Excerpt: The secret to wealth is simple: become more valuable. How to become more valuable? That’s what this list sets out to provide. Dive in and good luck!
“The secret to wealth is simple: Find a way to do more for others than anyone else does. Become more valuable. Do more. Give more. Be more. Serve more. And you will have the opportunity to earn more—whether you won the best food truck in Austin, Texas, or you’re the top salesperson at your company or even the founder of Instagram.”
Tony Robbins, Money: Master the Game
Why should others value your time if you don’t value your own time? If you let others take up your time whenever they want to, however they want to, why would it be perceived as being something of value? And why would you look at your own time as being something of value if you’re primarily doing things of little to no value with it? If you want to be regarded as someone of value (by yourself and others), then you need to add more value to your life by upgrading how you spend your time.
In fact, finding ways to add little “upgrades” to how you spend your time is an incredibly effective strategy for increasing your long-term success. Because for most, becoming “successful” is a short-term goal—it’s something that they want to have happen as quickly as possible. But, most “fast-track solutions” to success are really just schemes, gimmicks, and ploys. Rather than trying to figure out how to fake being a person who is all-of-a-sudden worth this tremendous value—try to figure out how to actually become that person. No “front.” No facade. No faking.
For, what is money other than a reflection of your creativity, your capacity to focus, and your ability to add value to the marketplace? If you can find ways to add more value—it follows that you will be rewarded with more dollars in return. Isn’t it so? So, how to become more valuable? What little “upgrades” can you add to your life that will add to the value of your time? Here are some quick ideas:
- Upgrade complaining with gratitude. Especially if you can switch it first thing in the morning. Don’t start the day off behind before it even begins. Start ahead by expressing all that you’re thankful to already have. If you want to become wealthy; start wealthy. And so it will be.
- Upgrade blame with responsibility. How does the expression go? Every time you point a finger at someone else, there are three pointing back at you? That’s good insight. Taking responsibility allows you to improve your ability to respond. And your ability to respond to hardships, problems, issues, and challenges is precisely what will make you or break you as a leader. Suck it up and step it up.
- Upgrade overthinking with action. Nike got it right: just do it. Spend an appropriate amount of time narrowing in on the best option, yes. But, no more than that amount of time. Execute. Learn by doing. More trial. Even if there’s more error—that’s okay. We learn faster from real life error than infinite fake trials in our head.
- Upgrade sitting with moving. However you can. Sit less and move more. We are not just a mind. We are a mind and a body. One cannot perform at peak capacity without the other. Train the body to improve the mind; train the mind to improve the body. Order doesn’t matter. Doing both is what matters.
- Upgrade the crap food that you binge on for less crappy food. I don’t feel like I need to get into specifics on this one. Figure out a way to eat less crap, even if it’s just in a small way, and do that. Crap in = crap out. Wholesome, nutritious food in = wholesome, nutritious thoughts out. Or something like that.
- Upgrade TV binging marathons for more sleep. I don’t care what you’re learning in your binges, getting a full night of sleep is a more valuable use of your time. If you want to perform at your best and add the most value you can offer, you need to feel your best. And feeling your best starts by waking up from a good night of sleep.
- Upgrade social media binge marathons for more content creating marathons. I try to follow the rule of “produce before consume.” Meaning, I try to create and share something for the socials before I go on digesting sprees. Exercising your creating muscles will keep you thinking about your identity, strengths, message, purpose, and beliefs of the world. Better than constantly being told by others all of those things.
- Upgrade who you follow on social media. Unfollow fake influencers and fill your timelines with more inspiring creators. Success leaves clues.
- Upgrade the people in your social circles. Cut out or slowly distance yourself from toxic friends and listen more closely to mentors. You’d be surprised at how much people might be willing to help you if you’re genuinely just looking for good advice. You’d also be surprised at how much people are willing to do to hold you back when you’re showing signs of outgrowing them.
- Upgrade whose brains you pick. In addition to following better creators and listening closer to mentors, pick the brains of some of the most wise and successful in all of our history and read some damn books! Books represent the absolute best that another person could curate from their mind and it’s edited, revised, and presented to you in the most neat, organized, and digestible way that they could manage. Not to mention for a price that is astronomically low for the value you get. Yeah, switch just about anything else in your life with more reading time.
Oh, you were expecting a list of secrets/ quick fixes/ or things you could buy? Sorry, not this list. This list points the finger at you—who you are as a person. Because, ultimately, that’s who is going to come out in front of the curtain at the end of any marketplace endeavor. The goal is to make sure that the person who appears in front of that curtain, when it’s time to step out, is the person that is equal to or above the value they added to the marketplace.
Mismatches lead to failures. Build your value up as a person, first, and let the rest take care of itself. Don’t try to force the rest of it onto yourself now and be a disproportionately invaluable person in comparison. Not only does that not work out in the long-run, but it’s embarrassing. Do it right. Do it the hard way. Because the hard way is almost always the right way.
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NEW In The Shop: Don’t Let The Tame Ones Tell You How To Live [Poster]
Why We ♥ It: Some of the best advice I (Matt here) ever got was: don’t take life advice from people who aren’t living a life you want to live and don’t take criticism from people you wouldn’t go to for advice. I created this poster to act as a reminder to listen more closely to our role models and less closely to our critics, trolls, and tamed-comfort-zone-hugger acquaintances. It’s also a perfect gift for the outdoor adventurer, travel enthusiast, or solo explorer (or soon to be). Available in print or digital download. 👇🏼
...Want to advertise your book, product, or service? Send inquiries to matt@movemequotes.com.
Written by Matt Hogan
Founder of MoveMe Quotes. On a mission to help busy people do inner work—for better mental health; for healing; for personal growth. Find me on Twitter / IG / Medium. I also share daily insights here. 🌱
It has taken me 1,000’s of hours to build this free library for you. If it has helped you, you can support my continued effort here. ☕️