How to Live the American Dream

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.

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 you can devote your entire attention to your work.

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

• We currently live in a gig economy where there's a lot of companies that let you create side income from a gig (like driving for Uber or delivering groceries for Instacart). These jobs can be a good way to create additional income.

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, such as; 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 how often you use your heating or air conditioning.

• For more information, see How to Save Money.
• Use a shopping tool extension in your browser (like Honey) to help compare prices across different sites. There are also lots of phone apps out there that will let you scan the barcode of an item and compare it with other sites.

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.

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.^[3]

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 get an extension. 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.