5 assets anyone can start growing today

Everybody wants to have assets. It seems like having them is the way to success. In a perfect world, I would have a billion dollar net worth made up of assets like stocks, real estate, gold, etc.

The problem is that getting those things would take a lot of money that I don’t currently have.

So if I need assets to be successful but I can’t afford to buy them, what am I supposed to do?

That question is something I’ve thought about a lot, and a few years ago I started to put together a solution for myself.

A few years later, here’s that solution: 5 assets we can all start building for ourselves right now.

#1 - Books

When I buy a book that gives me an answer to a problem, I can use that answer to help me reach my goals.

But even better, if I come across a similar problem in the future, I’ll know where to go in the book to find the answer so I can apply it to the new situation. A book that I’ve read and can reference back to when needed is a gift that keeps on giving. In other words, it’s an asset.

The more of these I can add to help me solve problems in the different areas of life, the more assets I feel like I have.

One thing that’s helped me…

1. retain the information from the books I read better and
2. be able to recall the solutions I found quickly

… is writing a book summary after I read a book. Here’s an example. The same template I used in the example(the words in bold) is something you can use for yourself if you don’t know where to start.

#2 - Credit

One great book I bought a couple of years ago is called “I Will Teach You to be Rich” by Ramit Sethi. At the time I read the book, I had never gotten a credit card before and I didn’t really have any credit history. But the book made me look into getting started.

I didn’t see credit as an “asset” until I got my first rewards card. That card gave me travel points for spending a certain amount of money in the first few months of having the account. For a $90 yearly fee and a few months of moving my rent payment to my new credit card, I got 80k points, or $800. One thing I got with the money was a new laptop(the same laptop I’m writing this blog post on).

That said, I put in $90 and got back $800 to just switch my payment method for rent. That’s a good investment. And as my credit score grows I get access to better cards so I can do the same thing again.

#3 - The contacts in your phone

We all have contacts in our phone. But out of your contacts, how many have we been in touch with in the last 6 months? For most people that isn’t many. And that sucks because it’s a lot harder to ask someone for help when you need it if you haven’t talked to them in a while or offered them any help.

So the value in having contacts is that if I need something(which I don’t too often), I can always feel okay asking. And even better, some people just bring me opportunities without me even asking.

I’ve found that it doesn’t take too much effort to invest in this asset. Personally, I can keep up with a lot of people by just messaging one person in my contacts per day. To make things easier I have a few scripts for first messages that I personalize before sending. This part makes reaching out to someone pretty easy. I wrote a quick guide to get started with this here. Hope it helps!

#4 - An online following

The reason that I see online followers(or an audience) as an asset is because if your following gets large enough and you mention a product or service that you have, you’ll have a much easier time getting attention on it than if you had no following.

It just makes life easier to have access to other people’s attention. I’ve tried to consistently “invest” in this asset by posting on at least one of my social media profiles once a day. Doing this consistently can be tough(I haven’t been perfect at this), but over time this will help random people find you and your profile.

#5 - Health

The similar theme between the assets we’ve talked about up to this point is that while none of them cost a lot of money to buy into, they all take some sort of time or effort to grow.

This is different from assets like stocks, real estate and gold that have a high barrier to entry because they usually cost a lot of money to buy into and grow.

While our alternative assets don’t require a lot of cash to invest into, they do require another resource. That resource is energy. Think about it:

• For a credit card you’ll have to do research every 6 months or so. For an audience you’d have to post once or twice a day. For relationships you’ll have to message or email someone once a day. For books you might read or pay attention to an audiobook in the morning. All of these things take energy.

So to give us as much energy as possible, we’ll have to invest in the fifth and final asset on the list, health.

More than effort, this asset takes discipline. Eating well and exercising on a regular basis can be tough, but it’s worth the return on energy over time.

To “invest” in this asset, I try to workout, walk, or stretch once a day. As well, I try not to eat more than twice in a day(this includes snacks) and I stop eating as close to 7 pm as possible. I try not to eat late at night because that’s when I’m gonna go to sleep, and it’s harder for food to digest when I’m asleep than when I’m awake.

In my life, when I’ve done those things I’ve felt good and looked at least decently fit(not a 6 pack, but not a dad bod either). And when I haven’t, I’ve had a dad bod, and I’m not a dad.

Conclusion

In conclusion, investing in these 5 assets over the last one to three years hasn’t made me a millionaire or mega famous. But they have left me better off than I was before. I have a lot less worries than I had a few years ago, I enjoy my life, and I’m in a much better position to start buying things like stocks, real estate and gold than I was back then. That’s a step in the right direction.

If you wanna take that same step, here’s some of the things from this article that you can start doing today. These things are tough to do consistently if they aren’t already a part of your routine, so try out one at a time and just don’t skip 2 days in a row:

• Go get a book or audiobook that would either help you solve a problem you’re currently having in life or grow a skill. Then, instead of watching YouTube or listening to music in the morning, listen to the audiobook.
• Do some research on how you can grow your credit and start earning reward points. The best resource I found to guide me on how to do this was Graham Stephen. If you’re getting your first card, just search “Graham Stephen first credit card” on YouTube.
• Reach out to one person in your contacts every day and offer help(within reason) whenever there’s an opportunity.
• Post something on at least one of your social media accounts every day.
• Workout, walk, or stretch once a day. Besides that, eat less than 3 meals a day(including snacks) and avoid eating late at night.

Have a business or personal goal you’re currently going for but struggling to reach? I’ll help you put together a game plan to get it done. You can sign up for one for free at goaldoctors.com. We’ll be happy to help! — from Nick