06/18/2026
I was listening to a billionaire talk about success the other day.
He said, “To be truly successful, you need a PhD.”
At first, I thought he meant a doctorate.
But then he explained it differently.
To succeed, you need one of two kinds of PhDs:
Poor, Hungry, and Driven.
Or…
Papa Has Dough.
I laughed.
But the more I thought about it, the more truth I found hidden in the joke.
Some people begin with advantages.
Some begin with adversity.
Some inherit opportunities.
Others create them.
Some are pushed forward by resources.
Others are pulled forward by hunger.
The world is full of examples of both.
Yet after all the books I’ve read and all the successful people I’ve met, I think there may be a third PhD that matters even more:
Passion, Humility, and Discipline.
Because money can open doors.
Hunger can make you knock on them.
But it is discipline that keeps you walking through them day after day.
Success is rarely about where you start.
It is about who you become along the way.
https://www.amazon.com/author/authorsandylamba
