Firstly, you need to have one thing settled in your mind: that like most people, you probably have enough basic knowledge and skills to accomplish great things already. The problem is that, knowledge and skill on its own will not make you successful or wealthy. They are simply the building blocks upon which you must build. The fact that there are a lot of people with countless degrees and qualifications who are far from successful or living their lives to full potential is evidence enough of this. Actually, for some it would seem that too much knowledge and skill is the problem, not the lack of it.

It is very interesting that so many are misled by the notion that in order to have more money they need more qualifications. The pressure is on to get through college and get that diploma, then the first degree, then the masters degree, and for some even the PhD. But, as many find after years of labouring and struggling with books, the money is still just not enough. The effort and the rewards do not match in most cases, with few exceptions.  Then they massage our egos with the thought that we are highly educated and respected by society and their peers.

There is nothing so wrong with that I suppose, but why not be highly educated, respected by your peers and wealthy and fulfilled at the same time? Why not turn that knowledge into something more tangible? Like money.  

The thing that is missing is often enterprise. Enterprise is the willingness to undertake new ventures. It can also be described as initiative or as a purposeful or industrious undertaking, especially one that requires effort or boldness. Henry David Thoreau recognised the benefits of enterprise as he said that “Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling, and spending their lives like serfs.” A serf, as I found out, is a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord. This was a common thing in the middle ages.  

Therefore the person who has knowledge and skills, but is not enterprising, will not use that knowledge and skill well. Getting a job and being in “secure” employment will be enough for such a person. Actually, after some years of it most of the very skill and knowledge that got them the job will be forgotten as they settle into a routine of doing what is minimally acceptable to keep their job. Sun Tzu, Author of the ancient military strategy book “The Art of War,” wrote: “Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise, for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.”

The enterprising person or entrepreneur is one that realises that knowledge alone is not enough. That knowledge has to be converted into resources or money. So they start thinking about how to do this. Over time ideas are developed, and some form of business is undertaken. This could take any form, perhaps a good example is the person who is a consultant, selling their time and knowledge to help others in their businesses and organisations.

Which brings me to the most important point that you should remember from this: The basic rule of free enterprise: “You must give in order to get.” What could you do with your knowledge and skills that would help others? That is the secret of turning your knowledge and skill into wealth. No man ever made an honest fortune by being selfish or by keeping their knowledge and skills to themselves. Only by sharing it does it return rewards to you.

No one will give you real money because they like you or feel sorry for you. It’s mind-boggling how some people actually expect that to happen. People will give you money in return for something they need or want. What need or want could you satisfy with your knowledge and skills? Are you the answer to someone’s problem? If you can become the answer to their problems, they will become the answer to achieving your dreams and becoming successful and wealthy. But you have to give and serve first.

Whereas society has classed only a certain group of people as entrepreneurs I take the view that anyone, and everyone, should be an entrepreneur. It is the one basic truth of things that the wealthiest people in the world are those that are enterprising. They have found the connection between knowledge and wealth because “no man that does not see visions will ever realize any high hope or undertake any high enterprise” according to Woodrow T. Wilson.

Another quality that such people have is faith in themselves, their ability and their future. They are not blind gamblers taking uncalculated risks everywhere they can. As Johann Kaspar noted: “The prudent see only the difficulties, the bold only the advantages, of a great enterprise; the hero sees both; diminishes the former and makes the latter preponderate, and so conquers.”

Be enterprising and be innovative, inventive and creative. These are all different facets of enterprise. Most of all, be willing to try new things and take calculated risks. Enterprise is the one thing everybody needs, no matter what their profession or background. It is the missing link between your knowledge and skills and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

“The method of the enterprising is to plan with audacity and execute with vigor; to sketch out a map of possibilities, and then to treat them as probabilities.”
(Christian Nestell Bovee)