I'm only 19, so I'm probably not considered the most qualified in giving out this kind of advice, but listen up nonetheless because I hold the secret to achieving all of your dreams. There is one sure-fire way to getting all you want out of life, to get the job of your dreams, the life you've always wanted. It's a secret I am willing to share with you. Ready? All it takes is a little hard work. Are you surprised?

A little hard work, that's it! There's no special serum, no secret path. Just a bit of elbow grease and the determination to do all it takes to get what you want. Growing up, my parents always taught me that hard work is the only way to get anywhere or anything. Although we were never struggling financially, I wasn't ever given anything just because I wanted it. No, I had to earn it myself. I think I rearranged the downstairs bookshelf 30 separate times to earn the $5 needed in order to buy the newest FurReal Friend. When I got older, I desired nothing more than a horse. However, no matter how many times I wrote "horse" on my Christmas list, I just wasn't going to get a free one out of my parents. As I described in Words From a Cowgirl, I worked my butt off to buy my own. Not only did I muck stalls for free at least two times a week, I also babysat the same two girls every Wednesday night to earn the cash I needed to buy Roxy, my first horse. I was 12.

But if you won't take my 19 year-old words for it, let's take it from someone a bit older. Madame C.J. Walker was born in 1867. Perhaps you've heard of her, but for some reason she is consistently left out of history textbooks and classes. She was born into enslavement on a plantation in Louisiana. Both of her parents died not long after she was freed through the Emancipation Proclamation. At the age of just seven, she moved to Missouri where she worked as a servant in a southern household. Then, at the meager age of 14, she married just to escape the abuse she was receiving from her brother-in-law when she moved in with him and her sister a few years after moving to Missouri. However, even that didn't last long. She was then widowed at the age of 20, leaving her to fend for herself and her daughter.

If that's not the bottom, then I don't know what is. Now, Madame C.J. Walker found herself in a position in which most people would give up and go home, but she wasn't so easy to do so. After her husband's death, she moved with her brothers to St. Louis and worked washing clothes. It's there that she began selling hair-care products. She married again to Mr. Charles Walker and soon thereafter started her own hair-care line. What started out as door-to-door sales turned into a career that had her touring the country, giving hair-care demonstrations. She was able to employ hundreds of young, African-American woman and subsequently show them how to earn success in a world in which both African Americans and women struggled. She preached the power of hard work and determination.

Madame C.J. Walker was so successful that she was able to donate $1,000 to build a new YMCA and $250,000 to build Villa Lewaro (a gathering place for community leaders to inspire other African Americans to pursue their dreams). Just before her death she gave nearly $100,000 to orphanages, institutions, and individuals. Besides financial aid, she gave civil support throughout the World War One era. Madam C.J. Walker died with a net worth of $600,000 making her a millionaire in modern times (equivalent of $6 million today). She died one of the richest businesswomen in America.

Madam C.J. Walker began working on a plantation as a slave and worked her way to being one of America's most successful philanthropists before her death in 1919 at the meager age of 51. Her success story is stunning, if not nearly unimaginable. She is truly the embodiment of the American Dream and a perfect example of how hard work can get you all that you want in life. In 1912, Walker spoke at the annual gathering of the National Negro Business League saying, "I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair good and preparations. I have built my own factory on my own ground."

So, believe me now? It doesn't matter how outrageous your dreams may be, they can be achieved with a little hard work. Anyone can do it. All it takes is determination and the inability to settle for less. You don't need luck. You don't need privilege. You need to work hard.