When Facebook hit the stock market and Mark Zuckerberg exponentially increased his net worth in the billion-dollar range, many people asked themselves: Is it possible for me to ever become that wealthy? What would it take? I would love to not have to rely on my job for money and be able to make money on my own, even while I sleep. 

You would be surprised by the number of people who have the same exact question, yet the methodology of wealth acquisition varies from person to person. Some people believe they can get wealthy just by working a 9-5 day job, some people are all about that "hustle" or side-hustle, while others constantly fall for "get rich quick" schemes that oftentimes drain one's bank account, while making a con artist out there much, much richer. In my opinion, the get rich quick schemes are exactly that: schemes. Also, most 9-5 day jobs today are not the pathway to wealth (in fact, you are spending your time maintaining your position or making it slightly better while continuing to make the executives wealthy). As you climb the corporate ladder or excel in your professional path, you will likely increase your income as you gain stature, recognition, and "earn your keep." However, basic math while analyzing your career trajectory will tell you that their is some type of limit on that income and that it will cap out at some point.

So how do you truly become wealthy in today's world, where wealth is increasingly falling into the hands of the few and the masses are left to fend for themselves? Answer: You must learn how to think outside of the box. You must be able to think like an entrepreneur and figure out how to get the most out of your skill set and turn that into profit. Am I telling you to become an entrepreneur? Not necessarily. While many today are saying, "screw the job market, I'm going to make it on my own!", many are simply not comfortable taking that kind of a leap or are simply not interested in becoming an entrepreneur - and that is okay. However, even for that kind of mindset, that person could still become incredibly wealthy through: 1) "side hustles" that become their full time job when those hustles start out-performing their day job income, or 2) when their investments (e.g., real estate, the stock market, etc.) start outperforming their day job and they either choose to continue working while making money through their investments or quit their day job all together. 

I've come across so many people today with college degrees and graduate degrees that are extremely limited in how they perceive their career trajectory and how to make the best use out of their skill set. For example, I know plenty of lawyers who are out of a job right now, want to be wealthy, and are still obsessed with working for a law firm, even though they absolutely hate the idea of working for a law firm. Can people become quite wealthy working in a law firm and climbing the ladder all the way up to partner status? Sure. But can those same people acquire the same or even more wealth through truly analyzing their personal potential and skills and figuring out how to turn those skills into a profit-generating mechanism? Most definitely. Oftentimes, the people who choose to think outside the box (instead of choosing a path that the world says is the "only way" to make money in life) are happier than those who feel cuffed and chained to gilded prisons that eat up so many years of one's life and drive people to misery and depression. 

When you think about truly being wealthy, you must be able to think outside the confines of your everyday job and look within to see what your skills are, what you enjoy doing, or what you would like to invest in, and how you can turn that into a profit-generating engine. Study people like Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates, and you'll realize that their wealth came out their own understanding that they can turn their talents and skills into money if they think outside the box, take risks, follow their own path, remain steadfast focused on their goals, regardless of the failures or setbacks that come along the way. 

In terms of wealth creation, you can be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Oprah Winfrey if you really wanted to. The question isn't: is it possible for me to be wealthy? The first question you must ask yourself is: Do I choose to take the path to be wealthy? 

-Written by: Kris