Why You Really Want to Get Rich ASAP
158: The sooner you build wealth, the easier life gets.
Happy 4th of July, champs.
Welcome reader! It is impossible not to notice how much of a cope there is around the topic of why one should get as rich as possible. Not just as rich as possible, but as soon as possible. Most commonly, you will hear "to buy yourself a car" or "finally be able to take the trip you wanted". It is all fun until you achieve those dreams and realize that it was all for nothing. The main reason for wanting to get rich as soon as possible? To buy yourself more time.
Things You Should Be Afraid Of And Why It Matters
In no particular order. Leaving out many more to make it unnecessarily longer.
Being a boring individual
Not having hobbies and knowing what you like
Getting stuck with the people you despise
Living life you were not destined to live
Settling for less than you are worth
Falling for the lifestyle traps that lead you into mediocrity
Doing things to impress others
Taking time for granted
Looking for external validation
Waiting for the perfect moment
Never taking necessary risks
The passing of time: How does all of this matter when it comes to time? Sooner or later, a wake-up call hits your life when you realize that you don’t have enough time. This is not us selling you into fear. But once you reach a certain age and start noticing how fragile life is (friends passing away, illnesses, etc.)… There is a wake-up call. Not in a guru type of way where they try to limit you and convince you that the clock is ticking and that if you are not doing whatever they are selling - you are missing out. But in a way that you get a sense of what truly matters. What is powerful about this moment? Understanding that life is fragile and that the most precious resource is time - when that happens, your mindset shifts, and your priorities change. What happens is that you begin to question yourself:
Is this the place I want to spend my time?
These are the people I want to spend my time with?
Is this the thing I want to be doing in my free time?
Why are those questions powerful? Because it is 99.9% impossible to ignore what your subconscious will start telling you. Our advice? Ask yourself these questions often + follow up with the ones below.
Does this align with my goals?
How will this help me with my vision for the future
Am I enjoying it?
Not only does this approach systematically eliminate half of the things you should be afraid of. Those questions also give you a reality check on what you want to achieve to get rich as soon as possible. They serve as a blueprint for improving your life. Ensuring you are not finding yourself in a position you don't want to be in or doing things you don’t want to do. Why does money matter here? Because you will never have an excuse not to do something. Don’t want to stay in the same place? Change it. People you don’t want to spend time with? Replace them. Don’t want to waste your free time on what you are currently doing? Let someone else do it for you.
Why You DON’T Want To Get Rich
Keeping up with the Joneses
Your close friends. Your coworkers. Your neighbors. They are all playing the same game… Keeping up with the Joneses. What does that game reward? Debt. A quick decision you didn’t think through and getting lost in chasing external validation. What should you do, and why does it matter? Your best bet is to avoid them completely. Your neighbor just bought a brand new Range Rover? Be happy for them. Your neighbor just put in a new pool? Be happy for them. Your neighbor just got a new grill? Be happy for them. Does that mean you should go out and try to buy a better Range Rover, a bigger pool, or a better grill? No. That is how most people operate and end up living miserable lives full of debt. They never purchase things for themselves and instead try to keep up with others who are also trying to keep up with someone else. It is all one big circle. A giant lifestyle trap that many never pay attention to. It is also one of the main reasons why you don’t want to get rich (or at least pretend)… To play stupid games with stupid rewards.
Getting Rich For Retirement
This might seem contradictory to our other advice. But if you have never thought about it. Soon it will all make sense. We couldn't help but reflect on one of our mentors since what happened last week. He closed his first real estate deal at 25. First business venture at 27. Ensured that his kid never had to work by 45. What did he miss? He was always waiting for the perfect moment to retire - when he would be comfortable and have enough to not worry about anything. Unfortunately, that moment never came. If you are a high performer used to performing and delivering… There is a good chance it never will. It is in your blood. There are thousands of stories similar to those where people play it safe and boring, waiting for the perfect moment (most consider it to be having enough money) for their retirement. There is nothing wrong with the idea of getting rich for retirement. More so if you are thinking in 0 and 1. If you are not thinking in black and white terms (as you should - because that’s not how it works). There is absolutely everything wrong with it. As you get older, you start to lack energy, time becomes a more serious component, illness, and everything else that goes with it. It is a sad reality you can’t escape. Not to mention that governments worldwide are constantly raising retirement requirements - making them harder to achieve (reach, obtain or however you want to call it…) each year. This is also something that won’t improve anytime soon. This doesn’t mean you should spend every dollar you earn or save not a single one. It means that you should not fully optimize for getting rich later in life or develop a weird obsession with accumulating wealth for retirement.
Making Money To Become Famous
Here and there you will have someone who says "I want to get rich so I could be famous". It is a huge red flag. We've said this before and will repeat it again. There is a direct link between someone’s intelligence and whether they want to be famous or not. Smart people don’t want to have a target on their backs. When you start thinking about it and giving it some thought. There is a realization that there is no upside to being famous. What’s the benefit of having your face in the newspaper if you are already so rich that you can buy anything you want? Those who wish to have their faces all over the internet are usually the ones who can’t afford things in the first place. That means they have to look for alternative ways to gain exposure and access areas (places, clubs, social circles) that you wouldn't have trouble entering with your bank account. If you are someone who needs to be popular, seen, or heard, there is a good chance you are suffering from early life trauma (such as being alone, left behind, or having a poor social circle) that needs to be addressed. There are no positives to being rich and famous, only negatives.
Trying To Become Rich For External Validation
You can't blame young people who fall into this trap. We could even break it down into two phases of trying to get rich for external validation: 1) to impress others, and 2) to convince yourself that you have made it. Most people get stuck in phase 1 and end up spending their hard-earned money on things they don't even care about (or like in the first place). All for external validation from people who don’t think about them at all. Something you will witness multiple times throughout your life once you become aware of it. Since social factors and human emotions are impossible to remove from equations…. Making this problem hard to overcome and entirely remove. The only way to tackle this is to dive deeper into mental work and focus on limiting beliefs about yourself. Your goal should be to buy items that satisfy you. How do you do that? Before any big purchase, ask yourself: Would I buy this if no one else would ever see it? An effective way to figure out why you're buying something or if it is something worth your money.
Maybe Fight Club was onto something?
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. - Epictetus