How to Get Rich

by Felix Dennis

Because aptitude is a very different kettle of fish. Few of us are lucky enough to be born with a talent so obvious that the Search is never an obstacle to progress. Yet even here, inclination may prove a stumbling block to real wealth. One of the best sales people I ever employed, and one who was so conscious of her ability that I was forced to pay her nearly twice the salary and bonus of her immediate boss, now lives in Cornwall and paints watercolours. They are not very good watercolours, in my opinion. But neither my opinion, nor the promise that she would be a multi-millionaire before she was thirty-five, proved a sufficient inducement to keep her nose to the grindstone. The aptitude for selling advertising was obvious, and was the envy of all her colleagues. But her inclinations led elsewhere. She is happy as far as I know and I wish her all the luck in the world. But she will never be rich. Fortunately, she says she has no wish to be.