Live the American Dream

To many, the American Dream is the idea that it's possible for Americans to secure a better material life for themselves through hard work. However, in the words of historian James Truslow Adams, "... it is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable..." The American Dream is much more than a house, two children, and a car in the garage. It's also the idea that Americans can strive for a life of proud individualism, recognition, and personal liberty.

Steps

Securing a Good Life

1. Work hard. If there's one thing about the American Dream that almost everyone can agree on, it's that it requires hard work to achieve. A 2012 Public Agenda poll found that almost 90% of respondents agreed that a strong work ethic is an "absolutely essential" part of the Dream. Whether you're aiming to climb from humble beginnings to a comfortable middle class life, ascend from the middle class to the upper class, or even climb from the very bottom to the highest echelons of society, you'll need a powerful personal drive to succeed.
   • Getting ahead in life means what it sounds like — working hard so that you "pull ahead" of others who would rather put in only an ordinary level of effort. For starters, you may want to try working harder and longer than other people at your job. If most employees usually leave as soon they get the chance, offer to stay late. If others slack during their down time, find extra tasks to do. Working harder than other people around you is an excellent way to get noticed at work and eventual reap the rewards of promotion and raises.
2. Work smart. While hard work is a must for achieving the American Dream, working hard without working effectively will get you nowhere. In America, it's much better to be recognized for being exceptionally efficient and productive, rather than being content to spend lots of effort at tasks that can be accomplished more easily other ways. Always be striving to improve your personal efficiency, especially at work — ask yourself, "How can I do my job quicker?", "How can I do it more simply?", "How can I do it with less effort?", and so on. Below are just a few productivity-boosting tips to get you started:
   • If you work a job at a computer, write a script (or have an experienced friend do so for you) to accomplish your most frequent, menial tasks.
   • If you're swamped with work, try to delegate some to others.
   • If you own a business, hire a third-party agency to handle tasks that are becoming too time-consuming (like accounting, payroll, etc.).
   • Find creative workarounds to common problems. For example, if you're a waiter and you notice you're wasting lots of time walking back and forth to the ice machine, start carrying a pitcher of ice with you while you wait tables.
   • Invest in effective, high-quality equipment.
   • Ensure you get plenty of rest so that you can devote your entire attention to your work.
3. Get an education. While America is home to plenty of stories of people who became fabulously successful without a formal education, in general, getting an education is usually a big boost to your career and personal prospects. A basic education, like you might get from high school, gives you the baseline knowledge you need to be fluent and competitive in the modern world. A higher education, like you might get at college, gives you specialized knowledge and skills which make you a more attractive candidate and can qualify you for more selective jobs, while a post-graduate education usually is even more specialized. In general, it's in every Americans' best interest to get the highest level of education he can reasonably afford.
   • In addition, certain types of work require the proper educational background. For instance, you can't become a doctor without going to medical school, you can't become a lawyer without going to law school, and you can't become an architect without a degree in architecture.
   • Getting a higher education can seriously boost your earning potential. On average, someone who spends two years in college is estimated to earn about $250,000 more over her lifetime than someone who does not.
4. Be enterprising. Americans who want to get ahead should always be looking for extra ways to make money, both as part of their main job and outside of it. There are literally countless ways to do this — anywhere you see a need that you can fill, you have the potential to make money. Money-making opportunities can be remarkably simple — for instance, if you're a certified public accountant (CPA), you may want to sell your services to your friends around tax season for extra money in addition to your normal income. However, some of the most lucrative enterprises involve offering creative solutions to problems that aren't obvious. As a famous example, Mark Zuckerberg, an American, became the youngest billionaire on the planet by working with others to create a globe-spanning social media site, helping people stay in touch with each other in a way that wasn't previously imaginable.
   • You don't have to invent the next Facebook to be successful in America, but you should try to be enterprising in small, yet significant ways. Running your own part-time business out of your home, for instance, is a great way to make extra cash with few overhead costs.
   • Obviously, regardless of the money-making scheme you choose, you'll want to make sure you're complying with federal, state, and local laws. For instance, operating a "freelance MDMA distribution service" can land you with a serious prison stint, which will undoubtedly disrupt your long-term goals.
5. Be thrifty. Lots of people spend big chunks of their income on things they don't need. To build a comfortable life for yourself in the long-term, it can be very wise to eliminate these unnecessary expenses for yourself in the short-term. Doing away with luxuries like cable TV packages, trips to fancy restaurants, and unnecessary vacations can free up cash for expenses that give you a longer-lasting benefit, like debt payments, money-making projects, and retirement investments.
   • One great way to get your spending under control is to make a budget for your household. Outlining your monthly spending and comparing your estimates to your actual spending can be an enlightening experience that helps you identify areas where you're spending too much money.
   • Other great ways to save include finding cheaper housing, buying groceries in bulk, carpooling or using public transportation rather than driving your own car, and reducing the amount that you use your heating or air conditioning.
   • For more information, see How to Save Money.
6. Devote yourself to your passions. Though people seeking the American Dream are wise to work hard, no American has ever been happier for focusing his entire life on his work. Part of the American dream is having the freedom to do things besides work to make a fuller, happier life for yourself. Spend time doing the things you love — this can mean hobbies, like writing, playing sports, and working on your car, but it can also mean simple pleasures like simply spending time with your family.
   • If you love your job, great! Being able to make money from work that aligns with your personal passions is a luxury that not everyone has. If you don't love your job, that's OK. Stick with it and apply yourself to it, but always save some time for your passions (and for looking for other opportunities) to keep your morale high.
7. Buy property. Though owning a home isn't necessarily required to live a happy, full life in America, most Americans either own their own home or intend to eventually do so. Even in light of recent real estate crises, most Americans' primary source of wealth is still their home. Contributing to a mortgage allows you to build gradually build equity in your house throughout your working years, which can help you comfortably retire — selling your house for a good price when you're old can single-handedly finance your retirement.
   • Owning your own home doesn't just give you material benefits. Owning your own house also gives you a great deal of freedom to customize your living situation to the way you want it. For instance, if your kitchen is too cramped, if you own your house, you can expand it. If you rent, you can't usually do this. In addition, many Americans find that owning a house gives them a great sense of satisfaction and security.

Living as a Free Individual

1. Know your basic constitutional rights. Americans are given a great deal of personal freedom by the US Constitution, the nation's definitive document of law. Every American should know the most fundamental rights offered to her by the Constitution. Taking advantage of these freedoms can allow you to create a happy, fulfilling, and successful life for yourself. On the other hand, ignorance of these freedoms can make it easy to miss opportunities or be taken advantage of. Below are a few of the most basic rights provided by the Constitution (note that these are all from the Bill of Rights — the original ten amendments to the Constitution):
   • The right to free speech (including a free press, the ability to protest peacefully, and petition the government)
   • The right to practice your religion (or lack thereof)
   • The right to bear arms (usually refers to owning a gun)
   • Protection against unlawful search and seizure
   • Protection against testifying against yourself in legal matters
   • The right to a public trial by jury
   • Protection against "cruel and unusual punishments"
2. Exercise your freedom of speech. Perhaps the most-used, most-cited constitutional freedom is the freedom of speech. America is a free country — Americans are allowed to say essentially anything they want to and to express their opinions in any way as long as they do so in a way that isn't harmful to others. This means that it's legal to have virtually any personal and political beliefs and to share these beliefs with others, even if your beliefs run contrary to the established order, as long as you obey the law.
   • Note that certain types of speech which are specifically intended to cause harm are not necessarily constitutionally-protected. One widely-known example given by Supreme Court Justice Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in 1919 is yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater — since doing this creates an immediate, real danger to the other people in the theater, you'll probably still be arrested if you do this.
   • It's also important to understand that the freedom to express yourself doesn't necessarily protect you from the consequences of your actions. For instance, if the president of a business makes racist comments that are made public, the board of directors can still fire him for this. Freedom from speech doesn't necessarily mean that nothing bad will happen to you because of what you say.
3. Exercise your freedom of religion. The pilgrims who traveled on the Mayflower, some of the earliest visitors to America, were people seeking a place where they could practice their religion free from harassment and persecution. Today, America maintains this attitude of religious tolerance. Americans are free to practice whichever religion they please, or, if they prefer, to practice no religion at all. All forms of faith are allowed in the United States and officially-recognized churches are even granted tax-free status by the Internal Revenue Service.
   • As with freedom of speech, Americans are free to practice the religion of their choice, but not to commit crimes or endanger others as part of that practice. For instance, if the members of a certain religion decided to drive their cars the wrong way on the freeway as a sign of devotion, they would still be arrested.
4. Vote! All adult Americans are free to (and generally should) participate in government by voting. In most states, residents are allowed to register to vote at age 18, though a few states let 17 year-olds vote. Voting is one of the most powerful rights Americans have. Voting allows every citizen's voice to be heard in matters of government. All citizens have equal voting power — no matter how rich, powerful, or influential someone is, she still gets the same single vote that a minimum-wage worker does.
   • Note that American men must register for Selective Service ("the draft") to be able to vote.
   • Note also that some states prohibit felons from voting, even after serving their sentence.
5. Enjoy your freedom to choose how you live. In the United States, people are free to live their lives as they see fit. People can have any habit, hobby, or interest that they wish as long as it doesn't break any laws or hurt anyone else. What people do in their free time is up to them — bankers can be amateur punk rockers, dishwashers can speculate on the stock market, and electricians can study archaeology. People are also encouraged to choose their life's own path — no American needs to feel like there is a single "right" way to live his life. Americans are free to associate with who they want to and to pursue almost any opportunity that they wish to.
   • Note that, while Americans are free to live their lives how they please as long they obey the law, some sorts of activities which can be seen as "victimless" in other parts of the world are illegal in the US. For instance, many drugs which are relatively unregulated in parts of Europe and elsewhere are illegal in part or all of the US.
6. Challenge the mainstream freely. An important aspect of achieving the American Dream is being willing to be take a stand for your own individual principles. America has a long tradition of celebrating the type of rugged individual who's willing to "go against the group". Many famous Americans are celebrated for going against prevailing attitudes or social institutions that ran contrary to their personal beliefs. For instance, famous Americans like Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, and even modern icons like Steve Jobs became legendary by changing the world with their willingness to go against the grain and challenge the way the world worked.
   • Being an individual means standing for your own principals and having the courage to go against popular attitudes, but it doesn't mean never accepting help from someone else. Some tasks are difficult, if not impossible without the help of others — no individual should be so proud as to think that she can do everything in the world by herself. For example, many famous American companies were started with modest loans from friends and family or government-backed small business loans.
7. Be innovative. Innovation has been one of America's most cherished national values for over a century and still is in the modern age. Innovation is often referred to (for instance, by elected officials) as being key to the continued growth and success of the nation. Being a successful innovator in America is a quick ticket to personal fulfillment, material success, and widespread recognition. For instance, some of America's most important innovators, like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and others are now recognized as having changed the world with their groundbreaking work.
   • You don't have to be a modern-day Edison to have a shot at the American dream — even small, everyday innovations can substantially improve your life. For instance, finding a new, more lucrative way for the company you work for to do business can win you a promotion and the respect of your coworkers.

Making a Name for Yourself

1. Strive for self-improvement. It has been observed by those both inside and outside of the country that Americans have a penchant for self-education and self-improvement. No one is born knowing how to do everything he needs to know how to do to succeed. To achieve the sort of strong, rugged individualism that is central to the American Dream, it's essential to be willing to better yourself wherever and whenever you get the opportunity. Whether it's learning a new skill, practicing a second language, or studying strategies for business success, almost any avenue of self-improvement can help you become a stronger, more versatile, or more productive person. Below are just a few more ideas for self-improvement:
   • Physical conditioning (running, weightlifting, etc.)
   • Learning sales techniques
   • Studying modern history or current events
   • Learning a martial art
   • Mastering a hobby or activity
   • Creating art or music
2. Be a leader. Proud, individualistic Americans shouldn't shy away from confronting the world's problems head-on. Doing this often means becoming a leader, taking charge of others while accepting the responsibility that comes with leadership. Having the courage to volunteer for tasks that involve leadership, whether they're big or small, can help you make a difference in the world while earning recognition for yourself.
   • One great way to become a leader is to run for public office. Doing this gives you a platform to make your views known and, if you win, to fight for the changes you want to see. Even if you don't win, if your campaign attracts enough attention, it can re-frame the public debate or persuade lawmakers to consider your views.
   • You don't have to be a member of government to be a leader in your community. Volunteering for certain types of charitable work or even simply doing community-oriented work on your own can give you an opportunity to become a leader for others.
3. Have an active civic life. The United States if founded on the principals of representative democracy. The more people who participate in the process of government by voting, the more truly representative the nation's government is of its citizens. Because of this, all Americans who can vote should make sure to do so. However, this is far from the only way actively participate in the civic life of the country. For instance, citizens can join a political party whose beliefs are close to their own and work or volunteer to spread its message. Or, if they feel especially strongly about certain civic issues, they can even start their own political associations. Below are just few more ways you may want to consider becoming an active participant in American democracy:
   • Participating in a political round table or forum
   • Joining or organizing a protest
   • Volunteering to get signatures for a political candidate or cause
   • Donating to your favorite political cause
4. Climb the social ladder. Nothing is more quintessentially American than the rags-to-riches story of someone who's able to build a life of influence and importance from almost nothing. Whether you're a poor, unknown immigrant or an established citizen, everyone has the chance to make a name for himself in America as long as you're willing to work hard, be creative, and have the strength to stick to your personal values. While, for obvious reasons, it's impossible for everyone to become fabulously rich and famous, it is possible in America to retire in a higher position than you started your career in and to make a name for yourself as an important member of your local community in the process.
   • As you climb the social ladder, never feel intimidated by the prospect of having to deal with people from higher social strata than you. In America, more so than in certain other countries, a person's destiny is determined by her willpower and ability, rather than the privilege of her birth. While some people are born into wealth and privilege, if you're able to climb into a certain social class from a lower one, you have every right to view yourself as an equal to members.
5. Look to stories of American success for inspiration. It's not easy pursuing the American dream. As described above, building a great life for yourself while living as a free, independent individual can require lots of work and personal responsibility. If you're having a hard time motivating yourself to keep chasing the dream, consider turning to one of the many iconic American success stories to fuel your drive. Many of these real-life individuals were able to build a life of importance from nothing or successfully fought against prevailing societal forces of the time to make a better country (or even a better world). Below are just a few all-American examples:
   • Andrew Carnegie: A poor Scottish immigrant, Carnegie began his career as a "bobbin boy" in a factory and ended it as one of the most powerful, important industrialists ever.
   • Susan B. Anthony: By spearheading the women's suffrage movement with her tireless efforts, which included being arrested, Anthony was instrumental in winning the right to vote for women.
   • Jawed Karim: This immigrant, best known for co-founding YouTube, also helped design the commerce service PayPal.
   • Jay Z: Born Shawn Carter, this American music icon rose from a life of crime and poverty to become one of the wealthiest and most influential people in the music industry.

Tips

• Don't be afraid to take a calculated chance. The US has a wide safety net, both public and private.
• Don't get overwhelmed by the expenses. With two moderately high-income producers, even a million-dollar house can be paid off over the course of your working lives.
• Take advantage of the public education system. (See above)
• Live within your means.
• Pursue realistic goals. If you want to be the next Bill Gates then you better know something about computers. If you want to dig ditches... you get the idea.

Warnings

• Stress, depression, and other forms of job-related burnout can hurt your goal-oriented drive for success and may affect your relationship. Watch for these symptoms and seek professional help if necessary.
• The American Nightmare is very similar to the American Dream. Be very careful what advice you follow. The wrong advice will lead you down the wrong road. Only take marriage advice from happily married individuals. And only take monetary advice from people who are themselves successful, responsible, not in a lot of debt.
• Although you have the right to pursue happiness... there is no guarantee!

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• Live Within Your Means

Sources and Citations

See also

• Become an Academic Philosopher
• Express Your Feelings on Philosophy
• Form a Spiritual Philosophy
• Get a Job With a Degree in Philosophy
• Form a Philosophy
• Develop Emotional Intelligence
• Become a Curmudgeon
• Find Yourself
• Become Enlightened
• Live in Harmony with Others

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