This book ranks among the most influential books in my life, no doubt. Many lessons and pieces of wisdom Felix shares here have contributed to shaping my perspective of the world, and will probably remain with me for the rest of my life. I finished the book over a month ago but didn’t get to write a review until now.
Don’t let the title fool you — this is absolutely not one of those self-help, get-rich-quick tutorials. It’s mostly a down to earth memoir of a multimillionaire doubling as a collection of advice for the entrepreneur wannabes.
The reason why I enjoyed this book so much is that Felix wrote it in a deeply honest, candid, and helpful manner. He simply penned the book to provide the personal wisdom he had amassed over the years. He had no intentions of making money or fame off the book, so that is exact what it is — frank advice and wisdom from an incredibly successful old man passed down to the next generation. No bullshit.
Here are some of my personal impressions and takeaways after finishing the book.
There are plenty of intelligent people out there, but most of them are bound by fear.
This is something I’ve only kind of understood over the years, and Felix’s observation has really reinforced my understanding of how society works.
Society is full of intelligent and capable people. I’m probably not smarter than that struggling college student or that office worker or that housewife. Really, most of us possess roughly similar brainpower and capacity. Most of us, if we push ourselves beyond our limits, are capable of achieving the unbelievable.
The key point here is that most people are too sensible and fearful to escape their comfort zone. Felix cites several examples of people he knows, but it all boils down to how most of us are afraid of losing our social status, of the potential embarrassment of failure, or of being ridiculed. We prefer the safety and comfort, the simplicity and predictability of an ordinary life — the path of least resistance, over the risks, the pain, difficulties and hardships of starting a high-risk business.
To be fair though, this is only a logical choice. The majority of businesses fail, and the destructive financial, social, physical, and emotional toll that comes with an entrepreneurial journey is often vastly underrated. Steering clear of a path filled with suffering is absolutely a sound decision.
Nurture talent and delegate.
This is kind of a no-brainer, but it should serve as a good reminder that nobody becomes successful alone. You need to employ the help of others, and what’s even more crucial is finding people more intelligent than you are and let them flourish.
Money does not bring happiness. It brings choice.
Towards the end of the book, Felix makes it clear that if it is happiness that you’re looking for, then money will not be the answer. Full stop.
It’s easy to think that money is the end all be all of life, that every problem in our life can be solved with money. The culture of materialism and consumerism we live in only further propagates this notion.
Well, if we actually break this down, let’s look at the reasons why people want to acquire wealth:
- For social status: wealthy people receive more admiration right? I disagree. If it is respect that you’re after, you’re much better off contributing in a more meaningful way. A teacher, a doctor, a community leader, or even a dedicated street sweeper all receive gratitude and appreciation from those around them. That kind of status is a lot deeper and substantial than just having money.
- For happiness: buying expensive things makes us happy right? I disagree. This is such a stupid idea. You know the cliche — when you ride a Honda Wave, you long for an SH. When you have an SH, you want a small Toyota. When you have the small Toyota, you want the Mercedes. The desire for wealth never ends, and along with it the relative threshold for your happiness is constantly raised. It’s a lot better to learn to be content with what you currently have, and learn to find joy in cheap hobbies, than to constantly desiring a bigger house, fancier clothes, or more expensive vacations.
So to summarise — I believe that status and happiness, the two ultimate pursuits behind the desire for wealth, can be achieved just as well through other means. You do not have to be rich to be respected or to find joy.
Felix says that money does not bring happiness, but it brings choice. I can kind of understand this, as in you have the choice to engage in expensive hobbies or to satisfy any of your ridiculous fantasies, but I don’t think it matters that much. Really, when you’re used to a frugal lifestyle, and when all your pastime are all poor man’s hobbies, then money doesn’t even come into the equation.
Later on he even says that it’s not even worth it, considering the havoc the pursuit of money will wreak on your mental and social well-being. So yea, I’ll listen to old man Felix on this one and believe his advice: money does not bring happiness.
Develop a hobby early and don’t blow money on hedonistic pleasures i.e drugs and women
This one is pretty simple but profound. He advises readers, especially the young, to make sure that they find what makes them happy early. Develop a hobby, find your source of joy, and nurture it. It’ll pay great dividends when you grow older.
This is a lot similar to a Reddit post I saved several years ago that emphasises the importance of developing a hobby in your 20s.
He also expresses deep regret in having blown over $150m on drugs and women. That’s… a lot of money. I can’t wrap my head around that figure. This dude must have experienced all the decadent, preposterous sexual and drug-induced euphoria possible to man.
But, he makes it clear that this was a mistake. He would have been far, far better off spending those years and that money on the two things that he truly enjoys — poetry and tree planting. He later goes on to retreat to his cottage in a tranquil island to write poetry, and he also actively builds a massive forest in the middle of England. This, he says, is when he is most happy and content with is life, as opposed to that period of extreme hedonism.
So this is something I’ll take old man Felix’s words for again. Forget women and drugs. They’re all frivolous pursuits. Instead, dig deep down, experiment, and find what brings you that inner joy and bliss, and stick to it.
If you’re young and healthy, you’re already richer than most.
This is something I’ve already touched on in an earlier post. Towards the end of the book Felix reiterates the point: if you’re young and in flawless physical conditions, you’re already richer than any older person can ever be. Health is priceless. Even Felix’s hundreds of millions cannot buy this.
Final thoughts
I’ll be re-reading this book at least a few more times. I’d love to have a chance to meet this guy one day to show my gratitude, but it’s a shame that he ended up dying so young which seems to be a result of his lifestyle. Dude doesn’t do exercise, is quite overweight, and heavily consumes drug and alcohol while fully admitting that he knows he will end up dead before 70. I don’t condone this at all (obviously).
He also makes it clear that our life, our actions, do not matter under the scale of time and the universe. We’re all made from stardust and will end up as dust in the wind. Even though Felix is tremendously rich, his company having employed and influenced hundreds of thousands of lives, and even though he has experienced all the finest life has to offer, his existence will eventually fade away and be forgotten just like billions of others. It’s important to keep that perspective in mind and live our lives accordingly.