Someone reading this is not taking a step in their life because they are afraid of change.

If you were to attempt the step and fail, you would be no worse off than you were before. You would be in exactly the same place. And you could try again.

Fear of change is holding you back.

Imagine what you are afraid of.

Take a minute and just imagine the worst that could happen if you made the change.

• Is that really what would happen?
• What is the most likely outcome?
• What would the benefits be of succeeding?
• How can you make sure the worst outcome doesn’t happen if you try?

Now that you have imagined it, it is not so scary.

Commit to the first step.

Set aside some time and take the step.

Take a vacation day if you have to (or a sick day if you must). This is a change you are making to better your life. It is worth one of your vacation days. If it isn’t, maybe it wasn’t that great of a change to begin with.

Build the momentum.

If it doesn’t work out, try again.

Wasn’t as scary as you imagined was it?

Things didn’t work out and your life is about the same. Except now you are more confident. You have learned some things. You are better prepared for your next attempt.

Go for it again.

After the basic design, I create a simple object that can appear on the screen.

This object will usually become the basis for the player character or a unit the player will control. After I draw it to the screen, I try to implement the basic movement controls.

These 2 simple steps help me build the momentum needed to actually make the game.

Few things stop people more than the empty project.

The hardest thing for most people is the first step.

It doesn’t matter who:

• Blank pages for writers
• Blank files for programmers
• Empty screens for game developers.

Having a framework to follow that gets the first steps going easily is important to consistent results.

If you don’t have an idea, copy one to start.

For some people, they have trouble with the base idea or design.

There are a huge number of games out there (the same is true for programs and articles). If you don’t have an idea of what you want to make, start by cloning one of the classic simple games. Then add some sort of unique twist.

This is especially valuable if you are just staring making games.

Simplify, simplify, simplify.

One reason you might be having trouble starting is you are making the first step too complicated.

Notice my first step has no game logic in it. It is super simple. Draw something on the screen. Your first step and the one after it should ideally be simple enough to do in 15 minutes or less.

If you find yourself struggling, make the next step smaller.

The hardest thing to get right in trading is letting your winners run and cutting your losers quickly.

Something about it goes contrary to our nature. The average person wants to take a profit quickly to make sure it doesn’t disappear. And they want to hold on to a loss hoping for it to come back.

In order to be profitable long term, you have to retrain your brain.

Cut losses quickly.

Before you enter a trade, have a clearly defined stop out.

Many traders get underwater in a trade and then freeze up. They can’t take any actions. Having a clear stop means if the trading vehicle you are using goes to that price, you will get out of the trade no matter what. This keeps your losses small. It keeps you in the game.

A clear plan will keep you from freezing and taking a larger loss than necessary.

Let winners run.

When a trade is going in your favor, don’t be too eager to take profits.

Have a clearly defined area that you expect the stock, option, etc to reach. Have a thesis as to why it will go there. Then let your thesis play out. And if it hits your goal, don’t sell the whole position. Keep a small part on to see where it will go.

If it doubles in value, sell half and ride the rest stress free.

Trade smaller size.

One reason traders get jumpy about their profits and freeze with their losses is they put on too big of a trade.

You have to build up your tolerance both emotionally and financially to put on larger and larger positions. Your risk should never be more than 1-2% of your account. And if you are feeling nervous about that amount, make the position even smaller.

You have to manage your emotions and your money when trading.

Your subconscious is a powerful problem solver.

But it stays quiet while your conscious mind is engaged. Sometimes the answer to a difficult problem comes to you out of nowhere. It just seems to appear in your mind. This is the subconscious giving you the answer.

Here is how you can tap into your subconscious more regularly.

Go to sleep.

You may have heard the expression, “You need to sleep on it,” when it comes to a hard problem.

Sleeping puts the conscious mind to the side and the subconscious takes over. It works thru the problems you have been keeping in your mind. Often I have worked on a problem for hours, go to sleep and almost instantly when I look at it again the next day I see the solution.

When you are facing a difficult problem, make sure you get a good night’s sleep for your best chance at solving it.

Go for a walk with no distractions.

The key here is no distractions.

Ideally this would be a walk thru nature. This takes you away from the stress and pressure that is keeping your mind from being creative. It is important that you do not engage your conscious mind and allow it to rest. No phone, no music with words, just good breathing and walking.

Something about a nice walk lets you access better problem solving.

Meditate.

I am not talking about the “clear your mind of thoughts” kind of meditation.

We are not going for spiritual enlightenment. We are trying to access the problem solving power and speed of our subconscious. The best way I have heard it described was by Tom Bilyeu saying it was like “hanging your body in the closet” while letting your subconscious work.

The idea is to sit with your eyes closed in a quiet or white noise filled room and let your mind sift thru the thoughts cluttering it. If you have not engaged in a meditation practice regularly this may take some time to become effective.

I recommend the method described in the book “Stress Less Accomplish More” by Emily Fletcher.

The 3 books are:

• The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
• I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco

Classic wisdom paired with complete mindset shifts on money.

The Richest Man in Babylon

This book was first published in 1926 and it still holds up.

An easy read and a great place to start, it is written as a set of stories about fictional families in ancient Babylon. The “cures for a lean purse” that it teaches are timeless however.

This is a great book for learning financial basics.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich

Two words that capture the power of this book, perspective shift.

You will not look at your bills the same way ever again. Apartment trying to increase your rent? Ask them not to. The worst they can say is no. Too much month at the end of the money? Look for ways to increase your income.

The 2 key takeaways for me were:

• It is easier to make more than to cut back.
• Look for big wins first (i.e. 20% raise or 5-7% rent reduction)

Millionaire Fastlane

Don’t you want to be a millionaire? Get in the fast lane.

The sidewalk is people who are saving nothing. In fact, they are probably accumulating consumer debt. The slow lane is putting money into a 401k or something similar to be able to retire. The fast lane is building a business.

If you want to be a millionaire before you retire, you should probably start a business of some kind.

Too many poker players are just gambling.

They play low percentage hands. They don’t think about their position at the table. They don’t prepare or practice in any sort of way. This leads to poor overall performance.

Doing the opposite of these three mistakes will put you on your way to cashing.

Only play high percentage hands.

Most beginners play too many hands.

Until the final table you should basically only be playing very high percentage hands. This means AA, AK, KK, QQ, AQ, JJ, and maybe TT. This is especially true from early positions.

It might be boring, but the majority of the time you will be folding.

Always consider your position.

Many beginners don’t think about their relative hand strength.

Your hand gets stronger the more players have folded before it gets to you. And your hand can be relatively weaker if there are many more players acting after you. If someone raises before it gets to you, take that as a warning.

Always think about who has already acted and who still has to act.

Watch a lot of good players.

Absorb high level play.

There are a ton of professionals who stream their gameplay regularly. I learned a ton from Jason Somerville before my first tournament cash. Three Twitch streamers I recommend watching for both entertainment value and quality of play / commentary are:

• @EasyWithAces
• @LexVeldhuis
• @spraggy

Take these tips and improve your game.

Live off of no more than 70% of your income if possible.

The other 30% should be split as follows.

• 10% For Charity
• 10% For Savings and Passive Investment
• 10% Active Investment

This is the basic foundation for building wealth.

Give 10% to those in need.

You have to start being generous when you don’t have a lot.

If you build the habit early, it will stick with you when you become successful. One of nature’s laws is “Give and you will be given to you.” If you give intelligently, you are bettering your community.

Invest in the area you live.

Save 10% in steady, compounding investments.

Pay yourself.

You should do this after you have paid off any debt, especially high interest, and created an emergency fund. I recommend dollar cost average into the stock market. This is the slow but surefire way to build wealth.

This 10% may eventually become your retirement or an inheritance for your family.

Actively try to grow 10%.

Take 10% of your income and try to grow it yourself.

Start a business or buy one. Invest in real estate. Take a course to improve your earning potential. Pick some way to multiply this third 10%. It could even be hiring someone to make a website or app for you.

Don’t be afraid of failing a few times trying to multiply this portion.

Bonus: It’s ok to start smaller.

If you are really stretched, start with 1%, 1%, and 1%.

Then look for ways to increase your income so you can increase those percentages. Do a quick pass over your expenses and cut anything you aren’t using or that is dumb. But it is easier to expand your income than to shrink your expenses.

You can get some more ancient wisdom regarding wealth from a great little book called “The Richest Man in Bablyon.”