“There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire. If you’re jealous of those with more money, don’t just sit there and complain – do something to make more money yourself.”

Inspirational words from Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, in Australian Resources and Investment magazine.

Rinehart’s rags to riches story is rarely appreciated enough – let alone her success in imbuing her four children with the same absurd talent and firm work ethic.

John, Bianca, Hope and Ginia have all recently broken into the Forbes world billionaire rankings, with estimated fortunes of $1.7 billion each. I offer them my heartfelt congratulations – we can all learn something from the gritty struggle of this family and their mental fortitude in the face of adversity.

According to William Finnegan, writing in 2013 in the New Yorker, “When [Gina] was old enough to drive, Lang [Hancock, her father] is said to have had ten new cars brought to her school for her to choose among”.

But Gina’s story really started when she dropped out of her studies at the University of Sydney to “work” at Lang’s humble iron ore corporation.

Following his awfully tragic death, underdog Gina inherited a modest 76.6 percent share of Hancock Prospecting. Back then, with a reported personal wealth of $75 million, things weren’t looking so bright.

But our Gina never stopped dreaming. With her nose to the grindstone, her big break came when the iron ore boom hit in the early 2000s, making her a billionaire. Consider that glass ceiling shattered! However, Gina has never been in mining purely for personal gain; she sees it as her philanthropic duty to the world, as expressed in one of her poetic works published by Business Insider:

“The world's poor need our resources: do not leave them to their fate.
Our nation needs special economic zones and wiser government, before it is too late.”

Her four recent billionaire children are also celebrated for their dedicated perseverance and noble dispositions. In 2011, John, Bianca and Hope began a troublesome and lengthy legal battle to remove their mother as trustee of the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust.

Despite being multi-millionaires prior to the court proceedings, through thick and thin they doggedly fought the courts and their own family for the millions they rightfully deserved. Sometimes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

The Rinehart-Hancock fearsome family light the way for us all. It’s about nurturing that winners’ mindset and holding onto the dream that one day, if you work hard enough, you too could inherit an iron ore empire.