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Tupac was known for the deep meanings behind his lyrics. One of his most memorable songs is "Starin' at the World Through My Rearview."

The world, the world is behind us
Once a motherfucker get an understanding on the game
and what the levels and the rules of the game is
Then the world ain't no trick no more
The world is a game to be played
So now we lookin at the world, from like, behind us
Niggaz know what we gotta do, just gotta put our mind to it and do it

Most people focus on the now, not looking to the future. The secret to being successful is looking where you want to go and then figure out how to get there. In business, it's called "identifying your exit strategy." Tupac referred to it as "starin' through my rearview."

This applies to every facet of your life - both business and personal. When you buy some stock, you (should) identify your exit strategy. It might be to sell it when its value goes up 20%; it might be to hold it for 20 years, reinvesting dividends, so that when you retire you can have a steady stream of income from the dividends. When you start up a business, your exit strategy might be to flip it in a few years (common in the technology sector) or to leave it to your kids.

What's your exit strategy for your career? Personally I want to be financially free by 35. This means:

• No debt (actually, no bad debt. Good debt such as a mortgage on a rental property is good if it generates income and isn't overly leveraged).
• The ability to retire. I want to have enough passive income from investments to cover all my expenses. However, that doesn't mean I will retire at 35; if I'm doing things right I won't want to (enjoy what I do).
  
• Living comfortably. I don't need to have a huge car, a bentley out front and a helicopter out back. But I do want to like where I am, both physically, financially, and emotionally.

Once you define your exit strategy, you'll know exactly what you need to do to get there. Life isn't an endless road with unexpected turns and without direction; it's a game to be played. To play it, you need to be starin' at the world through your rearview.

All across South Africa - in every elementary and middle school - kids are crafting business plans, doing market research, balancing budgets, and hawking everything from hot dogs at 50 cents a pop to car washes for $7 each.

In a dramatic bid to tackle this country's persistent unemployment rate of at least 35 percent, entrepreneurship has become a key part of the evolving postapartheid curriculum. Students can't count on getting good jobs when they graduate, so they're being taught to create their own work - and help forge a kind of Apprentice Nation.

Why can't the American schools embrace an entrepreneurial spirit? Schools are just training students to be dependent employees when they are older, unable to escape "the rat race" and too scared to try. The few who ignore what they learn in school grow up to be successful business owners and rich.

With the global economy and abundant outsourcing, we can't depend on a job market to support all of the Americans. Imagine if we, like South Africa, could soon be a country of employers and not employees. Imagine a nation in which outsourcing is done because there aren't enough people to do the jobs, not as a means of improving financial statements.

We need to encourage students to be independent and make themselves wealthy, not their bosses. But an educational system based on entrepreneurship would require the student to want to learn, to desire to be successful. An educational system based on such a choice is the antithesis of our current system; it is Socratic. And we all know what happened to Socrates...he was accused of "corrupting the youth" and killed.