The Wealthy Way: Don't Go Broke Trying To Get Rich

by Ryan Pineda

And what if I told you that regular journaling boosts the immune system, that even a short season of writing down thoughts and feelings has been shown to result in fewer doctor visits and even reduces symptoms of chronic diseases like asthma and arthritis?26 Does that ten-minute, self-assigned essay still seem like a waste of your time?

You really can’t make a coherent video without reflecting on what you learned and what you have to offer. I know I’ve gained new insights just by looking back and documenting the good, the bad, and the ugly of that journey.

The point is that documenting your journey through online content creation represents a potential win-win. You benefit from the reflection involved in traditional journaling while providing guidance and inspiration to those who come across the content you create.

Practice “Thinking Time” from The Road Less Stupid.

I brainstormed and used “Thinking Time” to answer the questions that would establish my eventual strategy:

I need to do the same thing and begin to spend time journaling down these ideas and questions!

What started in solitude arrived at journaling in public and sharing my journey in the company of millions.

I was working my tail off, yet, I was underperforming professionally and athletically.

Feeling overwhelmed is a sign that your busyness can’t keep up with your business.

Whether you’re short on money or short on time and energy, the result is the same: you feel overwhelmed.

First, goals divorced from values won’t contain the fuel from your heart’s answer to “why?”

Without a clear agenda, you live at the mercy of your impulses and your place in life, now and in the future.

I take my time seriously. As a Christian, I treat each moment on Earth as a gift and preparation for life in Heaven. I don’t believe that my time ends when it all runs out here, but that doesn’t mean I treat my days as though I have all the time in the world. I believe my life has a purpose, so I strive daily to take full advantage of the gifts I’ve been given to carry out that purpose.

I treat every new day like a blank page where I write my life story, and each one counts.

The only way to achieve a distant vision is to focus on the process and leave the outcome to its own devices. Focusing on the outcome without defining the course accomplishes nothing but discouragement.

Worship, Education, Affluence, Lifestyle, Team, and Health.

An abundant life requires that none of these areas be neglected daily.

Again, there is no right or wrong way to journal. Journaling is about getting honest with yourself and giving expression to whatever is on your mind and heart. This can be just a random outflow of thoughts. It can be positive affirmations, reflections on the previous day, what went wrong, and how it can be corrected. It can be prayers, perhaps the aspect I’ve found most enriching. And that’s the point. Not some particular agenda or format. It’s about being open and honest, experimenting without reservations, and figuring out what works best for you.

“Small choices become actions, actions become habits, and habits become our way of life.”

It all comes down to investment. The values that I affirm through my habits eventually become my character. So I, for one, choose not to leave that to chance. I sign up, follow through, and check back over and over again until, eventually, I’m a changed man.

Becoming a wealth builder and living a life of true abundance comes down to intentionality and commitment. It does not happen by accident. It does not happen without effort. It is a matter of using your time wisely—choosing actions that lead to growth in each area that produces well-being far beyond the financial.

Many would prefer not to ponder the end or what comes next, but what is more critical? It ends the same for all of us, so in my view, it would be negligent not to try and take full advantage of the days we are allotted in preparation for when they inevitably expire.

Spiritual health is no different from physical health in that way. You will be able to handle more and get more from it the longer and more consistently you show up.

It’s a weird paradox that what benefits us most is often what we can do to help our fellow man.

Volunteering opens your mind and expands your perspective. It fosters gratitude for what you have and also reveals the value you have to offer to those in need.

there is no greater generosity than that of your most valuable resources—your time and energy. You don’t get time back. You don’t get energy back. What more charitable gifts can a person offer than the ones that can’t be repaid but simultaneously make the time you have left that much richer?

Courses are one of the first sources I turn to when I need to further my education.

More and more, expertise is established through effectiveness, not accreditation.

A wealth builder is constantly pushing the boundaries of their mind. Through education, we access the blueprint to move forward efficiently, learning from those who’ve paved the path themselves through trial and error.

So the takeaway is to start from the beginning by cultivating your core money-making skill. You may not like everything about it, and it may not be something that you want to see yourself doing long-term (that was certainly the case with me when I began couch flipping) but develop something that you can bank on and build upon with other skills as the changing circumstances and opportunities dictate.

Your personal brand is critical to business because people want to minimize risk in choosing who to work with. They want to eliminate unknowns. They want to know who you are and what you stand for before they commit any of their time or money to you.

Over the last couple of years, I have learned that word of mouth is no longer adequate. I believe there was no more profitable decision that I have made than choosing to take my brand seriously and cultivating it through my social media presence.

it’s not always the best product or business that wins. It’s the best marketer. So market yourself.

profile that answers a potential client’s number one question: Who is this person, and why should I entrust my hard-earned money to their service? Your job is to make the answer to that question readily and widely available and to make sure it’s engaging, generous, and authentic enough to instill trust in those who ask the question.

But perhaps the biggest perk to real estate, which is less obvious from an outside perspective, is the tax benefits resulting from depreciation.

Depreciation is the projected dollar amount required for the upkeep of a property, an amount that can be deducted from your taxes even if you haven’t spent the money on maintenance yet!

TrueBooks (truebookscpa.com). We help hundreds of busy real estate investors and business owners maintain proper books and execute the right strategies throughout the year to save them as much time and money as possible come tax time. If you opt to use my company or another CPA, you want to ensure that they are highly knowledgeable in areas like depreciation, business expenses, side hustles, and all the other ways you can minimize what you end up paying on the back end.

Get clear on your online brand and content strategy.

The differences in investments, debt and taxes, primarily come down to education. The wealthy apply discernment informed by deep knowledge of a field to stack the odds in their favor or turn to someone who can before placing their bets.

Of course, money facilitates freedom just as lack can restrict it.

WEALTH: lifestyle. Here, we introduce the concept of margin, that critical buffer area where one’s choices ultimately dictate whether they’ll lead a life of satisfaction or disappointment.

The way I see it, if I wake at six in the morning and go to bed at eleven, that leaves me seventeen hours. I spend the first four on my morning routine, and then I work from ten until five in the evening, which leaves me six additional hours of margin that I can invest in the people I love.

Your only option for margin when it comes to your time is to trade working harder for working smarter.

When it comes to budgeting, there are two types of people: earners and savers.

The primary focus of the saver is on the outgoing category. In their view, living within one’s means equates to saving more by spending less. It comes down to lowering expectations, setting aside desires, and delaying gratification until there is a large enough stockpile to proceed without debt–or forever, if necessary. On the other hand, the primary focus of the earner is on the incoming category. They are less focused on living within their means than expanding the means they have to live within. They don’t lower expectations or set aside desires. Instead, they use them as their benchmark for earning what’s necessary to lead the lifestyle they wish. So, the former favors self-restraint while the latter encourages ingenuity.

All too often, I think savers impede their creativity and underestimate their ingenuity by conceding defeat to the limitations imposed by the incoming column of their budget.

So while savers ask: “What do I need to cut out in my life?” Earners consider: “What do I need to do differently to attain what I want in life?” My approach today goes like this: This is the lifestyle I want to live, with this type of house, this type of car, this vacation, donating this amount of money—how can I have all of that? My mentality is that there is a way to do it all; I just have to find it. Your income is not capped unless you assent to it being that way.

norm. So take that vacation and stay in that fancy hotel. The memories will remain at the end of your story long after the Lambo’s broken down and the Rolex has lost its shine.

Design your lifestyle.

Become an earner by asking: How can I afford it?

Pay yourself first.