Growth Hacks Rich People Use All The Time

Everyone's got access to growth opportunities, but not everyone takes them. The main reason they fail to do so is because they're just not aware of them. It's really easy to miss something you're not actually looking for. By the end of this video, you'll be aware of all the growth hacks that rich people always look for, and you should too. Here are 10 growth hacks the rich use all the time.

Welcome to a lux.

Obsess over numbers. This is something you learned the first time you start a business or you're put in charge of growing anything. Numbers are the ultimate truth; they always tell the correct story. You can try to twist them, you can try to make them look prettier, but someone who's good with numbers can always tell. It's the old saying, you can't improve what you can't measure. There's absolutely no way you can grow in a predictable manner if you've got no idea what your numbers are. That's why rich people overpay for accountants, market analysis, and spreadsheets.

Now, the reason numbers are so important is because the reality is progress is not being made in one giant step. There's no big single action that you can take and then bam, things are better. Now, progress gets made by tinkering with every single number you have at your disposal. Let's take the basic example of losing fat. Every calorie you consume is a number. Every step you make is a number. Every rep you do at the gym is a number. Your metabolic rate is also a number, and when you combine all of these numbers, you get a full story. Then it's just a matter of figuring out what to change in what small amounts toward a positive outcome. The takeaway here is every time you can explain something with a number, that's a growth opportunity.

Get yourself into uncomfortable situations. You see, mastery and understanding well, they happen in a zone of slight discomfort. A good personal rule to keep is to be 80% confident in what you're doing and 20% in a learning zone. That 80% will make you consistent, and that 20% will force you to improve. The takeaway here is growth happens in the friction zone between comfort and discomfort.

Go into uncharted territory. Okay, here's a big business secret: there are no business secrets anymore. They used to exist, sure, but now everything is hyper documented. Every hour that passes, the world gets more documented, and here's the paradox: even with all of this knowledge, you're still going to have to walk in uncharted territory. You see, even if you drive on the same road every single day, that road will always be a little bit different. Maybe there's traffic this time, maybe it's raining the next time, maybe a deer jumps out in front of your car. It doesn't matter how well you know that road; you still need to pay attention when you're driving it.

The point we're trying to make here is that you'll never be 100% prepared for everything. Something that's not supposed to happen will still happen. Something you thought you accounted for will just emerge out of nowhere. Your ad campaign that you put so much work into is not converting. That book you spent so much time researching for is not selling. That degree you thought was evergreen is suddenly not looking so hot. We're looking at you, programmers. The uncharted territory is unavoidable, but once you get used to this mindset, every time you find yourself a little bit lost, you'll see it as a growth opportunity. The takeaway here is uncharted territory is unavoidable, so you might as well map it out yourself.

Punch above your weight. This is one of our favorite growth hacks because we're experiencing it firsthand. You see, people might say, "Stay in your lane," but that doesn't mean that you should. There's no rule telling you to take things gradually, carefully, and well within your supposed ability. Let's take our app for example, and no, this isn't a plug, but one's coming later, don't worry. Nobody says that you need buildings full of offices and budgets of hundreds of millions to create and release a high-quality product. You just think that's the case because that's what you've been told.

At the same time, and we'll get some slack for this, you don't actually need 10,000 hours to master something. Some people can do it in a fraction of the time. These are just arbitrary rules that don't mean anything. Take a look in sports: how many times does a new athlete come around that nobody's heard of, and they blast away the competition out of nowhere? They have no legacy, no Nike training facility, or anything like that, no teams of coaches, yet they still perform at the highest level.

The takeaway is this: you can only be as big as you allow yourself to be.

If you don't know, learn. Even if you end up hiring someone else to do it. Think about how you feel when someone can speak your language, and by language, we mean code, design, marketing, growth hacks, whatever. We still pay for courses. We still watch how-to videos. We still learn every time there's something we must know, and that's because, one, it helps you to better evaluate people, and two, it helps you to understand what you actually need. The universe of things you don't know that you don't know is almost as infinite as the actual universe.

And here's the real secret: the theoretical knowledge you need to get a degree is a mountain, but the practical knowledge you need to get the job done is a couple of pebbles in your pocket, or golden nuggets if you will, which is exactly what we deliver with our Alux app. See, we told you the plug was coming. Check it out at alux.com/app. The point is proactive learning will always pay itself back and then some. It's the easiest way to make sure you're not stagnating.

The problem is most don't know how to do it or where to start, which is why the Alux app is your best starting point.

And following up on that, if you do know, do it. At the end of the day, what separates those who make it from those who don't? It's not talent, it's not resources or connections, it is execution, my friend. Trust us when we say that a job poorly done is way better than nothing at all. At least you're making some progress here; at least you're one step closer, even just by a tiny bit. There's no clock ticking behind your back; you make your own pace. The biggest disservice you can make to your own growth is inaction. Thinking about it, making plans about it, it's not going to get you anywhere.

At the end of the day, the world belongs to those who take action, regardless of how you feel about that statement. And we have an extra bonus here, and it's something we learned while running this company. It's counter-intuitive, but most of the time, it's way easier to do a lot of things than to just do the bare minimum or nothing at all. And here's why: as you get into a groove, let's say you've got a solid schedule, a routine, or a well thought-out list of priorities. Once you start, it's kind of easy to keep going. You build momentum, and that energy carries you away. The big takeaway here is it's easy to keep running when you're already running, but it's hard to start running when all you do is walk.

Set up a stupid hourly rate for yourself. This is something we learned from Naval Ravikant. Imagine for a second that an hour of your time is worth one thousand dollars. What would you spend your time doing? Would you sit in an hour-long meeting? Will that hour produce one thousand dollars worth of value? You might find this absurd, but the reality is rich people set up and actually charge tens of thousands of dollars an hour for their time. So why would they do that, and why should you do that too?

Well, it's not about finding someone stupid enough to pay you that amount; it's about putting actual value on yourself. If you want to take this seriously, then you need to take yourself seriously. When an hour of your time costs thousands of dollars, even if nobody ever paid you that amount, you stop wasting your time on things that you know are not worth it. You have better things to do with your time. A common argument against this is about not taking yourself too seriously and enjoying life. Sure, you could do that too, but if you want to grow, that's not the priority. At least not right now.

Embrace discipline. Yes, yes, we know everyone keeps bringing up discipline, but here's what you probably don't understand about it: discipline and freedom are two sides of the same coin. Without one, you can't have the other. Now, discipline doesn't mean having a super strict schedule; it just means doing what you said you would do. It's as simple as that.

You know what you need to do; you've said it to yourself countless times. But if you don't hold yourself accountable and be responsible, well, it means nothing. You see, people have resistance toward discipline because it sounds boring, and life should be fun, right? That's the reality of it. Discipline has negative connotations, so take this opportunity to give it a positive one. The takeaway is this: nobody is forcing you to do anything, so you have to make it happen yourself.

Trust the process. This one is so close to us because we've been trusting the process for almost a decade now, and it shows. Ever since we started this project, which ended up being a full-blown business, we trusted the process. We knew that if we kept putting in the work and showing up, the results would eventually come. We didn't know when or in what way; it was totally uncharted territory, but we know that the process never fails.

So what exactly is this process? Well, essentially it's a series of patterns that lead to a particular outcome: if you do X for Y amount of time, then Z happens. You don't have to think about it; it just happens. For example, if you read books for a long enough period of time, you will expand your vocabulary. You become familiar with more words in different contexts, and eventually, you'll find it easier to articulate in words whatever thoughts you may have.

And this happens everywhere. Deliberate practice, for example, is a way of trusting the process. In our case, we knew that if we kept making content about things we're interested in, eventually, we'll build an audience. And here you are. The takeaway here is this: the process always works; you just need to keep on doing it.

Do more than you think you can do. Okay, here is the thing with hustle culture and the overachiever mindset. Society and social media made it toxic, but in reality, this is a very reliable way to grow if done right. You see, everybody's got a certain threshold or focus or tolerance to stress, and everybody thinks their threshold is way lower than it actually is.

No, sending four emails is not an exhausting workday; it's just a meme spread around by people who are unsatisfied with the job their skill can offer. You are capable of way more things than you think; you're just not pushing yourself enough. We're really good at adapting to what seemed to be too much, becoming a new normal. Think about your parents waking up early, making you breakfast, driving your ass to school, going to work, coming home, cooking dinner, taking care of house chores, sitting in line—the list goes on and on. This seems exhausting for you, but for them, that was just everyday life.

The takeaway here is this: you don't know what you're capable of until you actually try it. And that's it for this list. We're curious to know, Alex, what's your biggest takeaway from this video? What have you found that helps you out a lot in your growth? Share with us on the community in the comments.

And of course, as a thank you for sticking with us until the end, here's the bonus we owe you: leverage other people's growth. The fastest way to grow is together with other people—business partners, your significant other, your squad, your besties, you name it. When people put their collective mind together and strive for growth, that's when the magic happens. We couldn't have come this far and this quick without our team. All of us are in the same boat, rowing toward the same destination, and that's the biggest growth hack you can ever find.

We'll see you next time, Aluxers. Take care.