We often times use the examples of those, that came from unprivileged backgrounds who ended up in high places in life. We think of the old run of the mill saying that no matter what background you come from, you can achieve success in whatever aspirations you have, right? Well, that is not really the case.

Although there are people, that have achieved success by coming from unprivileged backgrounds, what contributed to their success was not just hard work and talent, it was many other factors as well.

The main factors that contribute to success, are the time period you were born in/when you are born, the mindset in which you were raised in(which is dependent on your socioeconomic background), being raised with parents that found their work meaningful and rewarding, and being intelligent ENOUGH.

In my opinion, these factors alone, don’t make a difference in the amount of success/failure you will face in the future. However, being unaware of these factors, and not doing anything about them, can make a difference in your success. That is why it is important to be aware so that no matter what background you are coming from, you know the steps to become successful.

Did you know, that when you are born, can make a difference in whether you become a professional hockey player? A staggering number of professional hockey players are born January-March. Why is that?

The school cut off the team for the selection is January 1st, which means that the kids who were born early in the year can be up to a year older than those that are born later in the year. That can make a huge difference in terms of physical maturity. Since the January-March kids do well so early, they are given more coaching and more hours of practice.

A staggering number of tech entrepreneurs as well are born during the 1950’s as well. Why? That is because that made them old enough to take advantage of the personal computing revolution, which took place during the mid-1970’s.

As most would assume, people from more advantaged backgrounds do far better in terms of success, for they have more resources, money, opportunities, etc.. which is true. However, the wealthy and the poor raise their children differently, with different mindsets, and that is a major factor that can contribute to one’s success.

Take these stories. Chris Langan, an extremely bright, gifted young man. However, his father was an alcoholic and was usually absent. Luckily, he got a full scholarship to go to Reed University. Throughout his college career, he found it very difficult to speak up in class, although he knew the material fairly well. His mother failed to fill out the financial aid form correctly, so lost his scholarship, and he had to drop out.Chris enrolled again into Montana State University. Everything went well, until one day, his car broke down on his way to class. He asked his professors if he could be transferred to a different section so that he could avoid having an absence. The administration didn’t grant his request, so Chris dropped out and decided that he was done with the higher education system.

Now, take Robert Oppenheimer, an extremely bright gifted man also, but with a twist. Robert Oppenheimer went to Harvard and Cambridge, but he was a bit mentally unstable. Robert tried to poison his tutor with lab chemicals and was put on probation by Cambridge.

That didn’t stop his success later on in life, though. In fact, he was appointed to lead the development of a nuclear bomb in America during World War II. This meant that Oppenheimer didn’t even lose his scholarship, despite even trying to poison his tutor.

What does this mean? Does this mean that Oppenheimer had more potential and intelligence than Lagan? Of course not. This meant that Oppenheimer didn’t take no for an answer from his administrators in losing his scholarship. Oppenheimer had the savviness, to know what he wanted to get from the world, and that was what Lagan was lacking.

Sociologists have studied differences in parenting across racial, geographical, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It was discovered that there was one dividing line in parenting: class. Wealthier kids were encouraged to speak up when they were unhappy or to learn to “customize” with their environment so that they can thrive. The poorer kids were taught to accept and cope with hardships, instead of trying to change them.

This factor is even related to Oppenheimer and Lagan. Oppenheimer’s parents made sure to foster his talents, to join clubs, to teach him different skills such as public debating and negotiation, and introduced him to high powered people, insisting not to be intimidated. These are skills that are necessary to be successful in getting what you want in life.

Chris wasn’t raised in an environment to cultivate such skills. When he entered the world of negotiating with busy administrators and filling out forms, he suffered. He only had learned to constraint through suffering, so as a result, he was also less insistent in getting what he wanted.

Although being raised in a disadvantaged environment can serve many disadvantages, being raised in the right type of disadvantaged environment can serve as a huge advantage, and I’ll explain what I mean by that.

A young Jewish couple, Mr. and Mrs. Borgenicht, move from Europe to New York, in hope of finding a better life. They were children apron sellers, and they worked long exhausting hours. However, their business was a huge success. The work that they were doing was engaging, it was meaningful.

Sociologists began studying children of couples like these, and they found that an overwhelming amount of these children became educated professionals.

The children of immigrant parents learn that persuasion, initiative and hard work lead to success.

Do you tend to think that the salutatorian of the class, will end up being successful in life, right? Not exactly the case, actually. Although we tend to correlate success with high intelligence, there isn’t much correlation in reality.

A Stanford psychology professor, known as Lewis Madison Terman, came up with the idea/thought that “what if we could track all of the lives of geniuses, and prove that IQ has a correlation with future success?” So he did. He set up a study, to track down how his “Termites” would turn out, in regards to future success. In fact, he even gave his “Termites” letters of recommendation for jobs and college and pulling strings at Stanford to help them get admitted.

Turns out, that most of the “Termites” led normal middle-class lives. Only a very small percentage of the Termites were in top tier positions.

Once you reach an IQ threshold of 120, then additional IQ points don’t serve any measurable real-world advantage. So it is important to have ENOUGH intelligence, in the sense of having a high enough IQ, but up till that point, other factors are more important. This includes practical intelligence, which includes things such as knowing “what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and how to say it for maximum effect”, according to Malcolm Gladwell, author of the best seller “Blink”.

Now that you know the basic idea of what makes a successful person, below is a guide for how to become successful based on these concepts. But also remember, that life is not purely based on being successful. The true satisfaction of life, comes from the process, of doing something challenging and meaningful. Success is a reward. So continue on doing what you love, and being the best at it as you can be.

Guide to how to become successful:

• Figure out a passion, that you can succeed in, that is revolutionizing in this time period. An example of this would be coding and technology.

• From my opinion, it is never a good thing to lie, to get what you want. But, it is always very good in life, to figure out how to get around the rules, and how to persuade people. Let me give you an example, to give you an idea.

• Armand Peugeot, was a man that inherited from his parents a metalworking ship that produced springs, swas and bicycles, decided to go in the automobile industry. He started off by setting up a limited liability company. He named his automobile company after himself, but it was independent of him. If one of the cars broke down, the buyer could sue Peugeot, not Armand Peugeot.

• Remember, that if you have a decision that you feel is a wrong decision made by somebody of higher authority, in order for you to get ahead, it is always very smart to encourage them to make a different decision. Reason with them, and also mainly point out how it will benefit them. Always make sure to be respectable, and to listen and to take advice seriously of your superiors. You want to come with the idea that you want the best for whatever you and the boss are working for, not with the idea that you want to get the boss in trouble, or that you want to degrade them.

• Remember, rather than coming from the perspective of trying not to get in trouble with the superiors, come with the attitude of how you are going to change their perspective.

• Remember to be confident, and that if you feel  you have an idea that is worth considering, or even if you just feel it would be the best for you for them to consider your idea, don't feel intimidated. Be SMART.