Escape the Middle E-Book

Todd Polke

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 335

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

The usual money rules lead straight to mediocrity. Don't settle for it!

You've probably done everything in life that you were told to do: get educated, secure a job, work hard and be careful with money. And where did that lead you? Straight to the middle! But weren't you made for more?

Escape the Middle is your roadmap to breaking free — free from financial stress, the nine-to-five grind and the monotony of the ‘middle’ way of living. Inside, investment strategist Todd Polke shares the tried-and-tested techniques he's used to help tens of thousands of people live a life unlimited by income. Escape the Middle reveals how you can grow the mindset you need to align your beliefs, thoughts and actions with your financial goals. You'll discover that the decisions you make and the money habits you master are the real difference between being stuck in the middle and going after something bigger.

With this step-by-step guide to building unshakeable wealth and turning on your millionaire mode, you'll find:

• practical strategies to take control of your personal finances
• efficient systems to smoothly manage your money flow
• tips and tactics for getting started with investing
• methods to build a financial moat and protect yourself while growing wealth
• the tools you truly need to take back your freedom
• a healthy money mindset, free of the stress and worry

True wealth and financial freedom demand a radical shift — a hard ‘hell no’ to the norms we've been conditioned to accept. This book gives you the step-by-step path to break free, build your financial fortress and leave a secure legacy for your loved ones and the planet. Are you ready to plan your escape?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

COVER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

The journey out of the 'middle'

Getting the most out of this book

PART I: ESCAPE THE MIDDLE

CHAPTER 1: WELCOME TO THE MIDDLE

How did you get here?

Middle comfort

It's not your fault

Raising your zero line

CHAPTER 2: IT'S NOT ALL RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS

Broken and broke

Getting to your done moment

There are no secrets to success, only systems

Profits are better than wages

Surround yourself with wealth

It's not about the asset

Wealth building is a marathon, not a sprint

Build wealth based on you

What does freedom mean to you?

CHAPTER 3: IN THE GAME

Meet Blue Shirt Guy

Choose your mode

Money mode #1: Survival

Money mode #2: Middle

Money mode #3: Momentum

Money mode #4: Abundance

PART II: FACE UP TO YOUR FINANCES

CHAPTER 4: FACE UP

Busyness is a low standard

What does financial freedom mean to you?

Setting your financial freedom figure

The FFF pyramid

The four levels of financial freedom

CHAPTER 5: FRONT UP

Decision #1. Commit to becoming wealthy

Decision #2. Make the decision to focus on foundations

Decision #3. Make the decision to treat your financial life as a business

Decision #4. Seek real-life financial education beyond formal systems

Decision #5. Build an A-team of wealth advisers with proven results

Decision #6. Qualifications do not mean qualified to help you grow your wealth

Decision #7. Learn strategically and implement effectively

Decision #8. Be purposeful with money

Decision #9. Learn to take educated risks

Decision #10. Utilise leverage and debt strategically

Decision #11. Be strategic

Decision #12. Commit to payingthe price

Decision #13. Protect yourself and your wealth

Decision #14. Commit until you achieve the result

CHAPTER 6: FOLLOW THROUGH

Step 1. Schedule it!

Step 2. Review your personal financial goals and investments (5 mins)

Step 3. Review your previous week's finances (10 mins)

Step 4. Plan your week ahead (15 mins)

Step 5. Automate (15 mins)

Step 6. Learn something new (15 mins)

PART III: TURN ON YOUR MILLIONAIRE MODE

CHAPTER 7: YOUR MONEY MIRROR

The five money teams

The two key shifts to flick the switch to your millionaire mode

CHAPTER 8: THE 15 HABITS OF MILLIONAIRE INVESTORS

The habit of wealth

Habit #1. They challenge their comfort zones

Habit #2. They break the rules

Habit #3. They take total responsibility

Habit #4. They focus on their strengths

Habit #5. They have daily rituals that set them up for success

Habit #6. They model success

Habit #7. They prioritise and protect their time

Habit #8. They are decision-making monsters

Habit #9. They are the CEO of their financial life

Habit #10. They focus on earning

Habit #11. They leverage like crazy

Habit #12. They practise delayed gratification daily

Habit #13. They are master implementers

Habit #14: They adapt to the landscape

Habit #15. They commit to constant strategic upgrading

CHAPTER 9: RAISING YOUR FINANCIAL IQ

Whaddya know?

Learning the language of money

Your river of wealth and the three key areas of financial learning

Becoming a better financial decision maker

The decision-making matrix

Filter #1. Alignment

Filter #2. Highest outcomes

Filter #3. The risk/reward ratio

PART IV: INSTALL YOUR PERSONAL FINANCE SYSTEM

CHAPTER 10: YOUR FINANCE FARM

Designing your financial flow

Mapping your current money flow

Back to the farm

Phase 1. Production

Phase 2. The yield

Phase 3. Sowing

A few points on making this work

CHAPTER 11: FINANCIAL INEFFICIENCIES ARE KILLING YOU

Plug the leaks

Automate your flow

CHAPTER 12: DEALING WITH DEBT

Good debt versus bad debt

A shift in focus

Dealing with bad debt in your life

Leverage for wealth building

Become comfortable with debt

PART V: SAY NO TO LAZY MONEY

CHAPTER 13: GETTING STARTED WITH INVESTING

Normalising wealth creation

Find your hidden treasures in the four types of money

Get started with micro-investing

Research platforms

Make wealth building fun

CHAPTER 14: THE FULL CIRCLE STRATEGY

The full circle strategy

The asset accelerator

CHAPTER 15: FIND THE DEALS THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

Don't be a seagull

Step 1. Access opportunity

Step 2. Assess viability

Step 3. Execute rapidly

Step 4. Manage efficiently

PART VI: BUILDING LASTING WEALTH

CHAPTER 16: CONSTRUCTING YOUR FINANCIAL FORTRESS

The four freedoms

Your financial fortress

CHAPTER 17: CREATING LEGACY WEALTH

Your legacy vision

CONCLUSION

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

List of Tables

Chapter 3

Table 3.1: a wealth-building self-assessment

Chapter 10

Table 10.1: savings calculation for big-ticket items

Table 10.2: calculating growth expenses

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

Figure 1.1: your zero line

Chapter 4

Figure 4.1: the FFF pyramid

Chapter 7

Figure 7.1: inherited belief systems

Figure 7.2: the action filter

Figure 7.3: the unconscious ceiling

Figure 7.4: a true decision

Figure 7.5: bring the unconscious into the conscious

Figure 7.6: levelling up your habits

Figure 7.7: your millionaire identity

Chapter 8

Figure 8.1: the comfort zone trap

Chapter 9

Figure 9.1: three types of knowledge

Figure 9.2: the decision-making matrix

Chapter 10

Figure 10.1: the default financial flow

Figure 10.2: your finance farm

Chapter 14

Figure 14.1: the full circle strategy

Chapter 15

Figure 15.1: the deal flow system

Figure 15.2: the four levels of due diligence

Chapter 16

Figure 16.1: your financial fortress

Chapter 17

Figure 17.1: the four cornerstones of your legacy vision

Guide

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

About the author

Acknowledgements

Preface

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Conclusion

End User License Agreement

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First published 2025 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

© John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Australia 2025

All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial intelligence technologies or similar technologies. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review) no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

The right of Todd Polke to be identified as the author of Escape the Middle has been asserted in accordance with law.

ISBN: 978-1-394-30399-1

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Cover and internal page images: © Gebbi Mur/Getty Images, © i_fleur/ShutterstockCover design by Wiley

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Todd Polke is an investor, entrepreneur and international educator with over two decades of experience in wealth creation and investing. Having guided thousands of investors to build high-performing portfolios and facilitated over $4 billion in global investment opportunities, Todd is dedicated to empowering individuals to achieve financial freedom and create lasting legacies for themselves and their families.

As the founder of Portfolio Wealth, Todd leads an investment education company that helps everyday investors take control of their financial lives, develop high-performance portfolios and unlock their full financial potential. Known for his approachable style and ability to simplify complex financial concepts, Todd has earned a reputation as a trusted mentor for those seeking to improve their financial futures.

Todd’s philosophy centres on building ‘wealth with purpose,’ aligning financial success with personal and planetary impact. He is deeply committed to supporting ventures that drive positive change, using his expertise to lead funding for companies that contribute to a better world.

A devoted husband, father of two and philanthropist, Todd believes wealth is not just about financial freedom — it’s about creating a meaningful life, leaving a legacy and making a difference. Through his proven systems and personalised strategies, Todd continues to inspire others to pursue their passions and build a brighter future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my dearest wife, Nerissa, my greatest gift, my everything. My devotion to you is eternal.

To my daughter, Annabelle (aka Mouse). Watching you grow into the amazing young woman you are today fills me with pride.

To my son, Atlas (aka Squiggs). Your mischievous smile and laugh light up my world. Seeing your determination shine through before you've even turned one — watch out, world!

To my teacher and mentors, for seeing parts of me that I was yet to see. I would not be who I am today without you.

Finally, to the many thousands of you who have put your trust in me to be your guide in the worlds of money and life, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

PREFACE

Financial slavery is a relentless cycle of trading time for money, grinding hard but getting nowhere. It's the treadmill we've all been conditioned to accept, the way of the ‘middle’. And if you're reading this, I'm betting you're fed up with it.

This model of living broke me at a young age and left me questioning why we were never shown an alternative in the traditional education system. Then I found a better path.

I believe freedom is your birthright and it's time you took it back! For more than two decades I've helped countless investors break free, empowering them to take control of their finances, build the wealth they deserve and live life to the fullest.

Imagine a life where money is no longer a source of stress but is rather a tool to help you fully experience life. How different would it feel to have more time, freedom and choices to pursue what you love, follow your passions, and give back to your family and the world?

You picked up this book because you're searching for a new path — a life that isn't limited by your income or the hours you work. And it's absolutely within your reach. The wealthy don't succeed by chance; they follow a different set of rules for life and money, and anyone can learn them.

But learning wealth-building strategies alone is only half the game. Reaching new levels of success requires a new level of thinking.

This book provides both: the mindset and the money-making strategies to guide you, step by step, out of the middle and into a life where building wealth and freedom becomes as natural as paying a bill.

The journey out of the 'middle'

You're about to uncover a proven investment roadmap — a carefully curated selection of tools, systems and strategies that have been rigorously road-tested and are grounded in real-world experience.

This journey goes beyond managing money; it's about reclaiming your life. By mastering the money game as the wealthy do, you'll break free from financial stress and open doors to the lifestyle you deserve.

You'll define your financial freedom figure. This is your escape plan number — a clear, empowering target that represents more than just money. It's your pathway to living life on your own terms, without the burden of bills or unexpected expenses holding you back.

Achieving new results demands a new mindset. We'll activate your millionaire mode, uncovering the hidden saboteurs from years of poor financial conditioning and unlocking opportunities you've never imagined.

You'll take charge as the CEO of your own finances, and as you gain control your anxiety will give way to clarity and purpose. In just one hour a week, I'll teach you a simple, powerful habit to put your finances on autopilot, ensuring every dollar has a clear plan and purpose.

The wealth-building system I've perfected over twenty-plus years will be yours. We'll create a plan to make your money work for you, breaking the paycheque-to-paycheque cycle. Whether you're new to investing or have limited capital, I'll guide you, step by step, to start building wealth from where you are now.

You'll discover the three strategies every successful investor needs to grow and scale their wealth, strategies that the rich have been using for generations to secure their future.

Next, we'll build a financial fortress to protect you, your family and your portfolio as you grow your wealth. It's about ensuring you're secure, no matter what life brings, so you can confidently keep moving forward.

Finally, we'll dive into the four levels of legacy, teaching you how to create a portfolio that serves you now but also outlives you, ensuring your impact lasts for generations. It's about more than just money; it's about building a life of freedom and purpose and a lasting legacy. And so much more. This is the financial education we all should have been taught in school.

Getting the most out of this book

Each concept we'll cover builds on the last, so it's best to read this book sequentially, rather than skipping around. These strategies have already guided countless investors to financial freedom, and they can do the same for you. But, like anything, these tools only work if you use them. Take action, implement and watch your results transform your life. This system works — if you work the system.

I often remind my students, ‘Learn one thing, do one thing.’ Implementation is key. Each chapter gives you the chance to act and is designed to shift your financial trajectory towards freedom.

These strategies work. I've applied them in my own life and helped thousands do the same. But it requires your time, focus and commitment — there are no silver bullets. Many spend years getting into their current financial situation, yet they hope to magically transform it overnight. It doesn't happen like that. While your trajectory can shift quickly, real results come through sustained focus.

But isn't your freedom worth it? Isn't having more time, more choice and the opportunity to fully experience life worth the effort?

Before we begin this journey I want you to know how much respect I have for you, the investor. You're choosing not to follow the crowd, and that takes courage, guts, commitment and a vision of living life on your own terms rather than blindly following what you've been taught.

So I honour you, and as you turn this page and start reading, know that you're not alone. Many other financial renegades, just like you, are walking this path alongside you.

PART IESCAPE THE MIDDLE

CHAPTER 1WELCOME TO THE MIDDLE

You may know this place … It's where most people tend to hang out in life. You may have arrived here just by following along with what everyone around you does, playing by the same set of rules and doing practically the same thing each and every day.

It can feel safe and certain in this place called the middle; after all, the path is well trodden. Yet the middle is also a place of unrealised potential.

You may find yourself feeling ‘middle happy’. Things aren't that great, but they're also not bad enough for you to feel the need to change course.

Maybe you feel trapped at a ‘middle income' level, exhausted, going round and round on the ‘work to pay the bills’ financial slavery hamster wheel. You know deep down there must be more to life than you can find in this space. But you have all these excuses and justifications for why it's too late or now is not the right time, or fanciful dreams around how you will do it one day when … (insert your excuse here).

Let's explore the pathway of the middle.

How did you get here?

Is this what you dreamed about when you were younger? Did you think to yourself, ‘YES! The middle is the place for me!’ Think back to when you were young … What did you then imagine was possible for you? Was there a limit to your potential? What did you dream life was all about?

Now think honestly about your current life circumstances. Look around you and consider for a moment, are you where you want to be in life? Did you hope to be further along in some way? More stable financially, having further progressed in your career? Experiencing more happiness and joy or a fulfilling relationship?

Ask yourself, how did you get here?

Middle comfort

Somewhere along the way on this journey called life we start to build walls around us to stay safe. These walls are based on all the experiences we have had in life, and our conclusions about what is safe and what is unsafe. These beliefs tend to confine us to a ‘safe room’ within walls we ourselves have built.

Imagine yourself in this space. By the time you read this you may have spent most of your life right here inside these walls. You know how high they are and how much room you have to move around within them. You know which rooms feel good and which feel less so.

As you stand there just noticing, your eyes settle on the first wall right in front of you. The wall is adorned with intertwined hearts; they seem quite beautiful. You notice there's a word etched on the wall, right in the centre. You look closer to make out what it says and you read the word ‘relationships’.

Your relationship wall signifies all the ways in which you hold yourself back in your relationships. Behind this wall you stick to what is a safe level of connection for you. You may block yourself from fully committing or expressing your true feelings because past experiences have left scars, and the fear of getting hurt again is overwhelming.

You settle for a middle level of intimacy or connection.

Turning to your right, your gaze settles on the next wall and again you notice markings, including currency symbols and pictures of things you relate to money and wealth.

Your money wall represents the fears you hold about money, debt and investing. Behind this wall, you stick to what you know: your spending habits, your savings account and perhaps even some safe investments. You avoid financial risks because the thought of losing money is daunting. You may dream of investing in a new venture or starting a business or creating financial freedom, but the fear of failure keeps you behind the safety of this wall. Here, your financial life tends to stay more or less on the same trajectory. For better or worse, it is fairly predictable, but you may be missing out on opportunities to grow your wealth and achieve the financial freedom you deeply desire.

Another wall represents your day job. Your work wall constitutes the professional comfort zone you've built for yourself. Behind this wall you follow a routine, sticking to tasks and roles you've become accustomed to over time. You may be driven only by job security, afraid to go after what you truly want in life because you feel chained to a regular paycheque.

But are you truly happy in the place where you spend the biggest share of your time? Are you earning what you are worth, given how many hours you sacrifice here?

This wall may provide you with security, but it does so at the cost of confining you to a career path that may not allow you to realise your full potential.

You turn towards the final wall, emblazoned with the Yin-Yang symbol. This is your health wall. It reveals all your physical, mental, and emotional habits and routines. Do you push yourself to burnout, sacrificing too much of your life in pursuit of greater financial success? Or are you coasting, living far below your potential?

Have you caused yourself anxiety, stress and overwhelm, but avoided supportive practices such as meditation? Have you neglected your physical health by consuming junk food and skipping exercise?

This wall is often built on excuses:

I'm too stressed.

I don't know how.

I'm too tired.

And, of course, everyone's favourite: I don't have time.

As a result, you can be left with a ‘middling' level of energy, feeling dissatisfied about your body, with a mediocre level of clarity, achieving only a fraction of your health potential and watching this mediocrity affect other areas of your life.

You may be totally comfortable inside the walls you have built around you, because you feel like you can predict what is going to happen next and you have a semblance of control, so you feel safe. But these walls have become a prison, crushing your potential and greatest joy in life?

One of these walls may feel more relevant to you than another, but the truth is each of them has the potential to hold you back in the other areas.

Take your finances and wealth building. A mid-level health wall may mean you don't have the energy and confidence to go after your dreams and ambitions to grow your income and raise your value in the market.

A mid-level relationship wall may mean you lack the connection, trust and understanding you desire with your partner. Fights around money will emerge if your money lenses (more on this later) clash in an already charged area of life, and getting on the same page can be a real challenge.

A mid-level work wall may trap you with the promise of a steady paycheque, sacrificing your potential, day after day leaving you feeling unfulfilled and earning only a fraction of what you're worth.

Most people I meet want more out of life than they are currently experiencing: more happiness, experiences, joy, meaning, money and choices. But the biggest risk of all in life holds them back: they are trapped by fear.

It's not your fault

It might feel like I'm laying the blame squarely on your shoulders for where you are in life and how you're feeling, good or bad. I'm not, but I am a big believer in taking total and unequivocal responsibility for your own actions and results.

The truth is that most people have been trained to live within the confines of their walls and ‘the middle’ their entire life.

Family and friends

When you were young you felt like everything was possible. If someone asked you what you were going to be when you grew up, the sky was the limit!

Then, bit by bit, your dreams and imagination were tempered by experience. Was it your parents or caregivers who told you to ‘get your head out of the clouds’, ‘be realistic’, ‘grow up’, ‘be responsible’ and ‘no, you can't have [or be] that'? Or perhaps you simply modelled your behaviour on their example.

But slowly you began to form a belief — conscious or unconscious —  that maybe all those things you once thought possible were beyond your reach.

Education

The education system teaches us to colour within the lines, dress in a specific way, stand in a straight line, act in uniform ways and do what we are told. Every student is taught and graded in the same way, following the same standard curriculum, despite each of us being different. Hang on … what if we don't learn in that format? What if our natural skill sets lie in other areas, and we deliver best results in different formats?

We're programmed to believe in uniformity. We're rewarded for adhering to established rules and discouraged from thinking outside the box. As impressionable youths, we prioritise acceptance over exploring our unique genius and forging our own paths.

Society

You graduate and step into responsible adulthood — which you already know entails being a reliable, hard worker — and you fall into the ‘work to pay the bills’ financial slavery system. The rules are established and the entire pathway of your life is laid out before you, because that's what everyone else does so it must be right.

We do what we've been taught to believe is right and become just another functioning cog in an economic wheel of the middle of society. Middle-level happiness. Middle-level satisfaction. You don't have to think too much; you just have to follow along.

Raising your zero line

Most readers (and that includes you) have picked up this book for one of two reasons. Perhaps you have reached a point in your life, much as I did when I was younger, when you're feeling disillusioned. You're thinking, Is this all there is? Surely there's a better way? And you're actively looking for solutions to get out of ‘the middle’.

Alternatively, things have become too painful for you to stay where you are in life. Your level of dissatisfaction has convinced you of the need for change, that staying where you are is no longer an option.

Both of these conditions tell me you want more out of life than the middle tends to offer. You want more choices, freedom and meaning.

So what is it going to take?

You've been operating at a certain frequency in your life to date, but that frequency is not going to get you to where you want to go. It's time to level up. It's time to ‘raise your zero line’ (see figure 1.1, overleaf).

Your zero line is the minimum standard to which you've been holding yourself to date. Think of it as your internal thermostat. Drop below your zero line and your thermostat kicks in and heats up your urgency and actions until you regain your zero. When you begin to ease off on the gas, the urgency fades, complacency settles in again and it's back to business as usual.

Figure 1.1: your zero line

Perhaps you didn't take the pedal off the gas and, heaven forbid, you rose above your zero line and started to exceed your previous results. What could possibly be wrong with that? It might sound like exactly what your thinking mind wants. But many people are just as uncomfortable with success as they are with failure. So the thermostat kicks in to cool things down. It's too hot in here. Let's cool this baby down — right back to where we have always done things, because at least we know what to expect here and we feel comfortable.

The Greek poet Archilochus famously said, ‘We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.’ I'll swap out the word ‘training’ for ‘standards’, meaning our ways of thinking, deciding and acting consistently over a period of time to generate a particular result.

Raising your zero line means raising your consistent way of thinking, deciding and acting and committing to a new standard, which will generate a new result. Over time this becomes a part of who you are. It's no longer an effort; it's just your new way of being and then — the next level!

You know your zero line has changed. It doesn't mean you might not fall below it from time to time, and in fact you're probably guaranteed to do that. Accept this and decide now, ahead of time, how to respond when you do. Now you are no longer in a reactive state; rather, you are intentional and purposeful.

So ask yourself, What has been the zero line I have been operating at to date? Then ask, What's the new zero line I want to commit to operating at?

What about the zero line for your finances, for what you earn, for how much money you have in the bank, for your investments and how many income streams you have coming in?

Get back into your way of thinking when you were younger, when everything seemed possible. Did you know when you were younger that you were meant for more than what you might be living in your life right now?

This isn't to say that taking care of your finances and building wealth is going to solve all of your challenges in life. It won't. What it does, though, is it gives you back your life. It means no longer spending your time on the treadmill of life exchanging time for money on the never-ending work to pay the bills merry-go-round.

Financial security gives you choices for how you want to live and experience life. It gives you opportunities you could never access before because you lacked the resources. It allows you to take care of yourself and your family in every way that is meaningful to you.

It gives you the safety and certainty to go after something bigger in life, knowing your home base is covered.

It allows you to say no when you need to, and to be self-reliant. It gives you control over your and your family's future, so no matter what comes your way in life, you can handle it.

Money means choices.

I know all this, and even making the decision to change, sounds easy. But you can do that right now in this moment and never look back. Following through can be tougher. It takes courage.

It means challenging old belief systems, many of which are firmly entrenched and reinforced over decades.

It may mean intentionally choosing to spend more time with certain people and less time with others.

It means embracing change, including new habits and ways of thinking and doing.

It means following the road less travelled.

The good news is that just as there was a well-worn pathway that led you to the middle, there's another pathway that will help you escape it. It is a path to a different quality of life. A life where you realise your full potential.

It's a pathway to greater meaning, greater wealth, greater choices, greater giving, greater thinking. And it's available to you if you make one simple decision. You must decide to escape the middle once and for all and go after your potential.

So are you ready?

Let's go.

Power points

The middle is the place of unrealised potential.

There are four mental walls people tend to erect unconsciously to keep themselves safe:

The

relationship wall

represents the ways you hold yourself back in your relationships.

The

money wall

reflects the fears you have about money, debt and investing.

The

work wall

constitutes the professional comfort zone you've built for yourself.

The

health wall

reveals your physical, mental, and emotional habits and routines.

Success in life is interconnected: your health, wealth, relationships and career influence one another. The quality of each can either accelerate or limit your progress.

You've been conditioned to live within your mental walls by influences like family, friends, education and societal expectations. Whether or not you stay there is up to you.

To break free from past conditioning you must raise your

zero line

.

Your zero line, like an internal thermostat, is the minimum standard you've been holding yourself to. When you dip below it, urgency kicks in until you return to your baseline. But once you ease up, complacency creeps in, and things revert to the usual. To grow, you must continually raise that zero line by challenging your standards.

We don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our standards.

Raising your zero line means elevating your consistent way of thinking, deciding and acting. By committing to a higher standard, you'll generate new and better results.

Money is a unit of choice.

CHAPTER 2IT'S NOT ALL RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS

Success in investing isn't just about learning what you should be doing in your portfolio, such as understanding what direction you should pursue, what specific actions you should take, what assets to buy or income streams to generate, and what modes of thinking can accelerate your wealth and help you make better decisions.

Investing success is equally about understanding how to avoid the expensive mistakes that can cost far more than just money. Learn from those who have come before you and begin to understand where investors get stuck, where they go wrong, what contributes to the missteps and how they recover.

Let me let you in on a little secret: your journey isn't aways going to be rainbows and unicorns. Things will go wrong. Anticipate it, accept it and move on. It is your ability to dust yourself off, reassess, refocus and keep building that will dictate whether you succeed or fail as an investor.

We all know that our greatest challenges often become our greatest learnings, and this is where self-awareness meets wealth building. That's certainly been my experience. Goodness I've stuffed some things up, but I got back up, dusted myself off and kept building.

I want you to be able to withstand whatever challenges come your way, to stay strong in a storm, rebuild when needed, grow and expand when the time is right, and ultimately to become truly empowered, so money becomes merely a tool that permits you to live a full life and do good in the world.

On the journey toward investing success, be a student of your own experiences and those of others who came before you. Learn these lessons, so you don't repeat the same mistakes.

I'll share a few of my own with you here.

Broken and broke

Before I got into the world of investing I was a personal trainer working long hours, desperately trying to get ahead. By age 19 I felt burnt out. I'd spent the past year falling sick repeatedly because I was overworking and under-resting, and my health felt broken.

After surgery on both legs due to overuse injuries from high-level sports (judo at the time), my body too felt broken. Even my relationship felt broken because I had no time to invest in it. What's more, despite working 16-hour days, I was financially broke.

My belief about creating success at the time was very simple: the harder I worked, the more successful I'd become. It was the rule that governed much of my life.

Later I would discover that many — and I mean tens of thousands of the investors I've taught over the years — had begun by following