Why average students become millionaires

Sam was an average student throughout his school years. He remembers being compared with other students throughout primary and high school.

His parents even took him for extra tuition with the hope of getting his C grades up to at least a B and even a few A’s, but that didn’t change anything. He was extremely strong in one or two subjects but generally average or poor in the rest. Some of his teachers blatantly told Sam that he would fail in life. Sam did not get the grades required to join a public university so he proceeded to a local private university.

His grades still did not get him on the dean’s list but he was above average.

At least university gave Sam the opportunity to choose what he was good at. His social life was very good and he invested his time in going out with friends, playing rugby and participating in the clubs that frequently had out-of-town trips. Fast-forward to 15 years post-university, Sam owns and runs a courier company. He has over 100 employees.

His annual profits exceed Sh10 million a year. This is the same Sam who was told that he would amount to nothing.

Real world success

Sam’s story is not unique. There are many people who used to score average or below average grades who have excelled in the real world. Some of them did not even finish school. 

Like Sam, most of us went to school: from kindergarten to primary school and secondary school and finally to university.

Some of us even went beyond the basic undergraduate degree and did our master’s or even PhD, yet we’re nowhere close to what Sam has achieved in wealth creation.

With stories like this, one has got to question the limitations of the formal education system when it comes to success outside school walls.

From what I have seen, more formal education does not necessarily result in success for everybody, as we are led to believe. Here are just a few reasons why formal education does not necessarily help us achieve what Sam has.

Capitalise on strengths

Formal education does not teach you how to cultivate personal drive. Instead, it teaches you how to study (or in more apt terms, how to cram) for an exam.

The ultimate objective is not what you have learned that you can apply, but rather the grade that appears on your report card. Your drive is then dictated by what someone else expects of you. The drive here is very short-term.

Outside school, to do anything beyond the ordinary requires you to maintain long-term drive towards an objective that is not dictated, may not be recognised or even appreciated, by other people. People who have created wealth have been able to establish personal vision and goals and to execute them. That vision is what gets them up in the morning.

We were not taught how to develop this vision for ourselves yet it is such a critical element in wealth creation and in success in life. For many people, formal education does not get you to appreciate what you are strong at and how to use it. From Sam’s story, it was obvious he had good interpersonal skills, hence the active social life. In fact he told me a lot of his contracts are from networks formed as a result of these social activities.

These same skills have helped him retain employees. There is no amount of studying physics that would have helped Sam in his business. However, there was no exam on social skills.

Think about athletes whose genius may not be in the classroom, but on the track. They then get the opportunity to practise that genius and hence excel in global sporting events.

Had they concentrated on practising what they were not good at, many of them would not be on that podium receiving medals.

To ultimately create wealth you have to know what you are good at and spend time on it. Some people flourish in formal organisations, while others were meant to start their own businesses. Some people have a knack for property investments, others have this same skill in farming.

In school we were meant to be good at eight to 10 subjects all at once; wealth creation, on the other hand, asks you to be focused.

Knowledge is not enough

The real world is all about application and action, not just cramming. Formal education glorifies studying, yet you only build valuable experience through applying the skills that you are good at.

Many times in school we were not tested on practical application yet that is what wealth creation and success is all about. It is about doing, making mistakes and then doing different.

In the real world, no one applauds you for just knowing. Moreover, after a certain phase in your life, and for most careers, your formal education ceases to be a point of discussion.

I was only asked to show my certificates in my first job; after that, no one asked because after a certain phase, you advance because of experience.

Formal education has its benefits, so the aim of this article is to point out that an A in Form Four is not necessarily an A in other areas of life.

A completely different set of skills is needed for success in life. Likewise, a D does not spell doom and gloom. We have to recognise there are areas we will need to work on ourselves beyond what formal education taught us.