Introduction
Inferno is an Introductory Course
that starts you on The Fenix Path.
Many modern financial concepts and lessons in this course are taught using quotes, metaphors, and ancient wisdom to solidify your knowledge. Because my background is in healthcare, I will sometimes use medical metaphors to drive points home. Our goal is to change the way that you perceive yourself and the world around you.
Fundamentally, financial freedom begins with you.
It’s time to cut the crap. This is not a guide that encourages you to blame your problems on inequality, the economy, white collars vs blue collars, capitalism, consumerism, etc. Sure, all that stuff is a problem and we’ll talk about it, but you need to primarily focus your attention on the things you can change. Personal Finance is a game for which you aren’t taught the rules. The reason you lose this game is because you don’t know how to play. We’ll fix the things you can change and address the big picture stuff at the same time.
Don’t be surprised that personal finance appears to be so complex & mysterious. Honestly, it’s full of overblown hype, confusion, and outright deception meant to discourage you. The point is to make you feel guilty about not doing enough or doing it right. We can’t just blame the system. If we do that, we’re not taking personal responsibility to step up, learn this shit, and get started. When people bitch about why their lives are so shitty, they usually complain about minor things that don’t matter. They do this because it lets them escape the responsibility for their own actions and behavior. Don’t listen to morons. Keep your head in the game. Only take advice from people you would trade places with. If that’s me…continue on. If not, no love lost.
I don’t need you to be an expert. You don’t have to be a Nutritionist to lose weight. You don’t need to be a Mechanic to fix a car. You don’t have to know every little detail about personal finance to be wealthy.
Who will succeed in finance faster?
- Pretentious assholes & know-it-alls with inflated egos who love to listen to themselves argue minor points or suggest buying cryptocurrency as financial advice.
- People who ignore those dumbasses and get started.
Here are some concepts I need you to understand right now:
You don’t have to know everything to get started. You don’t need to be perfect.
Don’t think that you have to follow this path at blazing speeds. This will just cause you to do nothing at all. This is a marathon, not a sprint. To get from financial despair to a place where you can breathe easier could take you 5-7 years…or it could take you 90 days…I don’t know. That’s up to you. Let’s do things one step at a time; how long you need to spend on each step is your decision. Perfection isn’t necessary at first. I’d rather get started and get most of it right than do nothing.
Doing something is better than doing nothing. It’s better to go most of the way than none of the way.
Learn from my mistakes. Make your own.
It’s always better to stand on the shoulders of the people before you.
I have made countless mistakes in my journey. Don’t repeat them. One of the reasons that The Fenix Path works is because your success is accelerated by doing things right the first time, in the order that you are supposed to do them, and avoiding the mistakes of others.
If you want this to take longer, start repeating the shit you did before or ignore the advice of those that came before you.
Ordinary actions get ordinary results.
If you’re hoping to half-ass your way to success or to fix a few things in your life with plans to go screw it up again, just log off and cancel your membership. This isn’t rocket science but you will have to work on this everyday. It gets easier the more you practice, but you will have to make extraordinary changes when you start. If you’re going to start this journey, at least see it through.
If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures.
Musonius Rufus
The Fenix Path is more than just reading.; it’s doing.
I can give you 327 articles about how to wipe your ass the right way but if you don’t do it, you’re not going to learn and the shit will build up.
You are not special. Neither am I.
It doesn’t matter who you are, how much money you make, or where you went to school. Most people are ordinary. Too many people fall in to the trap of thinking they are special, work hard, and DESERVE a nice life. The universe doesn’t give a shit about you and doesn’t owe you anything. You’re working hard for a reason. Deciding that you’re special/privileged/deserving of nice things is bullshit. Your goal is to free yourself. You are stuck in this rat race just like everyone else. You are not special…but you can be.
There’s a difference between wealth and ‘the illusion of wealth.’
I don’t care how much money you earn. It makes no difference. Show me how you spend your money and I’ll predict your future. People with fancy cars, designer clothes/accessories, exotic vacations, McMansions are NOT wealthy. These people are not interested in wealth. They are interested in the illusion of wealth. They care more about how things look and reflect about them. Their source of self-worth is external, not internal.
Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like.
Will Rogers (Printers’ Ink magazine, volume 156, issue 1 (1931), p. 3)
You are not BROKE; you are BROKEN.
Your myriad of problems are just a reflection of who you are. If we fix you, all that other stuff goes away. We don’t fix financial problems. We fix you. The financial stuff is easy. It won’t take you very long to learn. We will spend just as much time on WHY the system is designed to encourage your failure before we discuss HOW to fix your financial problems. In fact, there are 5 books to The Fenix Path…and we don’t even talk about finance until books 4 & 5. We start by changing how you view yourself and the world around you. We help you reflect on your actions and behavior to see it for what it is, not how it looks. We walk you through how to take back command of your life. We show you how to fix this stuff yourself. That way, when you start books 4 & 5, you remind yourself WHY you are doing this and vow never go back to your old life.