CNBC MakeIt

Want to retire well? Live in a city that offers the most for your money. If you want to make your savings last, consider place like Nashville, Tennessee, where the average annual cost of living (including housing, utilities, taxes, healthcare services, and basic necessities) is less than $45,000. Here, average annual taxes are $3,460 and average annual housing costs $8,320, Check out the full list of cities at cnbc.com/makeit.

Have you watched "Hidden Figures"? The movie elevates the true story of three female African-American "computers" who made crucial contributions to the @NASA space program in the 1960s. @hiddenfiguresmovie sold an $22 MILLION in tickets at North American theaters last weekend, even tying "Rogue One" for the No. 1 spot. In the words of author Margot Lee Shetterly, it "challenges much of what we think we knew about American history." We also think it has a lot to teach about fighting for yourself and your career.

Successful people tend to wake up early. Take Apple CEO Tim Cook, for instance. He starts his morning routine at 3:45 a.m. It's also arguably the most productive time of the day, according to The Wall Street Journal, because it allows you to tackle tasks before distractions arise. "When you have peace and quiet and you're not concerned with people trying to get your attention, you're dramatically more effective and can get important work done," psychologist Josh Davis told the Journal. What time did you wake up this morning? 🌄

You don't have to live in Silicon Valley to work for @Amazon. The tech giant recently announced it will create more than 100,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next 18 months. Many of the positions are expected to be spread out across the country: In Seattle, where the tech giant is based, but elsewhere, too. 327 job listings are in Southern California alone. ✏️

It's truly fascinating how successful people approach problems. Where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to embrace and obstacles to overcome. Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania has studied this phenomenon more than anyone else has, and has found that succcess is achievable if you believe your failures are mistakes you can fix with effort. Keeping this mindset isn't easy. There are a couple of things, in particular, that tend to shatter it. But for successful people, these challenges never hold them back.

Bill Fernandez and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs became friends in seventh grade. About 10 years later, 22-year-old Fernandez became Apple's first employee, and that taught him a few key lessons about making it in the entrepreneurial world. Among the most important? "To succeed early on you have to be a self-starter. You have to be self-empowered," he says. "You have to have a sense that, 'I can do whatever needs to be done even if it's never been done before.'"

Do you feel lost in your career? You're not alone. "The path to success is rarely straight and short," writes "Shark Tank" investor and business mogul Robert Herjavec in his memoir, "You Don't Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success." But there are clues that will let you know you're on the right path, he says. A few of them? A) You feel comfortable in your own skin. and B) You feel no need to impress anyone about anything.

Today, Pitchbook has annual revenues of $50 million and serves 2,000 elite corporate customers including Andreessen Horowitz. But in the early years, @pitchbookdata CEO John Gabbert was getting by on a hope and a prayer, as well as a deep conviction that he was creating a product that there was a market for. Despite 200 rejections, he kept making calls until one voicemail landed him a $1.2 million investment. "I would love to think that I had some secret," he says. "But truthfully, a lot of it is just wiring. The whole grit piece gets talked about. I think it's just that."

Mistakes. We all make them. But which are the most common among young people? 🔎ZOOM IN to read James @Altucher's list. #Infographic made by @Altucher.

A good night's sleep can be the difference between a productive, efficient day and an exhausted, sloppy one. But is your rest your boss's responsibility? Facebook COO @sherylsandberg argues that maybe it is. She says, "So many people out there, so many single mothers and others, work multiple jobs, and we don't have the safety net we need for people to make sure that they can take care of their own health, and that we help take care of them." She adds, "It's incumbent upon all of us who run companies, and all of us, to make sure that people can make ends meet and have the ability to get a good night's sleep." Do you agree?

People with successful careers don't "climb the corporate ladder" anymore. At least that's what Jenny Blake, a former career coach at Google and co-founder of the company's career mentoring program believes. "Consider your career like a smartphone, not a ladder," @jennyblakenyc tells CNBC. "It's up to you to 'download apps' for different skills, interests and side projects that sound interesting and fulfilling to you."

Your manager may let you take a break but does he also tell you to catch a wave? Yvon Chouinard, the owner and founder of outdoor clothing company Patagonia, does. The lifelong surfer doesn't want his business to get in between him and some really good waves. And the same goes for his employees. "We have a policy that when the surf comes up, you drop work and you go surfing."

Colleges and schools may focus on the hard skills and specific tools you need to enter a particular profession, but will they get you the other skills that are key to succeed at the job? There's nothing soft at all about soft skills; they can be difficult to master, but if you do, you'll be employable in practically any field. Which of these skills do you have?

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson knows how to run a company. Since dropping out of school at age 16 to start his first business, @richardbranson has overseen hundreds of companies. Along the way, he's accumulated a fortune of approximately $5 billion. The entrepreneur says the secret to success in the business world is simple: "It doesn't matter who you are, entrepreneurship boils down to having a good idea and being resourceful enough to turn it into a reality.

Just because you're an intern doesn't mean you can't make bank. According to a recent poll, Facebook pays interns up to $8,000 a month, while Snapchat has offered interns as much as $9,000 a month. Read about the other big companies taking care of their interns in the link in bio and on #CNBCMakeIt.

Bilionaire and "Shark Tank" investor knows starting a company is no cake walk. Across the U.S., new start-up hubs are growing and a variety of policies are making it easier to start a business. The reality is many start-ups don't survive their first year. But Mark Cuban credits much of his personal success to a few simple tips. Among them? Be better than your competition. </b<

There are countless ways that rich people think differently than your average person. But at the top of the list is the way they think about making #money. Self-made #millionaire Steve Siebold spent 26 years interviewing the wealthiest people around and found that rich people believe money is earned through thinking, while the average person believes money is earned through time and labor. "The bigger the solution, the bigger the paycheck," he says. "Making money may not be easy, but it is simple."