, we often attribute this to luck. For most of my life I thought of luck as black and white. Either you have it or you don’t. My views have since changed. I believe that through certain behaviors, we can create luck in our lives. Let me tell you about a time when I considered myself lucky, and you can decide if there was more to the story.
At 17 years old, I was making more money than all of my friends.
In my sophomore year of highschool, I took a financial literacy elective. The course was taught by Mr. Brillant. It was common knowledge around the school that Mr. Brillant was a millionaire. Yet, despite his millionaire status, he had a strong desire that everyone build wealth over the course of their lives. Mr. Brillant was a stand-up guy. He was also a well connected man. As a result, numerous internship opportunities would come across his desk. He would pass these opportunities along to his students, encouraging them to apply. One day he sent out an email regarding an Internship opportunity in Newark, New Jersey. I am not sure why, but something in me told me to apply. There was one issue, you had to be 18 years or older. Unfortunately I was two years short. So after school, I brought this to the attention of Mr. Brillant. The conversation went something like this:
Brian: “Mr. Brilliant, thank you for sending out that internship opportunity”
Mr. Brillant: “Ofcourse”
Brian: “There is one problem, the flier says that I need to be 18 years old to apply”
Mr. Brillant : “mhm”
Brian: “What should I do?”
The next few words from Mr.Brillant have stuck with me for the past 10 years and I believe anyone who applies it to their lives will find it beneficial.
Mr. Brillant: “Dip your feet in the water, and see what happens”, he then proceeded to chuckle..
So I applied, in fact I was the only student in his class that did apply. Despite my age, I was accepted. Two weeks later, I was starting my first paid internship along with 19 other interns.
The structure of the internship was simple, we met for two hours a week for eight weeks. In these two hours we would be taught financial literacy concepts. In exchange for attending class, we would be paid minimum wage, which at the time was $8.38 (2015). I didn’t think much about the wages then. I was just happy to have the experience and learn. This internship taught me the basics of personal finance at a young age. We learned why having good credit was important and I even opened my first bank account during these months. After all, I did need somewhere to cash my weekly $16 checks..
Overall, I would say I had a great experience in those two months. Unfortunately, others wouldn’t say the same. We started with around 20 interns on week one. By the final week, I was one of two interns left. I’m not sure why the others didn’t stick it through, maybe they weren’t interested, or maybe they didn’t feel the low $8.38 wage was worth it. I’m not sure.
On the final day of the program, we had a graduation ceremony for completing the internship. There were four people in the room: myself, another intern, the coordinator, and a man I don’t remember. You can see pictures from that day below. It was quite the event.. Shortly after the ceremony, the coordinator came up to me and asked if I would be interested in interviewing for a part-time job as an Administrative Assistant. Saying I was shocked is an understatement. There was never any indication that there would be a possible job opportunity at the end of the program. Yet here I was, with another opportunity in front of me. I ultimately interviewed and got the position!
I spent the next five years working with that company and in that time period, I made more money than all of my peers. I have a table below which shows my hourly wages vs the minimum wage at the time. The difference grew quite stark over the years
If someone were to look at my wages, without the back story, they would attribute this to luck. As I look back on this time, I would say I created my own luck. Think about this, of the 20 students in Mr. Brillant's class, I was the only one to apply for the internship. Of the 20 interns that started the program, I was one of two that successfully completed it. I was by no means the smartest person in any of those rooms. However, I saw an opportunity and acted. Then I gave my best effort and was rewarded for it.
I don’t disagree that luck plays a role in success. I was born into a family with loving parents and grew up in relatively peaceful times in the U.S. If that isn’t luck, I don’t know what is. I don’t believe that the author of The Richest Man in Babylon is denying luck either. Rather suggesting that we can increase the chances of luck entering our lives, if we seek and accept opportunities as well as give our best efforts.
“The truth is this: good luck can be enticed by accepting opportunity”
As promised, photos of 16-year-old Brian on graduation day.
