Anthony (Tony) Robbins recently said, “You have to work your ass off to NOT HEAR what it takes to succeed…it’s no secret!”

If that is true, why are there so many people struggling to pay their bills, out of jobs, on food stamps?  Simply, life is not kind. Life, in fact, can be downright cruel, hostile and, at times, pure evil. Yet, we learn of example after example of people who, despite their social upbringing, despite their hostile environment, despite their many sufferings and oppressions in any of its thousand forms, rise to accumulate great fame and wealth.  Why is that?

They discovered what Tony Robbins has been shouting form the stage: succeeding in any of its forms, including accumulating great wealth and rising to the ranks of the super rich 1%-ers, is published information and is literally in your face. The real problem is that so many people just do not want to believe it. They conjure up any of a thousand reasons to turn their backs on publicly available, published, well-proven methods to succeeding, and, in this NUGGET in particular, to accumulating great wealth.

I’ve written extensively in my other Nuggets the details of what follows. So, if you need more information, use the search box on this website to discover the other Nuggets about wealth and power. Here’s a brief list of some of the great things you can start to do TODAY to begin baby steps along the path to achieving great wealth:

  1. Always think in terms of what it takes to EARN THE MONEY BEFORE taxes at the source are deducted. You aren’t buying something for $100!.  To have that $100 you have to EARN approximately $150 before the government sucks out their taxes.
  2. Pay down and pay off your debts, then embark upon being a good investor. Own your own home, mortgage free, as quickly as possible. You may hear the great financial minds arguing that if home mortgage rates are low you should go slow when paying off your mortgage and, instead invest your cash into higher interest-paying investments. Though true, the HUMAN PROBLEM is that EMOTIONS interfere when investing and can crush an otherwise intelligent program. Also, if you hold to your mortgage too long, you are more than likely going to suffer when the next round of inflation strikes. And inflation will surely strike with a vengeance, courtesy of the USA Federal Reserve that, since its inception has persistently bounced the economy in and out of inflationary periods.
  3. DO NOT BUY COLLECTIBLES, PRECIOUS METALS, etc., until you are flush with cash that you don’t need for your debts.  Paradigms, fads, opportunities change in the future making it almost impossible to predict the future value of collectibles and precious metals. I also shun the argument that precious metals have survived for 5,000 years so will be good in 10 or 20 years, too. Nonsense. Aluminum was once more a royal pleasure than gold or silver. Look what happened to Aluminum. A large part of the value of silver rests with electronics. Yet, manufacturers and research are working feverishly to displace silver with other equally efficient conductors.
  4. FIRST priority is to STOP PAYING OTHER PEOPLE YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY.  Get yourself out of debt as fast as humanly possible. All debts ought to be considered BAD DEBTS.
  5. When paying down debts, pay off the highest-interest debts/loans/credit cards first. Then work as hard as you can to pay of  every other debt including your mortgage, even if the interest rate on your mortgage is crazy-low.  In my books, there is no such thing as a good debt to have or a good debt to owe to anyone.
  6. Begin studying investment principles NOW for the day your debts are paid off. Here’s a starter list of what you need to UNDERSTAND and be able to apply when the opportunity presents itself:
    • Investing in appreciating assets. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING…so, study and talk to professionals who can steer you in the right direction.
    • Opportunity cost–too many people fail to understand the waste of money by holding to an opinion that is poorly founded, or holding to one form of investment for ego reasons, or holding a horde of physical precious metals while bills are mounting all around them.
    • Compound Interest–most people think they understand this concept, but the likely do not know how to apply it in the real world.
    • Set up a forced savings plan. 5% or 10% of your income, right off the top of your pay check, should immediately go into a savings account where it will never be touched, unless there is a major emergency. Then, as the cash balance grows large enough, invest that cash wisely.
  7. Become an expert in some field that can pay you money, even as a hobby or a part-time job to supplement your main source of income.
  8. Be adequately insured: home, cars, fire, life…
  9. Think SMALLER, doing with less. In fact, I strongly urge you to find ways to do with much less!! Sell 100 of your 200 pairs of shoes. Put your massive wardrobe on consignment.  Instead of 2 cars,  find a way to live with just one car. Stop taking vacations until you are out of debt. Instead of a massive home, a smaller home. Instead of eating out every day, learn to cook and eat healthier and cheaper…save over 50% on your food budget by going VEGAN and eating at home.

INCREASE your cash INFLOWS, even if through hobbies or part-time jobs. But also consider: better investments, owning rental property, vying for a promotion or even a better paying job elsewhere, etc.