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Interestingly enough, success is often measured by one’s expertise, perfection, and greatness in any area of discipline. The greatest basketball players won NBA Championships and hoisted hardware such as MVP awards and the scoring titles. In Hollywood, the best musicals are awarded Tony Awards and the best entertainers are nominated at the annual BET Awards.
But don’t feel inadequate. Would it be a relief to hear that the average American millionaire earns just a 2.9 overall GPA in college? Frankly, that should be music to everyone’s ears, including my roommate, who has a 2.8 GPA and is currently getting scolded by his parents about his scholarship options and financial aid.
Eric Barker, the author of “Barking Up The Wrong Tree,” explains why the average American millionaire doesn’t perform well in an academic setting but still reaches the apex of success in the professional world.
With the help of Karen Arnold, a researcher at Boston College, the scrupulous study indicates that high school valedictorians do well but they don’t actually attain the highest level of success metrics in the future. In other words, they do not become billionaires or people who run the world in general.
Research states that valedictorians or high achieving students who garner a good grade point average often comply to rules. Therefore, valedictorians often go out into the world, supporting the system, becoming part of a system. They do not change or overthrow the system.
While valedictorians are generally scoring high in personality trait of conscientiousness, millionaires with 2.9 GPAs are known for their grit.
Maybe they don’t comply with rules that well but they stick with goals over the long term and that’s how they do really well. And sometimes they don’t play by the rules, sometimes they do things differently.
So a certain amount of not playing by the rules is advantageous once you get out of a closed system like education.
