“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” – Charlie Munger
Most people focus on what they need to add to their life to become rich, what may be even more important is what needs to be removed to become rich. The actions you take is the principle of addition in your life. The things you stop doing is the principle of subtraction in your life.
Yes, there are things you must do if you want to become rich but their are also things you need to stop doing now that are holding you back from every even doing the right things.
Let’s look at the four things people need to give up if they want a better chance to be rich.
Stop being geographically bound.
Where you live can set the trajectory for your life as it plays such a huge role because of the influence on you from the people you hang around and the opportunities you’re given.
- Give up on needing to stay where you were born.
- Give up the need to please your parents with your career choices.
- Give up the need to hang out with friends that are bad influences on you.
You must go to where the opportunity is. If you want to be in the tech sector then the place to be is Silicon Valley. If you want to manage money or be in an investment banker then New York has the most opportunities. Actors need to go to Hollywood. Country singers need to go to Nashville. If you want to pursue a path that will make you rich then you must go to it, be open to moving for geographic opportunity when needed.
The internet has also enabled people to be on digital platforms where they can build wealth. If you want to make videos be on YouTube. If you want to be a writer start a blog. If you want to be a podcaster pick the most popular platform for your niche.
Be open minded that there is a whole world of opportunity out there and don’t be bound by your family or friends to live a financial life at their level. You must be ready to broaden your horizons.
You can be limited in growth by the people you hang around with the most.
“We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn
Get off the hedonic treadmill.
The trap that most people fall into is the hedonic treadmill of material consumption. People work a job to make a living but as they increase their bills their job becomes their life. People become trapped in big house payments, car payments, and debt and must work harder and harder in their careers just to pay their bills.
If you get into a situation where you need every paycheck to pay your bills you will never have the time and energy in your life to build wealth. A lot of entrepreneurs start out as minimalists so they can use all their money to fund their business. You can get trapped in bills so deep that you don’t have the opportunity to try to get rich because you rely on your paycheck for bills.
If you get lost in your career and bills that will be your path and not getting rich. Maintain room in your life to go for your dreams.
“He who works all day, has no time to make money.” – John D. Rockefeller
Stop wasting your time on things that don’t matter.
Stop caring about things that don’t matter for your own wealth building. We all have limited resources of time, energy, and money so they must be invested wisely if we want to create cash flowing assets, place good trades, make investments, and get rich.
If you invest too much time in your hobbies like sports, recreation, and entertainment you will not have the time to invest it in learning how to get rich. Hobbies can be a part of a well balanced life but they should not be a focal point if you want to build wealth.
Your priorities will determine whether you will eventually become rich. If you want to see what your priorities are through your actions then you should rank them in order of how you spend your money and time.
Remove destructive temptations from your life.
The best way to remove temptations that will hold you back in your life is to eliminate them completely. If you want to lose weight, don’t bring junk food into your house and if you want to save money stop going to stores or on to Amazon.
If you need to work on your business instead of watching television, get rid of the television. If you want to invest in a stock portfolio make it automatic. If you want to stop wasting so much money going out, stay in. If you want to stop blowing so much money in restaurants stop going and delete your delivery apps.
You don’t have to be frugal or a minimalist forever just long enough where you can build enough cashflow to never have to worry about money again. If you want to be rich, you must be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal.
- You must first set the goal that you want to be rich.
- You must do the research and model successes in wealth that followed the path you want to take.
- Create a system that will make you rich.
- Be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve wealth within the guidelines of your own morals and ethics.
- Remove anything in your life that will prevent you from achieving this goal.
- Do the work consistently.
- Adjust the system as needed when you have more data to show what does and doesn’t work.
- Keep going until you achieve your goal.
Don’t let bad habits, people, and your own behaviors stop you from being rich once you identify the right path to wealth for you.
