Uncommon Advice: Shortcuts

   Back in the Nineties there was a comedy drama called "All Quiet on the Preston Front". There was an Asian character who was portrayed as pretty successful. He was asked in an episode how he came to have so much money. He replied, "My Father arrived in this country with only the clothes on his back. He got a job in a factory and worked hard every day of his life. Each week when he got paid he would put as much as he could to ensure a better life for his family". Just when we are thinking we've seen a great example of the "American Dream", he completed his story: ".... and then one day just as he was approaching retirement he lost his hand in a lathe and received massive compensation".

   You see, people don't like to mention it but there are shortcuts to wealth in the UK. Let me give you some more examples.

   When I was a Financial Adviser I would often be visited by people who obviously had a bit of cash. Perhaps they owned their house outright, maybe they enjoyed multiple foreign holidays. What do you think was the most common cause of wealth amongst my customers? It wasn't working hard and running your own business. It wasn't studying at Uni to get a fantastic job as a Doctor or Lawyer. Actually there were 2 main reasons - some people had bought their Council House for 2p back in 1983 and then sold it for £150,000 fifteen years later; others had (unfortunately) had a windfall from Life Insurance when a loved one had died.

   There are shortcuts in the workplace too. Whilst with Gala a colleague of mine received regular promotions despite having a very cynical view of the business and spending half his time at work in a drunken stupor. But he had a shortcut system which worked. Every night he would pick up the phone and dial up the Regional Manager. He'd wax lyrical on how well the day had went and how the business was doing so well. During the day he'd call the other Manager in the area and get them chatting (open questions and all that). "How's your Son's Golf lessons going?" and stuff like that. He therefore had the Area Manager thinking he was doing well and all the other Managers in the cluster thinking he was a great guy. When it came to shuffles and promotions he was therefore always treated very well.

   You can also find shortcuts in Education. A relative of mine has a degree despite attending the Uni only once or twice a month. All he did was select a course which was coursework heavy rather than focused on the Exam. He then paid for his coursework to be completed by someone else via the internet.

   There are shortcuts in the Health world too. If you ate Bacon Sandwiches for every meal you'd end up a fat bastard like me, but if you ate Bacon only you'd end up with Tom Daley's physique. To a certain extent that's the Atkins diet in a nutshell. If you don't believe me then read the 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss.

   This is uncommon advice. Many others will tell you to work like hell. I agree that you wont go far wrong if you put your all into an area - I just want you to be aware that there are shortcuts to your goals if you think laterally.

   In my own dealings I have my own shortcut system which I have referred to many times on the blog over the years. The system is basically to take small, low maintenance Micro-businesses and let them flourish at once. You might have a wee job that makes you £20 a month. If that job takes 10 hours to do (like filling surveys) then bin it BUT if that job takes 10 minutes (perhaps being a Strip-o-gram) then more power to your elbow. Collect up enough small short cuts and you'll soon be laughing all the way to the bank.

My current favourite Micro-Businesses are:

• Amazon
• Ebay
• Betfair
• Arbitrage Betting
• Ebooks for the Kindle
• Mystery Shopping
• MLM
• Blogging for Adsense Revenue
• Complaining for profit
• Comping
• Amazon Affiliate
• Debt Collecting
• Courier Work

   If you'd like to help me - or you'd like more info then please get in touch at ross.taylor1@live.co.uk or via twitter @1000moneymakers.