The Get Rich Quick and Get Rich Slowly Mindsets Are Damaging Your Potential — There’s a Better Way.
Steady as she goes.
Hi there! 👋 My name’s David - I’m a writer and solopreneur from Northern Ireland. In this publication, you’ll find a growing archive of resources (created by myself and a collection of valued guests) for those hoping to become - or grow as - solopreneurs. While you’re here, you should also check out:
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“I went from 0 to $10,000 a month using this strategy, bro.”
You’ve probably seen a hook line like that on social media at some point. It’s usually followed by:
“I’ll teach you how to do the same in my $900 online course, on sale at $450 — get it now, bro!”
Get rich quick schemes are — almost without exception — complete poppycock.
That’s right. Poppycock.
If you see someone spouting too-good-to-be-true promises about easy ways to make six figures a year by working two hours a day, keep on scrollin’.
However, I think there’s another equally-damaging misdirection out there on the interwebs. It’s the exact opposite of Get Rich Quick and no-one’s talking about it: Get Rich Slowly.
The waiting game is stacked against you
Look, money isn’t everything. Of course it isn’t. Family, peace, health — there’re a lot of rungs above money on the ladder of life.
But the people who sell the idea that you need to wait years and years before making any serious money are doing you a disservice.
I’ve heard authors talking about how they had to wait over a decade to get their book published because they had to query literary agents for so long, and then wait even longer for their submitted novel to be accepted by a publisher, and then…
Well, you get the gist. People are often willing to wait for a very long time before they start making money from something they’ve poured their heart and soul into.
Why not start making it sooner?
You don’t have to get rich quick. You probably won’t. The best things — the things that create long-term stability — do take time. Usually a few years.
Ask any successful online creator and they’ll say the same.
But you don’t have to wait to make any money at all. You also don’t have to do it super slowly, leaving it up to fate or the whim of a total stranger.
I propose there’s a third avenue for making money, and it’s this: Get Rich Steadily.
Steady as she goes
When you work for yourself, there’s nothing but blue sky above your head. No limits, no parameters set by other people.
You can, in theory, grow whatever you’re doing exponentially, compounding day by day, month by month, year by year.
It’s not a gradually-inclining curve on a graph, at least not for long.
It’s a diagonal line with no end point, unless you set one for yourself.
Medium and Substack are good examples of this. If you produce a steady flow of quality content on each platform, you’ll gain a following that’ll grow exponentially and put money in your pocket over time.
On Medium, followers + content = monthly earnings.
On Substack, free subscribers converting into paid subscribers = ongoing revenue.
Both of these income streams have humble beginnings but can be grown steadily with consistent effort and iteration.
Start small, grow a community around you, make money early, and don’t stop.
Choose the third way
Don’t jump into a get rich quick scheme and expect it to work out. At best, you’ll be left disappointed. At worst, you’ll lose money. Revenue streams take time to implement when they’re done right.
Equally, don’t wait around for someone else to bestow increased income on you through a slight increase in your salary, or by helping you sell a product you could sell just as effectively yourself. You don’t have to wait to make money.
Get rich (or, to put it another way, financially stable) steadily by:
Building a personal online platform that you can control
Creating rhythms in your working life that you can sustain
Developing sources of income that you can grow
What processes can you put in place (or nurture) to help you get rich steadily in the months ahead?
Agreed. Consistency is key. It's easy to get swept up in the get rich quick or slow growth, especially if you're not seeing results as soon as you'd like. There's so much pressure on social media to "keep up" or "ride the wave".
Great content! Thank you David.