“I’m thinking of faking a shoulder injury at work to get some money or time off.” This is what a friend said to me the other day. I didn’t know how to react because I hate to shoot ideas down and judge friends. I just didn’t react at all. This friend is all about chasing the next buck. He’s always looking for that quick dollar. He’s going to get rich one day. He’s holding out for the day that he can make big money and retire. He’s not really a fan of the whole build your wealth through making more money and cutting back on expenses approach. I guess it’s not for everyone.

Are you always chasing the next buck? Are you after that huge money? Are you waiting to get rich quick?

“If you enter a niche because you’re following the dollars, you wont keep it up. It’s too much work, and you will get tired and frustrated and you will eventually fold.” — Gary Vaynerchuk

There’s nothing wrong with hustle and working your butt off. There’s a problem with always trying to chase the next trend or big money opportunity. Trying to get rich quick is a pretty serious problem. There’s a cure though.

How you can avoid chasing the next buck and actually focus on what really matters (aka crush the fear of getting rich slowly):

Success only comes before work in the dictionary.

This isn’t just some corny line that you hear on the first day of grade 7. The average person (not including Jersey Shore characters) won’t have the ability to become successful if they don’t put the work in first. That’s just how it works. You can argue all that you want but you don’t want to risk missing out on life by trying to get rich quick.

You need to focus on one thing.

When your mind is all over the place you dilute your focus and don’t give the right amount of energy to important tasks. I’ve seen too many friends get lost in the idea of starting the next Facebook that they lose complete focus on what matters (their studies) and they end up failing where it hurts the most (dropping out of school). This is why I truly believe in focusing on one major goal. This could be a dream job, a solid business idea, a trade, a job where you can move up the ranks, or profitable hobby. When you keep on trying to chase the big dollars you can lose yourself easily.

You have to create your own luck in this world.

You’re not going to accomplish anything by complaining and blaming the world for your problems. Henry Hartman said it best with, “success always comes when preparation meets opportunity.” If you’re prepare and working hard, great things can come to YOU. When you’re looking for a shortcut you’re not going to find the response that you want.

Think of the negatives of going fast.

Our generation is pretty concerned about slow progress. This is likely why workout supplements are a 24 BILLION dollar industry on an annual basis. We all want quick results. We all want a shortcut. We just rarely take the time to look at the negatives of trying to go fast. What are some of setbacks of searching for a shortcut:

• Burn out.
• Wasting time.
• Spending more money than taking in.

Are you sure you want immediate results? Can you wait?

I’m not opposed to chasing the big bucks and going after the big wins. I just think the problem is that you can waste valuable skills by not focusing on consistent and daily goals. You’ll be surprised by what you can accomplish over an extended period of time with just a few hours a day.

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Do you know where you are? No not your physical location. Where are you really? Do you know where you stand when it comes to your position in your field or your industry?

I’ve often heard that there’s a big difference between where you are and where you want to be in life and in business. You may think and want to be successful in your field, but are you really? You could be on the other end of the spectrum. The challenge comes in being realistic about where you are and then moving towards where you want to be.

A few months back I saw a brief news story about Snooki (the short drunk girl) from the Jersey Shore. She was wearing Coach purses in public events likely because she could afford them and wanted the status. What happened was that Coach found out about this and decided to send her a a purse from a competitor. The company didn’t want her to represent the brand in the public. She though that she was classy. Coach thought otherwise.

Where am I going with this? I just wanted to touch upon some basic marketing that I learned in college and just through following successful people online.

How can you get to where you want to be with with your business?

Get rid of those that you don’t want.

One friend was planning on coming to my birthday party but he realized that he couldn’t make it because he was wearing some old pair of running shoes. The venue that we were attending had a strict dress code policy on dress shoes. The policy is simple, no dress shoes, no entry. You can complain all that you want, but it’s their property and their rules.

I also believe in being over-dressed instead of under-dressed. My friend was surprised he couldn’t get in with the running shoes. He just didn’t understand the policy.

The venue’s stance on the  policy is actually real simple: get rid of those that you don’t want. The venue clearly didn’t want its patrons to be walking around in old running shoes. You complain all you want. That’s just the way it is. The venue is getting rid of those that they don’t want.

You should try the same with your business. Get rid of those that you don’t see eye-to-eye with. Get rid of those that don’t share your views. Get rid of anyone that will only bring you down.

How can you get rid of those that you don’t want?

• Bash ideas that they believe in.
• Don’t give them any reactions.
• Ask them to leave.

Once you lose those that are bringing you down, you can move on and help those that you want apart of your cause.

Focus on helping those you want apart of your cause.

Who do you want apart of your cause? Once you figure this out you can focus on helping these people and having them help you. Chris  Guillebeau refers to this group of people as your small army. You will help your small army and in turn your small army will want to help you. I summarized his theory on building your small army with this quick image below:

When you work on helping those that you want to be with you and of your cause you’ll build yourself up towards being much closer to where you want to be. This is a simple formula that I’ve been doing my best to apply ever since I heard of it.

Fake it until you make it.

This is a classic quote and I believe in it totally. You’re not going to make it to where you want to be if you keep on feeling sorry for yourself and simply wishing you were there. You need to pretend that you are there. You don’t need permission from anyone to position yourself the way that you would like to. You just need to be willing to do the work and act as if you already are there.

I hope that you take this article seriously and begin working towards being where you really want to be. There’s usually a huge difference between where you are and where you want to be.

Where do you stand? Where do you want to be in the next few months?

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When we first started our company back in 2008, we decided to name it M-35. To be honest, my friend wanted to name it M-30 at first…. But the  “M” stands for “millionaire” and the number stands for the age when we arrive. I thought that 3 years was a little too short . So this is why we decided to use M-35 as our official name: because we think we can reach $1M in net worth by the age of 35.

As of my last net worth statement, I’m standing at $203,500 and for the record, I’m 30. Therefore, I have to multiply my net worth by 5 in order to achieve my objective. Out of all my personal and blogging goals, this is by far the most aggressive! But hey! Sometimes, you have to set the bar very high if you want to accomplish awesome things, right?

But setting high goals doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have a strong plan. On the other hand, growing your net worth by 800K in 5 years is a bit too much to swallow in one piece. So let’s take this elephant steak one bite at a time:

Employer stocks: + $43,000

I used to cash my employer’s stock once a year to pay off for different expenses. Starting this year, I’ll be keep them and hope to grow this part of my portfolio. Since I got a new job, I should be able to restrict my expenses. I invest $7,800 per year through my pay check in this stock and I only calculate a growth of 4% for the next 5 years. The growth is related to the DRIP plan where the dividend is around 4% at the moment.

RRSP: + $60,000

I intend to invest $10,000 in my RRSP every year for the next 5 years. Here again, my goal was to be conservative so I used a 4% investment return on my money. This should create another 60K. I will use my bonus to make my contributions.

Pension Plan: +37,000

This one is pretty hard to determine as I have no control over its value. I assume that the pension plan will grow by $6,000 per year with an investment return of 4%. This is how I got the + $37,000 number.

House: +75,000

I’m not counting on my house value to burst, but at 4% over the next 5 years, I would gain $75,000 on the value of my home. Since it is a fully equipped property in a nice area, I guess I should be able to expect to see it grow at this pace.

Debts: -$150,000

Here again, this is a fairly aggressive goal considering that I wasn’t able to pay down my debts efficiently over the past 3-4 years. On the other hand , controlling my finances is my goal for 2012. So if I want to make sense… I need to set my debt repayment plan in line with my goals. While my income will decrease in 2012 due to my job switch, this should only be temporary and I head back to 150K-175K starting in 2013. This is why I think I’ll be able to pay back about 30K per year in debts. It’s easier said than done, so we’ll see how it goes after a year .

And… this makes only $365,000 to add to my net worth

Can you see how difficult it is to create a net worth of 1M$ in 5 years when you start from 203K??? Ouch! According to this plan, my net worth would be 568K at the age of 35. I can say that if I reach this level, I’ll be happy but I won’t be “proud”. However, I have one last Ace in my pocket: my online company! Still… I need the valuation of my shares to rise from $98,000 (as of today) to $432,000. Since I have a partner, I need to be able to claim that my company is worth 864K…. hmm.. is this possible?

Let’s take a closer look and we will see!

Our valuation model is quite simple for the moment: 3 times our annual income minus existing debts + cash. So if I need a value of $864K, I need annual income of $288,000 per year with no debts and no cash. If you divide this number by 12 to reach a monthly income target, we get the round number of… $24,000 per month! In 2011, we made a total of $114,158 or $9,513/month. So this represents a 152% increase over 5 years or an annualized growth of 20% over the same period.

I don’t know if it’s just me but if I break down the number as previously mentioned, it doesn’t seem that difficult. If I consider that my plan this year is to go from 9,5K/month to 15K, I’m already aiming at a 57% increase this year! The worst part is that I think it is quite feasible (not to make 180K this year but to get to 3 months in a row of 15K in 2012).

You can argue that my plan to become a millionaire by 35 is directly related to the valuation I give my online company. And I couldn’t argue with you. However, I will only smile thinking that while I have my day job paying me over 100K per year, I’m doubling my pay check through my online company.

So the race is now on… let’s see if I can make it!!

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We all have the same 24 hours in a day. We all have the same resources to a degree. We all have some access to funding (bank loan or credit card at the very least). We all have the ability to speak with successful folks and pick their brains.

If we all have so much in common, why is it that some of us make it big while others are stuck working some crappy job? The truth is a bit harsh here. Are you ready for it?

Some of us just don’t have the balls to make it.

I’m not trying to throw anyone under the bus here or trying to get you to feel bad about yourself. I’m in the same boat as you. I’m brave, but I’m not as brave as some serial entrepreneurs. We don’t just wake up with the guys to risk everything and take a huge chance.

Why do you need to have balls to make it?

You need to take on risks.

You’re going to have to take on many risks. Sure some of the risks will be “calculated” risks while others will be just plain reckless. The problem with taking risks is that most of us have high anxiety and just don’t have what it takes to be willing to take on those huge risks. You know how it goes, “the bigger the risk, the bigger the potential reward, or failure.” This is what usually scares me off. Do I want to take a huge risk with time and money? Would I rather take the steady job and not worry about the other side?

“The linchpin feels the fear, acknowledges it, then proceeds. I can’t tell you how to do this; I think the answer is different for everyone.” — Seth Godin

What are you going to do to overcome your fear and take on more risks?

Others will tell you it’s not worth trying.

You’ll encounter many people that will tell you that the journey is not worth taking. You’ll interact with those that have already failed and have long given up hope in starting a business, getting in shape, or becoming better at dating.

Should you ignore these people? Not totally. You can acknowledge and respect what they say. You don’t have to live by it.

The reason that you need balls to deal with those that are telling you it’s not worth trying is because it’s really easy to give in and make excuses. Why bother trying when someone tells you it’s not possible?

The truth is that those saying something is impossible should shut up and stop bothering those that are doing it.

You’re going to fail a few times.

Failing sucks. Most of us just don’t have the guts to fail over and over again. We would rather be safe and happy. Failure is embarrassing. Who can handle all of that humiliation? Those with balls are not afraid of failing many times and dealing with it. There’s too many people taking the path of least resistance and too few taking the big risks. This is why I feel that not everyone will be as successful as they would like to be. We’re just too afraid of failure.

What are some examples of people with balls?

Mike (owner of this blog). The thing that I respect about Mike is that he’s not afraid of leverage and taking chances. Too many new bloggers are trying to start a new blog from scratch in hopes of building it up to be the next Get Rich Slowly. Mike’s smart (and brave enough) to buy established blogs and leverage their existing platform. Spending money to buy blogs is risky and requires balls because it’s a fairly new strategy. More and more buyers are getting into the game now, but Mike was one of the first ones.

Oh and he has the balls to let me write content on here without editing it!

Adam Baker. I enjoyed his story when he first hit the online world because he sold all of his crap and went to the other side of the world (New Zealand at first, I think?) with his family, while building an online empire. Baker traveled the world for a long time with his wife and daughter, in a world where most people with kids are afraid to even leave home.

There are many more examples of people with balls. These were just the best examples that came to my mind.

Long story short, do I have the balls? Since I’m writing this piece I should probably answer the question. I need to work on this. I’ve been nervous in the past. I’ve always held down some sort of a part-time job. I’ve never gone all in. I’ve never thrown it all on the line to try to reach a goal.

At the end of the day. the thing holding you back could be something as simple as not having the balls to go all out and show fear the middle finger.

Am I making sense or being delusional to you?

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Wow! Last Thursday, I really felt that Christmas had come late this year as I got my bonus deposited into my account! I had to do a mental block to not see how many taxes I paid on it (51% in total…) but the “residual” was still amazing!

Thx to this bonus, I was able to achieve one of my 2011 personal goals which was to finish with a 200K + net worth. So I’m very happy to tell you that my net worth jumped by 14.62% and reached $203,500 this year!

Stay Conservative

Since my goal for 2012 is to take control of my personal finances, I’ve decided to not be aggressive on the value of my assets with this first net worth statement of the year. I usually increase the value of my house by the rate of inflation (which should have been 2.7% for 2011) but I didn’t do it. I’ve already increased it by 7K last summer which is the cost of the central AC I added.

I also depreciated the value of my cars on a monthly basis. The Tribute drops as fast as my loan payment ($434/month) so my car loan is always evened out with the value of my car. For my RX-8, I drop the value by $400/month as well. So technically, my sports car will be worth nothing in 2013 . I do that because a car is definitely not an asset and should not artificially boost your net worth. As for my company shares, I won’t reassess them until our annual meeting that happens in spring. I should be seeing a great increase in value as the company is probably worth around $300K right now (so my shares should be valued at $150K instead of $98K). But then again, my goal this year is to pay down debts, not to look at my growing assets .

Speaking of debts, it’s payback time baby!

Wow! As much as I am bored to see a huge deposit in my account and to make it disappear in 5 minutes through online payments, I am darn proud of paying down those debts! The feeling of being “liberated” from this burden is awesome! I can now start the year fresh with less expenses and a cleaner balance sheet.

With my bonus, I’ve paid off my RRSP loan in total (and my RRSPs are maxed btw ) and I paid back a huge chunk on my credit card. It sucks that I couldn’t enjoy anything out of my bonus but on the other side, I’m living an awesome life on a daily basis so I guess it’s okay.

Since my car broke down right before Xmas and the gifts I bought cost a little bit more than expected, my 2012 of going down under $300,000 in debt is now equal to paying off $17K this year. This is slightly over what I was expecting (13K) but I still think it’s feasible. I already have monthly payments towards the car loan and another personal loan that will drop my debts by 7K by the end of the year. Therefore, I just have to drop down my HELOC by 10K this year and I’m all set for my goal. I’ll definitely work it out!

So here are the details of my net worth as of January:

Assets: $521,336 (+0.01%)

Liabilities: $317,836 (-7%)

Total Net Worth: $203,500 +14.62%

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