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Required Reading:

How F.U. Money By Dan Lok Will Change Your Entire Perspective About Side Hustling

Today, I’m so excited to introduce you all to the first post in my series, Required Reading For Entrepreneurs. Changing your mindset about money is critical for any online entrepreneur, and it doesn’t have to be difficult. Each book recommended in this series is a book I have read and loved. So, I want to pass my insights long to you. These books are changing my life, let them help you change yours.

To start, who remembers what I wrote in my very first post?

Anyone?

Okay, here’s a refresher:

It’s true that money can’t buy you happiness. But what most people won’t tell you—especially people who say that—is that money CAN help you achieve the freedom you want to pursue things that will make you happy.

I posted that on July 19, 2018. Exactly one month later, on August 19, 2018, I was scrolling through Facebook before going to bed. I know that basically ALL the experts say that’s a bad idea, so oops. I’m working on being better with my bedtime screen time. Anyway, that night, I acquired a copy of Dan Lok’s book F.U. Money – Make As Much Money As You Damn Well Want And Live Your Life As You Damn Well Please. You can buy it now on Amazon. Affiliate (which it is) or not, I highlight recommend it.

Yeah, the title jumps out at you, just a little bit. And yeah, F.U. Means what you think it means. I’m not afraid of a few swear words (my favorite four-letter word starts with ‘f’). That’s definitely part of why I decided to take a closer look. And what I found REALLY spoke to me, and to my goals as a side hustler and online entrepreneur. Lok’s book starts off with an introduction that’s also a warning. Some readers may not like this book, for reasons of profanity (less so) and blunt truth telling (much more so). I fear neither, and kept reading.

I devoured the book in a few days, and on August 23, 2018, I’m working through my second read-through.

Why?

Because of sentences like this:

“Don’t you just hate it when people tell you that money can’t buy happiness?” – Dan Lok, F.U. Money, page 49

Sounds just like what I wrote in my Introductory post, am I right?

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Required Reading: What F.U. Money Is All About

This book is all about teaching its readers about F.U. Money, or, how to use online businesses to generate passive income. That passive income becomes your F.U. Money, because it’s the money that you make so you can say “F.U.” to your day job and working for someone else. F.U. Money can mean a lot of things to a lot of people – for me it’s freedom. Freedom to do what I want, when I want, and not be beholden to the hours I have to put in at my day job. It means I can get out there and teach others how to escape the grind we’re all taught is our only path in life.

I’m not the only person who’s not made for a job behind a desk. I just need something to open my mind and show me what that new direction could be.

Now, Lok has made a lot of money through his businesses, but he also is very detailed about what he did to lead to his failures. He also talks about how he uses the principles of the F.U. Money mindset do dig himself out. That’s how he ultimately found success.

Required Reading: Why F.U. Money Is NOT About Trading Hours For Dollars

One of the core principles of F.U. Money is that it’s NOT about trading hours for dollars. There are only so many hours in a day, and so many dollars you can charge. It’s simply not feasible or scalable to be trading hours for money. That’s the live 90% of people live now, and it’s the lives we’re trying to get OUT of.

I really learned that the hard way after I left my first full-time career, working in sports. I was aimless, anxious, and a real mess, and thought the way was to hustle for peanuts on websites like Fiverr. Turns out, that only made things worse.

Sure, you can make good money trading hours for dollars – Lok did too, and he shares his success as a copywriter in the book. But Lok plateaued, realized there had to be another way, and then took that other path (Read more about it in Chapter 25). Not wanting to trade hours for dollars is actually the reason why I quit hustling on Fiverr over a year ago. I realized I was clearly not making the money my efforts were worth, and it wasn’t going to get better. So I got out. It meant sacrificing an income stream, but sacrificing one menial income stream (not even a hundred dollars a month) allows me to focus my efforts on the ones that matter.

Required Reading: F.U. Money Is About Living Your Life Right Now

The number one thing Lok emphasizes is making your F.U. Money, and making it quickly. Now, he’s not saying (and neither am I) that this is about getting rich quick. Not at all. Making F.U. Money may take years, but it’s not going to take decades. That’s what we’ve all been taught. You graduate from college, get a job, put money into your retirement, and compound interest turns that money into what you live off of when you retire.

But—is it really enough money to live of?

More and more, it turns out the answer is no.

Most people aren’t saving enough for retirement, because most people aren’t working for what they’re worth. Millennials especially are statistically underpaid, and are also told that we should be happy to work for less and for longer than the last generation. As I said in my Introduction, I’m not about that life. I want to live now, make my F.U. Money now, and pursue the things I’m passionate about.

I am NOT passionate about spending the next 35 years behind a desk. I know there’s more for me than that.

Required Reading: F.U. Money Means Investing In Yourself TODAY

Don’t wait to live your best life. At the beginning of the book, Lok talks about how he decided to get his pilot’s license, because he loved to fly. Even before he made his F.U. Money, he took as much as he could spare to get it. Why? Because he was serious about his passion. And he didn’t want to wait until he was “rich” to reach for his passion.

It reminds me of one summer a couple years ago. I decided to get a little time and money together and put it into something I’m passionate about. When I was still working full-time in college sports (I’m now a part-time statistician for the institution I used to work at, which is amazing), I decided to actually do something one summer. Summer is when college sports are at their slowest, so I gathered some money together (whatever was left on my paycheck after paying rent and expenses and exorbitant campus parking fees, oh my god the exorbitant parking fees), and signed up for  archery classes.

And it was amazing. I loved it and I wish I could do it more. And you know what? I WILL do it more. Hawkeye has always been my favorite Avenger (Don’t ask me my thoughts about A, his Age of Ultron storyline or B, where the hell he was in Infinity War). I’ve even named my cat Bishop, after the other Hawkeye from Marvel Comics, Kate Bishop. Yes, that’s why my girl cat has a traditionally “boy” name. And as Geena Davis proved, it’s never too late to get into competitive archery. Did you know that Arizona is the hub for Olympic archery? Fun fact!

Not only that, but it was something to look forward to, week to week, which made the slow sports summers go by much quicker.

Required Reading: The F.U. Money Chapter That Changed It All

Now, the next section is going to be my Required Chapters section, but I wanted to take time to highlight Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 is where Lok introduces his concept of F.U. Money Targets (F.U.M.T.s.). An F.U. Money Target gives you something concrete to work toward. Instead of thinking, “I want to be a millionaire, that way I can afford whatever the heck I want,” an F.U.M.T. really breaks down how much it costs to achieve your dream life.

And spoiler alert: it’s not always a million dollars.

Lok even shares his personal F.U.M.T. list, and it’s very interesting to see even how much HIS targets cost. It’s an estimation (and a lot of money), but reality isn’t that far off. And most importantly, it’s an achievable goal to attain a desired lifestyle.

“You may look at this list and realize that you would be happy with a lot less. And isn’t happiness what we ultimately want? You can have all the security and happiness you want.” – Dan Lok, F.U. Money, page 41

Chapter 2 also breaks down the two proven ways to make your F.U. Money, and why one option is MUCH better, and comes much quicker, than the other.

Required Chapters From F.U. Money

In the introduction, Lok says you can take some of his advice, but you can also leave some of his advice right there in the book. If there’s something that doesn’t gel with you, that’s perfectly fine. There is no one-size-fits-all route to making your F.U. Money. Take whatever principles you want and leave the ones you don’t.

That said, there are a few chapters in the book that REALLY jumped out to me. Those are the chapters that I’m going to come back to over and over when I read the book again. And I am going to read this book a third time. And a fourth time. And more times. Why? Because I picked up two different insights in my first two read-throughs, and I’m eager to see what else I can glean.

Chapter 4 is another killer, because that one takes the one of the nine major money myths Lok writes about and turns it on its head. And remember his advice from Chapter 5: you can’t afford to wait to change your life. All the money myths from Chapters 3-10 were things I thought were fact. Turns out it couldn’t be further from the truth. And Chapter 10? That’s the myth that really punched me in the face, so to speak.

But which chapter is my all-time favorite? That would be Chapter 17: The Power Of Setting D.I.G. If you get this book for one reason, it’s to read that chapter. But also, read all the chapters.

F.U. Money – The Next Steps



What’s the next step? Buy the book, obviously.
F.U. Money – Make As Much Money As You Damn Well Want And Live Your Life As You Damn Well Please is available on Amazon. The step after that? Read it at least once, do the F.U.M.A. (The F.U. Money Assignments), and then implement the strategies you learn. Then read it again.

This book isn’t going to be the be-all-end-all, but it’s a fantastic jumping-off point for people eager to escape the 9-5 grind and live their lives on their own terms. I know I’m one of them. It starts by transforming your mindset into that of Lok and the other millionaires and billionaires he’s learned from.

Have you read F.U. Money? Let me know what your favorite part or parts are in the comments below!

More From The Required Reading Series

Required Reading: The Science Of Getting Rich by Wallace D Wattles
Required Reading: Rich 20Something by Daniel DiPiazza
Required Reading: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Required Reading: Winning Her Business by Bridget Brennan
Required Reading: The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

What other books have you read that have expanded your mindset about business? Let me know your favorites in the comments!

How To Start Making Your Own F.U. Money

Web Hosting

Truly, the best way to start on the path to making your own F.U. Money is to have a website of your own. A website gives you credibility, and allows you to a much further reach than any Facebook page or Twitter account will be able to afford. A website that you own will take you higher than any other platform that changes its algorithms on a whim.

I write about hosting my websites in 6 Reasons I Host My Side Hustle On Siteground, and I also write about starting your side hustle in Start Your Side Hustle In 5 Easy Steps. You can get started with a WordPress website, hosted through Siteground for as low as $3.95/month. Not only that, but you can be up and running in less than 15 minutes. It’s that easy.

Don’t forget to pick up your Blog Startup Checklist, so you can be sure you’ve dotted your I’s and crossed your t’s before you launch!

Ready to write an awesome blog post that your audience will devour?

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