The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Success

Then there’s the problem with obtaining your heart’s desire. What next? The greater the struggle you’ve made to get something, the more you’ve sacrificed for it, the greater your disappointment will be when you win the prize and your life hasn’t fundamentally changed. Because you’ll still be you, with all your neuroses and fears and regrets, only i

Accept the necessity of hard work. Nearly all paths to wealth involve time at work, energy spent on work, and sacrifices elsewhere in our lives. Resenting that undermines your current focus and your long-term satisfaction.

Ask someone twenty or thirty years older than you, “Are you the same person you were two decades ago?” Then ask them, “Are you the person you thought you’d be?”

apply the lessons of Stoicism to keep it growing slower than your income.

Acknowledge emotional responses. Don’t deny anger, shame, or fear; they are natural and healthy. But don’t let them determine your actions. Sometimes you’ll need an outlet. Find a healthy one.

If your motivation for doing the work is your desire for some end goal, you are setting yourself up for a lot of frustration when you’re grinding away and not seeing any progress toward the goal. And the bigger the goal, the longer the time horizon before you can achieve it, the greater the opportunity that your desire will burn out before you get

“If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”

Then there’s the problem with obtaining your heart’s desire. What next? The greater the struggle you’ve made to get something, the more you’ve sacrificed for it, the greater your disappointment will be when you win the prize and your life hasn’t fundamentally changed. Because you’ll still be you, with all your neuroses and fears and regrets, only i

Being kind reduces stress hormones16 and makes you happier; spending money on others can lower your blood pressure as much as a healthy diet; altruism is literally an analgesic. So have another order of French fries, give the fry cook $20, and everyone wins. I love science.