face reality a realism approach to wealth life
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For my family and friends. Thank you for believing in me. I hope I continue to make you proud.
Malcolm Smith is the sole author. No portion of this book can be copied, altered, or distributed or passed off as your own. All rights reserved. All material that is not owned by Malcolm Smith is cited in
Bibliography. 2015.
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Table of Contents
3. Clarification
4. Part I: Life
5. Ch. I: Most People Don’t Care About You
11. Ch. II: Everybody is Trying to Win
14. Ch. III: Hard Work Doesn’t Always Have a Good Result
16. Ch. IV: You Don’t Have All the Time in the World
17. Ch. V: Image Does Matter
27. Part II: Wealth
28. Ch. VI: Read! Read! Read!
29. Ch. VII: Self-Made Doesn’t Exist
32. Ch. VIII: The Wealthy Expend for Progression
37. Ch. IX: Money is Important
41. Conclusion
42. Bibliography
44. About the Author
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Clarification
This is not a pessimistic, nor a cynical or optimistic point of view. This is a realistic
optimist view. This is a blunt, right to the point view of how to attain wealth and see life for what
it is, not for what we want it to be. These views were heard told to us as children, for these are
what they were afraid to tell us in order not to “scare” us. Every concept and conclusion are from
life itself, whether it was from experience or those I learned it from. Do not get discouraged from
reading this book, for everything written here is something you can use to your advantage. After
reading this, you should not be surprised or disappointed by anyone who hurts you, or the
process of attaining high levels of wealth. This book is meant to keep you centered and keep
things in perspective, and have a clearer view.
This material is an opinion on a way of life. Though it is highly encouraged, you don’t have to apply this.
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Part I: Life
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I.
Most People Don’t Care About You
Most people do not care about you nor have your self-interests at heart. The majority
only care about themselves, their friends, and their family, so they rarely have time to care about
how you feel or your interests. This doesn’t pertain to everyone, for there are some that do have
you in mind. There are those who will open the door for you if you need it or give you their last
dollar. These people are great to be around and great to know that they are there in the world,
but once we have encounters with them, we have that expectation of everyone we see.
For instance, in my hometown of San Antonio, TX, the majority of people there are very
kind and thoughtful to people, as is the entire state of Texas since the motto is “friendship.” The
majority of Texans - and most people in the south for that matter - will say hello to you when
you walk by, even if they have never seen you. They have no problem taking time out of their day
to assist you with whatever problem you have.
But every time I would travel outside the state, I would expect everyone that I
encountered would behave the same way people do in Texas. Boy was I wrong. There was a
raised level of selfishness, arrogance, and poor attitude that I had never seen before out of
people. I was so disappointed, and sometimes angry, with the way people would treat others.
“What is wrong with him?” I thought. “Why are they so rude?” I would say emphatically. I later
came to some conclusions that have benefited me for a number of years:
● Have neutral expectations when meeting people: Do not expect people to
always jump through hoops for you, but also do not expect people to never help
you out. Having a neutral expectation of others is a great way to help you
understand that not every person you encounter is bad or good. If someone does
wrong to you or causes you harm, for instance, you should not be disappointed,
for you have learned about how you should feel about them in the future. Put that
thought in your mental notepad and keep track of how that person is so you are
aware of how they might act towards you in the future.
● Give everyone you meet a clean slate, no carry over: Sort of similar to the
point above, everyone you meet is different. As Harvard psychology professor
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Steven Pinker says in his Pulitzer Prize finalist book How the Mind Works, our
brains tend to form “fuzzy stereotypes by insightfully soaking up correlations
among properties, taking advantage of the fact that things in the world tend to
fall into clusters.” For instance, a woman who was in a very bad relationship with
a man who cheated on her, she might put all men in the same cluster as a cheater.
This an understandable approach, but it should not be at the front of your mind
when you meet someone. If a woman believes all men are cheaters, she most
likely will rarely get into a new relationship because her attitude seems
unapproachable. Every man is not the same, nor is every woman. We are all
different people with different views and beliefs. Give people a chance to impress
you. If they cause you harm too many times, then cut them off by all means. But
until then, do not give everyone the same treatment and do not let the things that
someone previously did, good or bad, cloud your views of others.
● Never take anything personally, good or bad: As Don Miguel Ruiz says in
his famous book The Four Agreements, do not take anything personally.
Gentlemen, if a woman hugs you and calls you sweetie, do not think she is your
future wife. Ladies, if a man fails to treat you with the proper respect, do not
think he is less of a man. If people treat you a certain way, the majority of the
time, it has very little to do with you. If a man fails to show chivalry to a woman,
that most likely means that no one taught him how to in his life. If a woman hugs
a man she just met, that is probably how she greets people, once again, very little
to do with you.
● Only a handful of people have your self-interests at heart: People have
their own lives to worry about. CEOs have a business to run, so they do not have
time to worry about how you feel about whatever action occurs. There are some
however that do have your interests in mind, but that is just it; some. The
majority of executives, for example, will fire you in a heartbeat with no hesitation.
They have no interests in how you feel about it, so do not expect them to
apologize or feel bad for you. Executives of professional sports teams are the
exact same way. Athletes are traded every day, even the stars. One phone call can
change an entire person's career. Once this concept is understood, after the initial
reaction wears off, your mind puts things in perspective of that they have other
things to worry about besides you.
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Ultimately, these conclusions might seem harsh or cold at first, but they are necessary in
order to see things as they are, not for what we want them to be. When we were children, we
were brought up to believe that there are so many people in the world that as long as you treat
others the way that want to be treated, everything will be just fine. We all wish that belief was
true, but history says otherwise.
Black people were treated like less than human beings by whites in America for well over
400 years though blacks gave them the highest form of respect. Some people view people of the
LGBT community like they are aliens for decades, though they are regular living breathing
people just like you and I. Women have been underpaid for doing the same jobs that men do for
years. Some people are prejudice, some are racist, some are sexist, that is just how it is and there
is little we can do about it. No matter how nicely you treat someone, they can have their own
opinion about you.
The easy way to look at this would be to be a pessimist, to feel inferior, or helpless.
Though it is normal to feel depressed about this realization, it is not an accurate way to see it.
That is too black and white, and lazy for that matter. Never be discouraged with this. This is
actually something that should be encouraging. Having this view on people, you will rarely be
disappointed in the actions of others. Sure you might be frustrated, but you will understand that
that is how people are. This gives you a chance to have an understanding for people you will
meet in the future whether it is a business partner, employer, employee, or friend. This
understanding is sort of criteria in a sense for in order for you to stay with that person.
You must have a standard when it comes to having certain people around you. You do
not have all the time in the world (as we will discuss in chapter two). As Thomas J. Stanley
stated in his book The Millionaire Next Door, “Operate your household like a business, hire the
best if you want the best.” Treat your life like it is a business. You only want the best people to
help you become the best you that you can be. Now this does not mean you sit down and have
interview with a person, but if they seem like a person who does you more harm than good,
someone who gives you bad vibes, terminate them from your “business.” Only associate with
those that are the best. With this belief, however, some people are too black and white in their
thinking.
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The Scale Method Most believe that they are only to have positive, optimistic people around you, which is
partly true. You do not want to have pessimistic people around you, especially for those times of
celebration or monumental events in your life. But you also need realists around you. You need
people who are not afraid to tell you the honest, brutal truth when you need it the most. There is
a special method that I use when it comes to those I prefer to have around me called the Scale
Method.
You are the part of the scale that keeps everything in place. If you have too many
negative people on the left side of your scale, then you will be unbalanced, causing the scale to
sway to the left, which could eventually cause you to have pessimistic views. If you have too
many positive people in your circle, the scale will sway too much to the right, which will bring
some positive vibes towards you. The majority of people like to have positive people around
them in order to bring them up when they need it, to motivate them to go for their dreams. This
is understandable, but this is taken out of proportion at times, which can cause some
repercussions.
Having too many positive people creates a yes man type of atmosphere. There is such
thing as being too optimistic and believing that everything is all sunshine and rainbows. This is
not elementary school. Being too optimistic creates a delusional view, believing that everything
is okay when it is really not. People are afraid to tell their friends the brutal truth because they
feel it might seem mean and pessimistic towards their peer. They feel they might hurt their
feelings with their honesty. But it is exactly the opposite. The truth gives them clarity.
Be Brutally Honest, But Constructive If your friend is fat, tell them. If your friend is an awful singer and she is about to try out
for American Idol, tell her she is wasting her time. If your brother is a rapper and you feel he has
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a terrible song, tell him before he tries to make an album. You should be able to do this to your
friends and family. You might think you are doing something positive, but you are not. If you
truly cared, you would tell them that brutal, disrespectful truth because it is better to receive
criticism from a friend rather than someone who does not give a damn about them whatsoever.
Better to tell that singer they are awful before they spent hundreds of dollars on a trip to go try
out for The Voice and get humiliated, so tell them they suck and try something else while they
are at home. But do not have malicious with your criticism, for some people will take it
personally and could possibly disown your friendship. Be constructive with your criticism and
help your friend understand that it is to help and not hurt.
The Scale Method cont. Going back to the scale, you should have some positive people around to encourage you
to be the best you that you can be. But you need some realistic people around to bring you down
to earth, to crush your dreams a little bit to keep you balance. They can be positive or negative
when they have to be. Not too high and not too low. That is the true sign of caring. As I say, “if I
don’t critique it, then I don’t care for it.”
The Facade of Caring Many people are led to believe by large corporations and certain politicians care about
you and your needs, but they rarely do. They might show it through the media with
advertisements and incentives, but most of the time, they are not benefiting the majority in any
way.
Take the fast-food industry for instance. They do care for those in need with donating to
charities and starting foundations for college scholarships, which is awesome. Additionally, they
have opportunities for people to start their own franchising empires, which is also awesome. But
how are they benefiting the people with the food they serve? Not to mention the conditions that
some of the workers in the meat factories have to go through. Read Fast Food Nation by Eric
Schlosser or The Jungle by Upton Sinclair if you do not believe me.
The one method you should use to consider whether a business actually cares about you
is a method that the famous investor, entrepreneur Tai Lopez calls three types of businesses.
● Lose-Lose: This is sort of self-explanatory. A business that does not gain, nor
does the customer base.
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● Win-Lose: These are the businesses that win off of their customer’s expense.
Their products/services help the business but hurt the customer in the process.
These are the tobacco, fast food, and the processed food industry.
● Win-Win: These are the business you should be willing to give your money and
time to. Any business that benefits the world in a way that builds up their
clientele, making them stronger. Businesses that makes their customer’s life
easier in a beneficial way is something you should be willing to be part of.
Businesses like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Khan Academy, along with financial
planners are some examples of this form of business.
The Takeaway Ultimately, you might think your friends care by always being positive towards you, even
during the times when you need someone to tell you about yourself, but they are not. You might
think everyone cares about you, but they do not. Understand that everyone does not have your
self-interests at heart, not everyone will be honest with you all the time, and you will be
prejudiced and stereotyped at some point. Understand that people do not have time to worry
about you and your feelings. But do not be discouraged. Once this is understood, you should
know how to view others when meeting them and how to handle tough situations. You will take
them as they come and not get too down or too happy. You will tell those the truth. You will be
realistic.
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II. Everybody is Trying to Win
As discussed in the previous chapter, no one has time to care about how you feel, for they
have their own goals they want to attain. Everyone in this world is trying to succeed too; you are
not the only one.
Take professional sports for example. All 30 NBA teams, all 32 NFL teams, and all 30
MLB teams are all fighting for the same goal: a league championship. Only one team at the end
of the season for each professional league gets to hoist the trophy at the end of the postseason.
With the outside world, however, everyone has their own way of winning at life. But when it
comes to the amount of competition, the outside world is no different.
With about 7 billion people in the world, all of them are going towards success. Not all of
them might be going towards the same goals, not all might have the same work ethic, but
everyone is trying to succeed in one way or another. With the amount of people in the world,
along with the constant advancement of technology, the competition is getting stronger and
smarter by the day. You might be boosting yourself up by saying that no one works harder than
you, that no one has your ambitions or mindset. Well...there are. People love to be different from
the rest of the world by stating such phrases, which can be detrimental. It could cause something
that I call the Black Sheep Syndrome.
The Black Sheep Syndrome A black sheep is someone is different from the rest of the white sheep in the herd. It is
perfectly fine to be a black sheep some of the time for the minor things in life. Everyone else
wants an iPhone, but you want a Samsung. Some might want to buy an Apple Watch, you might
not. But being different in those minor things are not what counts; it is the major pillars of life
that count - health, wealth, love, and happiness. It does pay to be different in the major pillars in
life. But if you are not careful, the Black Sheep Syndrome can bring an unhealthy level of
confidence and arrogance that can hurt your chances of success - especially in entrepreneurship
and life after college.
Entrepreneurs & Improving your Skills The belief that most have when they are not moving in the same direction as everyone
else results in a high level of confidence, sometimes arrogance. This confidence, this arrogance,
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can cloud your judgment and cause you to overlook some important things. Cause you to believe
that just because you are reading and going to seminars about business and entrepreneurship -
both of which are readily available to the rest - means that you be successful by fate and never
have to actually implement the things you learn.
Understand that there are many other aspects to the major things in life that people with
the arrogance they have when they do things differently than others tend to overlook. These
overlooked aspects can be the difference between success and failure, and with the level of
competition that is in the world today, the margin for error is slim. Do not overlook that margin
of error, because there are others who improving every day trying to be better than you. As Ben
Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen-Horowitz, says in his book The Hard Things About Hard
Things, “A CEO should never be so confident that she stops improving her skills.” There are
many ambitious people all over the world who are hungry for greatness and they are improving
every day, so you need to do the same if you are trying to become a successful entrepreneur or
CEO. Do not believe that just because you read books, go to seminars and conferences, you will
be a good entrepreneur. As stated earlier, the same books you read are available to everybody
else, so they are just as capable of being successful as you are. Never underestimate the skills
and drive of others, which brings us to another subject within the Black Sheep Syndrome. The
potential overconfidence that can come with a college degree or a certain level of intellect.
College Degree and Intellectual Overconfidence In the past, a college degree was a commodity. Only those who were wealthy and
extremely smart could afford to attend. But currently, with the help of scholarships, grants, and
financial aid options, college is readily available for anyone who wants to go that route. But once
those four years are over, the real competition comes in.
Throughout my college career, I have witnessed people who said things like, “I don’t care
about this accounting class, that’s not my field.” I’ve also witnessed students who would slack off
and not have a care in the world in classes that pertain to their major. My older classmates and I
would discuss this and one of them, Mr. Aubrey Ricks, said to me, “the real world is going to eat
them alive.”
When business executives see a college degree on a resume in whatever field, they expect
that person to be an expert in that field. If they are not an expert - or somewhat knowledgeable,
it not only reflects on the person, but the school as well (we will discuss in chapter five about
how image matters). The excuse of the professor not going over that material will not be
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tolerated. Executives will no problem terminating those who do not abide to the expertise of the
degree. You can have a college degree and not be that smart, for there are plenty without college
degrees that are extremely smart and wise (i.e. Bill Gates, Jay-Z, Malcolm X).
Additionally, some people tend to become too confident because of their intelligence.
Being proud of your intellect is perfectly fine, but just know that there are other people in the
world who are smarter. Even if you have a high IQ, it does not matter. What matters is having
the simple practical and creative intelligence necessary to succeed in life.
The Takeaway Charles Darwin said it best in On Natural Selection, “All that we can do is to keep
steadily in mind that each organic being is striving to increase at a geometrical ratio...” This
means that everyone is trying to succeed and they are just waiting for you to misstep, to use
stupid excuses and slack off. Do not be naive and believe that you are the only one. There is
someone out there who is living in worse circumstances than you are, and some in better, yet
they are still trying to find a way to win. The great Roman leader Cyrus the Great found a way to
win through sheer effort, even with all the royalty in his family. It was same thing with
Alexander the Great. Oprah Winfrey found a way to win coming from a tough childhood in
Mississippi. Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls found a way to have two 3-peats (1991-93,
1995-98) as NBA Champions through all of the tough competition in the league during that time
frame.
This sort of realization of the vast amount of competition would strike fear in most, but
this is actually a great thing. This should not scare you one bit. This keeps everything in
perspective. This news keeps you on your toes. It keeps your awareness on high alert of what
everyone might do just to get to the next level, for you should not be surprised if people are
willing to lie, cheat, and steal in order to win. Having that understanding is nothing to feel
scared about. This clarity increases your drive to win in a way that does not include doing
anything unethical. That increased drive not only motivates you but also the people around you.
When you have multiple people in your corner who want to win as bad as you do, it helps create
a winning culture, whether that is in sports or business.
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III. Hard Work Doesn’t Always Have a Good Result
Teachers in school and our parents have always told us that as long as you work hard
enough and dedicate the proper time, you will achieve all that you hope to accomplish. But the
school of life gives a much different, very brutal lesson.
Think back to how many times in school where you rigorously studied for countless
hours for a test, only to get a 70% in the process? How many times have you tried so hard to get
a job, but no one will hire you? Think of all the people behind the scenes that made movies that
received poor reviews on Rotten Tomatoes; did they not work hard on producing that movie? I
thought they said if you tried hard enough you would get the result you want? Are they wrong?
Did they deceive us?
Beyonce Knowles is known as one of the famous solo artists of her time. She had great
success with the group Destiny’s Child and continues to have great success on her own. But
before all of the fame, she showcased her talent with the group Girl Tyme for the talent show
Star Search and lost. As she said in a documentary, “at that time, you don't realize you could
work super hard and give everything you have – and lose." Luckily for her, and for us as well,
she did not let that loss stop her from achieving her goal. Eventually, she was able to become the
entertainer that we all know her to be. The key word in that sentence is eventually.
It is the same thing in professional sports. The Buffalo Bills worked hard to get to four
consecutive Super Bowls from 1990-1993, but they lost all four. LeBron James has been to six
NBA Finals and went to five consecutive at one point - four with the Miami Heat and one with
his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. But he is 2-4 in the finals for his career. He still is trying hard
to get another title. The Chicago Cubs work every season to try and get to the World Series in
baseball. But no matter how hard they try, they just cannot win a championship. Eventually, the
Bills will win a championship, LeBron will win another championship, and the Cubs will win a
World Series. The key word in that sentence is eventually.
Eventually What they failed to tell us growing up is that when you try hard enough and
dedicate the proper time, you will eventually reap the rewards or you might reap the rewards.
Jay-Z and Damon Dash went to record label after record label, only to get turned down every
time. That is how Roc-A-Fella Records was born. They eventually made their dreams a reality,
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and despite their hard work failing each time, they had the confidence to start their own label.
However, there are plenty of other rappers that probably tried to do the same thing Jay and
Damon did, but failed so much to the point where they got discouraged and were never
confident enough to do what Jay and Damon did.
You might reap the rewards or eventually never comes. That could be for a multitude of
reasons. Maybe more time could have been spent. Maybe all of the options to get to the goal
were not seen. Maybe you could have worked harder. Maybe you could have worked smarter.
Sometimes it is a form of you might get what you want or you might not. There are many other
variables that are in the equation that equals your level of fulfillment.
Whatever your goals are, they will most likely come to fruition as long as you continue to
put in the work. No matter what the outcome is, just keep working.
You Have to Deserve It Charlie Munger, the billionaire, and Warren Buffett's business partner, once said in one
of my favorite quotes, “to get what you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet crazy
enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people.” Hard work is not enough. It
helps, but it is not enough. Are you reading good quality books? Finding mentors? Studying your
craft? If not, you are not going to get anywhere. In chapter II, we discussed how everyone is
trying to win. Everyone else is reading and trying to find ways to improve themselves. They are
the ones who deserve it. You can have all the belief and positive thinking in the world, but you
have to take the rose colored glasses off and understand the various amounts of other things you
have to do to get what you want.
The Law of Attraction came to the public’s attention with the book The Secret back in
2006. Stating that through good thoughts, your dreams will come to fruition. This is true. Of
course through being optimistic you will get what you want. You have to think big and positive
in order to achieve what you want to achieve. But sometimes, this logic is taken out of context.
Yes, you do have to be optimistic. But some people are too optimistic, to the point where
it is delusional. People will spend all day believing in something, but are making little to no
movement in their life to show the universe that they are serious about it. I am guilty of this too
at some points. There was a time when I was younger where I believed that I was going to be an
NBA superstar, but I was not practicing as much as I should have been, and I was not in shape
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once the season came around. I was too optimistic about making it, but I had not shown it
through action.
It is through that action where the Law of Attraction comes really in. Once the universe
sees the work and sees the dedication to your craft, the reward will eventually come. If I had put
in more of an effort towards my NBA dream, I would probably be playing right now. But then, I
probably might not. That might come off as pessimistic, but it is a realistic view. Honestly, I am
glad that I did not try to pursue that dream. It made me find something that I enjoy even more;
helping others.
The Takeaway Take into consideration how tough it is to succeed, how many people are out there
striving for similar goals, the barriers of entry in whatever field you choose. There are thousands
of players who try to make it to the NBA every day, for instance, but not all of them get there,
they might have to settle for another pro league. There are many startup companies that had
hoped to be the next big thing, but they failed before their two-year anniversary. This may sound
discouraging, but it is nothing to bring your head down. This brings out the fire in you. That
hunger that you will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal you want. If you fail, you will
understand that there are many others like you trying to do similar things, and try another way
to achieve what you want.
You and I have to come down from our delusional optimism sometimes, believing that
our hard work is all we need and be realistic at some point. We have discussed how being too
confident can hurt us. Just because we are thinking good thoughts and have as sense of belief,
does not mean that will we get what we want. Failure will happen at some point, just as with
Beyonce and Jay-Z. But they had enough of a realistic view to see that there are other ways to
make the dream happen.
Much more is involved in getting what you want, such as absorbing the knowledge and
implementing it, studying your craft and finding ways to improve. Taking those failures you had
and using them to learn about what you can do better and putting them to work. That is when
you will attract what you want. That shows that you deserve the rewards.
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IV. You Don’t Have All the Time in the World
If someone says they have no idea what they want to do with their life, someone tells
them that they have “all the time in the world” to decide If someone told you that they will start
their own business, but they have not started yet, they always say that they have “all the time in
the world.” Stop with the lies please!
Despite what everyone tells you, you do not have all the time in the world. To think in
such a way is selfish and ignorant. If we had all the time in the world, why do people die? If we
had all the time in the world, why would there be people predicting the end of the world? If we
had all the time in the world, why does the Bible talk about the after-life? If we had all the time
in the world, why do people retire? You see where I am going here?
We tend to treat time as if it were something that is never ending. We tend to believe that
we are immortal. Well, we are not. I would love to sit here and say that we are like Wolverine
from the X-Men and never age and never grow old. I would love to sit here and say that we can
live on and on for centuries, but I cannot. That is not how the world works.
“Life is Short” We all can remember the days when we were five years old playing with our friends at
school like it was yesterday. Now we are parents, or we are about to graduate college, or about to
get married. We look back at our past and see our present day and think that it all blew by so
fast, so quickly. That is where the saying “life is short” came about. Sure, it may seem that life is
short when you think about it, but it really is not.
According to the famous stoic philosopher Seneca his book, On the Shortness of Life, he
has many views on why the notion that “life is short” is complete nonsense. He says, “It is not
that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a
sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well
invested.” He goes on to say that, “...we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we
are ill-supplied but wasteful of it.”
Seneca says we have plenty of time, but we waste it doing things that are not helping us
in any way. We waste it by watch pointless TV shows instead of watching a documentary on
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where our meat comes from. We use our extra time in the morning to sleep in instead of using
the time to go to the gym or have a morning read. Take that precious time that we have on this
earth to do something useful, something that helps us get better at something. Whether that is
working out or learning about a new viewpoint in a topic. As Seneca says, “life is long if you
know how to use it.”
Be Frugal With Your Time It is safe to say that time and energy are the most scarce resources that we have. We
expend our time and energy on our families, our jobs, and our friends. When it comes to our
money, we are very frugal with it. We do not spend it unless we really need to at times (need it
sometimes confused with wants). With our time, however, a scarce resource, we spend it
frivolously. Why is that? Is that not backward thinking?
Seneca writes profoundly in On the Shortness of Life, “people are frugal in guarding their
personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one
thing in which it is right to be stingy.” You have to be stingy with your time. We are too
protective over things that can be made back. You can make the money back, but you cannot get
the time back. You can buy more material things, but you cannot get the time back.
Be protective of your time the same way you are protective of your money and
possessions. If someone you don’t really care for asks you to hang out, do not be afraid to tell
them no. If you are at the movies and the movie you are watching sucks, get up and leave. Only
spend the time you have on things that are worthy of it. Working out, reading, watching a
documentary on something you are interested in, spend quality time with your family and close
friends, for the time we have is too precious to spend on stupid things.
Do it Right Now! Just like the famous Everest College of the guy yelling at the viewer, do it right now!
When it comes to the things we know we should do today, we always say we will do it tomorrow
or sometime in the future. We should go to the gym today, but we say we go tomorrow. You want
to start that business, but you said you will do it in five years. As the Nike saying goes, “yesterday
you said tomorrow.”
How do you know if you have the energy and time in the future to start that business?
You do not. How do you know if the gym will be open tomorrow so you can work out? You do
not. Do what you want to do today or as soon as possible. It is true that the certain things cannot
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be done today, for some things need to be planned days, months, or years before you begin. But
for the most part, whatever you want to do, do it today.
Knowing that, this does not mean you have a “YOLO (you only live once)” philosophy.
This is not telling you to go out and do whatever you want. Do not go out and do something
stupid. This is just a reminder that the time we should do the important things that are related
to our goals today. Benjamin Franklin said it best in The Way to Wealth, “Work while it is called
today, for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow. One today is worth two
tomorrows...Never leave that till tomorrow, which you can do today.” Whatever you have been
constantly thinking about doing, just do it now, for it is Malcolm X who said, “If you are thinking
about doing a thing, you ought to make up your mind and do it.”
The entrepreneur and investor Tai Lopez also has a great understanding of taking
advantage of the time. He says that there are two forms of thinking that people have. People are
either patiently impatient - having no sense of urgency on when to start their venture, but
impatient about their success - or impatiently patient - being impatient about their goals, but
patient in the growth of the venture. Tai says most people are the former and encourages us to
be the latter.
The Takeaway You do not have all the time in the world. You have no idea how long you be on this
earth. Most people are afraid to see or hear that view, but there is nothing to be afraid of.
Knowing that our time is limited should create a sense of urgency in you. It should make you
want to do all of the things you have dreamed of to do as soon as you can. Make a decision and
decide if you are going to be a slave to time and let it pass you pay, or are you going to make it
happen.Never sit and wait for something to open or when the time is right. There are 24 hours
1440 minutes and 86,400 seconds in a day. Take advantage of that time.
Towards the end of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, he said that he knew that
somebody was going to try to harm him after his falling out with The Honorable Elijah
Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. Because of that, he began reflecting on the things he had
wished he done. He said how wished he would have gone back to school and try to become the
lawyer his grade school teacher told him he would never be. He said he wished that he would
have been an accomplished linguist so he could speak Arabic. Though Malcolm X achieved many
great things during his lifetime, you and I should not look back on our lives thinking of what
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could have been. Do all that you things that we want to do today, or as soon as you can. Use the
time you have on this earth to get what you want to be done now!
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V. Image Does Matter
Everything about your image matters. From your reputation to how you dress, it all
counts. How you walk, how you talk, and how you act; it all matters. Your outer image is the first
thing people see when they meet you, so you must make sure that the first impression you set is
bold enough to where they remember who you are. You have one body, and it is the only one
that you get in this life, so you must take care of it.
Our lifestyle is always shown in how we look, and people do notice it. If you are not
eating healthy, it will show through your weight or your skin. If you are healthy, it will show
through your physique and your energy levels. If do not you care about grooming, it will show
by your dirty ear wax and yellow teeth.The point is, whether you take care of yourself or not,
people will notice. Many say that they do not care what other people think about how they look,
but they really should because your image could be the big difference between getting that job or
getting that special someone you like to go out with you. What you put in your body, how you
carry yourself, and how you dress all matter.
Your Body's a Temple Most people tend to treat their body like a trash can, filling it with whatever they want.
Then, once a big health scare comes, they are quick to change their lifestyle. Why did they not
get the lifestyle right the first time? We already discussed in the previous chapter about not
having all the time in the world, so we have to use the time to make sure we are taking care of
our bodies. Putting the proper foods and drinks, exercising, and absent of alcohol or drugs.
As far as drugs are concerned, the hardcore stuff like heroin and cocaine should
obviously be left alone. I will not get into marijuana, for this book is not going to persuade you to
do or not do it. You should be old enough to decide that for yourself. For alcohol, maybe a glass
of wine here or there should not hurt. Nutritional therapist Sally Beare found while researching
for her book, 50 Secrets of the World’s Longest Living People, that having one glass of wine a
day is beneficial for your health. But all should be done in moderation, however. The same goes
for beer.
Nutrition The only foods that should go into our bodies are those that benefit us in some way.
Whether it is protein, calcium, or Vitamin C, as long as it provides a beneficial boost in your
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health, that is all you need. All of the foods that are cheap like high fat, greasy foods or highly
processed foods do provide a sense of pleasure because they do taste good. But are they good for
us? Some tend to believe so since those kinds of foods have a pleasant taste, but most of those
foods like burgers and fries or pizza and soda do sometimes cause you to feel sluggish and
bloated. They make us feel that way probably because the way that they are made. Fast Food
Nation by Eric Schlosser and Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss are great reads about where the
fast food and processed food comes from and how they are made.
Exercise Most believe that all they have to do is eat right and they will be just fine; there is no
need to workout. Though eating right helps, it is not enough. You have to work out. You might
hate it, and it might be grueling and painful, would you rather spend 30-45 minutes on an
elliptical that could cause a small amount of discomfort, or would you want to have a shortened
life and never see the future because of your unhealthy habits? If you care about yourself and
those close to you, the pain and discomfort should be worth it. Many people have high levels of
confidence in their bodies, even if they are overweight. Though you should be self-confident, do
not be naive and lie to yourself. Be honest. If you are fat, you are fat. You should be able to tell
yourself that. Go to the gym or walk or run around your neighborhood for some cardio. Lift
weights so you can have strong muscles. You do not need to be a powerlifter or bodybuilder, but
you do need to have some strong muscles, for you will never know when you might need them.
Manage Your Body As discussed in chapter one, Thomas Stanley in The Millionaire Next Door said that we
should run our households like a business. Our bodies are no different. Just as you want to hire
the best in a business, you only want the best food that benefits you on the inside so it can
produce beneficial rewards like more energy, clearer skin (which can come from spinach leaves,
extra virgin olive oil, cucumbers and green tea), and better vision (carrots) for instance.
Now, I am not a nutritionist, nor a personal trainer. You should consult with a
professional to make sure what foods are good for your body and the proper proportions of salt,
sugar, and fat your body can take. For instance, according to Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss,
minorities, for instance can only take in 1500 mg of salt, which is 800mg less than the
recommended 2300 mg from the government.
Your body's a temple, so make sure you take care of it so you can increase your lifespan
by taking in the proper foods and working out.
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Dress to Impress, Accordingly Many people do not take how they dress as seriously as they should. They feel as though
that how they dress does not matter because they have no care in the world about how people
think about them. This is an understandable view; you should not live your life based on
somebody else. But that is not realistic. Some also feel that how you look is the most important
thing in the world and are dressed to impress every day. This is also an understandable; you
should care about how you look and have those around you know you take pride in yourself. But
it is also not a realistic view.
A realistic view would be dressing nicely for yourself, not for others. Understand that
people will see you and they will judge just based off of clothing, but you should not just dress to
impress them. You should take pride in how you dress from the shirts you wear, from the jeans
or chinos, to the shoes it all should matter to you. Now, some people take this way out of
context. They tend to put way too much importance in their attire, and sometimes not enough
on the important things. This is called the mis weighting bias, which is one of the cognitive
biases in our brain. The mis weighting bias is when we place more emphasis on things that are
not that important, like placing more emphasis on how you look instead of the money in your
savings account.
Majors and Minors Tai Lopez, the entrepreneur and investor, calls it majoring in minors and minoring in
majors. He says that you should not spend hours on what you should be thinking about for
minutes and spend minutes on things you should be thinking about for hours. How you dress is
important, but you should not be spending hours on deciding what to wear; it is not that serious.
Apply the concept of a story that Dr. Wayne W. Dyer told in his book The Power of Intention,
which is “rule #6, don’t take yourself so damn seriously.” How you dress is a minor thing in your
overall life, not something you should stress over.
I suffered from stressing over what I wore in high school. Every morning, I spent hours
trying to figure out what to wear. So much so, that I was almost late to school at times. I always
said to myself every morning, “what have the people not see me in.” Having that mentality about
my style may have impressed my friends and some teachers, but it hindered my grades. I
majored in a minor. This is something I hope you do not do. If you currently do this, quit;
immediately.
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Look Good, But Comfortable Every time you go out, you should dress to impress. But understand that you should
dress accordingly for the occasion. For example, if you are going to a nice restaurant for lunch,
wear a nice dress shirt, light or dark chinos, and some casual desert boots. If you are going to the
airport, dress comfortably. If you are going to the grocery store, you do not need to dress dapper,
but wear some comfortable clothing that looks appealing. Dress nicely, but feel comfortable in it.
Never go out not caring about what you wear and think that it is not important to
impress people because some people take someone who does not care about what they wear as
disrespectful. But you should not care deeply about what you wear to impress people. Mix the
two frames of thought together and do both. Care about what you wear, but impressing people
should not be the goal. Do it for you.
You are a Reflection You are a product of your parents. Your parents are a production of your grandparents
on both sides. Point being that since you are a production of your parents; you are a complete
reflection of them. Think back to when you were a child. Remember when you got in trouble in a
public setting and your mom or dad yelled at you or slapped your wrist? They did so because you
did something wrong firstly. But most importantly, they did so because you reflect them and the
home that you come from. If people see a child run recklessly without any discipline from the
parent, it will be perceived that the parents are either the same way or it reflect that the parents
do not discipline their child enough.
Every time you leave your home, you reflect everyone who took part into raising you.
People tend to believe that they are their own person, and they have no correlation with their
parents. That is an ignorant thing to believe. When you go to school, you are a reflection of your
family. When you go to work, you are a reflection of your family. Never think you are not. Why
do you think that when teachers tell the parents of one of their students’ outstanding
achievement, the parents get excited? What do you think they were talking about in the saying,
“the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree”? It sure is hell not about gravity. Everything you do
in this life is a reflection of your family and school.
Your Reflection In & After College (Same applies in the Corporate World) When you are in college, you are not only a reflection of your family, but of your high
school as well. How well you do academically, as well as your conduct, reflects on your family.
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You do not want the professor to believe that your family raised you as a stupid kid and acts a
fool everywhere. If you do well, the professor will most likely believe that you that you were
raised well. If you do poorly, they might feel different. This may not be right, but for some
people, perception is the reality.
Through my years in college, I have seen many students do well, and many not do so
well. I have heard some professors tell students all the time that no employer looks at, and some
have no interests in, their grade point average. Because of that, students sometimes only do
enough to get a C or the minimum grade to pass the class. They have little care in the world
about the material and only care about the assignments and tests that count towards their grade.
Some students hardly pay attention in class and play on their cell phones. Those students fail to
realize that they are disrespecting and being cold the professor and their classroom. John
Neffinger and Matthew Kohut discussed this very thing in their book Compelling People: The
Hidden Qualities That Make us Influential. They call it the tomato rule. “Just as one freezing
night can ruin a garden full of tomatoes, one cold incident...the impression sticks.” Once that
action and low work ethic are seen, that impression forever stays with them. The students are
hurting no one but themselves, especially when they graduate college.
Once graduating college, you are a reflection of that institution. Even if you graduated
college 30 years ago, you still reflect it. Once your future employer or potential client see that
school, and judging by how you act toward them, that person will have their own interpretation.
Remember in chapter one what Steven Pinker said about people putting someone they meet in
clusters. For instance, if an employer sees your resume and sees the college at a school that
might not be that well-known and finds out you had a C average in school through research, the
employer might attribute the school as a bad school and may not hire you. Some people do not
have time to sit contemplate on why you received that GPA or care about the professor not
teaching the material well. They do not care about that. Most executives care about what is
directly in front of them.
The same goes for those who do well in school. Employers will mostly likely consider,
and maybe even hire, those who did well in college. This just how people are. They judge what is
directly in front of them and perceive it as they see it. They will put you in a cluster in their brain
based on that judgment, good or bad, and treat you as such. Make sure you make that good
impression on people, because some of them have your success in their hands.
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People Notice Everything People often fail to understand that when they are talking to others, any feeling that you
have can always be seen in your expression. You do not have to say anything for the people you
are talking to see how you feel about the conversation. Everything from your eyes to your smile
shows how interested you are in the conversation.
You believe that holding that fake smile shows your interest. You think that constant
head nod shows you are intrigued. Do you really think people are that stupid? They notice
everything. They can easily see the disingenuous look in your face. Even in your tone of voice,
people can tell if you are actually interested in the conversation. Just because people do not say
anything about does not mean they do not notice.
Take smiles for example. People can easily tell when the smile is genuine or not based on
your eyes. This topic talked about in Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Makes us
Influential. According to the book, “...a genuine smile happens in two places: the corners of the
mouth and around the eyes...A fake smile, on the other hand, only raises the corners of the
mouth, with nothing happening in the upper half of the face.” This might sound very scientific,
but people can sense it. Everyone from your employees, to your spouse, to children, they can all
sense when something is not genuine. Do not believe that fake smile will go by unnoticed, for the
people you are speaking to can just refer to your eye twinkle or lack thereof.
Even in silence, people can notice your body language as well. Someone can easily tell by
a good posture that you care about what is going on around you. Someone can also tell by a bad
posture that you clearly have zero interest. You can say whatever you want to people, but if the
words to not match the expression in your posture, then do not be surprised if a person treats
you differently. People are going to judge you based off of your body language, no matter if you
are in your car or at a bar. That is just the reality.
Everyone Should Study Sales, Marketing, & Persuasion Everyone should study sales, marketing, and persuasion. Studying each of these should
give you insight on how to present yourself to maybe a potential investor, a business partner, or
that special someone. Remember that in every point in your life, you are persuading someone to
either to hire you, invest in your company, or go on a date with you. Influence: The Psychology
of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale
Carnegie, and Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities that Make us Influential by John
Neffinger and Matthew Kohut are great starters to read on these subjects. Understanding how
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people think and will view you will give a more scientific viewpoint. Many well respected
businessmen, such as Warren Buffett, have a great understanding for Cialdini and Carnegie,
while Neffinger and Kohut’s book is recommended reading for Harvard and Columbia Business
School students.
The Takeaway All aspects of your image matters. How you dress, how you manage your body through
exercise and nutrition, and your body language all plays vital role in your image. People will
judge you based on these factors. You can say “only God can judge me,” but that is not the
reality. You will be judged in every part of life. Some people rarely pay attention to what you say;
they care more about the image that is portrayed to them. Face reality and understand that the
world operates on how you portray your image. That is just a fact. The majority of people,
whether they have power or not, have no interests in your words, for it is how you present
yourself to the people is what counts.
By no means am I saying that you need to live for others, for that would be majoring in a
minor like Tai Lopez says. But I am saying that you should want to present yourself in a good
light for yourself, and you just so happen to impress people along the way. Your image should be
important to you, but you should not be spending precious hours of your life worrying about it.
Just make sure that you pay attention to it and spend a good amount of time to make sure that
you look your best.
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Part II: Wealth
28
VI. Read! Read! Read!
Many people believe that wealth is just one variable, which is anything that supplies a
paycheck. Well, in reality, this is not the case. Look at all the commonalities of all the financially
successful people in this world. John Hope Bryant, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, Charlie
Munger and Jay Z - just to name a few - all read books. They read every subject that is going
directly increase their knowledge to attain wealth. They rarely read fiction. Sure, there are some
books that are fiction that have knowledgeable advice in them like The Richest Man in Babylon
by George Clason, but the majority of the books that are instrumental in your ability to gain
wealth are nonfiction.
The reality is that wealth comes from knowledge. Having the knowledge to not only how
to get it, but to keep the wealth and make it grow should ensure the proper actions towards
success. The reality is that if you do not have the knowledge of the wealth you are currently
getting, if you do not know how to manage it and keep it, then you will lose it. You will be
screwed over by everyone if you do not have the proper knowledge about money. The best way to
get that knowledge is to read. Those who are wise are those who are manage their money well.
Those who are wise read.
The Wise Read Charlie Munger, the billionaire and Warren Buffett’s business partner said in Poor
Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit & Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, “in my whole life I have known
no wise people (over a broad subject area) who did not read all the time - none, zero.” Munger is
a billionaire for a reason, because he read books that helped him grow fortune, keep it and
properly invest it. His business partner Warren Buffett is a billionaire for a reason, because he
read books. They both read books in various fields like psychology, finance, science, business,
etc. Because of books, these men, along with the other successful people in the world, are where
they are in life. Bill Gates and Buffett both attribute their success to reading. Buffett says that
every time he travels, he brings a stack of books and reads the majority of the trip. Bill Gates
says he often takes reading vacations where he goes somewhere far away and reads for most of
the day. It is safe to say that both of them achieved their great levels of success because they
read.
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You might look at certain figures who are wealthy and then who lose it within a few
years - one hit wonders in music come to mind. They lost it because they did not have the
knowledge about how to keep it, whether it came from books or they did not have the proper
people in their corner with the proper intellect. Either way, if they had known how to keep that
wealth, they probably would not have lost it.
“Learn from Your Mistakes” Many feel that learning from experience is the best way to gain knowledge of something.
This is somewhat true, for experiencing something will give a clearer view to a situation. But
learning from experience is sometimes the most unnecessary, time expending process to endure.
There are better ways to learn what you need to know, and one of the most direct way is through
reading.
Wise people learn from the mistakes of others. The best way to learn about the mistakes
of others is to read about and make sure it is pinned in your head on your mental bulletin board
to make sure it is a constant reminder. There are many businessmen who have made crucial
mistakes in their careers, and they usually tell the world about them so they can make sure
people like you and I who may want to follow in their footsteps that we do not make the same
mistake.
Take Sam Walton for example. In his book Made In America, he spoke about how when
he opened a Ben Franklin variety store, a store prior to starting Wal-Mart, he forgot to include a
clause in his lease that would have given him the option to renew his lease after his five years
were over. Along with that neglect, his landlord of the variety store decided not to renew his
lease due to the success of the store. Because of those two issues, he had to give up the store once
the landlord offered to purchase it. Walton said that he learned a very valuable business lesson,
“I know I read my leases a lot more after that, and maybe I became a little more wary of just how
tough the world can be.”
People always want to learn the hard way. Our parents and grandparents always tell us
stories about the mistakes they made when they were younger expecting us to understand that
we should not make the same mistake, but we rarely listen. When fail listen, we have to find out
the hard way, only to look back and remember what our family told us. Sam Walton wrote that
experience with his lease in his book for us as the reader to understand how important it is. You
would not have known that if you did not read books, and you would have found out the hard
way and wasted your hard earned money and years that you will never get back because of it.
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Every book about a businessman or a particular business were specifically written for us
so we do not make the same mistakes that they made in case we as the readers want to go into
business for themselves. Why not read it? Although you cannot avoid making mistakes, reading
will help minimize the mistakes because they heighten your awareness for what is around you so
you can make better judgements and decisions. Better judgements and decisions lead to wealth.
People Invest in Knowledge Investors will not invest in an individual who has zero knowledge of their field or the
surrounding fields. Employers will not hire someone who is not smart enough to do the job.
Customers will not buy from someone who seems like they have no idea what they are talking
about. No one will invest their time or money in someone who has does not have the knowledge.
Granted, you can look through the media and see that some executives will expend time
and money on ventures that have no knowledge or meaning whatsoever - gossip magazines and
reality TV for instance. But regardless of that, no one will invest in a person that is stupid.
Whether you are pitching to an investor or selling to a customer, people will only invest in
someone who has a genius level expertise on a subject.
As stated in Chapter three, everyone is trying to win and the only way you can separate
yourself from the rest is to have a certain level of knowledge that the rest do not have. You have
to see things that the others do not see. The people who have that level of knowledge and
different views are those who read. Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Huey Newton, Bill Gates,
Malcolm X, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, and Karl Lagerfeld all had visions that the masses
could not see. They all had a level of knowledge that others did not have. They got that
knowledge and vision through reading. People invested their time and money in each of them
because of their level of expertise and visions.
The Takeaway As I have learned, to create wealth for yourself you have to read and have a certain level
of intelligence that the rest do not have. You can say that there are some people in the world who
are not the sharpest tool in the shed and are rich. But as the comedian Chris Rock said, there is a
difference between rich and wealthy. People who are wealthy - and those who want to be
wealthy in the future and maintain that wealth - read. The majority of those who are affluent
read to gain the knowledge they need to become wealthy.
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You do not have to a high IQ to be wealthy though. Sure, there are a few who are wealthy
and are highly intelligent, but it is not a requirement. The reality is that wealth comes to those
who read. Look at people on the Forbes list every year. The common trait they have is that they
all read. You can think that you will have that billion dollar idea that will just produce wealthy
like an ATM machine, but that is not how this works. The ones who are wealthy, the ones able to
maintain it, and those who have the ideas that change the world all read.
Find a way to read more. A book a month is a good way to start, and then progress to a
book a week, then to a couple of books a week, maybe a book a day. Again, as Warren Buffett
says, “the more you learn, the more you earn.”
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VII. Self-Made Doesn’t Exist
You always hear people talk about either someone being self-made or wanting to be
self-made. Many people say that some of the wealthiest people in the world like CEOs and
entrepreneurs. Though it may seem like they are, it is simply not the case.
The term self-made does not exist. No of the greats got to their respective levels of
success by themselves. They all received some assistance in some fashion. Think of all of the
businessmen, leaders, and innovators who have achieved their levels of wealth or fame; you
think they got there by themselves? I highly doubt it.
The reality is that if you want to achieve some form of wealth, be it a millionaire,
billionaire, or financially independent, you need help from people in order to get you there. You
can try to believe that you can do it all by yourself, but you will just be hurting yourself in the
long run. Do not be stubborn and think that you do not need anyone to help you, because you
will most likely make poor decisions that will ruin you.
All of the Greats Had Help After researching some of the world’s wealthy, I saw that the majority of them had some
assistance from others to achieve their affluence. You can keep on believing that you can do it all
on your own, and you might make some money here and there, but you will be missing out on so
much more. No matter if you are an entrepreneur, intrapreneur, or an employee, attaining some
form of wealth requires some assistance from others. That is just the reality.
Every successful person in history - financial or otherwise - never did it by themselves.
They all had help that made the difference between their success and failure. Bill Gates had Paul
Allen. Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak and Tim Cook. Jay-Z had Damon Dash. Alexander the
Great had Cleitus the Black. Malcolm X had the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Most of the
“self-made” people in this world had help.
Everyone needs help. Whether you are an employee or have your own business, you need
some help in achieving what you want. Help can come from a business partner, employees, a
manager, a coworker, or consumers, but in order to achieve some level of wealth, you will need
help.
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You Do Not Know It All Most believe that once they achieve a certain level of wealth or success, they feel as if
they know it all and they never want to receive any advice or help from anyone. No matter how
successful you will be, you will never know it all. You will always need advice no matter how
wealthy you get.
Getting assistance from others brings in a new point of view. They may see things that
you do not see. They may think about things that you may have never thought of. They might
provide some insight that can make or break a specific situation. No matter what the person
does for you, the help they can do for you can be instrumental in your success.
The Takeaway Understand: You cannot do anything in this world by yourself. You can keep telling
yourself that you can do it all on your own, but you will never tap into your full potential. Even if
you are an introvert that is not comfortable with talking to others or bringing attention to
yourself, you should build up the confidence to get some help sometimes.
The majority of what the world calls “self-made” men all had help. Entrepreneurs had
investors and employees to help them get to where they are. Rappers had label executives and
fans get to where they are. CEOs had their underlings help get to where they are. Face reality
and understand that with wealth comes assistance.
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VIII. The Wealthy Expend for Progression
With the increased presence of media in our lives, it is hard not to see other show off
their personal items. You can go on Instagram and see people showing their new shoes or bag.
You can turn on the TV and see celebrities with their fancy cars, jewelry, expensive clothes, and
or large house. The majority of what we call “wealthy” that we see in the media tend to spend
money on things that have little to no value after they bought them.
Take rappers and athletes for example, they brag about buying their cars outright so they
have no payments. Though that may seem cool, that is not a smart investment. According to Tai
Lopez, the entrepreneur and investor, says that the majority of people spend money on items
that he calls R.R.D. (rust rot and depreciate). This seems to be not just what celebrities do, but
the general public who want to be affluent.
As I have learned, the real affluent spend money on things that help them advance or
maintain. Sure, they may purchase a few lavish items for their own selfish reasons, but it is not
very often. The majority of the money they spend are investments that can help them in the
future like books, stocks, bonds, seminars, or, if they are able to, invest in other businesses.
Emulate the Right People We all want to either make a lot of money or be financially independent. We try to
emulate those we see in the media. We emulate those who spend their money frivolously on
sneakers, clothes, jewelry, and cars. Then once we do what they do, we end up not having money
for what really counts.
The reality is we are looking at the wrong people. We are mirroring those who in some
cases either go broke or have to file for bankruptcy. There are countless examples of celebrities
who had all the money in the world, but let it go to waste on stupid items that did not do
anything but show off. We emulate after these people because they seem “cooler,” but the reality
is that is not real wealth.
Real wealth is when you spend money on things that count. The real wealthy spend on
items that help them advance mentally. Occasionally, they buy a few selfish things, but most of
the time, it is towards progression.
Dr. Boyce Watkins for instance, owner of Your Black World and Financial Juneteenth
and a former professor of finance, emulated his grandmother when it comes to his financial
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intelligence. His grandmother bought some stock for him for Christmas every year, which
helped him better understand how money is supposed to be used (we will go in deep into this in
the next chapter). Because of the lessons from his grandmother, Dr. Watkins is teaching the
people how to do the same. Dr. Watkins emulated the right people.
We should emulate people who we want to become. If we want to become affluent, we
should model ourselves after people who use their wealth in ways that help them get more and
maintain their wealth. We must model ourselves after those who may not look the flashiest, but
they have enough money to do whatever they want, whenever they want.
Penny Wise, Dollar Foolish v. Dollar Wise, Penny Foolish Tai Lopez had this concept that I learned when I was 20 years old. He said that most
people in the world are penny wise and dollar foolish, meaning that they will save money on
certain items that could potentially help them move towards their goals, but spend most of it on
material things that will not help them whatsoever. For example, a book that help you learn
about sales and marketing might cost $25.00 and that person might say it costs too much. But
later, they will turn around and spend $150.00 on a pair of sneakers that do nothing for them
but increase their “social status.”
That frame of thinking will be sure to leave you stagnant. You will go nowhere with that
type of thought process. The real wealthy, and what Lopez encourages us to be, are dollar wise
and penny foolish, meaning that they are willing to spend any amount for anything that will help
them gain more knowledge so they can get attain or maintain wealth, but hesitant to spend on
things that do little to nothing for them.
Take the previous example about the book and sneakers. A person who is dollar wise and
penny foolish will purchase the book instead of the sneakers. That person understands that the
book will help him increase his knowledge and help him achieve his goals. The sneakers will do
nothing. That person knows, as stated in chapter six, the wealthy, as well as those who want to
become wealthy, read.
The Takeaway The reality is that those who are really wealthy spend their money wisely. They spend
their money on items that move them forward, not leave them stagnant or to show off their
wealth. The people you see on social media and other media outlets with their flashy items may
seem wealthy, but how long do you think that wealth will last?
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This realization should bring to light that we should emulate those who are on the Forbes
list or those we see in Fortune magazine. Do not get caught up in what the world calls wealth.
They are lying to you. Find those who are truly wealthy. Find the ones who purchase items that
help them instead of hurt them. It will help you not only perhaps attain wealth, but also
understand its importance.
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IX. Money is Important
People always say that money is not important. Though that may be true, for it is money
is not everything, but that is by far the biggest piece of nonsense that the world tell us. There is
nothing in this world you can do without money. No matter what people say, money is vital to
life.
Everything involved in our lives include money. We need money for basic survival in this
world. Food, water, shelter, clothing, and more all have money involved, so how is money not
important? If money is not important, why do landlords evict people from their apartments
when rent is not paid? Why do utility companies turn off their services when bills are not paid?
Why do hospitals and doctor offices charge for a visit? Everything involved in our lives cost
money.
Yes, there are people take this philosophy too far and will do anything for it. Do not
become one of those people, for being too money hungry leads to desperation. Just realize that
money is important in terms of spending, maintaining, and managing it.
Money Is What You Make It It is the common saying that money is the root of all evil. The world has poisoned us by
saying this because how do you attach good/evil to a piece of paper. Money is an inanimate
object. Money is what you make it. Money itself has no agenda attached to it, for it only works
based on the person’s agenda of spending it.
Granted, there are people who take money being important too far and are willing to do
anything and hurt anyone for money, but that is not everyone. There have been many different
people over the course of history that have used their affluence to harm or help the world. Bill
Gates used is it to help the world not only with Microsoft, but with his foundation with his wife.
Hitler used his to harm others. Chuck Feeney gave all of his wealth away to charity, but there
were also been slave owners who used their money to purchase and harm slaves.
Of course people have done evil things with money, but that does not mean money is evil.
Whether it is good or bad, people have their own agendas connected to it. Money should not be
the end all and be all in life and all that you focus on, but just know that money is important in
our lives.
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Have Some Financial Intelligence Being that money is important, it is vital that you have some financial intelligence. It is
not necessary to become an expert, but have a basic understanding of it. Most people tend to
view finances as a complicated and stressful subject. That may be true, but once you learn it,
finances will be much easier to comprehend.
The reality is that the world expects you know the importance of money. That is why
there are so many credit unions, banks, title loan places, mortgage and financial firms
everywhere you go. These businesses know that money is important and that you need it in
order to survive. Failing to understand this will lead to self-destruction. You will go broke
quickly. You will spend frivolously. You will not have enough money for what counts.
The way to combat this is having financial intelligence. Learn about stocks and bonds.
Learn how much you need to save for retirement. Learn about how much to save for a rainy day.
Learn about the difference between leasing and purchasing. Learn about the tax forms. Research
about how to minimize your taxes and living expenses. Point being, having financial intelligence
will help you understand all of these and should minimize the stress level. If you fail to have this
understanding and are oblivious to this like most people, it does not matter if you hire the best
to manage your finances, this world will eat you alive.
Money Can Buy Happiness The saying that money cannot buy happiness is twofold. Most people believe that money
cannot supplement our lives in anyway and that it does not replace any emptiness a person may
feel in their life. Though that may be true, the reality is that is can.
When you know how important money is, it will be stressful to deal with at times, but it
will bring a sense of joy to your life. If you have the knowledge of saving, proper spending, and
other variables of finance, don’t you think it will bring some happiness that you are prepared?
Don’t you think purchasing the proper material to learn about it will bring some joy to you? Of
course it will. Buying the right things that will help you progress financially will definitely bring
you happiness.
The reality is that money does bring happiness only if you have the proper understanding
and use it correctly. Buying material things will only bring you short-term happiness with a
short amount of dopamine, but it ultimately will not bring constant happiness. But having the
understanding of money will bring on happiness when you see the clearer picture of finance.
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The Takeaway Money is vital in our lives. There is little to nothing we can do in this world without it.
There is no food, water, or shelter without it. The reality is money is important for our survival.
Knowing this, you should not be willing to do anything to get it or use the money in order to hurt
people. Face reality and know that having financial intelligence and understanding the
importance of money, success will be upon you.
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Conclusion
This world is a harsh place. It is not what our teachers or family makes it out to be when
we were children. Not everyone will be good to you. Hard work will not always produce success.
The real affluent are not flashy and braggadocious. This all may seem discouraging, maybe
pessimistic or cynical. But the sole purpose of this book is to bring some clarity to this complex
world and to show a realistic optimistic approach to life and wealth. You can be optimistic, but
be truthful with yourself and the world. The world is not black and white. There is always a gray
area. Facing reality will help will ensure your success.
Peace and Love.
Malcolm Smith
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About the Author Malcolm Smith is a senior at Norfolk State University from San Antonio, TX majoring in
Business Finance. He is the founder of Cratus Image Consulting (cratusimage.com), a company aimed to combine the ideas of the greatest minds in history with great style, creating strong minded men with a unique sense of style. He is also the author of 10 Principles of a Successful College Student.
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