5 Rules to Follow If You Want To Get Rich (Without Being Lucky)
So, you want to make a lot of money?
I’ve been studying the ultra-wealthy for quite some time now. I’ve noticed a few rules that they followed, which earned them their money.
I won’t lie, most of them got lucky somewhere.
But luck isn’t always accidental.
You need to often do the right things to be in the right place to get that “lucky” opportunity.
Go over these rules closely, and you will have a better chance of earning extreme wealth.
1. Stick with what you do for a long time
There are very few wealthy people who got rich quickly. They got rich by sticking with the same thing for a long time.
Warren Buffett didn’t become a billionaire until the age at which you might retire. Literally over 95% of his wealth came after 65. This means he was investing for over 50 years before he became a billionaire.
Elon Musk really only started packing on the billions in the last 10 years. He’s been working on SpaceX and Tesla for nearly 20 years each.
This rule stands true with basically every billionaire you can think of.
2. Focus focus focus
When you are first starting up in whatever endeavour you want to make your money on, little opportunities tend to pop up along the way.
These are distractions.
I have struggled with this heavily. I would come up with a new idea I wanted to test out instead of just scaling what I already created.
This is an amateur mistake.
Most wealthy people and large companies focused on one singular thing that was working for a long time.
If you get distracted by the next shiny idea, even if it looks like you can do both things at the same time, it is usually best to stick to one.
Focus and do not get distracted.
3. Work on something you are passionate about.
I know passion can be an annoying word because the majority of people never really feel like they find their passion.
But it is important to do your best to find something you truly enjoy.
Those who find this have an unfair advantage. This is something Bill Gurley talks about heavily in his book “Runnin’ Down A Dream”.
These people love what they’re doing so much that they will spend more time learning and being curious, and will naturally work harder than others.
This slight edge compounds over the years until the passionate person is leagues ahead of you.
Passion creates results.
4. Timing matters
As good as your idea might be, sometimes the timing just is not right. You could be months behind, and often you could be years behind.
For example, Uber wouldn’t have worked a couple of years earlier because the cell phone would not have been able to support the proper function of the app. It came out at the perfect time.
Facebook is a similar story. They were able to ride the wave of the mobile phone to boost them to new heights.
Even Standard Oil, John Rockefeller’s company, while it made money for years, the moment the car industry blew up, it made more money than ever.
Timing matters because of how the economy is going, new innovations, and upcoming trends.
This one can be incredibly hard to figure out, though.
5. Nurture your relationships
Networking used to be the keyword for many people, including myself. While networking matters, it is more important to actually nurture the relationships with those you meet.
The issue with networking is that it often gets taken as just getting the business cards and maybe meeting them once.
You need to follow up, connect them with others, and find ways to help them.
Every successful person has had help from their colleagues at one point.
It is well-known that Elon Musk got funding from Peter Thiel, his colleague from PayPal, when SpaceX was about to go under.
If we go back to Warren Buffett, he has openly said that his relationship with Charlie Munger has helped him make more money than anything else.
Think about how politicians got to the top of their respective parties.
Relationships rule the world.
To wrap it up
At the end of the day, you could follow these rules and not get rich. There are many reasons why that might be, which we won’t get into today.
But if you do follow these rules, your odds will be much better.
Let me point out something key… all of these rules are heavily in your control. This is because it is only worth focusing your energy on things you can control.
Everything else will just drive you crazy.
Thanks for reading.
P.S. While making money may not end up making you happy, it will take away your money problems, and often, that is what is making you unhappy. Regardless, true happiness comes from wanting less, not earning more.