To be rich, this is the kind of hustle we all need

Often it’s not how much money you make but what you do with it that counts.

I heard this story about this Chinese woman selling these little buns, for like fifty cents or something like that, in New York City’s Chinatown many years ago. And after maybe decades of working, she bought a building in Chinatown with her earnings. Then from there, she bought others.

You see, she didn’t make much, but she made the little that she had count. Day by day, she saved every cent to maximize her efforts to reach her future goals. She didn’t let her small income hinder her from dreaming big dreams. No, she did what she had to in the short term to enrich her long term vision.

She didn’t spend her money on nice clothes, a nice house, eating out, a Lexus. No, she saved. And, she slaved away rolling those buns before dawn, then spent the rest of the day standing on her feet selling her goods and wheeling her cart back and forth to her corner. And after she saved enough money, she invested and bought an asset that could earn her income. That’s hustle.

But it’s not just any kind of hustle. It’s immigrant hustle. It’s starting small, with virtually nothing but some buns and cart, and ending up NYC landlord rich. It’s knowing that you can compound a life’s worth of work and see incredible gains if you persist and manage your resources smartly.

She knew that even though she didn’t make a lot of money, she could save and not spend. And, this is important—over time, years, even decades, she could invest. She would accumulate assets that would make her rich. That’s the equation that makes the rich rich: saving + investing.

You see, you don’t get rich by living richly. No, you do it by living poorly and investing like the rich. That’s how fortunes are made: little by little until you have more than you can count. Fortune favors the patient and diligent. You don’t have to be an immigrant to practice immigrant hustle, nah. Anyone can do that.

Most of you have a greater advantage than this woman. Imagine what you could do if you heeded her example.

Yeah, you’d be rich.

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