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. 

1

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

4

 

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

15

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

   

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  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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