If Starting Over as a Teenager to Age 21...
Level 1 - NGMI
Welcome Avatar! If you’re worried about being in the NGMI group, this post is for you. Lots of concerns around AI. Lots of concerns around inequality. All things to worry about if you’re living in the past or listening to some random celeb/politician as they dump their bags on the fan base.
Anyway. We’re going to assume you got no inheritance and get to the starting line with a solid $0. Not negative. Not positive. Straight zero.
What is Your Main Asset
If you are 18-21 (rough range of adulthood), then you have two items to pull on: 1) energy and 2) time. You can play long-term games because you don’t need results tomorrow. You can work longer hours because your body has incredible tolerance from teenager until about mid 30s.
The main problem is you have no assets, no track record and no sure fire skill to bet on over and over again.
Pay the Life Tax: Seems obvious but everyone pays the same amount of tax for success. Some people are smart and pay it all at once because the amount compounds if it is delayed. Can take a wild guess which strategy is correct.
Use the time correctly and your 20s will be max pain but sometime in your 30s the snowball has taken off and you’re hit with “ohh bro you changed man” as you leave everyone in the rearview mirror.
The typical structure for NPCs is something like the below.
Your goal? Move that last triangle on the right as far as you can to the left. There is nothing you can do to impact the health bar relative to the money and free time bar. Read that twice! While you can live a healthy lifestyle and get better years than most, the easiest thing to solve for is money. If your money is entirely solved then you can prioritize free time and health a lot easier. Also. Money is a solvable video game for the intelligent.
#1 The game is rigged for Owners — become one
While we’ve said $3-5M and a paid off house is basically set. The underlying assumption here is that you are building an asset that gives you living income. At $4M and 5% that’s $200K. Pretty difficult to go broke assuming you have no housing costs.
Your goal? Get to a point where your investments/assets make more than your capability to earn. Once you are here the game is over.
The problem? Most people sell their time and buy distractions/status objects.
Trade time for money → rent, materials → repeat
No assets = no leverage = no future exit
No matter how old you are. 15 years old or 30. You know that your entire goal is to buy assets. Period. Become an owner with equity in something at all times with all disposable income. You’re throwing as much coal as possible into that flame as early as possible.
At a young age you might thing “okay worthless since i don’t have assets”. Well. Abilities are assets.
You must learn to sell. This is no longer negotiable. The doomers will say it can be replaced by AI. It won’t. No CEO is going to talk to Gemini or ChatGPT to decide if it should sell/buy a new company. Period.
You must build niche knowledge. This could be anything from peptides to toothpaste to pre-sleep formulas as we’ve seen in the jungle. Choose one niche and be ahead of AI (which just scrapes consensus garbage and spits it out)
Learn to create attention. Don’t care how you do it. While OnlyFans gets a lot of hate, there is something to learn from it. If you can gather a bunch of attention you will be rich.
Take a step back. If you can sell then you can build equity (you can sell a product for someone with a stake in the company OR you could sell your own product). Opens a boatload of doors. If you have niche knowledge that is ahead of masses, you are by definition an owner of a valuable asset.
“Is this going to increase my abilities or attract customers?” If the answer is no? Move on. You don’t have time to waste.
#2 Proof-of-Work
In school they try to teach you credentialism. Instead, what you want to do is have “proof of work”. This means actual results.
You can tell if someone gets this with a simple question. “Why should we work with you?”
Winners? Will show you tons of proof cases of success (ex. on this side of the web is the hundreds of people running WiFi businesses built publicly)
Losers? Will say they have X years of experience. Well… having the same position for a decade does not deserve a medal.
If you can do something well you’ll have proof of what was done. You won’t hide behind a CFA, MBA, PHD, Series 7, Masters, etc.
A good way to think about this? Look back every year and have proof of a metric. Could be conversions on an Ad. Could be improved portfolio of video editing. Could be a massive LeadGen success (source).
After a few years, you shouldn’t care about what degree you have or what university is on your resume. Your results should be the starting point vs a piece of paper for writing what people wanted to hear.
Piece of paper = light signal.
Skill + Proof of Results = nuclear signal.
#3 Your body compounds
At a young age you can pretty much do anything and stay in shape. Lift + some cardio and you’re good. The game? Make sure you’re building for the long term.
Your body is basically a high quality car with declining parts that can be replaced. If you treat it well, the car will still run perfectly fine and you don’t have to worry about being out for years (waiting for a part to come in)
Enjoy the 20s to go all out and recognize the window closes quickly.
Basic rule is this: you are not going to be a pro athlete, if you were you would be doing that. Your goal is to get into the peak fitness without injury risk. Don’t even think about some “adult league”. There is nothing adult about it. If anything it’s people chasing adolescence for no particular reason. Once ligament tear and you could pay the price for decades.
A good tell you’re hitting the right balance? Everyone knows you work out (they don’t ask) and you are spending a minimal amount of time at the gym.
#4 Don’t Hang Onto Dead Weight
Many people fall into this trap of comfort. They think that people deserve to be in their life just because they have known them a long time. If someone constantly drains your energy, they’re too expensive. Your energy and time is your most valuable asset by far.
Relationships should be additive. If you don’t see the benefit, time to move on or at least reduce time spent there. It isn’t even rude. There is no point in throwing away your own life because someone else wants to drink all day and fight for a 3% raise at the corporate HQ meeting.
Easy Signs of Deadweight: They complain about opportunities. We’ve quite literally laid out numerous on the paid stack and you’ve seen a large number succeed publicly. While we’re a great starting point, do the same in your personal life.
If some guy/girl is always complaining, it is time to simply move on. New tech always comes up and the winners always utilize it and find the industries that are not going to be impacted. For 99% of people, learning to sell and build niche knowledge is going to work. If you type your industry into Gemini/ChatGPT and laugh at the results, you’re in business. Literally!
#5 Learn Simple Math - Create a Real Savings Account
If you can do quick math in your head and pull up a 10 year chart you will be ahead of the game by far.
Look up the average wage increase in your industry. Wage increase is defined as same position. Of course a 30 year old makes more than a 22 year old. Look at the wage change over a decade of a 22 year old entering the same field at age 22. You will instantly see W-2 is not the way to wealth.
Change Your Default Net Worth: We know. We know. We started by using US dollars with $3-5M and a paid off home. This is because its easiest to recall.
The real way to think about it? View your net worth in terms of # of shares of S&P this can buy. OR. # of houses this can buy. Or. In our case # of BTC/ETH it can buy
Now your brain is wired differently. Once you factor in long-term compounding and inflation, you’ll see that the math for the W-2 is brutal. Getting poorer in terms of assets year after year!
This habit will matter a lot. If you want to convince some of your NPC friends, always use the house one. This is basically a religion (home ownerships) and once they measure the amount they save vs. the cost of a home, it’ll be crystal clear to them.
Dollars are not “savings”. An asset it. Again. Long-term.
To take it further, we don’t even like the distinction. Other than money for emergencies and to sustain a shock (like COVID or 2008), the money sitting in a checking is actually a liability in many ways. Losing value over decades.
#6 The Internet is Leverage
Back 30 years ago, you were forced to learn from your immediate peer group. Unless born into a wealthy area this meant “garbage in, garbage out”. Click fast forward.
Internet = one person + a device can reach the entire world
Internet = one person + a device can waste time endlessly asking things like “grok is this true”
If used correctly, the internet looks like this: 1) create > consume. If you’re creating stuff on the internet more than you are consuming = winning long-term, 2) find extremely niche information - no one on the edge is well known and talking on Joe Rogan and 3) avoid the comparison game since the majority just post highlight reels and exaggerate.
If you want a simple check up: “If someone looked at my online activity would they say i am a builder or consumer”. There is no reason to produce 100% of the time. The ledger just needs to tilt to building.
#7 Curate Your Friend Group
Sorry. This isn’t Disney. Chances are the vast majority of people you went to school with are NGMI. Figure out who “gets it” and latch on to them. Praying for a return to the past? Sprint as fast as possible in the other direction, will likely become a delusional person who thinks they can fix the world while their personal lives are embarrassing.
The great news? A small circle of winners is much like momentum. You help solve problems on the fly. Once again. Please look at the Jungle for support if needed. Too many cases of a simple DM to solve a problem. Next thing you know they are onto the next since the first $1K, $10K month just rolled in.
Slow Ghost: People naturally drift over time. Every 5-10 years you’re going to change your views as well. As you change socio economic ladders, your peer group will drift naturally. No need for some crazy goodbye message, just keep track of who you’re essentially betting on.
“You are the average of the 5 people you speak to most”
This has been beaten to death but is still true.
#8 Consistency Beats Everything
Boring consistency is not only easier it is better. If you constantly ship stuff when it is “good enough” and you constantly improve on it. There is basically no way to blow up. If you try to get everything done in a month or in a week, the chances of burning out? Extremely high.
This is a typical burn out. Get some idea that is good. Try for one month working 16 hours a day. Get sick. Quit for a week. A week becomes a month. A month becomes a quarter. Suddenly lost interest.
Instead a consistent practice is more efficient. Hate to use this side of the web as yet another example but we’re extremely consistent for this same reason. Once you have a set up, you just stick to it rain or shine. Bad day? Maybe work a couple hours less. Good day? Maybe an hour more. None of this Netflix special of getting it all done in a quarter. Doesn’t work anyway.
Create metrics to track. Hold yourself accountable. The results will show up.
#9 “I’ll Solve it Later”
Nope. You do not have infinite amount of time. You start now. Period. The idea of waiting for a birthday or some event to “finally get it going” is insane. That is bottled up energy that fizzles out the second a road bump pops up.
You don’t need decade long plans either. It’s a simple “improve on this” and move on. Generally speaking you can focus on at most three major items per year. That’s it.
Results are always non-linear. Lots of nothing then spikes. Make sure those spikes are up. A spike down can be catastrophic.
#10 Try Every Type of Selling
Yep. Selling is so important now that it gets a second sub category. Again we don’t know who you are. If you’re handsome? Probably better at in person sales. If you’re not particularly good looking? Probably better at online sales. If you’re middle of the road? Probably a mix of both.
If you’re extraverted? Probably more in person. If you don’t even want to go outside? Probably better at affiliate/online sales. So on and so forth.
Selling is a daily task. You sell people on why they should hang out with you. Why they should go on a date with you. Why you should get the job. Why a person should try your product. etc. It’s never a bad time to invest in sales. Ever.
Now You get to Run the Gauntlet
Door to door sales
Cold Calling
Online Sales - affiliate or build your own
Try google ads. Try meta ads. Try TikTok. Try different landing pages.
Try to raise money for something
Even basic raising money for charity
You will learn which type of sales is best for you. Some people are just built for in person sales. Some are just built for affiliate. Some can only run their own show. Who knows. Your goal is to find out ASAP. Money with your name on it is waiting.
#11 Avoid expensive anchors
You’re young. No one expects you to have a paid off yacht. Take advantage of this. You should have nearly zero anchors.
No real debt. Able to move locations tomorrow. And. Using time sparingly on things that you know will improve your life.
Easy question to ask “will I care about this next year”
You’d be surprised at how much time is wasted.
#12 Study Performance Enhancers
“OMG you shouldn’t say that” - some NPC somewhere
You will need every edge you can get. Anyone in a cut throat business is doing the exact same thing. Trying to get max performance out of every cell in their body. Period.
You can’t. Neglect this. In fact, within that bucket of “internet consumption”. You should use it to find performance enhancers. If you’re not willing to find an edge we can assure you that others will. Those boosts compound just like a stock account.
Do you want to be 40 with a sharp mind or 40 and one of those “Uncs” who is too far behind to give any useful information.
You want a brain and body that can: 1) focus quickly, 2) learn quickly, 3) stay calm and 4) remain rational.
That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by how you view aging.
#13. Your family is Just a Starting Point
Sure your parents did give you life. Owe them that. However. They don’t get the right to get in your way if you’re 1,000+ miles away from the stadium you want to enter.
You control that.
You figure out: 1) which systems work and fail, 2) how much time you waste blaming people from the past and 3) making the decision that you’re the reason the last name has a legacy tied to it.
Respectful distance.
No need to handle things the same way they do. No reason to cut them out entirely (outside extreme events of course - in which case you do cut ties).
You owe nothing to no one. Period. Just removed all those excuses and time to look in the mirror.
You’re no longer a pawn, you’re the decision maker playing chess.
#14 No One Really Figures it Out
If people are honest with you, they are always figuring things out. We’re figuring things out every year as well. It isn’t possible to figure out every single arena in life. The best you can do it adapt, research and repeat.
What is banned? Going through the motions.
There needs to be a why. Why are you doing XYZ activity X hours a week. If you can’t answer that… need to figure it out.
In fact there is nothing wrong with admitting this either. “Trying to figure out X this year”. People will be surprised that you’re not the 1,000,000th guy with immense confidence and no results on the topic.
#15. Be More Uncomfortable than Comfortable
If something is familiar it is probably on its way out. You should be constantly trying new uncomfortable things. Could be as low stakes as learning a musical instrument to as high stakes as building a new product line for your WiFi biz.
Every single time you try something brand new, you will learn something of value. This will create strange connections to other items you already know. The end result? Differentiation and more niche knowledge.
This isn’t a daily thing. Instead view it as a quarterly check up. If you haven’t done anything that makes you feel uncomfortable within a few months, there is a huge problem. You haven’t brought in new data.
#16. Long games with long-term people
Go back to the importance of your peer group. You better be confident. Over the long-term it will be impossible to build the same rapport. If you choose correctly the bond with the winners is set in stone. Can’t forget shared hardship.
Do I want to end up where this person likely ends up in 5-10 years? We all know the answer to this intuitively. Just don’t have the emotional guts to categorize it.
Choose correctly and you’ll have people who stand up for you in the good and bad. You’d be surprised at how many people suddenly forget your phone number in a bad/down year.
#17. No one is coming to save you
The information is out there. However. There is no savior.
Once you realize this, it is actually exciting. You determine where you end up. Not some politician or some balding boomer on his 4th divorce.
Sounds scary until you realize that it means pure freedom.
“Adults” are still figuring it out. In fact, the majority didn’t even *make it*
If you build up niche knowledge, constantly invest in yourself and experiment the upside is quite literally infinite. While there is only one Elon Musk, we’re confident that an outrageously large number of people reading this will easily achieve $3-5M and a paid off home.
Summary In Bullets
You will not consumer doomer posts. You will create and accept reality as it is. The W-2 is gone and this means more opportunities for people who get it. A huge number will hang onto the past and guarantee failure
Build more assets (skills or items that go up in value over time). Ask yourself constantly “will i care about this in a year”. Watch as your time frees up to build even more
No excuses related to friends or family. If you actually care about those two things, you know in your heart that being successful would be the easiest way to give back anyway
Focus on consistency vs. fairy tales of overnight success. Constantly iterating beats one big sprint for a quarter that leads to quitting/burnout when a hiccup is found
For those that are wondering? Yeah. We don’t even think that college is necessary any more for kids under age 8 or so. We’ll find out a decade later (we will still be around despite our haters thinking we’ll burn out!)
Plans for BowTiedBull kids? You guessed it. Starting a biz before age 20 is the plan! Practicing what we preach! Wouldn’t have it any other way.
Disclaimer: None of this is to be deemed legal or financial advice of any kind. These are *opinions* written by an anonymous group of Ex-Wall Street Tech Bankers and software engineers who moved into affiliate marketing and e-commerce.
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