Piece 1: I Don’t Know WTF I’m Doing
A lot of people have “strategies” to building wealth. It’s true in a sense. There is often some kind of strategy necessary to build wealth.
But what if I told you that I built what I have today, without knowing wtf I was really doing? As in, I’m not an expert on ETFs, trading, hedging, reading financial charts, or a master at business.
But one thing I can do for a really long time? Consistently invest.
I started at 14 and never stopped. There were times I invested less, but I kept going. I even took a $2,000 withdrawal to buy my first car — the last withdrawal I ever took.
I’ve tried many different boats for investing, but I couldn’t really say I’m an expert at any of them. I just consistently invest, and that’s how I’ve stumbled into what some might call financial success.
It doesn’t take “smarts” or a perfect strategy…all it takes is consistent action.
Piece 2: Building A 7 Figure Portfolio Doesn’t Require Intelligence
Building a seven figure portfolio requires a single output. A lot of people think the output is understanding charts, financial jargon, pips, and other fancy financial concepts. But you really don’t need to fully understand these to start gaining traction.
I got started when I was financially ignorant (and I still am).
I didn’t know anything and still don’t know much.
Yes, I read Robert T. Kiyosaki, and other various books as a kid, but it took years and years for me to start developing an understanding of the books I was reading.
Yes, I signed up for a retirement account in middle school, but I didn’t really understand it then either.
There is only one thing I understood early as a kid. That was consistency. The three things I chose to be consistent with include: Fitness, Personal Development, and Investing. I’m not an expert in any of them, though. I’m just consistent.
Zero intelligence is required to build a portfolio- 100% consistency IS required, though
I didn’t know what I was doing when it came to investing, I just got started. I’ve lost money, I’ve made imprudent decisions, but I’ve been consistent, and that’s how I’ve built what I have today.
Just start.
Piece 3: You Don’t Need a Plan. You Need Momentum.
I didn’t have a plan.
I didn’t have a monetary goal set.
I just decided to invest and stuck with it.
When I started investing, I wasn’t consciously thinking far ahead (subconsciously I might have been). I just wanted to save money. That was my only motivation. I didn’t want to be broke, and it didn’t matter if I was saving or investing, as long as I was putting money away.
The more you save, the more momentum you garner.
The more momentum you garner, the more you start to see results.
When you’re building from zero, results can take decades.
If you don’t touch your money over the long haul, those decades become monstrous.
Piece 4: Discipline Becomes Identity
I joined the gym at 14 and never left. Two decades later, I’m still there.
My parents set reading timers when I was a kid to make sure I invested in my mind. My mom even paid me to read John C. Maxwell books (5 dollars per tape). I still consume personal development content like it’s oxygen.
I started investing at 14 and never stopped saving and investing.
What’s the one constant? Discipline and consistency.
If you can stay consistent, something has to happen. You can’t repeatedly invest energy, time, or money into something without a return. That’s not luck — that’s law.
Piece 5: Wealth Isn’t Exciting. It’s Repetitive.
If you are on the path to building wealth through investing with average returns 6-12%, here’s the deal…
It’s not going to be fun.
You may lose money sometimes.
You’re not going to see significant results for a long time.
There are many faster ways to build wealth.
People do it everyday.
But if you’re going with the this route (specifically ETFs and similar strategies), it’s going to be slow, not exciting, and repetitive.
But…it works…too.
Piece 6: Delayed Gratification Is My Love Language
From sleeping with cookies and snacks under my bed throughout childhood to test my strength.
To keeping my favorite snacks and ice cream in the pantry and freezer, but not eating them.
To holding onto my car for 11+ years until it said it’s final goodbye.
To consistently investing for decades because I can’t imagine not creating wealth for myself and others — even if it costs me more resources in the short term/
I fucking love delayed gratification when it comes to food and finances.
However, I also know how to splurge the sh*t out of stuff, too.
Delayed gratification is key if you want to build wealth, and it’s a key strategy in how I’ve been doing so for the past decades.
Piece 7: The Beginning Feels Like a Joke
In the beginning, investing feels and looks like a fucking joke. You don’t have much—if any—progress. You’re just saving and investing with little compounding growth. It takes years to see anything worthwhile.
Then after a few years, the numbers start growing. Then they keep growing. Then they keep growing again. And again.
And eventually, you build your first 100k.
That’s the first real milestone. The one that gives you confidence.
The one that makes you say: Okay… I can do this. I just keep going from here.
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