The Bar Has Never Been Lower

If you're reading this, you probably are someone in their mid-20s or early 30s who is seeking financial freedom. The fact that you're interested and have any desire at all to be successful already puts you ahead of most people.

Why?

Most people are comfortable with just getting by.

Think about it. What do most people talk about? Negative things.

They talk about how the economy sucks, but go out to eat 3-4x per week.

They talk about how their job sucks, but don't do anything to give themselves the skills to change it.

Do we see the trend?

Complaining Is Easy

The average person loves to complain. It's wired in our DNA and it's called negativity bias. We are designed to seek out threats because avoiding them helps us survive.

The problem is that it's not 1774 anymore and we no longer have to hunt and gather just to survive. Life is just easy enough that most problems aren't motivating enough to change them.

You can hate your job without quitting.

You can hate your finances without changing your spending.

You can hate the way you feel without changing the way you live.

The pain is real, but most of the time it isn't painful enough to force action.

Now I'm definitely not saying that bad things don't happen - they definitely do. But you can't let those bad things pile up to become excuses for why you're not even trying.

The funny thing about it is that many people would read this and know that I'm right but come up with another excuse to not do anything or dismiss what I'm saying.

We’re Constantly Told There’s Nothing We Can Do

So this is the underlying issue we have as a society (not just a generation) and it only gets even more ingrained in us when every other headline talks about how Gen Z will never be able to afford a house or why Doritos being $7 a bag is a sign of future economic collapse.

They all preach that there's nothing you can do about it besides sit there, struggle, and complain.

The point I'm making here isn't that you need to work 80 hours per week or become some productivity psychopath who wakes up at 4:00 AM, takes an ice bath and listens to motivational podcasts before sunrise.

You really don't have to be that extreme.

The bar is honestly much lower than that.

Basic Discipline Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

You just need to be willing to consistently do the basic things that most people know they should do but never actually do.

If you don't like your job, maybe instead of doom scrolling you go learn a skill. AI is to the point where it can help you learn almost anything if you just put in a small amount of effort.

If you don't like the way you look, meal prep or cook whole foods at home. For a lot of people, doing this alone would be a huge improvement.

If you're underwater in your finances, watch Caleb Hammer and learn the basics of financial management. Have the discipline to say no for now and then you can have whatever you want later.

A lot of people are going to read this and make the excuse of "with what time am I supposed to do all this?"

And to that I would say "look at your screen time" and tell me you don't have time again.

Okay I think you get the point.

The Bar Is Low

In summary, the average level of discipline, initiative and willingness to actually change something is shockingly low.

I used to think, "Wow. Our society is doomed."

But now all I see is the greatest opportunity in all of history to be something exceptional.

The bar is low.