Money is freedom. In some contexts money might not be everything but it’s pretty damn close. Without money you have no agency, you have no power, you have no freedom. You are a slave and will forever be one. The skills of acquiring money are some of the most valuable that you could ever hope to learn in this lifetime. Without money acquiring skills you will always struggle in life, you will always be a step behind and hate it.
I’m not saying that having the money acquiring skills is everything but it’s still incredibly important. Money is the key to the good life, that’s a fact. There does come a point where acquiring more money becomes masturbatory but it’s far down the road. Very few are there right now. For most people, acquiring more money is the best thing they can to improve their lives.
So what are the money skills and how do they work? I list the money skills and selling/people/soft skills, copywriting, and marketing. With those three groupings of skills you can take just about any business that’s viable and take it where it needs to go. But that begs the question what is a viable path? What’s the best path for a young man to take to make his way in the world?
We’re going to talk about that as well as something that’s just as important, and that is…
Paths That Are Rarely Viable
There is a lot of BS pushed out in the money advice/entrepreneurial sphere. Tons of bad advice that only works for certain people doing certain things. I wanted to run down some things that I think don’t make good first time jobs or investments and are not things that I would count on making work. First off essentially anything that’s being pushed by gurus on YouTube. So things like drop-shipping, hiring ghost writers to pump out kindle books, running a blog, and things of that nature.
Can those things work? Sure but I think there are much surer and safer paths out there. And if someone has to sell you products on how to make money doing something that should raise a red flag. Not that it invalidates it completely but if most of the money that is made in a certain area is made teaching others about that are then that should be a red flag to you that, that is not the area to go into. Stay away from whatever the YouTube gurus or under 30 something’s who are pimping high priced coaching and products for something else.
The First Viable Path To Financial Independence
I guess I should start by saying these aren’t the only viable paths to financial independence for young men but they’re a good start. Also let me state that you need to learn the three money skills above to make any of these paths truly work for you. But with that being said let’s get going. The first one is no surprise and I probably sound like a broken record talking about but hey, if it works, it works. And that is high ticket sales.
Selling boats, cars, RVs, even insurance and the like. Anything where you can get commission and isn’t pennies on the dollar/euro/pound. You want things that cost a bit of money and that there is a demand for. Stay away from low price points, it’s hard to make six figures selling knives or cosmetics, though some have done just that. The higher the ticket price the better off you are. Again cars, RVs, boats, real estate, and other things are great starts.
With decent sales skills you should have no problem getting a job at the local lot. Even used cars, whatever. Get your foot in the door, get experience, and learn more about sales each and every day.
The Second Viable Path To Financial Independence
Sales isn’t the only way to make a decent living. Trades, picked wisely and combined with the money skills listed above are also a viable choice. Plumbing, electric, contractor work, things of that nature. You will have to plunk down some cash to get certified and go to trade school but these costs are very small compared to what you’d have to pay to go to college. And unlike many college degrees you can actually do something with earning a certification and make some money with it.
Again a few options here. Plumbing, electrician, contractor, whatever. Find something that there is a demand for and that you wouldn’t mind doing. Different trades will suite different people. Find schools near you and see what the cost would be. Look at competition and see how fierce it is, not that you can’t succeed. I knew a guy that started a lawn company in a district with more lawn companies than most the nation and made it.
It took hard work and me teaching him a lot about sales and marketing but it can be done. So look at the trades, see if any interest you. There’s money to be made in them, especially when combined with basic soft/people/sales skills and some marketing and copywriting.
Financial Independence
There are other paths. Things like police work, firefighter, and such can work if you do it right. Maybe not so much police work anymore, at least in the Western world. Civil service is about the only place you’re going to have a chance of getting a pension and the benefits are decent from what I’ve heard. Know a lot that have made LEO/firefighting/military work for them but I think these get less viable by the day. Have to look ahead with these things and just so much is changing so fast.
But sales will always lead to more money, that much I do know. If you’re young then you’re lucky. Master people/sales/soft skills as well as copywriting and marketing now. Or at least start on the path to mastering these things now. I’d avoid college…even for people that want to be doctors and lawyers I’d say there’s easier and better ways to make money. And you’ll sleep more soundly. Regardless put a of thought into this, because there are few things in life, more important than making money.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.
-Charles Sledge
