Financial success is such a powerful concept, like an irresistible charm with powers that are almost universal. Young and old, learned and illiterate are driven to strive for financial success, sometimes stretched to the very limits of their abilities as they struggle everyday to achieve it. They seek for it with all the means available to them. There are many different definitions of the concept. Some define financial success as the ability to afford the basic necessities of life whenever and wherever — food, cloth and shelter. Others will consider themselves financially successful only when their resources are sufficient for them to eat and drink whatever they wish, wear their choice clothes, drive the cars of their dreams, and assist others in financially disadvantaged positions. Still some measure financial success by a person’s ability to fully fulfill his necessities and desires, those of his friends and relatives, and the envisaged needs of his grand children and great grandchildren.

Whatever our definition, we can hardly deny that the wish to be financially successful is one of the main motivators of our everyday aspirations. For this reason, thinkers and authors have come up with different secrets for achieving financial success.

Most of these thinkers and authors recommend hard work as the primary principle. Continual hard work. But some other authors argue that the most hardworking people are not always the most financially successful! Therefore they introduced something else: opportunity. Business opportunity, opportunity for superior education, opportunity to make something out of the nothing you have, etc. But come tot think of it: Does this principle of opportunity displace the principle of hard work? Does it suggest that hard work is not actually the most important step? Don’t we still need hard work to recognize and to make use of opportunity? If I told you that your hair-barbing talent, which you hardly put to use, can open the way to financial success for you, you still need mental and physical work to take full advantage of the opportunity contained in my word. You need to think deeply about it, reach your conclusion about it, source for the finances to realize it and diligently prosecute the actual hair-barbing business

However, not every body finds people to draw their attention to such opportunities. Opportunity is not like the air we breathe. We don’t find it just anywhere, anytime. So, another thing came into the picture: good luck. You also need good luck. Good luck leads you to opportunities, whether it is the luck of your birth into favourable circumstances or the luck of the business-minded and intelligent friends or relatives you happen to have. You need some good luck for someone to draw your attention to the business prospects of your hair-barbing talent. But is hard work not again very relevant here? Of course it is, because to fully enjoy your good luck, you need serious work to discover and make full use of the opportunities your luck has brought your way.

Therefore, authors have led us to arrange the steps to financial success into the following equation:

Hard work + (good luck + hard work) + (opportunity + hard work) = financial success.

Everything depends mainly on you, on your work. Hard work of course varies from person to person: what is hard work for you may be not be so for your friend owing to the differences in your abilities, natures and circumstances.

But do hard work, good luck and opportunity sum it all? I once told a friend that he stood a great chance of succeeding at a $250,000 money lottery owing to his age and educational background. He seriously thought about it. For days, he thought over my advice. He made researches and asked about for advice. But he never stopped thinking about all those who failed at a similar lottery in spite of their eligibility, self-confidence and optimism. He remembered all these people and got confused. Then he decided he too would fail and refused to partake in the lottery. At the end of the day, I turned out to be something of fortune-teller, because it was just people of his age and educational background who won the most in the lottery. Yes, he had the good luck and opportunity. He gave my advice serious thought (serious mental work). But he did not ultimately progress towards financial success with the opportunity.

What was to blame there?

It is something least expected that is to blame! Prejudice! A learned gentleman, Michael Williams, defines prejudice as “prejudgment not based on experience and not easily changed by experience.” (A good definition!) My friend prejudged himself a failure before he had experienced that he was in fact a failure. And all the experience he got from listening to people and from his research did not change this prejudgment.

Interestingly: Those whom he remembered had failed in money lotteries were surely not of all his age and educational background. So, why his pessimistic conclusion? Why the prejudgement? A very costly prejudgment!

Therefore a more correct equation for financial success is:

Hard work + (good luck + hard work) + (opportunity + hard work) – PREJUDICE = financial success.

In my search for financial success, I once had strong prejudices. I had been scammed six times by many glib and flashy online programs, and therefore considered every online program I found a scam. Every advert that said, “Make more than $500 a day” or “How to make $3,000 every week” I considered fake. With this attitude, I bypassed very honest online programs which would have brought me much nearer to financial success than I currently am. Fortunately, however, I have enough good luck: I have successfully retraced my steps and was able to again find four of these programs. This program fetches between $150 and $500 a day.