Failing to obtain the proper education, today is often interpreted by society as failing to meet own life goals. But is it really so? I believe not. Taking the path of an "outlaw" can be hard, but only as hard as the society makes it. People who chose their own trails in life are not necessarily losers, neither had they given up in fulfilling their life goals, but instead they decided to take the "thorny" path at the crossroads of life.
Some people are born with natural talent inside. For them education is just a big waste of time because their instinct points the path for them, and they already have firm beliefs about their life goals. Led by the talent, their place in society has become reserved on the day of their birth, and they will without doubts become experts in their areas of work. Once they prove themselves and find the way around the barrier called "required education", their success is guaranteed. Good examples of those people are famous musicians or the famous sports people who let their talent to lead the way.
Other people take satisfaction as their main life goal. They do not feel obligated to be successful, and the time that they would spend on education is the time lost in obtaining this satisfaction. They are perfectly aware that this path will not bring them riches or fame, and they do not urge for it. Instead they just want to reach the state of happiness and peace of mind in whatever jobs they do as soon as they can. Maybe those simple jobs they get, are not as appreciated and as well paid by the society as other jobs, but the satisfaction with the job they do guarantees them that they will also be successful in it. In today's world those people can be found working for Greenpeace and other humanitarian non-profitable organizations.
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There are people that prefer practical knowledge over the educational one provided by the books and teachers.