Work habits of a millionaire college dropout

[easyonme]

I don't know jack about affiliate marketing. My 7 figure income is in a different internet market. It was no accident, though. I thought I'd share some of the larger strategies I have applied consistently for 30 years. These got me to "the other side" by the time I was 36.

*Long-term planning: When I was a kid back in the 70s the economy was worse than this one. I saw lots of people who thought they had stable jobs learn the hard way that they didn't. I decided then that I'd have to plan for bad times because nobody cared as much about my well-being as I did. I got all the books from the library I could on business success. There weren't many in those days, but there were a few good ones. I read them, absorbed them, and reread them. My favorites were biographies of groups of rich people like "The Very Very Rich and How they Got That Way". It helped me see patterns, because successful business people have a lot of common characteristics, like extreme focus, willingness to fail, willingness to go against the grain, average grades in college, and high college dropout rates. A better book these days would be "The Millionaire Next Door".

*When my dad died I quit college to teach myself computers, which I knew nothing about. I wasn't afraid to quit because I understood that the most successful people had blazed their own trails. I also know computers were big. I chose an obscure field (compiler writing) because it was considered so hard that employers didn't care if you had a degree, as long as you could do the work.

*Willingness to fail: I learned from these biographies that most rich people didn't get rich young. Most of them went through several failures before they got rich (this turned out to be true for me too). I'm a science nut and the classic cycle of develop hypothesis-try to disprove-come to conclusion-publish findings has always been a deeply satisfying thought to me. (Let's momentarily ignore the fact that grant-hungry scientists seldom risk this classical technique any more). Knowing from the beginning that I would fail sometimes has been a blessing. And believe me, I'm very experienced at failing.

*Understanding deferred gratification: I learned from reading about successful people 30 years ago what Malcom Gladwell just figured out this last year (in his book "Outliers"). It takes a ton of work and lots of time to get good at something. "Genius" is mostly irrelevant. I worked with lots of geniuses at Microsoft, but they're not entreprenerial thinkers. Another thing: the very rich tended to pay a heavy price to get where they were, quite often a first marriage. I consciously chose to make less money than they did because I wanted a bit better balance. I'm less rich than I could be. But we have a bunch of fun kids and I get to work at home. Anyway, at about 14 I embarked on a self-study course that continues to this day. I don't have a TV. According to statistics you're watching it 4.5 hours/day. I like that. While you're watching TV, I'm learning new things, building websites, and in general getting the competitive edge on you. Then I buy "Entourage" on DVD and watch it on my computer when I want a rest. I dropped out of college but my master class started at 14 and hasn't ended.

*Backup plan #1: doing something I liked. It's much easier to work at something you like, but I also knew I might not get first choice. Plan A was rock star. That didn't work, but I spent a semester at community college in the journalism program. My thought was: learn to write professionally as a way to hold me over while I taught myself how to program computers, which would let me have a job programming games. I loved the idea of making money with just words. Writing 2 articles a day at the college newspaper had the fringe benefit of eliminating any fear of writing. The primary purpose was so that I wouldn't have to hang drywall or work at a salad bar for a living. Point is that even while I studied music I kept another, backup career in mind. I don't like writing or programming or running a business as I like writing music. But they're still a damn site better than installing HVAC. Never got that job programming games, but I did end up owning the Visual Basic language at Microsoft with some of the smartest, kindest, most enjoyable people I ever met. Plus stock options.

*Backup plan #2. I have almost always worked 2 jobs, and always assumed my day job was in jeopardy. The job I do at night is always the training for my next career. When I started as a copy editor at a computer magazine I took the review software and learned to program with it at night. That got me a job as computer programming columnist. While I worked that job at night I honed my programming skills at night to be a better programmer. When I got my first programmer job I studied management and more business. When I went to work at Microsoft I in program management I continued to study web programming at night. I have a very successful business right now, but I know it's vulnerable so I'm creating products and studying affiliate management at night. We did break down and get an every-two-week housekeeper when I was 45, two years ago. My wife won't do housework and I was cleaning toilets and vacuuming only every 6 weeks. The housekeeper gives me more time to work. But my wife did find it amusing that she was the only person on her BBS married to a millionaire-who cleaned toilets. Maybe bad time management, but overall the product of useful work habits.

So next time you sit down to watch reruns of "Seinfeld", consider how cool it would be to whip together a niche site in WordPress instead.

Cheers,

Tom Campbell

[bruusk]

Just discovered this post - Can't believe nobody commented on it yet!

Not that I have anything valuable to add to it - But I found it really inspirational. Thanks Tom.

+rep.

[Blackman]

Great post and very inspirational. I sometimes find myself a freak too, when "regular" people go out partying and I sit at home doing IM...but when that feeling hits me, I imagine living an Internet lifestyle, and nothing can beat that

[Vadym]

Lol, the reason I didn't comment was because there was nothing to add.

I am glad that Tom joined NC though, since he's a hell of a guy. A solid addition to the group.

[NCMedia]

I am glad that Tom joined NC though, since he's a hell of a guy. A solid addition to the group.

^ That.

[Ganceann]

When I initially read the post I kept it open for a while trying to think of a reply, but like Vadym, I felt I couldn't add anything - its a solid post.

I guess some simple tips to take from this are:

1. Keep learning and planning your next move in life
2. Never become complacent or "accept" things the way they currently are
3. Live within your means - stay grounded
4. Accept failure as part of learning
5. Cut out distractions, keep focus and take action

[terryq9317]

Great Post.

[nevergiveup]

Tom,

You inspire me. At 37 and having just entered IM last year, it can seem daunting. Your post gives me hope.

[koncorps]

+rep

I really like how it all ties in together, and that you stood up for what you believe in - in the end you're that much closer to what you truly want.

Congrats Tom, and thanks for sharing your personal insights and strategies with us, I love reading detailed stories like these ones, they provide a very intimate perspective into someone else's well life and business.

Thanks Tom! +rep