Success is about making a bunch of small decisions, one after the other compounded on top of each other for a period of time. As Jeff Olson writes in The Slight Edge, these decisions are very easy to make and do. However, why aren’t more people successful? Because these same small, positive actions are so easy not to do as well.
“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.” – Jeff Olson
Financial success is a decision; it is a process. It takes some effort and a bit of time. Below are a list of tips to get you on the path towards true, and lasting wealth.
#w2w
Get a library card and use it!- Work out today.
- Know who you are and, more importantly, who you are not.
- Eat healthy.
- Early to bed, early to rise (makes you healthy/wealthy/wise – Ben Franklin).
- Make specific (SMART) goals over multiple time periods.
- Get a car that is more than 3 years old.
- Never eat lunch alone.
- Rise with the sun on the weekend!
- Get rid of television.
Join a mastermind!- Improve the average salary of the 5 people you spend the most time with.
- Go to multiple networking events each month!
- Make zero excuses. None.
- Create a vision board, and review it daily.
- Read books to learn; have a plan, implement the findings, and review them again!
- Work anytime you want, not just 9AM to 5PM.
Learn your own unique creativity cycle & use it.- Recognize and control resistance and fear.
- Listen, and listen some more.
- Work towards your dream, not someone else’s.
- Prefer podcasts to music (most of the time!).
- Get completely out of debt.
- Develop a plan.
- Reflect and record regularly.
- Have a positive attitude each and every day. (Top5PercentIncome.com)
- Read, journal and count your blessings daily! (Amber Hurdle)
“The truth is, what you do matters. What you do today matters. What you do every day matters. Successful people just do the things that seem to make no difference in the act of doing them and they do them over and over and over until the compound effect kicks in.” – Jeff Olson
Action Steps:
- Share with me your best #w2w, and I will add it to the list! (in the comment section or @YoProWealth)
- Go through this list and count how many you practice. A perfect score is 27 and counting!
Austin, I’m such a huge proponent of your article, thank you! These all add up in time, they are lifestyle habits which mean they are a choice.
I scored close to 25; would you elaborate on what you mean by a vision board and how you use it? Becoming wealthy absolutely includes getting out of debt. Becoming a higher income earner is fine, though with as much if not more debt, there’s no way to become wealthy.
My best #w2w is having a positive attitude each and every day. Always look at the bright side, the plus that can come out of any situation instead of the worst. Staying focused on the positives will empower anyone to achieve them with persistence, patience, and hard work!
Dean, thanks for the comment! Awesome job on getting close to a 25!
A vision board is a document of pictures that relate to what you want in your life. Everything you want, you can attract. By envisioning yourself with that thing in your picture, as if it already yours, is one of the most powerful forces! It is the law of attraction. Basically, you use the vision board to describe your ideal life!
I have ~20 pictures in my vision board, and try to review it daily.
Here is John Assaraf on his vision board story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
p.s. LOVE your #w2w … Definitely to be added to the list!
Thank you for enlightening me about the Vision Board, much appreciated Austin. I watched the video, so powerful.
Dean, thanks for the comment! Awesome job on getting close to a 25!
A vision board is a document of pictures that relate to what you want in your life. Everything you want, you can attract. By envisioning yourself with that thing in your picture, as if it already yours, is one of the most powerful forces! It is the law of attraction. Basically, you use the vision board to describe your ideal life!
I have ~20 pictures in my vision board, and try to review it daily.
Here is John Assaraf on his vision board story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVVOQVgvaWU
p.s. LOVE your #w2w … Definitely to be added to the list!
Love this list, Austin! I concur that not getting into or getting out of debt is a must. If I had to add something I truly believe in to your already spot on list (and this is an expansion of your last tip) it is to journal daily. It doesn’t have to be a novel, but recording and reflecting upon one’s successes, failures and thought and behavioral patterns can dramatically shorten the learning curve in life! I wrote about how here: amberhurdle.com/private-self/the-three-rs-of-moxie-reading-riting-rithmetic/
Great input, Amber. I LOVE the 15/5/5 you laid out for your read/write/count your blessings! Such a good habit to get into.
Hi Austin! Great post – love the succinct and straight-forward approach: will you, or will you not take action? I haven’t read The Slight Edge, but a couple of the things on your list stood out to me, particularly because I’d be interested in hearing more about why these things might help. They are 1) Get a car that is more than 3 years old (is this purely a financial thing?), and 2) Never eat lunch alone (I actually kind of like eating lunch alone because it seems to be one of the few times during the day that I don’t have multiple distractions and am – finally – left with my own thoughts.) Would love to hear your thoughts!
Kate, thanks for the comment!
The Slight Edge is spectacular! I highly recommend it.
1) The value of a car drops off dramatically after you drive it off the lot, and also especially after the first 3 years. Many of my financially unfit friends have brand new cars. The average millionaire has a car older than 3 years because this is the wise thing to do. So, yes, it is purely a financial thing.
2) All of these points are general, and are not applicable to everyone. For many people in the corporate world, the best work and best relationships are built while having a chat outside of the business environment. As a young professional, many people can speed up their learning by networking and learning from the successes and failures of others. Lunch is a great, easy way to do this.
If that is your time to decompress, then that is absolutely necessary as well! Keep doing it if it works!!
Makes a ton of sense! Thanks for the reply 🙂
I’m SO working on the Early to Bed suggestion. I admit, I’m good with half this list, but probably need more discipline with the rest! I did get rid of the TV though. Great stuff. Thank you!!!
GREAT job on the TV, Paul. Early to bed/rise is a difficult habit for many to get into, but it makes a big difference. Again, if the you operate best under a late to bed, late to rise situation, then keep doing that. But, the majority of people can get more done with the early schedule. Find what works and keep at it!
Great tips Austin! I too have a vision board and I was a little skeptical at first, but surprisingly most of items from my board have happened or are in the works. I try to follow most of your tips myself, but I do have lot of room for improvement. Thanks again!!
I can’t explain the power of a vision board. I just know that it works! Thanks, Celest.
Great post Austin! Depending on how you look at it I was probably about a 23.
I would add that you are better off doing 1-2 very important focused profit generating items per day than 100 non focused random items. I’ll let you figure out how to write it in a way that sounds good! lol 🙂
This is a great one, Justin! Absolutely necessary. I used to mistake being busy for being productive.
Use Pareto’s Principle: most of your profits (80%) come from 20% of your work. Focus on this important 20%!
For me, the problem with making these little decisions is that there’s too much to think about. I can’t have all the items in the list buzzing around my head all day long. So I try to reduce things to some basic principles that will apply to every decision.
For example: Keep learning, don’t let money/possessions control me, and constantly work on building relationships.
I think 90% of the items in your list fall under these three categories. And if nothing else, thinking from the perspective of core principles is a good way to come up with more items for someone’s own list.
Excellent point, Timothy. They can definitely be overwhelming if you try to change them all at once. And you are right; they are all about the mindset and attitude.
Success is in making the small decisions that, at the time, don’t seem significant. But over time, these small decisions are compounded on top of each other until it is absolutely natural and you are where you want to be. That is it. Just focus on the small steps, and in a short period of time, you will see the results.
Thanks for a comment!