6 Things to Avoid if You Want to Get Filthy Rich

So, you want to be rich?

I applaud that desire.

However, anyone can say anything. Any broke dummy can say they want to be rich. In fact, most do.

People can talk about their goals, study, read articles, listen to podcasts, etc.

None of it matters, though, if you read this entire article and don’t do the ultimate thing that matters: Act.

You have to implement these ideas if you want to get rich and change your life. Otherwise, they’re more useless thoughts running around in your head, taking up space.

If you aren’t willing to implement these ideas immediately, don’t bother reading on. Seriously, just keep doing your thing.

But if you’re the 1% who will take action, this article will change your financial life.

1. Chasing Hoes

There’s nothing wrong with dating and relationships, but there’s definitely something wrong with chasing hoes–especially when you’re broke.

As many of you know, my father shot himself in the head. He killed himself when I was 24.

Before that happened, though, I was messing around, chasing hoes, looking to get more notches in my belt.

There was a point in my life where I was frequently having sex with multiple women per day, every day. It’s not something I’m proud of.

And I know a lot of guys want to have a harem of women around them all the time, but I’m telling you from personal experience you shouldn’t. 

It was a huge distraction because it got me and my family nowhere.

My body count was sky-high, but my bank account was embarrassingly low.

My dad killed himself because of financial difficulties. 

Had I spent less time chasing hoes and more time getting the money, I know I would’ve been able to help him out. And maybe he’d still be here.

Get the money, the women will follow.

2. Living Above Your Means

If you’re sleeping with a bunch of hoes, they’re a distraction. 

That’s literally living above your means.

More importantly, though, I’m talking about your lifestyle.

I was around 32 when I made my first million.

But if you go back to my YouTube videos from ten years ago, I was still living in my crappy apartment in Queens. In those videos, I’m not flexing and not ballin’ at all. I was wearing a fitness watch, no name-brand clothes, etc. None of that.

Even though I was already making millions. Why?

I’ve seen people go broke this way, living above their means, which was their downfall.

None of us can predict the future. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, especially in business. You must be prepared.

Think of money like a seed.

You could eat it right now (if it’s edible), or you can water it, cultivate the soil, and let it germinate until it begins to grow.

If you choose the latter, it grows into a tree over time and begins bearing fruit.

And here’s the thing: once it grows fruit, it’ll keep growing and producing fruit forever.

So, when I was making millions, I chose to live below my means to plant my “dollar” seeds to grow as many financial trees as possible.

That’s what you must do.

3. Limiting Beliefs

This topic could be an entire article. Or even a whole book.

You must remove your limiting beliefs, or you will stay broke forever.

Beliefs shape the way you see the world. Your beliefs color your reality.

You do not believe what you see. You see what you believe.

There’s reality, and then there’s your reality. Your reality is shaped by your experiences and how you interpret those experiences, which in turn are shaped by your beliefs.

To change your beliefs, you need evidence. Let me explain:

When I first went on YouTube, I never anticipated that shooting workout videos could earn me millions of dollars–Until I met Elliot Hulse.

Elliot had over a million followers on YouTube at the time.

Meeting Elliot–another light-skinned black guy–showed me it’s possible. That evidence started changing my beliefs.

I’ve discussed the Reticular Activating System (R.A.S.) before, and this illustration shows exactly how to hijack your R.A.S. to change your belief system.

By far, the easiest way to re-program your R.A.S. is to do what I did: surround yourself with people who are accomplishing the goals you want to achieve. 

That evidence–seeing people accomplishing the goals you want to accomplish–will infiltrate your belief system and start altering it. This process finally allows you to believe it’s possible.

Knowing it’s possible, it will be much easier to tell yourself it’s possible. It won’t feel like a lie or delusion.

So, you’ll pursue your goals with conviction and an unwavering belief in yourself.

4. Fear

This emotion keeps 99% of people poor.

Here’s the thing: I do not mean not feeling fear. You can’t help that. We’re human, and feeling fear is a part of the human experience.

I’m referring to fear keeping you from taking action. That’s a big no-no.

Just because you’re scared of something doesn’t mean you don’t have to do it.

You can be scared and still accomplish your goals.

I will give you a hack: If you change your perspective about situations, you change their meaning.

For most, being in a state of fear paralyzes them. They only identify the fear and then stay there, mentally.

But if people can change their perspective about fear, choosing to see it as an opportunity to be courageous, now they’ve given the experience a new meaning.

So now, fear becomes an opportunity to summon courage.

In life, you don’t need less fear. You need more courage and can only become more courageous when you feel fear.

Think of your past. Have you ever felt fear before in your past, and you faced it? It might be a test, or you asked someone out, etc. What happened?

Did you die? If you’re reading this, I’m assuming not.

You survived. You moved on. You endured and grew. That is what happens when you’re courageous.

You might not always get what you’re after, but you survive and grow.

5. Chasing Empty Victories

Tell me if you’ve heard this:

“You got to enjoy life, bro!”

“You’ve gotta chill out.”

“You gotta live a little sometime, man!”

“You work too hard!”

“You gotta enjoy life!”

Have you heard this type of loser-talk before?

Listen, I’m not saying not to enjoy life. I’m saying that maybe you’d prefer to work on your goals and dreams because that is more enjoyable than the empty victories the majority of society worships.

Maybe you don’t want to go to the club. Or go drinking. Or have another night of pointless, random sex.

Maybe, just maybe, you want to finally achieve financial freedom so you can stop struggling, living paycheck-to-paycheck “pretending” this is what you want.

Maybe you’d prefer to break free from the prison of mediocrity that others eagerly tell you to stay in.

Because whether they realize they’re doing it or not, those above statements are doing exactly that.

Over the years, I’ve learned that my relentless work ethic often makes others uncomfortable.

And it’s not because what I’m doing is disagreeable to them. No. It’s because it’s shining a big spotlight on their laziness. My process of grinding for real victory upsets them because they know they should also be working for their goals, but they’re not.

You see, people know what they should do, but very few do what they know they should do.

But that’s hard for them. It’s not easy to commit to something like that. It’s much easier to tell you you’re working too hard and need to “take it easy.”

Don’t. Fall. For. This.

Otherwise, you’ll find yourself exactly like everyone else–chasing empty victories– and stuck in the same place you hate.

6. Shiny-Object Syndrome

This mental disease is another reason why people stay broke.

I call it “Shiny-Objective Syndrome.” This is not backed by science; it’s only a hypothesis based on Dr. Carter's (me) extensive work in the field observing the human condition.

People cannot delay gratification.

They see something they want, and they buy it. Because of sites like Amazon, the friction is at an all-time low. Low friction is great if you’re a business owner. But if you’re a consumer (and most of you and society are), it’s only a faster way to lose your money.

There is a direct correlation between wealth and delaying gratification. Don’t believe me? It’s backed by science.

Have you ever heard of “The Marshmellow Test?”

Stanford University experimented back in the 1970s on delaying gratification.

In this study, a child was offered a choice between one small but immediate reward or two small rewards if they waited for a while.

During this time, the researcher left the child in a room with a single marshmallow for about 15 minutes and then returned. If they did not eat the marshmallow, the reward was either another marshmallow or a pretzel stick, depending on the child's preference.

In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), money, and other life measures.

The technologically advanced times we live in are awesome. I definitely wouldn’t want to live in any other time in history.

However, we live in the age of instant gratification.

Anything we want, we can get almost instantaneously. And that’s beautiful.

The adverse effect on society is that we’ve adjusted to instant gratification now. We expect it.

This behavior is beyond detrimental to building wealth. I’m not kidding. It will destroy any hope or chance someone has to get rich and play ball.

Wealth takes time–especially lasting wealth.

You can’t swipe right and be a billionaire. It doesn’t happen like that.

Getting rich requires tremendous self-discipline and time. You must learn to monitor your thoughts, behaviors, and habits regarding money.

People constantly see the “shiny object” and immediately add it to their cart and checkout.

My advice? Resist the urges. Resist the temptation. Don’t eat the marshmallow and delay gratification.

The BMM Takeaway

There you have it.

Those are my six things to avoid if you want to get rich as hell.

Remember, this ain't easy, and it won’t happen overnight. It requires true commitment.

But honestly, it’s a choice anyone is capable of making. When you can decide, and I mean really put your foot down, that you’re fed up with your life and won’t tolerate being poor anymore, you can change.

And in reality, maybe that’s what you need: to decide.

Who you are and where you’re at in life is a result of your past decisions.

Make a new choice. Decide–right now–you’re done being broke like everyone else.

Follow the behavior plan I’ve laid out for you, and don’t quit.

Let’s get that money.