# How To Become Financially Independent

This is one of the questions I get asked frequently and it's a hard one to 
answer. It highly depends on your mindset and the situation you are in. 
But most that do have the right mindset would have already tackled this 
issue because taking initiative and being analytical tends to solve 
problems naturally. Thinking in solutions rather than problems and being 
creative with what you have is what allows you to take advantage of 
opportunities that arise. I did it for example by selling online game 
currency when I was 19 years old and by playing online poker when I was 28. 
After that, I started making a living through advertisements on my YouTube 
channel. This is very specific though and would not work as well any more.

Having the right mindset is explained throughout the book and is crucial 
for being more effective and efficient. It starts by having a clear mind 
and has been mentioned several times so far. It requires mental and 
physical effort but will benefit you greatly in all areas of life. If you 
lack the mental clarity, you will also lack the self-awareness that gives 
you control and allows you to overcome your impulsive nature. Using myself 
as an example, I wouldn't have been able to turn $5 into $300,000 by 
playing poker if I was emotionally invested as that is what makes the 
difference between a losing or winning player. The same applies to stock 
trading for example. It requires a strong detachment from the invested 
money so you can make rational decisions based on statistics. If you let 
yourself get carried away, no matter the advice I give, it won't help much. 
I experienced this the hard way when I wrote an educational software 
program to help my viewers make money playing poker on low stakes tables. 
While it explained step by step how to have an edge on these micro stakes 
tables, many failed to make a profit. I could have written a simple bot 
program that follows exactly these rules and would have made a profit, it 
was not so much the strategy that was the issue but rather the mindset. 
Same goes for tips about the stock market, there are so many books 
explaining how to do it and most traders still lose money. That is why 
working on your mindset as summarized in the chapters of this book will do 
more than any tips I can think of. I do understand that this answer can 
sound unsatisfying and that is why I will try my best to give some 
additional practical advice.

You can more easily become financially independent by having a more 
minimalist lifestyle. Even when grinding a low paying job, you can save up 
quite a bit until you have enough to not have to care about money all the 
time. With your mind being more at ease, you will be in a better spot to 
explore what you can do from there on. This also applies to your mindset, 
because living a minimalist lifestyle can be hard with the constant social 
conditioning that steers you to consume all this stuff you don't really 
need.

Your situation is also an important factor. If you have friends or family 
that can help you get a well paid job, you can make use of that. I would 
say that networking is becoming more and more important when attending 
university since so many jobs require experience and knowing the right 
people often gets you further than having great grades. If your parents 
are rich and don't mind helping out, you can save up quite a bit before 
leaving home. Many young people tend to not care so much about their 
finances until they have to take care of themselves and are in a harder 
spot to do so. Thinking about the real world and preparing for it when you 
are younger can make your life a lot easier when you grow older. Since you 
won't have to worry as much, you will experience less overall stress, 
which helps in making more rational decisions that enable you to become 
better at making money.

A few other practical tips. There are several websites that allow you to 
make money online such as for example leapforce.com and appen.com. I would 
also suggest checking out 'quick macros', it's simple software that allows 
you to record your actions on your computer so you can replay them 
afterwards. If you have a desk job for example, I would highly recommend 
it since it can make your life a lot easier and isn't that hard to learn. 
Just click record, do your stuff and replay it as much as you want. 
Understanding the code is quite simple and it's easy to make tweaks and 
optimizations. This has been a handy tool that has helped me a lot.

In contrast to developing the right mindset, these practical tips are not 
timeless. I don't know if they will still be of any use when you are 
reading this book but I hope they help.