The recent posts about providing for the future (no double entendre intended) made me think back to my school days. I worked for a very successful nationwide firm, and got to meet the founder, a great guy. He said he was frequently asked the secret to success, and he didn't mind sharing it, but he was pretty sure that very few would heed his advice. His formula was;
1) Find a need and fill it
2) Work hard - don't expect to sit back and wait for the riches to come rolling in
3) Make sure you love what you do
4) Don't re-invent the wheel; rely on the past experience and advice of others who have been where you want to go
5) Whatever your venture, don't go into it unprepared, unorganized, or undercapitalized
6) Live on half your income.

Most of you were probably with me until No. 6. He said that almost everyone said that's impossible. He would reply that it is not impossible. No matter what your income level is (within reason of course), there is someone living on half your income. The fact is, whether it is half, 2/3, 3/4 or even 90%, you can't live on 100% of your income and expect to get ahead. That is in fact how my mentor financed his venture. It is virtually impossible to get funding for a start-up venture, no matter how good the idea, so the best way to get it is by saving your own money. There are lots of how-to-succeed books, but I've always liked this condensed version. My favorite definition of success, though, is "success is getting up one more time than you fall down".
Here's to success, no matter what your definition of success may be. Cheers, and have a happy 4th, and if you have a fifth, please don't drive!