Rome is not built in a day, but once it is built, it lasts forever.
The story of the three little pigs
We all have heard the story of three little piggies.
Once upon a time, there were three little pigs and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. Before they left, their mother told them “Whatever you do, do it the best that you can because that’s the way to get along in the world.”
The first little pig built his house out of straw because it was the easiest thing to do. One night the big bad wolf, who dearly loved to eat fat little piggies, came along and saw the first little pig in his house of straw. He said “Let me in, Let me in, little pig or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!” “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin”, said the little pig. But of course, the wolf did blow the house in and ate the first little pig.
The second little pig built his house out of sticks. This was a little bit stronger than a straw house. The wolf then came to the house of sticks. “Let me in,Let me in little pig or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in” “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin”, said the little pig. But the wolf blew that house in too, and ate the second little pig.
The third little pig built his house out of bricks. The wolf then came to the house of bricks. “ Let me in, let me in” cried the wolf “Or I’ll huff and I’ll puff till I blow your house in” “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,” said the pigs. Well, the wolf huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house.
Moral of the story: the easiest thing to do is usually not the best way to go for.
The story didn’t end there…
The wolf could not blow down the brick house, but it was a sly old wolf and he climbed up on the roof to look for a way into the brick house.
The little pig saw the wolf climb up on the roof and lit a roaring fire in the fireplace and placed on it a large kettle of water.
When the wolf finally found the hole in the chimney he crawled down and KERSPLASH right into that kettle of water and that was the end of his troubles with the big bad wolf.
Even when we choose the right way, we still have to watch out for the wolf.
Get rich fast and slow
Same as building houses, there are many ways to get rich. The ways most commonly are known are fast ways and slow ways.
There are numerous examples of people get rich fast — winning the lottery, getting an inheritance, gambling with some luck, working extremely hard with some opportunities along the way, and of course the illegal ways of engaging in scams, selling drugs or ivory products.
The thing about getting rich fast is that people are not prepared for it. They don’t know how to handle the riches. It is like putting hundreds of dishes before a person who has been starving for his whole life — the result is likely to be indigestion.
There are numerous examples of people get rich slow — taxi drivers spending 40 years to buy enough stocks to retire, professionals working for 40 years to save a decent amount of riches, hustlers who work hard for a decade before the opportunity of riches come.
The thing about getting rich slow is that … it is slow. And no one likes to get rich slow. Despite the fact that everyone keeps saying there is no getting rich quick, we want to get rich as soon as possible. The longer the process, the more people give up on the way. And only a few manage to persist to the end. And when those few finally get to the end, they are old.
The Consistent Way of Getting Rich
This article proposes a third way — the consistent way, which prepares one for riches and takes relatively less time than the slow way. In order words, we get the best of both worlds.
Examples of the consistent ways include a blogger who has been consistently writing for 3–4 years and able to retire her family with $5,000 a month, a YouTuber who have been consistently producing videos every week for 3 years and able to earn a million a year, an engineer who is able to retire at age 34 with his stock portfolio which he has strategically planned for and invest consistently each month for 5 years.
[stock investment article]
Yet, what is the price?
For everything in the world, we have to pay a price to get it.
And the price for the consistent way is, as you would have imagined, steeper than the slow way because it saves us time.
The price
1. Discipline
It requires consistency, even when you don’t feel like it, even when the weather is cold and it is raining, even when you are running out of ideas, even when you want a break, even when no one is reading your articles or watching your videos, even when you have doubts about whether this would actually work, even when your loved ones do not understand, even when your passion starts to fade.
[What keeps us going / habit article]
2. Authentic
It requires you to stop comparing yourself with others, stop looking at others and start creating your own thing that your natural strengths call you to create. You have to start being who you really are instead of doing whatever everyone else tells you to. You have to get out of the crowd and noises and focus on your own business. And only then can you find your unique style and path to journey ahead consistently.
[looking at others will keep you stuck]
3. Learning
It takes tremendous learning. You have to learn how to create, how to analyze and see where your biggest profit comes from, how to provide more value to more people, how to handle the increasing amount of money that comes your way, how to manage team and people, how to overcome technical challenges, how to get unstuck when you get stuck, how to keep working despite the fear and doubt, how to steer the ship to a direction of continuous and exponential growth.
Phew… the price is not cheap.
Nonetheless, if you have decided this is what you want if you have made up your mind to do it, the consistent way of getting rich can save you decades of time working in a job that you may not like and largely reduces the risk of being broke soon after having a taste of riches.
The universal truth is consistency pays off at the end of the day and it has stood the test of time.
It is a matter of choice. And it is up to you to choose how you would like to live your life.
Note: this is not investment advice. I’m not financial planning professional. Just sharing what is working for me as part of my investing strategy or what I have learned on my investment journey. Please be reminded to do your own research and consider your own circumstances before making any financial decisions. You could also check with your financial professional to understand what would be best for your situation.
