Transcription
I'm 50 years old; many people would say I'm ultra successful. In 2016, I sold my marketing agency to PWC for more money than I'll ever need, and my most recent business venture, Help Bank, is valued over $50 million in just 12 months. However, I've made a lot of mistakes along the way—mistakes that could have saved me time and money if I had known them earlier. If I could just go back to that 20-year-old me and give some advice on how to get rich, here's what I'd say.
There are 15 things I think I've learned over the last 30 years, which I'm going to teach you now in this video. All you need to do is sit down, get a notepad out, a cup of tea, and focus, and I can save you 30 years of effort.
Number one: Surround yourself with people whose life you want to live. Now, I know a lot of people out there are giving you advice; they're telling you how to make it, how to get rich. The thing is, you need to carefully look at who those people are. Do your research. Do you want their three broker marriages and the fact they don't talk to any of their kids, and they're overweight and unhappy? Do you want that life? Make sure you study the people who are giving you advice. Have they got the reputation you want? Have they got the knowledge you really need to have the life you want? Because here's the thing: whoever's advice you take—your parents, your friends, or these gurus—you will have their life, and maybe that's a good caveat for me to say: I am rich today, but I don't need a boat; I just need a friend who owns a boat. I don't care about possessions; I care about my marriage—I've been married 23 years—I care about looking after my son and being there for him, and I care about having enough money so I can give money away and help people do what they love for free. So you've got to look at who you're taking advice from, because maybe if you want to date lots of women and know how to pick up women, get off this channel, because I'm not the guy for you. And anyone that gives you advice, please do your research. Who you surround yourself with—you probably heard it—you are a direct reflection of the five people you hang out with. But more than that, whoever you invest time listening to will make you reflect their life; you will end up having their life. You'll be on the run from the offices of the law if you follow certain people's advice; you'll be in trouble with people who hate your opinions if you listen to certain people's advice. Make sure you become you; don't let anyone change you. Make sure you remember your own values while you're watching this video; learn to be you, but remember to take advice from only those who you respect.
Number two: Take lots of risk. Now, you probably heard this a lot: that fear is something we all feel; you're scared to fail; I'm scared to fail; I'm scared this video won't get enough views if I put it out; is it good enough? It's totally normal to feel fear. The thing is, don't run away from it; you have to lean into fear to be able to take risk. Because the lie that you are told is that the harder you work, the luckier you get. It's a lie pedaled by people that want you to work hard and hard until you die. It's not true; it's not how you get rich. You get rich taking risk. You only need to take one risk a week; take one big risk for an hour, and you can get rich. You can work 18 hours a day and not get rich; we know plenty of people like that, right? There's people out there working so hard—like nurses and police—are they rich? No, they're working long hours, and it doesn't equal rich. Working hard; learning to take risk is the key. And learning to take risk is a muscle in your brain that you can work. Take a risk each day, and it will build up. The more risk you take, the luckier you get, is a saying that I wish was out there. If someone wants to make t-shirts and sell them, I'll sponsor you. It should be: the more risk you take, the luckier you get. So what risk are you taking today? Take one risk a day to grow your brand, to build your business, put yourself out there, and go for your dreams.
Number three is an unpopular one: Get your cost down. You're not going to like me saying this to you, but you're spending too much money. You think you deserve this little treat here and there; it's making you weak. I believe a lot of people today become weak; you expect a car to make you happy; you buy a car to make people that don't even know you impressed. It doesn't matter what people think of you; it matters what you do; it matters what you feel. Happiness comes from inside, from accomplishing something. If you worry about what other people think of you and you buy stuff to prove you are something you're not, you will never get ahead because your cost will be too high. Get rid of that mortgage; if you've got a mortgage, get a smaller house. You don't need these big fancy things; what you need is a purpose; you need a job that you enjoy, because that should be the definition of success. And you get your cost down by realizing that most of the stuff you buy is to prove to other people that you're successful, and you don't need them; all you need to be is successful; that'll be enough. If you look at anybody super rich, they'll never wear anything designer; they're not driving flashy cars. Jeff Bezos was worth $1 billion, and there's a video of him driving around in some 12-year-old car. That's how you get really rich; later, when you're a billionaire like him, absolutely buy yourself a yacht if you want, but right now, don't bother; don't have a big house; rent—yes, it doesn't matter. Keep your cost down. I slept on the couch of a friend's house in Hong Kong; that's how I started up a business in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Get your cost down so you can live your dream.
Number four: Travel. Now, I don't say this lightly; I know everyone wants to travel, but most of you are doing it the dumb way. You're basically taking your spare money from the hours that you've sold, and you're going on some two-week holiday to Spain. That's not what I'm talking about; I'm talking about making your life part of your travel. So I moved to Hong Kong with no money; I slept on a friend's couch, as I just mentioned, and I started a business. And when I was there, I made money, and I traveled around Asia; I went to China, Shanghai, Beijing, Bali, Indonesia. I traveled around the world when I was making money. Now, maybe you think you don't have the skills; I don't agree; you probably do; we'll get to that in a minute—how you can actually build out your skills. What you don't realize is that having experience of what the world looks like and how it works is a skill; understanding what's happening in China so maybe when you're in England you can sell something to people in China and vice versa, bringing something from China back to America, depending on where you're watching this video—this is a skill set you need that will give you an unfair competitive advantage. Seeing the world and how it works; it will also allow you to connect to more people. After I lived in Hong Kong for a while, when I went back to England, all the people that lived in Hong Kong, now I had a special connection to them; we were in the same clan. So go and see the world and earn money doing it, even if you have to be a waiter or start some shitty gardening company like I did; get that experience under your belt.
Number five: Try lots of things. Now, I know you might have heard this before, but maybe you don't know what you like yet. And the only way to find out what you like and don't like is do it. When I was 15 years old, I started a gardening company. I actually sold my gardening services without even having a registered company or a website or anything; I just knocked on the door and said, "I've got a garden company; give me some work." The first person I knocked on the door and asked, "Can I be your gardener?" they said yes. I didn't have any equipment; I couldn't actually do the work; they lent me the equipment to do the work. Now, here's the thing: when I started doing the gardening, I'm not very good at it, and I didn't enjoy it, but I wouldn't know that until I tried to do it. Good news is, somehow through luck, I think I managed to convince someone else to do the gardening who didn't mind doing it. I found out I like doing sales; I like knocking on doors and people telling me—weird, but I did—and I think that's the thing: you have to go and do lots of things to find out what you actually like doing. And here's the thing: even if you knock on someone's door and they say no, you might think you don't like sales; you have to keep persevering even with stuff you don't like to find out when you get that yes and you feel the high of it—whether that's the thing that actually gets you going. Maybe it's sending an email and getting someone to say yes—an email that excites you—maybe it's just convincing someone to join you, so maybe you should be in the recruitment business. The point is, you've got to try stuff; you've got to go out there and do different jobs and different roles, especially when you're young, to find out what you like. 20-year-old me found out I love sales; I've been doubling down—now it's called marketing; it's co—I've been doubling down on that ever since, which is why I'm now one of the best in the world with the number one book in the world, because I know how important it is to try things out, figure out what I like and don't like. Because in a minute I'm going to go through another thing with you, you, later in this video about how important that list is going to be, and if you haven't gone and tried lots of things, you won't be able to make this list, and you won't get rich.
The single biggest reason I think I'm rich today is this point: Learn a skill and find a way to be useful. Get good at one thing. Now, a lot of us don't realize how important this is, because at school you are brainwashed into being told what you're good at and what you're bad at, and ironically, what you're bad at—that's when you get extra tuition and you get extra focus. So if you were a D at history, you're told to study more in history; or if you don't like biology and you've got an E in it, work more on biology. School is—we all know it—whatever school taught you, do exactly the opposite, and that's why the most important thing you actually have to do is the thing you're really good at. Double down on it. Now that thing is football; play it more. I promise you, the best footballers in the world, all of them were average at football; they were average, and they just kept practicing; they kept doubling down on something they enjoyed doing and something they felt in them was a skill that could be developed. The first time my son ever sang, I didn't think he was great; now he's a good singer. You know, like that—that's how crazy it is. If you actually are enjoying it, you can become good at it. Learn a skill; be useful. And once you have that skill—I have a sales and marketing skill—I'm never going to be out of work ever; I can actually start my own businesses because of it easily. You must get good at one thing. So what is it? Maybe make a note right now; you might know it instinctively, and if you don't, go back to my previous point and try lots of things.
Number seven: What to do if you have zero money. Now, a lot of people tell me they have no money and they can't start a business; this is just an excuse; you know it's an excuse; you know it. So how do you start with zero money? Well, there's plenty of frameworks I can give you, but just before I give you a framework, I want you to understand that having no money is a competitive advantage. All the businesses I've started that are being successful, I started with no money. People that get a lot of money—they say, "We Works," which raised near 20 billion—they get weak and soft, and they're scared to lose that money. You are going to win if you've got zero money; you must start from that framework. Now, when it comes to actual finances, this is one way you can do it: I launched a company called Fluid, and what I did was I went to a client with an idea; I said, "Um, this is how you can market your business; this is what I could do for you," and they loved it, and they said, "Sure, I'll do it." I said, "This is the price," and I think the price was £20,000, and they said, "Sure, okay; that's quite expensive." You can always—you're always going to get that from people; you actually want people to say it's expensive; it means you're pricing it right. But then what I did was I said, "Okay, but I want 50% in advance, and if it works and you're happy and I deliver everything, I want the final 50% payment." They said yes. And by the way, I had the same thing with my gardening company; I charged £100 a month to people to take care of their gardens, and I charged them a 50% deposit of £50. So I've gone from, you know, £20,000—I'm explaining this kind of Fluid business I built and a gardening company; the model's always the same—and that deposit covers all my costs. So you have to do your maths, but if you work it out, like the £50 covered all my costs to do the initial bit of gardening, the £50 extra on top was the profit. Think about how you can charge in advance for your services. Once you've hooked people in, you don't need money to start a business; it's—it's a mistake thinking you do. Plus, you know how many people are sitting out there with money in their pockets and they're too easy to do anything with it? There will be people that will invest in you hand over fist if you're making a business that's profitable or you have a business idea that's profitable. You are the dragon; remember that; you are the shark. Those people with money need you; you think that they have money, they have the power—no, you have the idea; you have the energy; you have the power.
Number eight: Work very hard. This is the lie you are told; you are told to work hard. 20-year-old Simon, however, did work very hard. The real truth, as I said earlier, is the harder you work, the luckier you get, is a lie. The truth is, the more risk you take, the luckier you get. However, when you're 20, working hard and discovering the things you like, for example, and working hard to get your cost down, working hard to travel and experience things, you do want to apply that extra energy you've got, because I'm 50; I have less energy now. At 20, I could have done anything; I just didn't know I could do anything. So do think about what you can push yourself to do; push yourself beyond your limits; your mind will tell you to stop; don't stop. People will be telling you about balance; there is no balance; don't have work-life balance; apply yourself because you'll have the energy to do it now. If you don't have kids, you do have time; you have time; you don't even realize how much time you have when you're young; you can work hard. But the idea is work on something where you own equity, so eventually you don't have to work hard. Work hard now because you can; you've got the energy and the power, so later you can have the time to spend with your kids and make YouTube videos like this for people like you.
Number nine: Partner up with the opposite skill set. So many of us hang out in circles of people with similar interests and similar skill sets. If you're an extrovert, you often hang out with other extroverts; it's a mistake. Learn to understand in business that the opposite skill set to you is what you need. So if you're not good at accounts, then hang out with people that are; if you're not good at sales, then hang out with people that are; if you're not good at coming out with ideas, then hang out with people that are. It's that simple; don't stick in your bubble. And if you're 20 years old and you are—this is the advice I give you—start going to events you wouldn't think you would normally go to; you know, start thinking about the opposite to entertainment and what that might look like for you. Go hang out with people that, for example, that code things; go to coding events; go to startup pitch events—maybe things you wouldn't normally do; push yourself out of your comfort zone, out of your bubble, to give yourself a big opportunity.
Number 10: Move from want to need. This is absolutely key. I'm sure you all know someone that says they want to get fit, right? But here's the thing: people tend to get fit when something happens—either they get dumped by their girlfriend or boyfriend, and now they not just want to be fit, they need to be fit, or they're not going to find a partner. But in my age group, I see a lot of people suddenly get fit because the doctor told them they're going to get diabetes or they're going to die if they don't look after themselves, so they go from wanting to be fit to needing to be fit—from not going to the gym although they say they were going to go to actually going because they know if they don't they're going to die. You need to think this way; you need to move away from thinking that it's okay to not succeed today; it's okay to get your cost high; it's okay to waste time at the weekends. You need to move away from wanting to be successful and make it a need. Tell yourself, if you don't make it by the time you're 25, someone dies; you have to need it; you could die by 25; you have to need it; you have to make your life feel like you have to push through the pain to make it happen. Move your want to a need.
Oh my god, I've got some great news, guys. Thanks to you and your support of this channel and what we do, this book just became the number one book on the Sunday Times bestseller list—number one because you bought it and you supported our mission to fund people's dreams and help people do what they love. You can now go review it on Amazon; if you enjoyed the book, go review it; the link's down below; it will make a hell of a difference. Thank you so much for supporting what we're doing. Let's get back to the video.
Number 11: Get equity where you work. How do you do this if you're useless? I hear you say. Now, listen; first of all, you've got to understand that no business today will work without its employees. You've been brainwashed into thinking that you need your boss, and the boss can live without you; this is not true. If you add value, if you bring value, then you must ask for equity. If you speak to the boss at the company and you ask for equity, I promise you one thing: if you do it, they'll have respect for you. If you understand how equity works, ownership works; anybody who works on their own business wants equity in their own company, and so why should you work somewhere without equity? Now, if you think you're useless, then do what I said earlier: get good at something; bring real value; show your boss that if you make the business successful, you should get equity. They'll say no if you just ask for equity straight up, but why don't you ask them for vested equity? Tell them what you'll achieve over the next few years for the company, whatever that may be, and if you achieve it, you want a piece of the company. And the boss is smart; I'd rather have 5% of Facebook than 100% of Myspace; I'd rather have 5% of a successful business that I enjoy running where the staff aren't all leaving than 100% of a business where the staff are all leaving and we're not making any money. So you just need to show your boss that by having you in the business and making you an owner, you're going to care as much as they do; you're going to make a difference like they are.
It doesn't need to be you versus your boss. Now, they won't give you equity, or the company you work in isn't owned by an individual, then go work somewhere there is. People don't realize that you have to go where the opportunity is. Don't get stuck in a job that doesn't give you these things. Go and apply for jobs in startups. Get equity when you're young; when you're 20, Simon Squib, you've got time. You've got time to go work in a company and get equity. The time is the thing you've got that other people don't have. Go work in a startup. Go learn how a startup works; that's the worst you'll get out of it, and go get equity if you can. Don't work in a big corporate; if they can't give you equity, don't waste your time. They can't teach you anything except how to be a specialist, and this might be a problem if you want to build your own business.
Number 12: Getting in shape. Now, this is something I personally struggle with in my own career. I love my work; I love working; I love spending time with my wife and my family. People always say you can only do two of these three things: one is spend time with your family, one is work on yourself, and one is build a business. The truth is, you need to combine these three. And what I've had to do—right now, I'm recording in this podcast studio; behind the camera is my gym—so straight after this, I'm going to run a 20K. Probably not a 20K, just joking. The point I'm getting to is like, you got to try and make your work life and your business life and your home life and your health life all the same thing. So, for example, when I'm investing in startups, when I'm investing in people, what I normally do is go on a long walk with them. I do my 10,000 steps while deciding whether or not I'm going to invest in a business. You try to combine your business and your getting-in-shape bit together, because if you don't have a fit body, if you don't have a fit physique, if you don't look the part, if you don't look on brand, you will lose business; you will lose relationships. You have to look after yourself; it's one of the most undervalued things in life. Get in shape.
Number 13: Learn how money works. God, I can't—this one drives me crazy that school doesn't teach this. School keeps calling things maths, not financial literacy, and if I have my way, that will change. Here's a quick example: if you own a home, I ask you this question now: is it an asset to you, or is it a liability? Be honest; which one do you think it is? Most people think it's an asset; it's something you own, right? Let's just be clear: most of you got a mortgage; it's not owned by you; it's owned by the bank. The second thing is, an asset must be an income stream; a liability takes money out of your pocket. So your house, if you're paying out for the heating, electricity, paying for maintenance and a mortgage, then this is taking money out; your house is a liability. The house you own is a liability. Now, if you're renting out a spare room or you're renting the house out, you could start to class it as an asset, but most people don't understand this basic thing. And if you want to understand how money works, remember this: money is the first virtual reality that we believe is real. Money is not real; it does not exist; it's made up in people's minds. That's why, in England, when Brexit was announced, the currency, the pound, dropped 15% in one day. Nothing changed the day the Brexit vote went through; the economy didn't change; the income didn't change; the actual, actual Brexit didn't happen for three or four years, right? So what changed? Mindset. So money is just mindset. You see the Trump coin that launched, suddenly worth 25 billion out of nothing. Money isn't real. And as soon as, as soon as you understand that you understand that money isn't real, you can also realize that you can create it in your head. This book was once in my head; I made it real; now it's worth money, right? Money is just something you create; it's not something you own. So learn how money works. This is a basic fundamental. I might go into a deeper podcast around how money works; I think this would probably be a really interesting subject. It took me 20 years to figure this out—that money isn't real. I kept chasing it; it kept running away. You want to make real money? Learn how to build value. Value is attracting money; money is not something you can grab.
Number 14: Get the right life partner. I can honestly say I think the number one reason I'm rich today is because I picked the right life partner. I picked someone who was smarter than me, that was more connected than me, that had a skill set—in her case, graphic design—and she happened to be beautiful. I actually think that we don't spend enough time thinking about our right life partner. We probably spend too much time thinking about the right job and getting the right career and getting the right qualifications, but no one really trains you to think about the right life partner. You want someone that's going to be aspirational; you want someone that's going to cheer you on, that's willing to take risks, that's willing to be poor with you. My wife and I, at one point, we almost went bankrupt, and my wife showed me how good she was; she just wanted to make sure everyone else got paid before we went bankrupt. Now, luckily, we avoided it; we managed to make it all come good in the end. But you want someone like that; you want someone that's going to have your back, that will be by your, your side whether you're rich or poor. And you have to make the effort. And I would actually say, if I was 20 now, I go back to that 20-year-old self, I'd say be really picky; be careful about lust and beauty; these things do fade. I know it's cliché, but try to remember this later. You know, like, pick someone who you feel intellectually challenges you; be with someone that has different views to you; be with someone that sharpens you up. You know, two knives in a drawer sharpen each other, right? Have someone that's always learning; have someone that's always looking for the truth; someone that questions it all; someone that's going to die on the hill with you. Because if you have that, all these other things I've shared with you, except for the final thing in a minute, will fall into place, because that person will have your back; they'll help you learn money; they'll make sure you stay in shape; they'll help you move from a want to a need; they'll give you the support when you to work hard, you know, and they don't care that you've got zero money, and they'll help you make your business work. Picking the partner in life to make your life perfect is, is, is so underrated, so under-talked about, and I really want you guys to spend some time thinking about it; maybe even write a list. Manifest this person; what do they look like? That's fine, but what are they like? How are they going to be a part of your life? I love work; my life partner has to love work; has to not mind me working, and that's what you, I want for you; I want that for you, because that will help you be successful.
Number 15: Find your purpose. This is probably the hardest one to explain and actually initially sounds really fluffy, but I promise you that you have a purpose; you are here for a reason. How can you find it? Now, maybe you know it, and if you do, I'm going to explain the framework just to double check that you definitely have it. But purpose is really what drives us. If you don't have a purpose, it's like—the best way I can explain it—it's like working on batteries versus having a purpose is like being plugged into the mains; that's the difference. You get up in the morning excited; you have to go to work. All the things I've just listed out to you kind of fall into place because you have to do it. Now, purpose is found a few ways; life experience is sometimes required. So, for example, my purpose is to fix the education system, right? But I only had that because, at 15 years old, when I left school, I realized the school hadn't geared me up for life and it had basically made me ready for a job, work for someone else, but not able to independently create my own life. So the school system was broken when I was 15. I had a lot of pain that 15-year-old me should not be suffering. Knowledge should be free; to educate how to start a business, how to manage money, how to build the life you want. So I found my purpose by having that pain back in that, back in that time. But you can do it without pain; I think it's just, it will help if you have pain. I kind of want you to have pain because it will, it will drive you to, to the finish line. But purpose can also come from making a list of the things you enjoy doing. We used to all live in tribes of 5,000, and within that tribe we'd all have a role; we'd all have a place in that tribe, and those tribes have gone now, but your placing a tribe still matters; you still naturally want to actually be a part of something. So what you can do is you can write a list of things you really like doing and maybe pick one of them. Let's say it's art; let's say it's drawing. Maybe you don't think you're good at it, but art is very subjective; just do it every single day; whatever you love, just apply yourself to get really good at it every single day for 60 days. You might find at the end of it you find your purpose; could be to help artists who are drawing still make money from it, as an example. The other way to find purpose is to hang out with people with purpose; it's infectious. I'm lucky enough to have a purposeful business, and I know what purpose looks like because I have it, but I first spotted it when I worked with people who have it; people that were fixing some of the world's biggest problems. If you go hang out with these people, you'll be infected by them; it's worth investing your time, even initially without equity, to learn from these people. And one of the side things that might happen if you follow someone with purpose or work with someone with purpose is their purpose can become your purpose. I have 26 people that help me make this content and help people with their dreams, and I would argue all 26 of them have the same mission as me: to free people, to let people do what they love, give people the power to do what they love, and fix the education system. So you can end up loving someone else's purpose; maybe that's the thing to go and do initially, and then once you've helped them achieve that purpose, you can go and follow your new purpose wherever that might, may be. Because the dream is different to the purpose; my end dream is that we all live in a world of give without take; we move away, away from give and take, and we live in a world of give without take; that's my dream, but my purpose initially is to fix the education system and give people knowledge for free. I hope you found this video useful; if you have, let me know in the comments and share it. I'm off to have some chicken now; I'll see you guys later. Check out our new membership subscription for exclusive content and much more. Link in the description.