Getting ahead in life can feel like an insurmountable task. Despite having a strong work ethic, grit, and determination, the hustle and bustle of the day feel like you’re running on a treadmill.
Or the buzz on your phone gets you drifting from Instagram to Facebook, TikTok, etc., and before you realize it; minutes turn into hours and days into months without getting anything done.
Books are a mental diet in which you get to feast through the author's philosophy and experience garnered through their entire life.
You get a free gate pass to bridge the knowledge and experience gap. Here are five books that turned my life around and they can change yours, too.
Atomic Habits by James Clear.
We all have an idea of what success means to us.
For example, to some, it may mean winning the lottery, and to others sitting on a million-dollar portfolio. For you and me, it may mean kicking out bad habits and setting up new ones.
Small Changes, Big Results
James Clear outlines; you do not need to take a U-turn to change your life rather make small-sized tweaks in your daily routine and they’ll compound into astronomical changes over time.
Start by identifying an area in your life you’d like to improve. And make minor changes toward your goal every day. Pretty simple right?
For example, to form a reading habit, start by reading a page a day. Or for 30 minutes a day. before you realize it, minutes will turn into hours and you’re on a new track.
Habit Stacking
Once you’ve one habit set, you can add on another to keep the good habits snowball rolling. Basically, one habit leads to the next.
For example, exercising for 45 minutes after reading.
By committing to getting one percent better every day, you’ll end up 37 times better by the end of the year.
Saving a hundred dollars a month may not seem like a lot now. A year later, it turns out to be 1,200. In 5 years 6000 dollars. And in ten 120,000. Excluding any returns on your savings.
Having that amount invested regularly in sound companies would yield good returns over decades. Anyway, it’s just a hundred-dollar bill.
Reinforcing Habits
The habits we’ve formed over the years have a cue that triggers us into action. e.g. stress, anxiety, pleasure, or pain. This makes us Crave it. And in turn, respond by committing the very act we are trying to break.
Why is that? Because the habit is rewarding, either in the form of relaxation, happiness, or avoidance.
Once you take care of one area; your life improves in other areas as well, since you become more self-conscious and don’t just let it slide.
Set up your environment in a way that compels you to stick to your goals.
For example, to read more, have your bookshelf more prominent, to remind you every time you walk into your room.
This makes it easier for you to stay on track by reducing friction with your desired outcome. You want to make bad habits painful to repeat.
Habits Hack
Our brains are wired to process two emotions: avoidance of pain and indulgence of pleasure.
Therefore, make winning pleasurable and losing painful.
Finally, track your progress and watch your wins compound.
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
Warren Buffett has a net worth of 107.8 billion US dollars. With the average American salary of $54,132 a year.
It’d take him one million nine hundred and ninety-one thousand, four hundred and twenty-eight years and four months to exhaust his wealth.
The question is: How long will it take you to spend all your savings? What if your next paycheck doesn’t come?
A story of two fathers as told by Robert Kiyosaki. One rich and the other poor, despite having impressive academic credentials.
Rich dad teaches two boys: Robert and Mike; how to create wealth. Buckle up and let’s dive into his teachings.
Money Language
He teaches them how our language affects our money.
For example, if presented with a deal and you’re short of cash instead of saying you can’t afford it, ask yourself, how can I afford it?
This opens your mind to a new possibility-thinking of accomplishing that task. How is your language affecting other areas of your life?
The Poor, The Rich: The Difference Maker
If it's this simple, then how are the rich different from the poor?
The rich buy assets that fund their lifestyle, thus having money to work for them. The poor hardly have any assets while the middle class buys liabilities, which they think are assets.
That then begs the question: what is an asset and what is a liability?
Assets Vs Liabilities
By simple definition: assets put money in your pockets, and liabilities take money out of your pockets.
The rich earn their money from Royalties, stocks, dividends, interest, rental income, and businesses.
The poor on the other hand, have a paycheck. Pay bills. Inflate their lifestyle. And Sink into bad debt, worsening their already dire situation.
If you currently depend on your paycheck, it’s not an awful place to be in. See your job as a means to the end. An opportunity to learn. And take advantage of the 3 Es of amassing wealth.
Education. Learn about money. Excess cash. Create surplus capital. And gain Experience in the world of investing.
Gradually gravitate towards having a rich man’s financial statement.
Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason
Babylon was one of the richest ancient cities known for its Gold and Jewels. Before then, the Babylonians had just a River and fertile land.
Arkard labored tirelessly writing scribes, but was barely making money. He then sought the wisdom of Algamish, the moneylender, on how he, too, could become wealthy.
He learned about budgeting and money management and went through unpleasant experiences. Lost his fortune by investing in ventures he knew nothing about. But still kept learning till he made the laws of gold.
Later on, inherited part of Algamish’s wealth and the king asked him to teach the people how they could create a fortune for themselves.
What an extraordinary journey! From writing scribes to a master teacher in the eyes of the king. You too can do it; you just have to follow his cures for a lean purse.
A Part of Your Earnings is Yours To Keep.
Every transaction you make isn’t just another bill to pay. It’s part of your life which you traded to earn a few bucks.
The government takes its piece of the pie (read taxes) before you get to see your paycheck. You pay the greengrocer, the barber, and everyone else but yourself.
Before you realize it, you’ve no money left. Who pays You?
You should pay yourself first. Out of every hundred dollars, at least ten are yours to keep. Ten dollars were made and kept. Over time, it accumulates to huge amounts and you’ll have a fat purse.
Control Your Spending.
This may make you lash at me. How do I control my spending when I barely make enough?
Well, what you call your necessary expenses will continue to grow till you put a stop to them.
Make a Budget and Study it. Differentiate wants from needs. Cross out wants and where you’re strained and can’t cut back, look for cheaper alternatives.
Every Piece of Gold You Keep is a slave that labors for you.
Gold well invested can multiply like the flocks of the field. And every copper (read interest) it bears is also a slave to work for you. Reinvest your interests and dividends.
Protect Thy Principal.
Gold flees from the man who asks for impossible returns from it. Don’t invest in courses you’re unfamiliar with. Invest in courses that guarantee the safety of your principal.
Build your own house.
Having a roof over your head is critical to your wealth creation journey. It gives you peace of mind. Knowing your family has shelter and amounts supposed to be rent payments can be invested or channeled towards mortgage repayment.
Secure your own and your family's future.
You need an insurance plan to protect your investments. As well as your income in case you’re unable to provide later in life. Consider alternate investments such as stocks or index funds as well to ensure your future earning potential remains covered.
Increase thy earning capacity.
Horn your craft to become the best version of yourself. To do this, make Action your friend. Learn one more skill on Skillshare and explode your earning capacity.
Last, make great friends who will be valuable members of your network.
If you find yourself in the mess I was in a few years ago; don’t borrow to pay old debt. Instead, devise a plan to repay your debts and stick to it.
Millionaire fast lane by MJ Demarco
A king asked his two sons to build monumental pyramids. He promised them kingship and a share of his wealth.
One son hurriedly started carrying stones with his bare hands. As the months passed, he built a foundation while on the other son’s site there lay no signs of life or activity.
Son A visited Son B to remind him of the king’s wrath if he defies his directive. To his amazement, son B was busy twisting apparatus which resembled claw bars and in no hurry to build the pyramid.
He continued with his work and as the pyramid got taller and taller, the less he could do. Then one day, he heard a machine rolling pulled by chariots.
It was Son B who had completed building his machine and now, in time, to complete his task.
Within months, he completed his task while son A, unable to complete his task, tragically, died of physical exhaustion.
The art of creating wealth is like the story. Instead of working hard, saving and investing pennies; say in the stock market.
And at age 65, if you’re alive and not in a wheelchair can retire with a million dollars to enjoy for the rest of your life. And hopefully, the nest egg doesn’t run dry before you die.
Though this is excellent advice for the average person, you deserve a better plan, for you are extraordinary.
Build a system that is scalable to catapult you on your path to riches and be able to retire young.
For example, teaching as a career. There are a few hours you can teach in a day and a few students per class.
However, you can create the lessons on YouTube or an online course with the potential of reaching millions of students at a time with you only creating the lessons once.
That is the fast-lane thinking you need to employ. Creating value for others via scalable systems which can be automated or even better function without you.
This compels you to develop yourself in order to provide value to the people. You can create a blog or a YouTube channel or an online course. Don’t blame anyone. Take charge of your life.
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
It’s easy to fool the masses about how we’re doing financially. That flashy car. The big family house. That college degree. But when the paycheck comes? We’ve no money.
Drowning in student loan debt, car loans, unaffordable house mortgages, etc. that eat our paycheck. When your air conditioner blows up you’ve to sink deeper into debt to have it fixed.
No more denial. If it’s a mess, call it a mess.
You didn’t wake up to find yourself in this situation rather; it happened gradually till it spun out of control. A series of mistakes accumulated, putting you in a financial crisis.
How then do we fix it?
Avoid shiny object syndrome. You certainly don’t need a new iPhone x while the one you got is serving the purpose. Do You need that, Rolex?
You can fool everyone by funding your lifestyle with debt but yourself.
Live like no one else now, so that you can live like no one else later.
Adopt a systems mindset.
Thus, systems will protect you against yourself. You won’t get that nice car because the system says you can’t afford it.
You pay a hundred dollars more on your mortgage because the system says: If you do it; you cut your repayment time by five years. Finally, automate to remove human emotion bias.
How then do you get rich the Dave Ramsey way?
Build an Emergency fund.
Set up a starter emergency fund of a thousand dollars. This shouldn’t take you more than a month to set up. It’s a cushion as you get into step 2.
Get out of debt as fast as possible.
Ideally, between the next 18 and 24 months’ time frame; except for your house mortgage.
List all your debts from smallest to largest and chop Mr. debt fiercely. Starting with the smallest to the largest. Once we pay one debt, we roll the amount onto the next, creating a debt snowball.
Watching one small debt disappear fast helps you with the motivation to attack the next debt.
3. Build a robust emergency fund with 3-6 months’ worth of expenses.
Now that the debt is gone except for the house mortgage, you have money. Build a robust emergency fund to cover 3 to 6 months’ worth of expenses. The more the better. To learn about baby steps 4 through 7, grab a copy.
4. Maximize your investment.
Having buried debt now it’s time to have money work for you. Distribute your money across these wealth-building vehicles: Growth and income funds. Growth funds. International funds. Aggressive growth funds.
This will guarantee at least a 12% return on your invested capital. You can as well, create your financial freedom through Debt free real estate.
In summary,
Make at least one step toward your goal. Do it or don’t. There is no try. Learn from your failures and Plan for the worst-case scenario.
Wear an optimistic mindset about your ability to control your finances as you focus on the result you want to achieve when making money decisions.
Adopt a growth mindset. Most people have an income problem and not a money management problem, therefore learn one more skill to up your income. Stick to the plan for at least 12 months and see your life transform.
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