Mr cheat codes guide to starting fresh
. . . something different
Dear reader,
If you have been an avid reader of my last two posts, you will notice that this post is a little different. I have been asked this question a few times over the last week and thought I will share this with you all. We will be back to our regular scheduled programming in the next post!
I have been asked how to get started, from a young person's perspective or a person starting over.
"Don’t take advice from someone you wouldn't want to trade places with" Anthony Vicino. In other words don’t take fitness advice from someone who's not a personal trainer and don’t take financial advice from someone who is broke.
Some common advice I've heard over the years, is to invest a few hundred pounds a month in an index fund for approx 40 years and you will have a lot of money. It's not to say that this is bad advice, but who wants to wait 40 years before seeing return on investment? Common advice will get you common results, so this is what I found works and you will see those results a lot faster.
What is wealth?
Wealth is the ratio of what you make and what you spend. Simple calculation below:
This is just an example to help you understand that as most people increase their salary as time goes on, they fall in to the trap of also increasing their outgoings and spending. Understanding how to correctly manage money is one of the hardest things anyone can do but it is the difference from being in debt to getting on the starting line.
(I have read this book 5 times so far and is the best book I recommend, Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason)
I will be uploading an excel spreadsheet template and a post on how to track your finances at a later date.
"You can't change your circumstances but you can change yourself"
Road Map
Beliefs
Thoughts
Actions
Beliefs
There are only two types of beliefs in this world, ones that hold you back from getting to where you want to go, such as I can't do this, or it can't be done. This stops your mind from thinking about how you solve the problem. Tony Robins has said something that has always stuck with me "the quality of your life depends on the questions you ask yourself".
The other is empowering beliefs - beliefs that propel you forward towards your greatness "those who say they can and those who say they can't are both usually right". I believe this can be achieved with the right approach, I believe I can do this, I believe I can make (insert amount) over a period of time. Once you start it is ok to adjust the timeline.
The first step is to write down everything positive about making money and believing that it will be difficult to truly help someone else without first helping yourself. Review this list daily, "people who write goals and review them often are 80% more likely to achieve them".
Thoughts
Your thoughts are formed from your beliefs, there is an amazing physiological technique you can try to train your mind to start seeing opportunities. The mind processes so much information that it puts it straight into our unconscious without processing it. The reason for it is that to save time, as we have already informed our brain on what to look out for. The simplest example of this is when you are looking to buy a car, and finally decide on a specific car. All of a sudden you start to see that car all over the place. The reason for this is because the information is being brought from back of mind to front of mind.
Just like with the car if you write down every single money making idea you see or can think of during the day, you will notice that your brain will start to see opportunities everywhere (warning first few days are hard).
Actions - where it actually matters
The above steps puts you in the best direction into becoming a person who is able to identify opportunity. This mindset is why lottery winners usually lose all their money in 3-7 years, and why self-made millionaires/billionaires who lose everything will make it again.
None of it matters if you are not actively making action towards it, every damn day.
There are only two ways in which to make money:
You can increase your earning capacity
You can increase your assets
This quote taken out of context sounds strange but this chapter "Hard work is your best friend" in the book Richest Man in Babylon is what may make the difference in changing your circumstances.
The most rewarding way in the long run to achieve step 1 is very simple, pick a hard skill that rich people pay for (it's easier getting paid from them than it is poor people), get good at it by doing it for free for 100 - 150 people. Get 100/150 people to refer you to paying customers. You will naturally grow and become a skilled at something that people will pay a lot of money for.
(If you have a friend that has that skill, sell their services and ask for commission)
The other way gets quicker short term results however isn't as powerful as the first way. This to look at what is available to do at all times, uber, deliveries, translating online, weekend jobs and anything that will increase how much you are able to make.
Step 2 is a little more complicated. It starts with understanding how banks and the wealthy define what an asset is;
"An asset puts money into your pocket, a liability takes money out of your pocket" Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kawasaki.
Actual strategy:
No matter what your day job is, work hard at it. Store managers or Area managers can get paid 6 figures and above (even at stores like McDonalds and Asda).
Have a goal, you can't shoot the target if you don’t know where you are aiming.
(Don’t know what you want to do? That’s fine, figure out how much you are comfortable living on every year and times it by 60 years. . .Now plan to make that in 10 years)
Instead of listening to music, make your default an audio book or educational video (specific to the problem you are trying to solve). Keep this up for an hour a day even if its during your daily commute. 85% of self-made millionaires read 2 books a month, and 100% of them read every day.
Speak to everyone about the topics you want to learn about, ask questions and help them if you can.
Pick a problem to solve and start doing everything in your power to learn how to solve this problem. "You get paid in proportion to the problems you solve" - Elon Musk
Kind regards,
Mr Cheat Codes
Another great piece of work Mr Cheat Codes. You’re right, your mind is such a powerful asset if used correctly, so, “you can‘t change your circumstances but you can change yourself” is so valid!