An Ongoing Debate

“A traditional college degree, be it from a classroom or an online extension program run by an accredited university, is not all that it was once cracked up to be.

No longer can a general degree catapult a graduate into a higher class in society based on the intrinsic value of the degree itself. Likewise, the sheer number of degrees being churned out has diluted their worth to the point where they hold little more value than the high school diploma of yesteryear. Many jobs for which graduates will attempt to enter upon graduation may not even exist at the time in which they enroll.” – Taken from Technorati

A while ago, one of my homies asked me to do an article on the subject of whether college was really worth it or not. This has been an ongoing debate that has only gained fuel with the rapid devaluation of many 529 College Savings Plans, shrinking wages, and slow job markets for grads. As both a degree holder and an entrepreneur, I would have to answer both yes and no.

Yes and No

The fact of the matter is that if you hope to succeed working for somebody else, a college degree is essential. Most companies use a degree as a filter when deciding who to interview and ultimately hire. Additionally, the contacts that you get within a company during an internship could mean the difference between a smooth transition into familiar territory and an uncertain employment future. And surveys have shown that the higher your level of attainment as it relates to education, the more money you earn. Its important to know that these figures apply to employees, not entrepreneurs.

On the other hand, if your goal is to be self-employed, there is nothing that you cant learn about running a successful enterprise from bloggers and websites, or from the hundreds of thousands of books available at Amazon. You dont need college.

Dont get me wrong, Im a firm believer in the importance of knowledge and educating oneself. However, I also believe that a great many college students would do better to invest the money they pump into academic institutions, or use that money to start a small business. Time and time again we have seen proof of the fact that a college degree is not a precursor to success when it comes to being an entrepreneur:

Herbalist Djehuty Maat-Ra runs a multi-million dollar herbal company on the west coast. He built his operation from the ground up without a college degree

$ Sir Richard Branson left school when he was only 16. Ironically, his first successful business was publishing a magazine called Student

$ Of course, we all know that Bill Gates never graduated. Im sick of talking about him and hearing about him, so Im not going to make this post a Bill Gates love-fest

$ In high school, Ralph Lauren was known to sell neckties to his fellow students. In his yearbook, he stated that he wanted to be a millionaire. He studied business for two years at Baruch College but never graduated.

$ Michael Dell started a computer company called PCs Limited while attending the University of Texas at Austin. It became successful enough that Dell dropped out of school to operate it

For a detailed list of very successful college dropouts, check out the College Dropouts Hall of Fame.

If you Must Go

I don’t think that college per se is a scam. I do, however, think that the price of college is a scam. Colleges, like all consumer products, are divided by price point. There are the low end products (community colleges), the brand name middle priced products (State Colleges), and the high end luxury brands (Private Colleges and Ivy Leagues). The problem here is that students are paying for the same information at state colleges that they would get in community colleges. Even worse, the loans that are given to these students are just as bad as the sub-prime loans given out during the housing bubble and could mean financial Armageddon for these students once they graduate. Heres what Kathy Kristof of Forbes Magazine wrote on the topic in her article The Great College Hoax:

Mindy Babbitt entered Davenport University in her mid-20s to study accounting. Unable to cover the costs with her previous earnings as a cosmetologist, she took out a $35,000 student loan at 9% interest, figuring her postgraduate income would cover the cost.

Instead, the entry-level job her bachelor’s degree got her barely covered living expenses. Babbitt deferred loan repayments and was then laid off for a time. Now 41 and living in Plainwell, Mich., she is earning $41,000 a year, or about $10,000 more than the average high school graduate makes. But since she graduated, Babbitt’s student loan balance has more than doubled, to $87,000, and she despairs she’ll never pay it off.

“Unless I win the lottery or get a job paying a lot more, my student debts are going to follow me to the grave,” she says.

Considering the fact that you wont land a cushy, high-paying corner office job the day, year, or decade after you graduate coupled with the massive amounts of debt that you will leave school carrying leads me to give you the following advice: Dont shell out for State or high profile colleges. Attending a community college for two years and transferring to a four-year college or university could save you a bundle in tuition costs ($30,000 or more, according to the MSN Money article, College for Half Price). You can also save hundreds upon hundreds of dollars by CLEP-ing out of courses (the CLEP program lets you study material and then take your final exam instead of actually going through the course. If you already know Marketing, you can save a lot of time and money by just CLEP-ing and moving on).

Once you are in the work force, companies will sometimes reimburse you for pursuing higher education, so get hired first, then worry about that MBA (The only MBA Im interested in getting is a MASSIVE BANK ACCOUNT! But that’s just me).

So to answer the question posed by this post: Is college really worth it? The answer is ‘yes’ if you want to work in someone elses company and no, if you want to run your own. And if you must go to college, save money and time by starting out at community college, CLEP-ing subjects, and scraping up grants and scholarships to save money while avoiding student loans.

The Wrap Up

Its important that you decide which path is right for you. Being an entrepreneur is difficult to say the least. You will have to work around the clock, sacrifice time and energy, find out all the answers on your own, and learn to live on an unstable income. Sometimes, it will feel like you are flying by the seat of your pants. If all that isnt enough to dissuade you, as an entrepreneur you will statistically make less early on than your college graduated counterparts. But for all the risk involved there is massive reward, and over time you are statistically more likely to become very rich as an entrepreneur versus as an employee.

On the other hand, as an employee you enjoy a set schedule, set pay, set benefits, and a routine life. Your destiny within your company is not in your hands, however, and there is little chance you will be any more successful than the man at the desk next to you. There is nothing wrong with choosing either path as long as you know yourself.

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Throughout the ordeal that I went through that landed me behind bars, I experienced self doubt to a degree that I had never experienced. After all, I was a United States Marine, the physical embodiment of discipline and honor. Some of the thoughts that coursed through my mind while I sat in the county jail were:

How, after all my training and accomplishments, could I have landed in jail?
Was it all a sham?
What monster inside of me reared its ugly head and destroyed my life?
How did it come to this?
Who am I really?

Once I was released, this self doubt crept into everything I did. People felt uneasy around me because I was uneasy with myself. I accepted low paying jobs, doubting my ability to do any better. I accepted a filthy pay by the week sleeping room since I doubted I could live any better. In short, the swagger that I walked with when I was a Marine was gone; I had lost my mojo.

The Evolution of Self Doubt

Most people first experience self doubt when it comes to the opposite sex. To curb this self doubt, young adults will dress a certain way, act a certain way, and do certain things (like having sex with multiple partners. Men and women whose only pursuit is sexual validation in any form usually have deep self doubts). When these individuals enter the work force, their self doubt either increases or decreases depending on their position and accomplishments. If these individuals come out of college, land a great job, and fit in with their careers then their self doubt is quieted. If these individuals land a mediocre job with slow or no advancement, self doubts begin to arise. “Is this the best I can do?” As they progress in life, regret piles up. They lose their youthful figures, have kids, settle into BS jobs, and start to stagnate. In some cases, they run into tragedy (like I did) and find themselves having to start over. Statements such as “I should have done this better”, “Where did all my time go?” and “I used to have this or that, I used to be on top of my game” become commonplace. Dreams dim. Self doubt destroys life.

If you will notice, self doubt begins with ones internal dialogue.This self talk sabotages future progress and prevents them from taking bold steps into the right direction. Self doubt is the result of questioning oneself and ones abilities. That’s why in books like Think and Grow Rich and Unlimited Power, the writers stress the importance of getting your mind right. If you havent gotten and read these books yet, you really are doing yourself a disservice.

The Opposite of Self Doubt

The opposite of self doubt is self confidence.

self-confidence. A, noun. 1, assurance, self-assurance, confidence, authority, sureness. freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities- Webster’s Dictionary

Self Confidence is something that is programmed within all of us by our parents, skill sets that we have developed, our victories, and challenges that we have overcome. There are also ways to build and reclaim the self confidence that you have lost over time. It can be as simple for you as it was for me with the following three steps:

Acknowledge past successes

Every Marine is taught to create a wall dedicated to their personal accomplishments. Awards, trophies, tokens of appreciation, battle trophies, and pictures of their travels provide a physical memory of every reason they have to be proud of themselves. Sometimes you might feel like you haven’t accomplished anything, and during those times having a “me wall” gives you a reason to press forward. Have you ever been to an accomplished professionals office and not seen a wall full of their degrees and accreditation? If you have no awards to fill your wall with then stop playing Halo, stop kicking it on the corner, and make some things happen. Not for the sake of collecting awards, but for the sake of creating success in your life.

Surround yourself with positive, challenging people

Positive people can have a massive impact on you and your self image. When I first seriously dedicated myself to getting big and hitting the gym, I would work out with people that were at or below my level of strength and ability. But if you want to accomplish anything, you need to work with people who already have what you want and get on their level. I found the biggest guy in the gym, asked him to take me under his wing, and the result was gains in weight and strength that I didnt think were possible for my size. Positive individuals like my training partner will challenge you physically and mentally when you need it most. Thats another reason why its so important I have talked alot about the importance of networking and assembling teams of people that will help you accomplish your goals in previous posts. Teams are powerful, thats the reason Alcoholics Anonymous and similar treatment programs are so effective – they leverage powerful and positive team dynamics.

Watch your Thoughts

Thoughts are things – Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller–Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century

Really start to pay attention to how you speak to yourself, and how you visualize things. Do you automatically assume the worst? Or do you visualize and prepare for your best performance? Self Doubt is thought driven. Therefore, to defeat the thoughts that produce self doubt, counter them with thoughts that produce self confidence. Instead of imagining defeat, imagine victory and the end result that you desire. Instead of letting your mind get away with saying things like “I cant do this because…” counter with “I can do this because…” Another technique that Olympic athlete’s use is to visualize what could go wrong and then visualize how to correct the error in mid-stride.

Self Doubt and self confidence are practices that become traits. If you practice confidence, you will embody it naturally over a period of time, and the money and success you seek will come. Dont let your self doubt sabotage your life. Go forth confidently and victoriously. Otherwise, all the money in the world wont help you.

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This post is a blast from the past (at least where my early days on Twitter are concerned). Daily Kicks in the Ass are motivational tweets that I would send out on a daily basis to inspire my followers. So here’s a list of every daily kick that I shot out. Refer back to this list on occasion to keep you motivated, and if you haven’t already, join me on twitter and you can receive some of these daily insights, as well as news and notes.*Punctuation and spelling have been modified to suit twitter’s 140 character limit. So dont comment on my bad spelling or grammar. Nobody else cares that you are an English major and correcting other peoples grammatical errors only proves one thing: youre a nerd. Just read and enjoy!

• 7 years from now, what will you have to show for what you’re doing right now? If your answer is “not much”, consider a new plan
• The answer is not to work harder, but to work smarter A job should be looked upon as a temporary inconvenience
• Who dares to teach must never cease to learn
• Wealth is when small efforts produce large results Poverty is when large efforts produce small results
• Don’t get stuck in resentment-Travel without dragging an emotional baggage full of past disappointments
• Doing anything remotely major will bring criticism Attempting  do anything large-scale will bring armies of haters Stay wit it!
• Create a personal advisory board
• Smart businesspeople focus on the things they have the power to change, not whining about the things they don’t
• Don’t overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself – You are better than you think!
• CONQUERING FEAR = DEFINING FEAR. What are you afraid of?
• Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action – ACT ON YOUR GOALS TODAY!
• Many a false step was made by standing still
• For things 2 get moving in your life, stop having new ideas and focus on finishing the old ones! Finishing is better than starting!!
• You’re either starting or quitting
• PRIORITIZE! There are always more demands than there’s time to meet them!
• Success is getting what you want Happiness is wanting what you get
• Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success They quit on the one yard line and never know how close they are
• Don’t wait for success; work, learn and progress until it comes to you
• A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him
• The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it!
• If you have a ‘why’ to live by, you can live with any ‘how’.  Go forth and conquer!
• If you neglect your hustle for one day it will neglect you for two
• Strength doesn’t come from winning, but from struggle. When U go thru hardship and decide not to surrender, that’s strength

• The greatest thing a man can do is to make the most possible out of what has been given him This is success, and there is no other
• Give to the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you
• Motivation will almost always beat mere talent, so get motivated and conquer your world!
• A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty
• Everyone thinks of changing the world, but the great (wo)man thinks of changing himself, first!
• It isn’t easy  get others  believe in you until U have a track record. So go make your own track and build your own record
• To talk much and no nothing is the same as climbing a tree to catch a fish. Put up or shut up today!
• Most obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we make up our mind to walk boldly through them!
• Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall
• Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
• I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it
• Every day is either a success or failure. Which do you want today to be?
• It is better to be defeated with integrity, than to win without it
• Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do
• One of the secrets 2 success is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks
• The best preparation for tomorrow is to do today’s work superbly well
• The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism
• You must fail often to succeed only once
• Yesterday’s joy will become today’s sadness; yet today’s sadness will grow into tomorrow’s joy
• Unless you act you will perish in a life of failure, misery, and sleepless nights
• Today I will surpass every action which I performed yesterday
• To multiply your value you must multiply your actions!
• Success comes to those willing to work a little bit harder than the rest!
• Remove from your vocabulary the words quit, cant, unable, impossible, failure, hopeless, and retreat; these are the words of fools
• Nature knows not defeat, why should you!
• Live today as if it is your last chance to prove your love and your greatness
• If you must be a slave to habit, then be a slave to good habits
• Do not waste a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, yesterday’s defeats, or yesterday’s aches of the heart
• Don’t be satisfied with yesterday’s accomplishments or indulge in self-praise
• Destroy procrastination with action. Dismember fear with confidence!
• Cherish each hour of this day for it can never return!
• Act now, for now is all you have!
• A man of sense is never discouraged by difficulties; he redoubles his effort, he perseveres, and infallibly prevails at last
• Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of
• First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you
• Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends
• Goals that are not written down are just wishes
• Define your business goals clearly so that others can see them as you do
• Do not let the future be held hostage by the past
• We all need lots of powerful long-range goals to help us past the short-term obstacles
• Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don’t want
• If you chase two rabbits, both will escape (Focus on one goal at a time!)
• If you focus on results, you will never change If you focus on change, you will get results
• My experience has shown that ppl who r good in biz aren’t so bcuz of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more
• If you think education is expensive, try ignorance
• Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing!
• Success is not permanent. The same is also true of failure
• Everyone has his burden. What counts is how you carry it
• Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do
• Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great
• Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly
• Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together
• Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together
• Seize Today! Remember, you can earn more money, but when time is spent is gone forever
• It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it
• They can conquer who believe they can He has not learned the first lesson is life who does not every day surmount a fear!
• It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide what to do
• Acknowledge rewards for they are your due; but welcome obstacles for they are your opportunities!
• Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things and I’ll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things
• Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts
• Performance, and performance alone, dictates the predator in any food chain

• A failure establishes only this: that our determination to succeed was not strong enough
• In pursuit of success, you will hear  no’s until you find the person who will say yes don’t stop until you find that person!
• I’m sorry u feel bad about not meeting your goals–I would suggest that u begin meeting your goals in order 2  feel better (LOL!)
• The rut you’re in isn’t permanent, nor is it perfect. Escaping your rut is not a quick dig, but a slow climb
• “EXPECTATION BRINGS MISERY, ACTION BRINGS VICTORY!” DONT EXPECT TO BE SUCCESSFUL, GET UP AND TAKE YOUR SUCCESS!
• The presence of fear is not the absence of courage. Courage is doing wat u r afraid  do, so there can be no courage unless ur scared
• Get up, work hard, n do what you gotta do now so you can do what you wanna do later!
• In the end, you’re measured not by how much you try but by what you finally accomplish -Donald Trump
• You, Diddy, Trump, and Obama all have the same 24 hrs in a day. What makes them different is how they use those  hrs
• THE GREAT TRADGEDY OF LIFE IS THAT IT HAS TO END ONLY BY GIVING BACK TO THE WORLD CAN YOU REALLY LIVE EVER!
• LOOK AT YOUR  NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS HOW MANY OF THEM STILL ARENT ACHIEVED? GET UP N GET ON EM YOU HAVE MONTH!
• Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that!
• “You don’t have to stop being a gangster, just elevate your hustle. Remember, real gangsters wear suits”
• “A CONSISTENT VISION LEADS TO CONSISTENT ACTIONS THAT LEAD TO CONSISTENT RESULTS DEVELOP YOUR VISION AND GET MOVIN!”
• Daily Kick in the Ass: Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it Establish your priorities and go to work
• Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily
• “DONT TAKE ADVICE FROM PPL WHO ARENT WHERE U WANT TO BE
• Those who take action are rewarded, not those with the best ideas. There’s no reward  thinking it, only  doing it!”
• IF UNSUCCESSFUL PEOPLE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH WHAT YOU ARE DOING, KEEP DOING IT!
• The bottom is the worst place to be. When the flood waters start rising, you will be the first to drown. RISE UP!
• “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who can’t read or write, but those who refuse to learn”
• “He who overcomes shall inherit all things” – If you quit, there is a % chance you will never achieve!
• If you got a dream protect it People will tell you you can’t do it because they can’t do it!
• THERE ARE PPL WHO WILL LUV U NO MATTER HOW MUCH WRONG U DO, THERE R PPL WHO WILL HATE U NO MATTER HOW MUCH RIGHT YOU DO!
• When it comes to helping poor people: The best thing you can do 4 them is not be one of them
• To know and not to do is to not yet know.
• Ability is nothing without opportunity -Napoleon Bonaparte
• Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit

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Alot of the people I coach get really frustrated when it comes to getting out of their financial situation and getting their hustle on. I experienced this same frustration when I started out, and came to the realization that the problem I had wasnt a lack of money, it was a lack of ideas. I had no money because I had no ideas on how to make money.

That all changed when I picked up a book called Jump Start Your Business Brain by a guy named Doug Hall. He co-hosts a live radio show on WVXU in Cincinnati, is the founder and CEO of Eureka! Ranch, which is a corporate innovation, research and training center, and helps companies build their businesses with new ideas and strategies.The book didnt give me all the answers, but it started me down the right path. I highly recommend you check it out!

Ok, so where do ideas come from? The two best sources of new ideas are (1)”information cross-pollination” and (2) exposure to different ways of doing things.

Turning Information Into Ideas

Getting ideas from information is like cross pollination. Cross pollination occurs in the animal kingdom when birds and insects carry seed from one plant to the other, fertilizing the receiving plant in the process. Vast fields of blooms are the result of these animals going from plant to plant. Coming up with fertile ideas is rarely the result of reading a single book or studying a single subject matter. You will harvest your best ideas from going from book to book and subject to subject. You are more likely to discover new ways to make money by studying biology, history, sociology, and Mediterranean cooking along with business and financial books that if you just studied books on making money.

A great example of cross-pollination is the discovery of Velcro. The inventor combined his knowledge of engineering with his study of nature and became filthy rich. I make it a point to regularly diversify my information diet by reading books on a diverse array of subjects, listening to podcasts that are informative but have nothing to do with money (like Blog Talk Radio’s Zeitgeist Movement podcast), and watching The History Channel. Read newspapers from other cities and other countries. Watch channels that you have never watched before. Diversify your knowledge intake. The result could be the million dollar idea that youve been waiting for.

Turning Exposure Into Ideas

One of the best ways to gain exposure to new and different ideas, practices, and opportunities is travel. The time I spent overseas was more than just a break from the sameness of American society; it was an opportunity for me to experience first hand how other cultures lived and thrived. I discovered solutions to problems that they had come up with. For instance, Japan’s small land mass meany they didnt have room for expansive parking lots. Their solution was to build a mechanical parking garage that could store parked vehicles in a much smaller facility. My travels in the middle east exposed me to Aquaponics, a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics that allowed Africans to grow both crops and fish in the middle of the desert. Traveling is the absolute best method of coming up with new ideas. Just look at what Ed has done with the Japanese vending machine business model. (I wish I could find a Georgia Coffee in America!)

If you cant get to Japan, try heading to any other region right here in America. The cultures in Seattle, Los Angeles, Mobile, Louisville, and Baltimore are all different from each other. If youre not from those areas, you can learn much from the way they do business and take the ideas you come up with back home to launch a new and different product or service.

And even if you cant get outside of your region physically, theres the internet. Sites like this, The Block Standard Network, Dream and Hustle, and many others are all dedicated to helping you come up with new hustles and ideas that could help you change your financial situation. There really is no excuse for limiting your exposure.

Capturing Ideas

Keep a notepad on you at all times. Keep a notepad next to your bed. Keep a notepad with you while youre in the gym. The best ideas have the tendency to pop up when you least expect them to. Dont run the risk of forgetting your million dollar idea because you didnt write it down!

ACT!

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.” – Swami Vivekananda

“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” – Buddha

Action is the most important thing when it comes to ideas. I have talked about this before in my post, Ideas are Useless, where I also gave you step by step instructions for capitalizing on them. Dont talk yourself out of the idea before taking action on it, but put it into action. Wear it out. Do everything in your power to make your idea work. Truly put it to the test. Invest your life savings into making it successful. If you have invested a godly amount of effort and money into making your idea successful and it still fails, only then can you call it a bad idea and move on to the next idea thats written down in your book. Re-read Swami Vivekananda’s quote above.

Diversify your knowledge, gain exposure to new ideas and cultures, capture your ideas in writing, and put the idea into action. This is one of the many formulas for success.

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