Elon Musk's Ex-Wife Has The Perfect Answer On How To Become A Billionaire

The United States is the nucleus of capitalism; it's driven by entrepreneurship. Accordingly, Americans love a good success story.

When seemingly ordinary people catapult themselves to wealth and glory, it validates the American Dream -- the notion that anyone, no matter where he or she is from, can work hard enough to make it to the top.

Correspondingly, the other day, someone posted this question to Quora:

Will I become a billionaire if I am determined to be one and put in the necessary work required?

Justine Musk, the ex-wife of billionaire Elon Musk, took it upon herself to reply. Her impeccable response is the top answer and has received over 14,000 upvotes.

Success begins with asking the right questions.

No. One of the many qualities that separate self-made billionaires from the rest of us is their ability to ask the right questions. This is not the right question. (Which is not to say it's a bad question. It just won't get that deep part of your mind working to help you -- mulling things over when you think you're thinking about something else -- sending up flares of insight.)

Success is part determination and part luck. The bitter truth is hard work can lead to nowhere.

You're determined. So what? You haven't been racing naked through shark-infested waters yet. Will you be just as determined when you wash up on some deserted island, disoriented and bloody and ragged and beaten and staring into the horizon with no sign of rescue? We live in a culture that celebrates determination and hard work, but understand: these are the qualities that keep you in the game after most everybody else has left, or until somebody bigger and stronger picks you up and hurls you back out to sea. Determination and hard work are necessary, yes, but they are the minimum requirements. As in: the bare minimum. A lot of people work extremely hard and through no fault of their own -- bad luck, the wrong environment, unfortunate circumstances -- struggle to survive.

Don't think about what you want, think about what the world needs, and strive to fill that gap. Success is a game of inches.

How can you *leverage* your time and your work? Shift your focus away from what you want (a billion dollars) and get deeply, intensely curious about what the world wants and needs. Ask yourself what you have the potential to offer that is so unique and compelling and helpful that no computer could replace you, no one could outsource you, no one could steal your product and make it better and then club you into oblivion (not literally). Then develop that potential. Choose one thing and become a master of it. Choose a second thing and become a master of that. When you become a master of two worlds (say, engineering and business), you can bring them together in a way that will a) introduce hot ideas to each other, so they can have idea sex and make idea babies that no one has seen before and b) create a competitive advantage because you can move between worlds, speak both languages, connect the tribes, mash the elements to spark fresh creative insight until you wake up with the epiphany that changes your life.

The world doesn't owe you anything. You get what you give.

The world doesn't throw a billion dollars at a person because the person wants it or works so hard they feel they deserve it. (The world does not care what you want or deserve.) The world gives you money in exchange for something it perceives to be of equal or greater value: something that transforms an aspect of the culture, reworks a familiar story or introduces a new one, alters the way people think about the category and make use of it in daily life. There is no roadmap, no blueprint for this; a lot of people will give you a lot of advice, and most of it will be bad, and a lot of it will be good and sound but you'll have to figure out how it doesn't apply to you because you're coming from an unexpected angle. And you'll be doing it alone, until you develop the charisma and credibility to attract the talent you need to come with you. Have courage. (You will need it.) And good luck. (You'll need that too.)

Citations: Will I become a billionaire if I am determined to be one and put in the necessary work required (Quora )