15 Steps to GET RICH (Ultimate Guide)
You are watching the Sunday motivational video: 15 steps to get rich. Welcome to a Luxe Calm, the place where future billionaires come to get inspired. If you're not subscribed yet, you're missing out!
Hello, Alex Aires! We are glad to have you here with us today as we are finally releasing this ultimate guide to building wealth and getting rich. This is the exact framework millionaires and billionaires have used to get rich themselves. After studying hundreds of businesses and business models, thousands of self-made individuals, many of whom we've analyzed right here on this channel, we broke it down to this exact framework.
This guide you're getting right now could have easily been sold to you as a $30 book or a $500 course, and it would have been worth every penny. Yet, because you've been a loyal subscriber of our channel and keep coming back for these Sunday videos, we've decided to simply give it away for free. Our goal is to give you so much value you guys feel like you owe us back. To be blunt, if you follow this framework, you will get rich.
Those in our community who have already built wealth for themselves can confirm in the comments that this is more or less the same way they did it. From billionaires to small business owners, they all follow this exact path that we're about to share with you. All we ask in return is to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already and activate those damn notifications.
We strongly advise you to take notes as we progress through today's guide. In the top comment, you should find a link to our article with everything in written format. With that said, buckle up, Aluxors; it's gonna be a long video today!
And before we get to the framework, there are some things you should know. Do not skip these; they're incredibly important, and you'll fail if you don't take them into account. We are not all created equal. We live in different countries with different infrastructures, and you're not all beginning this race at the same starting line. Yet, this game plan works for everyone.
Your environment and current situation can accelerate or have things move a bit slower, but the result is the same if you follow the game plan.
Valuable to know:
- No debts: If you're in debt, find a job or a secure source of income. Don't take on any more debt. Work your butt off and pay off the debt you have so you can start with a clean slate.
- Low dependencies: This is going to involve an element of risk. In the first years, you'll not see much traction, but it will require you to keep going at it. If you have kids or family members who rely on you to provide for them, you can still get rich, but be a lot more conservative. Start building it as a part-time project alongside your current job until the revenue from the new business can sustain you and your family.
- Income or savings: Realistically, you'll need resources. If you already have a job or some savings, these will come in handy. Even if you're bootstrapping it, there'll be some costs. You might need a car; you'll need to pay for some services even if you do try to do most of it yourself.
- Five to seven years: The average business takes seven years to be successful. If you can build something that lasts for seven years, you will get rich. If you're really smart and agile, you might do it in five. If you're slow, it could take you ten, but you will get there.
If you were hoping for some secret formula or wishful thinking where the universe would drop a million dollars into your lap, this isn't it. We broke down the framework into three parts:
- Part one: Start making money.
- Part two: Building wealth.
- Part three: Getting rich.
With that said, here are the 15 steps millionaires and billionaires have used to get rich.
Step 1: Establish the goal. The goal isn't for you to be rich, because what does being rich even mean? When you set a goal, it should elicit urgency within you. When you're reminded of the goal, it should motivate your lazy self to turn off Netflix and get back to work.
Every successful person out there writes down their goals, and not any kind of goals but SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. If a goal doesn't have all five criteria, it's not a SMART goal.
Instead of wishing for becoming a billionaire and knowing this will not happen for you, why don't you actually start closing that gap? A SMART goal would be: make $1000 a month from this new project by the end of December. If you're starting out, going from zero to $1,000 a month is a big deal. You wouldn't previously be making any money from this idea, and now you're closing in. Once you do hit it, raise that ceiling—five thousand, ten thousand, fifty thousand. We know people who are bringing in over a million dollars every month, and they all started with smaller goals, crushed them, and then moved the ceiling up.
Step 2: Break it down and do the math. For the first time ever, you actually have a goal and you're serious about it. It's time to see what needs to happen for you to hit that goal. This is called reverse engineering. Yes, you'll have to do the math if you want to get rich. Money is a numbers game.
The beauty of math is that it works the same for everyone. Example: in order to make $1,000 per month, you need to get $100 from 10 people, or $50 from 20 people, or $10 from 100 people. Do the math for your number.
Okay, now that you have your math, it's time to break down how to actually make it happen. In order to get $50 from someone, you need to have a product or service that is worth at least $50 to that person. It'll need to be accessible to that person and have a way to transact with him or her.
Let's keep it simple: in order to hit this goal, you need a product, a website, and a bank account. See how we're breaking it down into smaller pieces? Then you break these down into smaller pieces.
What kind of product can you offer? Is it physical? Is it digital? Is it a service? What will it look like? What does it consist of? Break it down.
What do I need for a website? I need a domain name, I need hosting, I need a logo, I need to process payments to get the money. Pay close attention to the type of engineered thinking we're sharing, for this is the difference between success and failure. This needs to happen for this other thing to happen. If you're unable to break down goals into smaller pieces, you'll never achieve them.
Every rich person knows this, and now so do you. Why? Because now you finally have something you can actually do. Creating a website is something you can learn how to do; everything in the smaller tiers is actionable.
Step 3: Educate yourself and build skills. The thing about actionable goals is that somebody else has done it before you. There's already existing knowledge of how this type of problem is solved. It's time to stop being ignorant and start learning. Yes, getting rich actually requires you to educate yourself.
Learning about the space you're in, learning how things get done, what are the best practices, what are the things to avoid. In this part of your journey, you are actually absorbing value out of the ecosystem, in the same way you've chosen to consume this piece of content right now.
Most of us hated school because you were forced to learn about things which you weren't interested in, but you'll see that this is different. Successful people genuinely enjoy learning new things about the industry they're in, because it helps them to be more successful, do better things, and make the journey more enjoyable.
With every session, you're growing in knowledge, but this isn't enough. Theory is never enough. In order for you to cross onto the other side from wishful thinking to doer, you need to practice. You don't learn how to score a three-pointer from a book. Yes, the theory definitely helps, but you have to get on the court and test it.
The more you test it, the better you'll understand how to apply it. Repeat this enough times, and you're building skills for yourself, and skills have a value because skills can be converted into money when you mix them with time. A skill means you know how to do something successfully. It's time you use those skills for personal gain.
Step 4: Work every single day. Welcome to what is most commonly called the grind. This goal of yours is like an incredible statue waiting within a massive block of marble. Once you learn how to carve the marble, it'll take a long time until the end result is finished. The rule is simple: the more work you put in, the quicker you'll see the result.
This is the first test in your journey: how badly do you really want it? If this is what you're meant to do, if this is what you chose for your life, are you going to quit after three months, after a year or two? The magic word is discipline. You need to discipline your mind and your actions.
Always remember that if this project of yours succeeds, the rest of your life will be amazing. That's what's going to drive you to get back to work every single day. It'll be really slow in the beginning, but in a couple of months, you'll start to get your first wins. Cherish them and then get back to work.
Step 5: Get [ __ ] done. Here we're going to introduce you to a concept that's been the biggest differentiator in our own journey. It's called "moving the needle," and it's exactly what you think it is—it means getting [ __ ] done so you're actually making progress.
You say you're gonna launch a website? Then buy the damn domain, buy the hosting, go live with it! This step relies on you hitting those smaller goals you broke the big goal into—these move the needle for you.
Set specific dates for them and then focus specifically on finalizing these chapters. You won't believe how many people are constantly working on their project or startup but never really move the needle. They're busy being busy, not making any progress.
If instead, you focus on big decisions that will close the gap between you and these smaller goals, if you discipline yourself to work on them, you will win. At this point, you are making money, you understand how the business works, what needs to happen for it to grow, and you should feel overwhelmed by all the day-to-day activities. These first five steps are that initial momentum you have to generate for yourself and to get that initial money coming in.
The problem is, you're now employed by the business; you don't own a business, the business owns you, and for now, that's okay, but it's not sustainable. Instead, you need to focus on growth—that's where this next step comes in.
Step 6: Outsource repetitive tasks to others. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses. Every successful person out there went to 90 to 100% on their strengths; anything else will guarantee your mediocrity. In order to do so, you need to find people who can free up time for you, so you can focus on what you do best.
Something to remember here: you'll never find anyone to work as hard as you do for your business. If you search for a clone of yourself, you'll keep on searching forever. Instead, find people who are willing to learn and are great at following instructions. Have them take care of repetitive tasks which you can systemize.
Break each task down for them and have them do it over and over again. This part is called automation; it streamlines your production process either through people or technology. Your goal should be to systemize and automate 80% of your entire business, with the remaining 20%, the creative part, being the strategy part falling on your shoulders.
If you're unable to bring in people to automate the process, you'll never grow. You'll always be trapped in a small rat wheel, running until exhaustion just to keep the lights on. Don't be afraid to pay these people well; take it out of your pay. You're not interested in it. Pay yourself enough to cover your living expenses; if you want to succeed, everything else must go toward making the business better.
Step 7: Analyze and improve. With the day-to-day activities taken care of and the business moving, it's time for you to take the wheel and decide where it needs to go and how you're going to get there. This part falls on your shoulders. Nobody knows your business better than you do.
The more you understand and measure, the higher your chance of success. That's why you always hear investors talk about knowing your numbers. Study your business to the smallest detail. Figure out what's working and what isn't. Study other businesses the same way you study yours, and figure out what's working for them.
With these two knowledge sets, you can have the ability to make changes that will benefit the business, allowing it to grow. Your job is to manage the resources you have on hand: revenue, the people that work in the business, and yourself. The better you are at managing these three, the better the business will do.
At this point, everyone around you will consider you semi-successful. You've basically solved the business equation, and you're doing well. The money is coming in, and so are the temptations. This is where the next step comes into play.
Step 8: Live like you're poor. This is the wall that keeps the majority of people from actually becoming rich. It's something only rich people have figured out. Everybody else is stuck in the middle class, never understanding why they didn't make the leap into the wealthy class. Here's the secret to getting rich: the longer you live like you're poor when you don't have to, the richer you'll become.
Take a moment and go through that again: the longer you live like you're poor when you don't have to, the richer you become. Self-control is what differentiates the real from the pretenders. Once you see that money coming in, you're tempted to start spending it, to indulge yourself, and the rewards of your work.
It makes sense, doesn't it? You worked hard for the past five years and now you can finally afford a nicer house, a better car, better clothes, a better lifestyle as a whole. But this is what we call the middle-of-the-road trap. You're halfway into the race; you've come a long way, but unless you run the entire thing, you won't get the Medal.
You have to cross the finish line to get your award. This is how the middle class gets stuck in the middle class and usually drops down in time. They think they're safe; they're no longer hungry; they splurge. You see them flexing. Be very, very careful of this trap, for if you fall into it, you risk losing the majority of the things you've built.
Self-control and discipline at this step will allow you to actually become rich instead of just looking like you're rich. And here is how you do it.
Step 9: Save to invest. You take all the excess money that you're tempted to spend on liabilities and put it away. You don't touch it, you don't alter your lifestyle; simply pretend it isn't there. Work the same you've done up until this point, just for a little bit longer.
This is where wealth-building fundamentals kick in. The money saved needs to go into assets, not liabilities. Basically, instead of buying yourself something you want, save that money with the purpose of getting into something that will generate you more money.
There are two types of thinking: most people think that you work hard to get the money so you can buy things you want. This is not what rich people do; we think differently, and so should you. Rich people work hard to make money so they can buy themselves money-making machines. Get enough money-making machines, and you can buy yourself anything you want without having to work at all.
The first type of thinking requires you to work more as you want more stuff, but with the second type of thinking, the more you work, the less you have to work in the future. That's what you have to do with the money coming in from the business; you have to secure the future.
Step 10: Invest. At this point, you're finally building wealth. This wealth is here to stay. No matter what will happen to your business in the following years, you can still rely on this wealth to make your life easier.
We could do an entire 30-minute video on different types of investments that you could make once you're at this point in your journey, but in order to keep it simple, there are mainly two types of investments you should make once you get here: 1. Cash flow investments and 2. Appreciation investments or capital gains.
Cash flow investments generate you monthly sums of money while appreciation investments go up in value over time. Here are the top five most popular cash flow investments: 1. Rental income from real estate, 2. Certificates of deposit or CDs, 3. Bonds, 4. Dividends, and 5. Peer-to-peer lending.
Appreciation investments focus on buying something and selling it in the future for a higher price. Here are the top five most popular appreciation investments: 1. Stocks, 2. Real estate, 3. Gold and silver, 4. Art and collectibles, and 5. Cryptocurrencies.
There are situations where you can achieve both. Real estate is a great example for this; it generates a monthly rental income, and in time, the price of the property will also go up. So, if you decide to sell, you'll make a profit later on.
Unless you're educated enough to make semi-calculated speculative investments, we recommend you go with real estate. To be honest, we've been reading the likes of Robert Kiyosaki and Grant Cardone, which are phenomenal for general knowledge, but the most practical advice we found, outside our own personal mentors, comes from a podcast called BiggerPockets.
Hundreds of real estate investors openly share their stories and strategies. It's one of the gold mines of the internet, and we're happy to give them a shout out. They took all the knowledge from their interviews and distilled it into two great books: the first one is called "How to Invest in Real Estate: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Getting Started," and the second is called "The Book on Rental Property Investing," but this one might be getting a refresher soon, both by Brandon Turner.
If this is the first time you're picking up a book on real estate, start with "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. If you're looking to take action, get the beginner's guide; even better, go to alux.com/freebook and sign up. Once you do, you'll get to pick one of these books we mentioned here and download it for free as an audiobook, thanks to our partnership with Audible.
Now, once you begin investing, you'll have to keep the main business going for long enough until your wealth gets to the desired outcome, and that brings us to step number 11: reinvest in the main business.
By this point, you're already building wealth. The main business is running; okay, you have some side investments that are making you richer, and you're feeling amazing. The temptation here will be at an all-time high with shiny objects all around you; all these opportunities just waiting for you to grab them. This is the second trap you'll find on your journey to becoming rich—it's called neglecting the cash cow.
All the wealth you've managed to get up to this point is because of your main business. You got this far because of the first two parts of your journey; you obsessed with it. This is usually when most businesses see a dip. Why? Because you're distracted; you're no longer going after it the same way you used to, and the market is changing, the customer is changing, your competitors have caught up, and you're swimming in dangerous waters.
Because of your investments, you're no longer going to be poor, but unless you elevate the main business, you are never going to be rich. This is where the consolidation of the business begins. A great rule of thumb in this situation would be to allow half of the money the business is generating to go into investments and use the other half to solidify and improve the business itself.
There are two ways to scale a business: 1. Vertically—you get better at what you're already doing, you increase production, you improve the quality of production, and you're able to charge more per sale; and 2. Horizontally—you introduce a new product, you create add-ons, thus satisfying adjacent needs.
By this point, you've been at the business for around six to seven years. Times have changed since you began and there are new tools available to you, and you need to start learning how to leverage them to keep your business afloat. Your competitors are already using them and coming after your market share. If both of you are equally educated, the win will go to the one who's hungrier and wants it more.
This reinvestment in both yourself and the business is the beginning of the third and final chapter of your journey to becoming rich. Here is how to make sure you don't screw it up.
Step 12: Find a successful mentor. Think of how horrible navigation was before the GPS was invented. You had to figure out where you were, which roads go where, what they were called—horrible! Then GPS became a thing, and suddenly things became a lot smoother.
What would life be like without Google Maps or Waze? The road to riches doesn't come with a complete GPS, but the next best thing is having someone who's been on this road before to guide your steps. That's why mentors are such an incredible resource to have in your arsenal.
If you've gotten to this step, it's clear to everyone you're committed to this project, that you've got the skills and are willing to put in the work to make it successful. Statistically speaking, there is at least one person who's done something similar to what you're doing now and came out victorious.
There might be a handful of people like this in your country, and for sure there are hundreds of them internationally. Connect with these people, be honest about your intentions, and they will gladly help you. Successful people love to help other people become successful as long as they prove themselves worthy.
Prove that you're not wasting his or her time and build some relation. Having a regular check-in with your mentor about what you're doing and how your business is evolving will not only save your business from failure but it will accelerate your success.
And with this mentor in place, it's time to solidify your network.
Step 13: Build your network. Because of the fortunate position you now find yourself in, you'll gain access to all kinds of different circles. Your job is now to connect. Rich and successful people tend to stick together. Why? Because it's a lot harder to relate to your long-forgotten cousin than with someone who's been through more or less the same journey as you to get to where you are today.
Trust us: at the top, it isn't lonely. It's just people like you who've made it looking to make friends. Everybody shares similar struggles, and everybody is sharing advice on how to not screw it up. This is the chance where you get to build a safety net to help you never be poor again.
You've heard it before on this channel, but we'll say it one more time: your network is your net worth. These successful people you connect with that you trust and whom trust you are willing to help each other in case anything goes wrong.
It's more like a pact: we help one another so we all never go broke. They provide access to funding, resources, contacts, and more. Never underestimate the power of building a powerful network around you. Not only will they help you protect what you already have, you will make each other even richer.
Step 14: Leverage your contacts to diversify your portfolio. At this late stage, you have the business that's going phenomenally well, you have several investments that are doing okay, and you've found a new group of friends. You're all looking for the same thing: new opportunities.
Because of the size of the group, you together open doors to opportunities that are beyond each individual's reach but not out of reach of the group as a whole. That's when you pool resources and start doing mega deals. If by yourself you are buying single-family properties, with the group you're buying entire buildings; you're developing projects at a much larger scale.
Because of your network, you have access to the opportunities they all identify, allowing you to diversify your portfolio. All you have to do now is cash in.
Step 15: Sell the business and do it all over again, but bigger. Every business should have an exit plan. You start, you build, you grow, you exit. This is pretty much the path every person who's made a lot of money has followed.
There are always bigger fish in the market, and because you've been performing so well, you've probably caught their attention. Between year 7 and year 11, you'll be faced with a period of transition in your life. You've been doing this for a decade, and you might be interested in doing something else.
It's also a prime moment for exiting the business because the market is doing so well. The business is solid, thanks to the investments you've made at step 11, and your life has changed. This is the time where you officially let go and cash in.
It'll feel weird because you invested so much time, emotion, and energy into building this, but at one point, you'll have to let it go. That is in exchange for a ridiculous sum of money. Otherwise, just keep milking the cow and do business as usual.
This exit allows you to completely recalibrate your life and pursue new ventures. In the past decade, you've evolved as a human being alongside your business, and your priorities have shifted. What you needed ten years ago is no longer what you need now or what you'll need in ten years, so you've got to make the change.
Your family's needs will always be taken care of; everything you care about is protected. You can now do whatever you want.
But here's the interesting part: everybody thinks that if they sold their business for $10, $50, $100 million or more, they would never work a day in their lives again. The image of the retired person drinking mojitos on the beach is an illusion. After six or twelve months, you'll go insane.
If you've made it to this step, you're a real entrepreneur; it runs in your veins. Only now you have a completely different start—you have resources, connections, a premium skill set, and a desire to change the world.
This brings together the final stage of your journey to getting rich. Most people never make it out of the first stage and do not get to enjoy the fruits of this decade-long commitment, which brings us to you, the person consuming this piece of content right now.
If you were to go through the list of steps, where would you be in your journey right now? We're really interested in knowing what you're struggling with so we can maybe provide you with some guidance in the future. Please share the step you're currently at in the comments.
Believe it or not, our CEO reads every comment on the Sunday video because these scripts are put together by the man himself. He'll be personally replying to your comments.
We know this has been a long video. This type of content is incredibly valuable, and we wish we had this type of guidance when we were starting out. If our free content is this good, imagine the value we're offering next Sunday when we go live with our meditation course!
In your journey to getting rich, you'll have to maintain focus and control your emotions. The best tool for this is meditation. We created the Mind Mastery course for entrepreneurs and high achievers. We specifically designed it with the Aluxor in mind.
If you want to learn how to deal with stress, anxiety, and discipline your mind and your actions while building a skill that will stick with you for the rest of your life, go to alux.com/mindmastery and join the waiting list.
Every person who's on that list before next Sunday will get a one hundred dollar discount code as a thank you for being a true Aluxor. And of course, as a thanks for watching with us until the end of this already really long video, here is your bonus step: do not quit when it gets hard.
This journey is going to be a lot like a roller coaster. You're either having the best day of your life, thinking you're conquering the world, or it's the worst day ever. Things will go wrong—like, really wrong—at least once every year.
There will be so many moments where you'll feel exhausted, drained, ready to throw in the towel because things got incredibly difficult. That's when you need to breathe in, meditate on the issue, and then figure out what it takes to keep moving forward.
Every time you want to quit, the marketplace is testing you to see if you actually have what it takes. Nobody owes you anything; you'll have to earn everything you're going to receive in life. Hard times are there to rid the market of the pretenders, and there will always be a reward for those who can overcome them.
If this resonates with you and you found it valuable, please write the word "truth" in the comments. And don't forget about alux.com/mindmastery.
We'll see you guys on the inside. It's time to make a decision: how badly do you really want it?
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As always, the conversation continues on social media. Thanks again, and we can't wait to have you back tomorrow.