The Greatest Book on Money I’ve Read In The Last 24 Months

Bizarrely, the book title has nothing to do with money

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Finance nerds ruined books on money.

Technical jargon. Graphs. Lambo photos. Banking stories. Such a huge snoozer. Whenever people ask me what books to read about money it’s hard. But one book I read in the last 24 months blew my mind:

“How To Live” by Derek Sivers. It doesn’t seem like a book about money but it is.

Here’s what you can learn from it.

The biggest money lesson from “How To Live”

I always hated when people made lots of money.

I loved to throw mud at billionaires while sipping a one-dollar 7-Eleven coffee. Then Derek Sivers said this:

"Making money is nothing more than a neutral exchange of value. Making money is proof you're adding value to people's lives. Aiming to get rich is aiming to be useful to the world."

Making money is helping people.

When someone makes a lot of money it means they’ve helped a lot of people, and you should at least shake their hand. You should probably also try to learn something from them. Only closed-minded losers shame wealthy people.

"Making money isn't evil, greedy, shallow, or vain. Your biggest obstacle to getting rich is the harmful meaning you've attached to it."

Money doesn’t give a f*ck about these things…

"Money doesn't care about your:

• Race

• Gender

• Education

• Physique

• Family

• Nationality

Anyone can be rich – so it might as well be you."

I suspect this one will blow up a few people’s brains.

We’re taught by society to be victims. To blame our money problems on a 3rd party or even politicians. But no president is going to save you or your bank account. They’re busy building theirs and enjoying their newfound status.

One of my good friends makes 7-figures (USD) a year. He comes from a poor village in Africa. He decided to change his family’s future.

The only thing stopping you getting wealthy are your bullsh*t excuses about why it can’t happen. Money has nothing to do with IQ, and everything to do with helpfulness.

“If more information was the answer, we'd all be billionaires with perfect abs.”

Most people drown in information. They think the information age is the future.

Wrong. It’s the past. AI screwed the information age in the butt. We’re now drowning in information. Amazon is filled with AI-written books. Social media has AI sludge all over it. Our email inboxes are the next target for AI.

What a lot of people are missing is more action.

Taking what you’ve already learned and putting it to good use. Consuming more information is often nothing more than procrastination in disguise. It’s why my academy now offers execution instead of information.

Get around other people with the same goal. Take daily action.

"Ideas are worth almost nothing.

Execution is everything. The world is filled with ideas, yet so few take action and make them happen."

I met someone recently who had an idea for an AI marketplace.

They didn’t want to talk about it. They wanted me to sign an NDA. I told them “no one gives a f*ck about another AI chatbot idea. There’s nothing unique here, just like Uber but for boats isn’t a genius idea (a bank customer once wanted me to sign an NDA over this idea, too…LOL).

Investors and banks don’t invest in ideas. They invest in execution.

Do you have any results? Do you have customers? Have you earned any money from it? That’s the hard part.

We don’t value Elon Musk because he had a great idea of sending rockets to Mars. We value him because he sent rockets to space and saved real astronauts who were stranded.

Become an action-taker to get wealthy. Throw your ideas in the bin. What I learned is that dumb ideas often make the most money – life is a paradox.

“The purpose of money is to trade for things that make you happy.

So if you can bypass money and get directly to the happy, you've saved a lot of trouble.”

Not needing stuff is a huge money hack.

My Honda Civic is 9 years old. She still drives like a dream. I could easily replace it with a Lambo 4WD tomorrow. Yet I don’t. I don’t need another car. I have zero desire for material possessions or status. So I don’t need to earn as much money to live, which means my freedom number is 10x lower than the average person.

It also means I can retire decades earlier than most corporate rats.

What I chase is happiness. My 1 year old daughter gives me all of that for the cost of new nappies and some Bluey books with the occasional cafe smoothie.

Money can make your life complicated or simple. Choose simple.

“We do so many things for money whether we need it or not”

The virtue-signalling unicorns in the West love to pretend they don’t work for money.

They think they’re too good for money. They’re special. They’re driven by purpose. They’re writing the novel for the love of it. They would never dare ‘monetize’ a hobby. How dare you!

I call bullsh*t.

We do things for money even if we don’t need money. Getting paid helps us feel like we’re not being exploited. Better yet…

Money helps make our work better.

When you get paid you can build a website, hire a virtual assistant, get a fancy book cover designed by a cartoonist, and buy software to make your productivity higher.

Never trust a person who says they don’t need money.

"Making money is a skill. Learn it and practice it like you would any other."

Some people spend their entire lives struggling with money.

I was that person too. What changed for me was when I realized making money is a skill. There’s an art to crafting offers, sending proposals, pricing your time, and gently persuading someone to get your help.

Instead of treating money as this mysterious thing you never have enough of, turn it into an art form with a set of skills attached that you can learn.

"Don't buy too many things, too big of a house, or hire too many people.

Rich people who do this feel trapped and miserable. The less you buy, the more you're in control."

As your wealth increases it’s tempting to buy more stuff.

I’m a fan of hiring people to get more of your time back and build leverage, but there’s a threshold where a team of people can become a huge burden.

Material possessions require maintenance. That needs more money. And every item occupies some mental bandwidth.

The less stuff you own, the less your stuff owns you.

"The more something costs, the more people value it.

By charging more, you're actually helping them use it and appreciate it."

How you price your products and services is psychological, too.

Some people accidentally accept a low salary because they don’t know their own value. They think they have to be the lowest-cost option to get the job.

What I found when I applied for new jobs is the higher I told them my expected salary was the more seriously they wanted to hire me. A $300K a year salesperson sounds like they’d be better than a $50K a year one.

The same applies to business. I ran a $10K service and felt guilty for the high price tag. But the customers loved it because the cost forced them to take action and get results in 30 days.

"Charge more than is comfortable to your current self-image. Value yourself higher, then rise to fit this valuation."

"To get rich, don't think about what's valuable to you. Think about what's valuable to others."

Selfish people are broke.

When it comes to making money they always think about their selfish desires and wants. They never think about how they can be helpful. This selfishness is a disease. It comes from the current me, me, me culture.

Harsh truth: nobody gives a f*ck about you and what you want in life.

We’re all thinking about ourselves. So put others ahead and you’ll be an uncommon mofo who’ll make more money than feels humanly possible. I never try to guess what is valuable in my business. I ask people. I survey them. I have Zoom calls with them.

Selflessness will make you wealthy.

“Emotions are the enemy of good investing."

The dumbest people I’ve ever met are day traders.

They don’t understand that it’s just gambling with a s*xier label. They often trade stocks, FX or crypto and even do courses to learn this magical skill.

Anyone who has worked in finance knows that buying & selling any investment in the short term is gambling.

What screws day traders are their emotions.

It’s a constant high and low rollercoaster. Ultimately they lose every dollar… or they win the jackpot by accident and gamble it all back. Stay away from emotion-driven, short-term investing.

“The world is full of money. There's no shortage. So capture the value you create. Charge for what you do."

Money used to be scarce.

You were born in a country and the opportunities there defined your financial potential. If you grew up in a poor place you had to migrate to somewhere like America. It was complicated, expensive, and came with a waiting list.

Since the internet took over the planet everything has changed. It’s a borderless, global marketplace that’s open 24/7. We’re no longer limited by anything. And there are billions of dollars on the internet every day that are accessible to you.

The only limitation is whether you can attract that money to your life. That starts with ethically gaining some attention on social media, and choosing a half-decent business model.

The last one is key. Many people choose Uber slave driver income streams, like freelancing marketplaces, then wonder why their life turns to cr*ap.

Gain attention. Choose a digital income stream that’s proven to make cash. Then tell your old 9-5 boss to stick their job where the sun don’t shine (proud to have done this).

"The world needs more boldness.

Refuse the comfortable addiction of a steady paycheck."

The comfortable life is a nightmare.

It leads to mediocrity that pays the worst. You face high competition and the constant threat of the layoff boogie monster that’ll bite your titties off.

I have no problem with people starting with a paycheck. What’s sad is when it ends there. The bold thing to do is go out on your own and have multiple employers (customers). It forces you to stay sharp and add value. You can’t get lost in a big organization or hide behind a department for cover and free pizza.

Since I quit my job in 2021 my skills have increased by at least 100x. I’ve spent wild amounts of money on coaching, masterminds, courses, and events that have helped me gain new micro skills.

In banking, my only skill was order-taking (sales) and perhaps sending a few emails to customers with transaction fees on them.

Choose the path of growth and discomfort if you want to be wealthy.

"Nothing destroys money faster than seeking status."

I met a guy a few months back. Nice fellow. I wrote about him in another Substack.

He bought a BMW. He felt incredible. But the status cost him $3000 a month plus 15% a year in interest on the loan. If he invested that money in a business he would probably have quit his job by now.

When he handed over the cash to the German car company, everything at work was great. Now it isn’t. A new boss started. They micro-manage him. They took away his 6-figure bonus. Chasing status is stupid. The richest people look ordinary.

Real status is the free time to do whatever the F you want.

Closing Thought

I strongly recommend you read “How To Live.” It will change your financial life.

What’s your favorite money idea above from Derek?

This article is for informational purposes only, it should not be considered financial, tax or legal advice. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.

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P.S. Reading about money is nice. 

Writing to make money is even better. 

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