The problem they're having is a common problem for people who are intelligent even. There are a few highly intelligent highly exceptional people that are the exception and in our society with the massive amount of instant communication we have makes it seem like they're the norm but they're not. These are just truly exceptional people even if we pointed them like they're blundering idiots.

For smart people, average people, and below average people we often fall into the same problem that they're describing. What do we do? How do we take advantage of opportunities? How do we get ahead? Even to the point of how do you get to a normal middle class lifestyle. I struggled with this for a long time. The first answer is to adjust your expectations and align them more with reality. Learn how to do without, learn how to live at an income level lower than what you have regardless of what that income level is. Then take the blinders off to opportunity. Because you talk about the income in labor fields not being what is advertised. The problem is you're looking at the labor fields in a given area, or with a given set of restrictions. People often look for their opportunities only where they're at and not at the opportunities they have in other places or or other fields. We're often afraid to take risks that allow us to take advantage of those opportunities. Sometimes we have burdens that we have assumed such as a spouse and family that prevent us from taking advantage of opportunities. More often, in my experience, we have burdens that we have placed upon ourself artificially that allow us not to take advantage of the opportunities. Once you can get out of the mindset that you are tied to an area or a location or a field where all of these burdens that trap us the opportunities are there and you're willing to take the risk to take advantage of them.

It took me many years to understand this and realize all of the opportunities of my youth that I didn't take advantage of because I was blind to them at the time. Worse yet I can remember the specific instances where people told me of the opportunities and told me specifically what I needed to do but I made excuses and found reasons why I couldn't do it. Hindsight shows me that was all just an artificial barrier I put in my head. What held me back for a long time was myself. People were there they pointed out what could be done, career paths to opportunities that were available. Oftentimes these were the older people that young people so often dismiss. When you're young it's easy to dismiss saying, you don't understand what it's like today. I can tell you I made that same lame excuse and when I try and help out younger people now I get the same lame excuse from them. It's a total excuse and they are holding themselves back. Then they blame everyone and everything else around them saying they are not able to achieve a modest level of success.

Yes it's incredibly difficult to become the next Jeff bezos or any of these other mega billionaires. It's possible, but it's difficult, it requires something inside of you that most people don't have and it requires some luck. To achieve a middle class lifestyle doesn't require luck doesn't require high level of intelligence or highly skilled things it requires simply not being afraid to take advantage of opportunities. While those opportunities may seem risky in the moment because you've never done them before hindsight says they're not risky at all. The more things you do the more comfortable you get doing things and knowing that you can accomplish those things.

The labor field has amazing income potential, but don't just focus on the most basic form of the labor field. In any industry the most basic beginning levels will always be the lowest pay and the worst work. There are many people who are comfortable framing a house all day and drinking beer all night and complaining that they never get ahead and never change. Labor markets have a whole range of things to do and the more rare something is to do the more money you make. There are a lot of jobs in the labor market that pay incredibly well you just have to be motivated to go and get them because it's difficult to find people to do them. They are either risky jobs or they're very intensive jobs that take you away from everything you know for long periods of time. They mention oil wells Yes absolutely that's one it's not near you, the bus leaves from where you're at to where the jobs are everyday. Get on the bus and go. There is a massive electrical grid in this country you can be an electrician that services homes and small businesses or you can learn to do commercial work or you can learn to work for the power company and string wire and do high voltage systems. Workers that deal with waste treatment systems make a really good living. Become a welder become a fantastically good welder but instead of just staying in the job where you're just welding in the shop all day, become the welder who's willing to travel to different locations to do things on site to do highly specialized work. That's where you get the money. The opportunities are there who just have to not be afraid to let go of what you have to get what you want. There are so many labor jobs that take people of average skill level in their field but those people are willing to go to exotic locations or be gone for weeks at a time and it's those people who really can make bank at labor jobs. Because they're doing the job that nobody else wants to do and while your buddies are punching their clock from 9:00 to 5:00 at the shop complaining that they're not getting ahead you'll be working your ass off but we'll be making bank and properly managed you can retire early.

That is the greatest thing that holds back any of us being afraid to let go of what we have to grab what we want.

I have a good job as a software engineer but I'm in the later stages of my career. If I knew in my youth when I was 20 or 30 what I know now, or if I just actually listen to what people have told me I'd already be retired by now. The problem is we all think the prior generation had it easier than the current generation. The prior generation is trying to help you out and tell you the secrets to success the problem is they can't do it for you. I can't even get my own children to listen to me about the massive opportunities they have in front of them because there's always an excuse why they can't do it.