Money is an illusion created by humans.
Still, it drives so much of our lives. Without enough money you end up in survival mode, aka what Einstein calls insanity.
Your mental clarity is replaced with a capitalist thirst to create the next transaction and get your head back above water with the new digits that appear on your phone’s banking screen.
That’s no way to live your 4000 weeks on this earth.
Understand these brutal lies about money to master the game.
Lie #1 — Money is wealth
Society says wealth is when you make lots of money, spend time with a bottle of red wine every night, buy a Ferrari SUV, and date a fake blonde with a plastic chest and 1M instagram followers.
Wrong. What a nightmare.
Money is a measurement of time and it stores time. But money in and of itself isn’t true wealth.
Wealth equals meaningful relationships with others. Wealth equals youth or at least a body that’s free from major health issues. Wealth is wisdom you stack high through life experiences and people you learn from.
Wealth is a blank calendar. Wealth is zero Zoom calls. Wealth is free time to explore your creativity and imagination. It’s when no boss or fellow human tells you what to do — or worse, what you MUST do.
Lie #2 — Starting a business is risky
Prison sentences should be given to anyone who spreads this lie.
A job is risky.
In a recession lots of people get fired. Any one of us can lose our jobs during these tough times. And when everyone is looking for a job at the same time it’s bloody hard to get one. That’s what extreme risk looks like.
Business is just a fancy word that gets taken out of context.
All of us are business owners. The entity that is you connects to the internet each day and makes money doing something.
The subtle difference between a job and seeing yourself as a business is:
- With a job, most of the value goes to someone else
- With a business, you keep most of the value
Why do we give up our value and let an employer have most of it? We’re scared. We’re afraid of risk. If you can get past these limiting beliefs you can unlock a level of abundance most can only dream of. How?
Start a business as a side hustle.
If it doesn’t work then there’s zero risk. You still got your job. If the business does work then you can slowly transition from a full-time job, to a part-time job, to no job.
And if you go all-in on a business and it fails, no problemo. You can always get another job.
Career risk only exists if you don’t see your life as a series of small bets.
Lie #3 — You need a mentor to get rich
I get asked to be a mentor all the time. It’s called unpaid coaching.
When I pull apart why someone wants a mentor there’s this belief that some knight in shining armor riding a rainbow unicorn is going to save them from whatever deep crap they’ve found themselves in.
It ain’t going to happen.
Mentors don’t make you rich. Mentors don’t give you money or help you figure out the hard stuff. Nope.
The people who make a lot of money figure stuff out through experience. Sure they have people that help. But rarely does an unpaid Tony Robbins make it all happen for them with zero stress.
That’s a fantasy.
And financial fantasies can cause you to waste your entire life waiting for a miracle that whatever god you believe in will never deliver.
Making money comes down to personal responsibility. Own it.
Lie #4 — Rich dad poor dad is a good teacher
I get told by people on Twitter to read this god-forsaken book all the time.
Sure, it was a nice read back in the day. But have you seen how Robert Kiyosaki (the author) has aged? Terribly. Let’s not forget he was in business with that Donald Duck president too.
(Read the deep dives I did on him here and here.)
One video I watched of Mr Rich Dad was about how he believes America will collapse. He said he bought lots of guns and bullets. He said in this future world we live in, bullets will be like currency.
We’ll buy stuff with these bullets.
Then he went on to say he went to a meeting to do a business deal. He took duffel bags full of bullets to the restaurant where they ate lunch. The waiter who served their food saw the half-open bags full of bullets and asked them to leave. Seriously.
Bullets for currency.
What a crackpot. Don’t take money advice from crazies. It’s not the end of America. It’s business as usual.
Lie #5 — You can’t make money writing online
I hear this one plenty. I call bullsh*t.
You can. I’m proof. So are the other 50 writers I spend time with in a group chat who do it too.
Money can be made doing anything. The trick with writing online is to not be so damn selfish. Less ads. Less referral links. Less affiliate codes. Less stories about yourself. Less tangents. Less talk of followers and comparing stats.
More writing. More usefulness. More practicality. More humility. More emotion. More vulnerability.
You make money online as a writer when you build an email list. Most writers are terrible at that. They rely on Mark Zuckerburger’s algorithms to make their dreams come true.
The Newsbreak-style charity payments are a short-term gift.
Don’t rely on them. Here’s the strategy to steal: 1) Write 2) Learn about readers’ problems 3) Solve their problems with an offer you email them. That’s how you make real money online as a writer.
Lie #6 — Save up for what you want
Saving is bad. Inflation eats away at the money you put in the bank.
The system wants you to save so it can tax you with inflation — currently 8.6% in the US.
But if there’s stuff you want to buy — like a home — there’s a better way than saving…
Make more money.
How? Stack income streams. One income stream only gets you so far. If you’re connected to the internet you can make wifi money.
Sure, it may not be a million dollars. But each income stream adds up. What do you sell online? The same skills you sell to your employer. If those skills have enough value to earn a salary, they have enough value to earn money online.
Then with the extra income streams you can choose to buy hard assets — gold, stocks, real estate, Bitcoin/Ethereum.
Over time the stuff you want will get cheaper with more income streams. Once your needs are met, it’s time to meet the needs of people who live in 3rd world countries without internet.
Making money is a mindset. Change your mindset.
This article is for informational purposes only, it should not be considered financial, tax or legal advice. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.
