It’s been a while since I wrote my last post, and to be honest I’m missing writing a bit.
It’s actually almost two years since I put something up in this blog and my intention isn’t to start writing again.
So this is one of the rare moments I thought I should write something.
It’s one of these moments, also known as milestones, that one (me, that is) needs to say something about it.
Not to brag, not to cheer, not to celebrate, not to thank his mom like in the oscars, but mainly to keep the accountability part alive, and hopefully (although doubtedly) inspire some people as a side-benefit.
But let’s start from the beginning.
If you’ve ever read any of my blog posts, you should have noticed that during the last years I developed a special affinity about wealth creation. I’ve written many articles on wealth accumulation, business, entrepreneurship, productivity, etc. Making more money has been my main focus for the last years, and hopefully for the years to come.
Back in 2015 when I wrote my first post here, I was more than broke :p
I clearly remember the end of the month approaching and having only 50 euros in my pocket.
And that’s it. That was my entire net worth. It was fluctuating between 1,000 euros in the beginning of each month (after the monthly payment) and 50-ish euros at the end of it because of the fact that I had to re-invest everything back to my business to make it grow.
What is Net Worth?
My friend and mentor Ilias Tsagklis has written and excellent article about the definition of wealth, right here, and I’d highly suggest you to read it.
But in case you’re lazy mofos and you want the short version, the net worth of an individual is defined by this simple formula:
OK so what are assets and liabilities then? Assets can be considered many things, like cash, business equity, art, cars, planes, stocks etc. Liabilities is kind of the opposite, things that you owe, like loans, bank account overdrafts, interest payable etc.
So why should you care about your net worth you might ask.
Well you shouldn’t, unless you want to make it grow. Like I did. I wanted it to grow. And it grew.
Back in 2015 I put up this board, at my house’s living room.
It was about some mid term goals, golden rules I shouldn’t break under any circumstances, some rewards and general motivational stuff.
But if you take a closer look, on the right lower side it reads: LONG TERM GOAL. And that goal was none other than accumulating more than $1,000,000 USD before I turn 40.
As you can see, it dates back to the 19th of Oct 2015. By the time of this writing, it’s a bit more than four years since it was written.
During these four years, there have been some very good and some very difficult times.
I remember one night, taking my mom and sister out, and paying for our dinner with my last 30 euros . I also remember saying to them that very night, that no matter what, I’m gonna be rich in my life. I will not stop working, learning and trying until I become financially free.
Fast forward almost four years later…I’m still not financially free, but I’m officially a millionaire
A millionaire in the sense that my total assets, liquid and illiquid, (that is my cash, my business equity, cars etc.), minus my total liabilities (that are zero by the way) surpass the $1M.
(and I’m not even 40 yet )
My feelings at the moment
As you can imagine, being a millionaire feels very nice. Not so much in the sense that I can spend a lot of money to support my lifestyle. Actually the money I spend to support my lifestyle is very low compared to what I earn. I’m not very frugal, but I’m very cautious about spending my hard earned money.
In order to spend, it’ll have to either give me great pleasure, or be some kind of investment for my personal development somehow. Other than that, I’ll think twice before I buy something.
So if the reason you feel good isn’t about spending, then what is it?
Ah, I’m glad you asked.
It’s called confidence.
What lifts me up isn’t the fact that I buy stuff. It’s the fact that I know I can buy stuff.
Notice the difference?
And by stuff I don’t only mean cars, watches, and gadgets. That’s only a fraction of it. By stuff I mean experiences, financial products, connections, networking, access to circles with high net worth individuals I couldn’t enter before etc.
That’s the real value if you ask me. Peace of mind, low stress, confidence that if you want something you can have it. Confidence that if the shit hits the fan, you have the means (financial or otherwise) to face the music.
That’s a feeling very hard to describe indeed, and to me it’s all the difference about being rich or being poor.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t consider myself rich. Not even close to be exact. There’re still many people out there that they earn in a minute, the money I earn in a month
But alas, all a man can do is keep pushing right?
My next goal
OK then, becoming a millionaire was my first major milestone. But what’s next?
It’s kinda hard to predict, but in financial terms, my next goal is to become financially free before I turn 45.
So dear Mr. Kidnapper if you’re reading this, just wait a few more years before you abduct me and ask for ransom, you’ll get a much better price then.
What that means is that I want to have put all the systems in place, to be able to passively earn (through various kinds of investments) more than $200k per year.
With some conservative calculations, i.e. 5% annualized return rate, I should put down about $4M to $5M in investable capital to work for me.
And I have almost six years to get there.
Not the easiest job in the world you might say. Well I agree, but back in the day, becoming a millionaire didn’t look easy either. Yet somehow I delivered.
Feeling lucky punk?
Looking back, I cannot help myself thinking about the factors that contributed to that.
Hard work and single focus was probably the most important factor. I don’t consider myself a special snowflake. I’m not smarter than the average guy out there. It’s just that I want it more.
During all these years of scarcity, I had to endure. I had to work more while the results didn’t justify it. I had to focus on ways to improve my business. I had to keep the dream of buying the fucking Ferrari alive. I had to keep repeating to myself that I need to become financially free as soon as possible and never worry about not having money, ever again.
I had to stay home while others went to parties. I had to wake up early and hit the gym and then start my work for 10 hours each day…for days and months to come. There were periods I didn’t even have money to go out for a non-fancy dinner at Mc Donalds, but I was too damn stubborn to borrow from my mom.
Instead, to entertain myself, I stayed in. I was consuming books, articles, documentaries and every material that could keep the fire kindled.
To an extent, this is all known stuff. For good or for worse, nobody can succeed in life without hard work and focus.
But, the other part most people forget about, is what a mere mortal like myself calls luck.
And I really mean it when I say I was very lucky.
Not in the sense that I won the lottery or something, but lucky because I was born in a country free of war, free of political or military suppression, during the Internet era, which I consider it to be the best era ever existed for people to connect to each other and make some serious money.
I consider my self very lucky because, although I was left with a few euros before the month’s end, I had a supporting family, a house to live, food to eat, and the fucking Internet to learn and work.
That’s why it makes me sad whenever I see people nowadays adopting the victim mentality.
So let me repeat this once more. If we’re born into a country free of war, we’re healthy enough to think, and we have access to the Internet, there’re basically zero excuses not to succeed in any way we want.
For some people, success might not mean money or wealth. It might mean high athletic performance, academia, or being a top class guitar player.
That’t totally fine and respected.
But get the fuck out there and do something about it. After all we’re coming in this life fo so many years. Right?
We, approximately, all have the same years to live and the same number of brain neurons to utilize.
If an average brain-capacity guy like myself made it up to here, I don’t see a realistic reason why you shouldn’t make it as well.
I think you can.
No scratch that.
I know you can.
You just didn’t want it bad enough so far. But it’s never too late you know. It took me “only” four freaking years to the first million. Do you honestly think this is that long of a period?
Come on….
It’s nothing compared to the financially stable, low stress life you can offer to yourself.
If you feel lost about where to start, a solid first actionable step would be to read the articles found here.
Do it for me…and you can thank me later
