Growing up we’re told “Get good grades in high school so you can get into an amazing college and get a high-paying grown up job.”
What if this isn’t the case though? More and more kids are going to college and graduating with Bachelors’ degrees yet less and less are landing careers. Instead they are underemployed (or unemployed) and living at home with mom and dad.
Today, I want to take a look at some of the most incredibly successful entrepreneurs who never graduated from college.
I highly recommend that you read the biography of Steve Jobs. He was adopted into a middle class working family. After attending one semester of college he dropped out because he felt bad making his parents pay a ridiculous tuition rate. He stopped taking the classes that bored him and started “dropping in” on the ones that interested him. One particular important course he took was on calligraphy, and he insists that the Apple computer would’ve never had the beautiful typeface it has if it were not for that one class he would’ve never taken if he hadn’t dropped out of college.
Words of wisdom: “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
Mary Kay Ash worked for Stanley Home Products for years when she was passed over for a promotion by a man, who she had trained. After that she decided to retire and write a book for women in business. The book turned out to be a business plan for her dream company, Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Words of wisdom: Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.
Dell Computers started as an idea in a dorm room of a 19-year-old, Michael Dell, and $1,000. He dropped out of college at 19 to start PC’s Limited, which is now known as Dell Computers.
Words of wisdom: You don’t have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream.
What do you think? Do you think you need a college degree to be successful? Why or why not?
