George Will's Article in the Longview News- Journal - Thursday July 6, 2017 titled The sequence to success should be a wake-up call to all our high school and college students.  The article is long and has a number of references to prestigious research institutions that indicate there is a pattern connected to reaching that goal of "Success".
   How do today's adults define success?  According to Will's article today's young adults define success as - insurance against poverty. And the recipe or sequence to the success pattern according to information from the Brookings Institution is:

•        First get at least a high school diploma

•        Then get a job. 

•         Then get married

•         Only then have children                     

    The above steps should be taken in that order. The formula is not a sure thing, however. Yet Wills quotes Wang and Wilcox research of couples ages 28 to 34 and found that "only 3 per cent of those who followed this sequence are poor." That means 97 percent were experiencing 'success.' I'll take those odds any day of the week.
      I keep remembering what someone told me years ago.  "The choices you make today affect the rest of your life."  George Will's article, "The Sequence to success," is well worth your time to dig out and read top to bottom.