Accumulating wealth in the modern economy is difficult. This is especially true when you have a net worth of under $100K. For those with a net worth under $100k, most of your income is spent on daily essentials like food, clothing, and shelter.

No matter how much “gurus” tell you to invest, the truth is that you have no money to invest. It's not about bad decision-making; it's a matter of choosing between eating dinner or paying rent.

Despite these challenges, as someone who went from $0 to $1M+, I know there are steps that can be taken even when you have nothing to start your journey to becoming a millionaire. Today, I want to share the steps I have taken to help you start or accelerate your journey to becoming a millionaire.

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1. Mindset

The main reason people don't become millionaires is that they don't believe they can do it and don't commit to it. No matter where you are in life, there is one the path to success if you work to find it. This path may not be easy. It may require you to work three jobs for a few years to save enough to start working and invest in higher paying areas, but I refuse to believe that there is no way and if you want to succeed, you have need the same faith.

Once you adopt one victim mentality and accept the narrative that you are being held in check by people, structures and systems beyond your control, you give yourself an excuse to fail, making it easier to give up.

When I felt that everyone was against me, mine mentality it was simple. I can't change anything, I can't prove them wrong, I can't make it better for the other person in my position, if I don't succeed. Once I succeed, I can help those who are where I was, but until I win in this existing system, I will never have a chance to change it.

2. You are the CEO

You are the CEO of your life. Just like a regular business, your life has income, expenses, taxes, etc. You should treat your finances like a business. Many people understand the idea of ​​profit, income, etc., when applied to a business, but when it comes to their lives, they do not equate salary with income; they do not equal expenses to expenses. They see the salary as compensation for their expenses and the expenses as their pleasures.

If you want to accumulate wealth, you need to run your finances like a business. That doesn't mean you can't set aside for your own pleasure and entertainment, but spending should have a purpose. A car can be an investment in yourself; it helps you get to work, but do you need a $25k car to do it, or can a $5k car do the job?

Another area where this approach works is investing. After accumulating enough wealth to invest, most people fall into the trap of investing in a vacuum. This means they “diversify” their investment without considering the rest of their lives. I started my career as a startup founder; this is a high risk/high reward career path. To balance this, I made sure my investment portfolio was extremely safe, using my investments to hedge my career path.

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Later, in my 20s, I found a steady job while attending law school. Suddenly, my job was secure and I was in school for another job that would be secure, so I shifted my investments to high risk/high reward assets. I knew that even if I lost everything, I would still have an income and get a degree that would give me higher earning potential moving forward.

Seeing yourself as the CEO of your life allows you to make career, spending, and investment decisions that affect all aspects of your life. You can do this in a way that no financial advisor (who only sees a small part of your life) can.

3. Financial knowledge

If you are not financially literate, then you will not be able to accumulate wealth. Understanding which debts to pay off first (based on the interest charged), the risk/reward proposition of different assets, how to balance your portfolio, etc. is all a product of financial literacy.

Unfortunately, this is not taught in school. However, you should use tools like to YouTube to gain a basic level of financial knowledge before making any investment decisions, including consulting an “expert”, many of whom make commissions based on selling financial products.

4. Leverage time

Time is the one asset that young people have that older generations don't have. Whether it's pursuing an education, pursuing an interest, or taking on a 70-hour-a-week job, there are many ways you can use your time to turn it into wealth. This is truly the most viable strategy anyone in their teens or 20s can use today to start building wealth. While you're free from the responsibilities of parenthood and decades away from retirement, find ways to turn that extra time into cash.