Saturday Success: Anti-goal setting, a money formula & the 'Get Rich' Manifesto
Making life & money work for you.
Welcome back to the Saturday Success Series email!
This week we have:
Master Yourself: Stop setting goals, do this instead
Master Your Money: Expected cost vs. actual fun
And of course…
The Weekly Special: The ‘Get Rich’ Manifesto
The goal here is maximum value, so let’s get to it.
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Master Yourself
When we set a goal, we tend to share our goal.
When we share our goal, we get a dopamine hit.
This halts our progress.
Once we get our “happy” hit, we’re good! We’re so good!
It’s almost like we reached our goal.
Except, we didn’t.
So, I stopped with all that.
In fact, I went so far as to not even create goals, period.
“So, what the hell do you do?”
Day Building.
I build out my days as perfectly as possible. All the best habits + time blocking= massive productivity.
You start stacking those perfectly executed days and you’ve surpassed any goal you could’ve set.
It also allows you to be very flexible in you approaches and see ALL opportunities in front of you. You can easily change paths if new things pop up.
Master Your Money
Sometimes I’m smart and come up with my own little formulas for decision making.
EF vs AC is one of them.
This is an easy way to judge what to “invest” in. I’ll share some examples.
Last year I was invited by a group of friends to a preseason NFL game. It would’ve cost me 200 bucks.
Is it worth the fun?
200 dollars to stand around listening to drunk idiots scream when I could watch from my couch. Or better yet, use the preseason to do work (when regular season is on, football owns me on Sundays).
I’m used to often be invited to happy hours. Those usually cost about 50 bucks.
Not worth it.
50 bucks to get fat, drunk and do stupid things while not staying focused on important goals.
A few years ago I was invited to a bachelorette weekend in the mountains of Virginia with my cousin and her friends that I did not know.
600 dollars.
For a 2 day excursion.
Worth every…single…penny.
Every dollar you spend is a dollar you cannot invest.
So make sure you’re investing those dollars into real fun.
Weekly Special
The ‘Get Rich’ Manifesto
I’m going to discuss wealth, but not just money. There’s more to a wealthy life than just finances (though that part is incredibly important).
I want to help you build rich a life.
Before I do that, let me give you some background.
I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety as a teen.
I don’t have a college degree (finishing it now, only because it’s free).
I’ve never had a huge salary (for many years it was below average).
I had a credit score of 520 when I was 25.
I had a string of shitty relationships from 22–33.
And now?
I’m 36 and worth 5x what the average 35 year old is (not including any property). My credit score is borderline excellent range. And I live in a beautiful home with the love of my life.
I’m probably the happiest person I know.
My point to this is…if I can do it, you can too.
Part 1: The Foundation (Growth + Gratitude)
Step One
This part was working on me. I required a mindset shift.
My mindset had to become one of Growth + Gratitude. If you try to skip this step, your results will be subpar.
I started by reading a ton of books. Black Swan, Influence, Principles, To Sell is Human, Atomic Habits and sh*t ton more. Like ‘100 books a year’ more.
I needed to learn about mindset shifts, mental models, habits and thought processes.
Step Two
100% radical responsibility for my life. No more whining, complaining, blaming others.
We have to see the world for what it is, not what we wish it was. Clear thinking is the goal. It may be even more important than being “smart”.
This is where the practicing gratitude came in. I also began to serve others and meditate. These things clarify your thinking and your life.
Final Notes
Make good decisions because by avoiding the bad, you can have a pretty successful life. Avoid drugs, avoid jail, avoid credit card debt, avoid negative sum people. Do these things and you’re ahead of the pack.
I needed to become the kind of person I wanted to date, be friends with, buy from, etc.
The kind of person who could make money, and then keep it and grow it. Which leads us to part 2…
Part 2: The Money (Financial Education + Investing)
I did everything I could to reduce my costs and then funnel that money into investments instead.
Step One
I needed to get a financial education. Mike Tyson made 700 million in his career. He’s now worth 3 million. That’s what NO financial education will do. It has your money moving backward.
Financial education makes your money move forward and work for you.
I learned the basics of budgeting, saving, interest, etc.
As an adult, I’ve lived with my parents and roommates to cut living costs. Right now I live in a 1200 square foot home. Small but lovely af. Smaller homes save you on mortgage, plus utilities and upkeep.
I’ve avoided going out a lot. I’d rather stay home and read anyway. I’ve avoided buying things, just to have more things. I buy used cars, not brand new. I look for deals on car insurance, health insurance, etc. I use my credit card rewards to buy discount gift cards and go out to eat with those.
And then I funnel every extra dollar into my investments. I do this twice a month.
Step Two
I knew I had to invest. Get my money working. So what kind of investments?
I started with adding to my company’s 401k so I could get the match. Then I opened my own personal brokerage account with Schwab. I focus heavily on ETFs.
More recently I opened a Fundrise account, which gives me access to private real estate. And then even more recently, I opened a crypto account with Gemini (thought that’s in limbo).
What I do is every 2 weeks I pay my bills and then with what’s left, I allot a certain amount to each platform. Usually 50% to Schwab, 30% to Fundrise and 20% to Gemini (0% right this moment).
Final Notes
You must learn how to invest your money. Saving is ultimately losing you money due to inflation. You have to get comfortable with a certain amount risk.
Look at it this way- your money is very much at risk in your savings account. You know with 100% certainty that it’s losing value every month, every year. At least give yourself a chance by investing.
But to get there, to become this person…you have to build the foundation. Become the better you.
Thanks for reading! If you found this valuable, please share with someone who could use it. See you next Saturday!
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