It is only doing what you love that you can be successful.
There has been some mention of the typical starving artist. My cousin is an artist, but does not starve. He bought a house which he rented out to college students. The house has been paid for, he still collects the rent, and has bought another house doing the same. With the money coming in, all he does is paint and travel the world. Do what you love and you will find a way. You can't let car payments, house payments, or whatever stop you.
The main route to being successful is owning your own business. Imagine taking 5 years to create a business that runs by itself while you collect 100k/yr (it must run by itself for until it does, you don't own a business, you own a job) then going off to build another business... in 10 years that 200k/yr... 20 years 400k/yr. And all you do is sit around to collect the checks. Though you would not want to sit around for to be happy you must be productive and constantly accomplishing. With me, I will continue to build more businesses cause I enjoy it.
You must love it so much that when it is time to retire, you do not want to retire!
Good books to read:
- 1) The E-Myth (The main point is common sense that many don't follow and is essential to buidling a business - a must read)
2) Rich Dad, Poor Dad (I remmeber this being a solid read)
3) Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (create the right mindset for being wealthy - uses sound psychology/NLP)
4) The 7 Habits of Successful People (this is a classic - a must read)
Hope this helps,
Mojo
P.S. "You Have More Than You Think" by the Motley Fool brothers is a good book on how to save and invest. Basically a cook at McDonalds can be a Millionaire when he retires, it just knowing how to save and invest. With this logic, anyone with a similiar job can save and start his own business. You must know you can and let know obstacles stop you. After all, obstacles are but opportunites in disguise...