I tell you what, boy, I used to have a bum mentality to the max.
I didn't want to spend a dime on anything. I'd waste time agonizing over a decision to buy something and I'd find myself just stressing about buying something little.
I used to eat tuna mixed with oatmeal. I paid for my gym membership fees over a 6 week period instead of paying it all at once.
I drove into a tree stump a week after buying a new truck and I had a huge dent in the bumper, I never fixed it because I didn't want to pay the insurance deductible.
I'd never eat at a nice restaurant unless it was a big group get-together.
100% of the time I'd split the bill with anyone (girls included). If the food cost two dollars I'd get one dollar from the girl.
I'd pirate songs and movies instead of buying from iTunes or Amazon. I'd spend hours searching for and downloading a movie or song instead of paying a few bucks to get it instantly.
That was my life before money. I was a bum and I didn't even know it.
The bums always like to say money doesn't buy happiness, but I sure wouldn't go back to wasting my time stealing a song when I could buy it for $1 and have it instantly.
Money doesn't buy happiness, ok, it just buys anything you want. So if you want happiness just buy some.
There are two real great benefits to having money….
- Money takes care of any problem. You might think it doesn't, but you'd be wrong.
- Money puts a big emotional divide between you and average people (including your friends and family).
“But wait Vic, how could an emotional divide between you and average people be a benefit?”
Average people are average for a reason and only average people would want to hang out with other average people. Extraordinary people want to spend time with other extraordinary people.
Having that emotional divide keeps you away from the mundane of the average.
Some of you guys ask me silly questions like “Should I join a frat?“. I can't answer a question like that. I don't even think you should attend university, so how could I go further and talk about frats?
I live in a different reality where a question like that doesn't enter my consciousness. It's an average question, but it's a million miles from me because I put that wall up to protect myself from average people.
See….
Average people lack ambition, they lack courage, they're petty, they're jealous, they're envious, they're vindictive, they're broke, they're gossipy, they don't want anyone else to succeed if they can't…
And if you spend time with them you will end up the same way.
Money buys your freedom from these bums and it buys you a better class of people to spend your time with.
Elitist? Yeah, sure. I'd rather be alone than spend time with an average bum.
In fact, for the last four years that's almost exactly what I did. I spent time only with people who were fully on board and supportive of the Website for Winners.
I've “lost” or left behind nearly everyone I knew in my previous life so their mundane-itis couldn't infect me.
The one old friend I touch base with recently told me about some great success he had in real estate. I gave him a big congrats. It takes big balls to go out and make a lot of money, he did it and I'm proud of him for doing it.
He replied: “Nice…you're one of the few people I can tell that to and they'll be happy and not envious…“.
Hey, I know all about it. You reach a certain level and people want to bring you all the way back down to their level.
But fuck 'em. Stay away, build a wall, and they won't be able to get you.
It's not about social status, it's not about prestige, it's not about pedigree. It's about…
ATTITUDE.
Attitude is the one quality that separates a winner from a loser. A guy who's broke but has the right attitude is better company than a guy who has money but the wrong attitude.
A guy who's broke but has the right attitude will rectify the situation. Someone with a winning attitude will spend the required time it takes to win.
Losers will say “that's too long, I want it now” and then they'll quit. Those are the types of people you want to quarantine yourself from.
The other day in the gym a fellow asked me how long I've been working out.I said “a decade“.He said “I've been working out for years, but off and on. Consistency is my problem“.
“Marshall, how long will it take to build a business, build a body, get rich?”
I get asked this same dumb question all the time, and I'm going to answer it once and for all right here. Here's the answer….
It will take as long as it takes you bum. You're wasting your time and you're wasting my time asking me that poverty question.
It's not even a real question, it's a way for you to say “oh, that's too long. I'll just do something else“.
“How long will it take?” is a moronic, unanswerable question so if you ask it you must be a moron, right?
It will take as long as it takes and when you ask that question what you want is an excuse to quit. You can't have excuses from me.
I was at the bottom and I clawed my way to the top and I never asked “b-b-b-but how long will it take? I'm busy right now being a bum“. I just put my boots on and went to work. Eventually I never had to worry about bills or think about money again.
Am I really so special that I can take something as simple as digital media and turn it into a million dollar empire?
Maybe I am, or maybe I just didn't quit.
If a genie in a bottle had told me “In four years you will make more money than athletes, politicians and most famous people BUT! it will take four years of obsession” what do you think I would have said?
I might have said…
Geeze, 4 years? That's a long time. Nah, I don't want to do it. I'll do something else. I'm sure something will get me rich faster with less work required. Sincerely, a bum.
The stone cold reality is that four years flew by. They went by faster than lightning because I was doing what I was meant to do. I wasn't rotting away in an office like a dickless jerk, scared to face destiny. I was working like a dog to build myself a great life.
Those years went by so fast that when I sat down to write the “4 Years of Pride” recap article I couldn't write anything good. I was struck with nostalgia for the past.
The House on Victory Hill
I didn't live like a normal person for four years and for the last year and a half I lived almost monk-like. I had tunnel vision to the extreme and I was able to increase the profit of my blog by a real nice margin. I “made” it.
Four years ago when I started on this “journey” I lived in a one room studio apartment in China that cost $100 per month.
Today I live in a 4 story mansion with 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a home office bigger than my last apartment, a pool and a house staff.
“How long does it take to build a successful business?”
It took me four years of living like an obsessed freak. Everything in my life, my whole life, I give everything for Successfiction. I think about Successfiction more than I think about sex. I think about Successfiction more than I think about money.
When I publish an article it takes a part of my soul and I need an entire day to recover.
Why do I do it?
Because I have to. I have a duty. I know you guys out there feel the same way I do and you want the good life.
For some of you it's entertainment, and I'm happy to provide entertainment, but I damn well know a percentage of you are serious men who are willing to put in the time to remold into gold.
“So a blog is the answer?”
It's not about blogging, friends. The blog is my medium. It's my art. I excel at it because I put my heart and soul into it. I excel where others fail because I write poetry instead of words and I pay extreme attention to design detail.
I want an absolute perfect and complete piece of art and if I don't have it then I don't publish.
And when I do publish I feel like vomiting every time. I'm scared, literally scared, when I publish. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
I publish at night and each time I publish an article I wake up in the middle of the night to make sure that I didn't make some little, tiny mistake in my writing. I wake up to make sure I said a sentence in the right way. I wake up to verify that I conveyed the words in my heart.
I want it to be perfect. I want perfection to be the goal of every man who reads the Website for Winners. If it isn't perfect it's dogshit. If it isn't art, if it isn't beautiful, it's shit.
“Good enough” isn't good enough. If you want to reach the top you do what it takes.
The top, for me, is a perfect piece of digital poetry and I can't accept less. Even if it means I don't publish for 2 months. Even if it means I delete articles I'm not happy with.
My art has to be perfect. That's how I got from A to B in a straight line while the “good enough” guys keep going from A to A in a circle.
What has this obsession with perfection gotten me?
Successfiction is one of the most successful blogs in the world. It's one of the most copied blogs in the world.
I get thousands of emails thanking me for inspiring others to take the leap. I get hundreds of emails from young men telling me I'm the father figure they never had.
It's nice to hear, but I don't need a thank you. I just want you to believe me when I say you aren't a victim of circumstance. I want you to believe me when I tell you that you can change your life and accomplish your goals if you just do the work required.
I'm impatient, I'm capricious, I'm blunt, I'm not delicate with feelings (ok, enough bragging) but one thing I am is sincere.
Read this one sentence and take it to heart:
If you put in the required work with full 100% focus you will reap the rewards.
What was required of me was total obsession. I gave away everything else in my life except for Bold and Determined.
If Bold and Determined disappeared I'd have nothing but a suitcase and a bunch of money. But money without a mission isn't worth so much.
You hear about all these guys who retired early then got hooked on drugs, prostitutes and partying and got depressed.
Stupid people will think that's because money makes you unhappy. The reality is that you will be unhappy if you don't have a mission in life.
Those guys who retired early sold their mission and now have a hole in their soul.
Without Bold and Determined I'd have a giant hole in my soul, so I give my life to B&D.
Even if I get eaten by a shark off the coast of Bora Bora my lawyer Mike Cernovich Esq. is going to be the trustee of my estate and ensure that this blog lives on.
One Extra Tip for Mega Success…
This one “hack” has worked for me over and over:
Pick the right girl to be your own personal cheerleader.
(note: I am 100% against marriage if you are a westerner)
(note: I am 100% against marriage if you are a westerner)
Women can ruin your success, but the right woman can heighten your success. Having the right cheerleader in your corner can be worth its weight in gold.
Think about this: If you're a single guy, what do you really, truly have to work for?
You can get by on almost no money if you're a single guy, so why bother making a bunch of money?
If you're out chasing girls all the time you're wasting valuable time that could be used to build your business and assets.
If you don't have some love in your life you just see black and white, you can't see in color. Your soul feels empty when you're alone.
We all need something to work for. Your woman, your kids, your family, your friends, even your dear ol' dog but we all need something and someone.
I keep perfect records of my profit and expenses, and I can see a rise in income when I got miss Pride. Before her my income was flatlined, steady. Every month since then, 1.5 years ago, my income has gone up and up.
That's because she's on the same page as me, she's there to help me make it happen, she has no other purpose in life other than to support me. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Stay clean, stay lean, stay mean.
Until next time.
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