How To Find Your Path To Riches
“All around us, every day, opportunities to get rich are popping up. The more alert you are, the more chance you have of spotting them. The more preparation you have done, the more chance you have of succeeding. The more bold you are, the better chance you have of getting in on the ground floor and confounding the odds. The more self-belief you can muster, the more certain will be your aim and your timing. And the less you care what the neighbors think, the more likely you are to take the plunge and exploit an opportunity.”
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Felix Dennis got rich in publishing. Naval Ravikant got rich in Silicon Valley. Nassim Nicholas Taleb got rich by trading. Warren Buffett got rich by investing. And the soon-to-be rich will get wildly wealthy by building things that don’t yet exist.
How will you get rich?
There’s no way to know for sure how you will make your fortune. But those who have done it before you have left you clues to help you find your path. The late Felix Dennis is one such person. He’s the author of How To Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets.
Dennis got rich in the publishing industry, having discovered a talent for selling magazines on the street at an early age. He didn’t always (ever?) want to be a publisher though. His dream was to become an R&B singer…Right up until John Lennon (yes, of The Beatles) dissuaded him from pursuing a career in music after hearing Dennis belt out a few select tracks in-studio. And so, Dennis gave up on his dream of music stardom to continue the grind in the publishing field. And it worked. He got rich.
How can you find your own path to wealth?
Dennis has a few thoughts on where to start.
First, it’s easier to get rich in a new and growing industry:
New or rapidly developing industries, whether glamorous or not, very often provide more opportunities to get rich than established sectors. The three reasons for this are availability of risk capital, ignorance and the power of a rising tide.
New industries, or rapid innovation within a particular industry allow you to portray yourself as an “expert” in the field with only a little experience. Suddenly, outside investors looking to make a quick buck in a growing industry will look to you as a guide. You can then ride the wave of new investment to riches.
What are some new industries you could look at right now? Inc.com has a list of the 8 Best Industries To Start A Business, which include:
Micromobility
Digital Therapeutics
CBD Products
Personalized Nutrition
Healthy Jerky (???)
Baby Tech
Selfie Services
Workleisure Apparel
Start exploring!
Another way Dennis says you can find your path to riches is through good, old fashion trial and error. Make a bunch of asymmetric bets across various industries, and then lean into those that are successful. In fact, Dennis thinks these small successes are great clues for finding your aptitudes. He found his talent for selling magazines early on, and he exploited this initial success. Small victories can provide momentum toward larger ones if you have the instinct to seize opportunities as you see them.
Ultimately, what you end up doing is a lot less important than how you do it. Execution beats obsession every single time. From Henry Ford to Bill Gates, Dennis writes:
Their ability to take chances and to subsequently exploit initial success counted more than their inclination toward a particular industry. Their execution of a strategy trumped the subject of their obsession.
In my line of work as a producer, I tell stories that have been told countless times before. But it’s the execution of that story that allows the business to prosper. From the shots we choose, to way we light the space, to the characters we put in front of the camera - how our project comes together is much more important than the content within it. If you have quality in subject and execution, all the better. But both aren’t necessary for getting rich. Execution is everything.
Finally, what does Dennis think is the most important part of finding your path to wealth? It’s boldness.
Fortune favors not just the brave but the bold. Boldness has a kind of genius in it, as Goethe pointed out. It can lead to complete failure and defeat, because conventional wisdom often proves to be at least wisdom of a kind. But should boldness succeed, should the chance be seized and sufficiently well executed, then success will surely lead to glory.
Any self-made millionaire boldly seized an opportunity when he or she saw it. They didn’t listen to the grounded, well-intentioned, reasonable voices whispering in their ear. They weighed the odds of success and took a chance that changed their life forever.
So keep looking for your chance. Never stop searching. It may take years to find your path, but you will find it. And then you’ll get rich.
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Dennis, Felix. How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets. Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
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