A recap for idlers

 A recap for idlers

“There is no fortress so strong that money cannot take it.” - Cicero

“And Achilles replied, 'Do not speak soothingly to me of death, glorious Odysseus. I would rather live on earth as a bondsman to the meanest peasant, than be king of all the shadows.'” - Homer, The Odyssey

If you are young and reading this then I ask you to remember just this: you are richer than anyone older than you, and far richer than those who are much older. What you choose to do with the time that stretches out before you is entirely a matter for you. But do not say you started the journey poor. If you are young, you are infinitely richer than I can ever be again.

Money is never owned. It is only in your custody for a while. Time is always running on, and the young have more of it in their pocket than the richest man or woman alive. That is not sentimentality speaking. That is sober fact.

No one is 'independent' of the human race. 'No man is an island entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.'

The rich are not happy. I have yet to meet a single really rich happy man or woman - and I have met many rich people. The demands from others to share their wealth become so tiresome, and so insistent, they nearly always decide they must insulate themselves. Insulation breeds paranoia and arrogance. And loneliness. And rage that you have only so many years left to enjoy rolling in the sand you have piled up.

The only people the self-made rich can trust are those who knew them before they became wealthy.

You cannot spend your life assuaging the fear of failure (and success) that is the common lot of the risk averse.

Cutting loose can be painful. I have heard of very few men or women who made a ton of money who did not leave, or divorce, their wives or husbands or lovers sooner or later. Or who were not estranged from family members, often their children. It comes with the territory. Even if you hand over large sums as a gift to those you had to cut loose from to get it, they will never really forgive you.

It isn't the money, you see. It is because you have humiliated them, in their minds anyway, both by succeeding and by valuing the time it took for you to succeed over their part in your life. And that, in a nutshell, is why it is so important to cut loose, especially in the early days.

Focus, determination and relentless drive are wearing in themselves - both to you and those around you. Any distraction whatever can cost you a chance that may not come again. And, for the purposes of this book, family, lovers and friends are distractions, plain and simple.

The world is full of money. Some of that money has your name on it. All you have to do is collect it.

You must avoid the trap of going into what you think will make you money if you have no empathy or feeling for what you are about to do. There's no future in that.

Don't do anything because you feel you have to. Go for what attracts you. Go for something that exploits your natural talents.

“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” - Edmund Burke

Just try. Try for just a single day, a whole day when you refuse to acknowledge fear of failure, fear of making yourself look like an idiot, fear of losing your lover, fear of losing your job, fear of your boss, fear of anything and of any kind. Fear will creep back, usually at three in the morning. Laugh at it and tell it to take a hike. Smash it in the teeth. Spit on it. Put your arms round it and make nicey-nicey. Then slip a sharp blade into its stinking throat just as you're French-kissing it.

It is fear that rules us. Love and respect and other such emotions make it bearable, at a price. But fear rules us all, and always has.

'Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.' - William Shakespeare

You must act at the slightest hint of a chance to make money. You must go, go, go!

The only three valid reasons for not attempting to become rich are: 'I do not wish to be rich.' Or, 'I wish to be rich but I have other priorities.' Or, 'I am too stupid to try to get rich.'

Children do not care if parents are rich or poor, providing there is enough money for basic essentials like food, clothing and shelter. What they care about is unconditional love.

Watch out for blowhards. There are a lot of them out there and they are very negative influences. They can stop you from getting started, from getting going, from taking a massive running leap into the dark. Always remember that they want you to fail, just as they did. Ignore them.

The upside-down pyramid for getting rich:

Commit or don't commit. No half-measures.

2.

Cut loose from all negative influences.

3.

Choose the right mountain.

4.

Fear nothing,

5.

Start now.

6.

Go!