I came from a poor background. my family was very hand-to-mouth, and we lived through some pretty rough times. I started out life as a high school dropout with a lot of family/emotional problems, and left home at 15 with no job experience and no marketable skills. I spent many years on welfare, fighting to get in a position where I could make a decent living. it was a huge struggle, and most of the work was internal, not external. but in my early 20s I went from living on welfare and scraping by to making $60k a year just through being totally driven and having the audacity to take on things I knew I could do, but that I had no educational/employment credentials in. sometimes when I think of my youth I am amazed at how brave and tough I was, and I'm infinitely grateful for that. it's made all the difference to me now.