Money. Freedom. Respect. Fame.

These are some of the many promises of the all holy entrepreneurship.

In recent years there’s been a flood of blog posts, eBooks and video courses on why and how to become an entrepreneur. “How to Make Money Online.” “How to Make $5k Per Month in Passive Income.” “How to Tell Your Boss to Go Screw Himself and Live Your Dreams.” “…in 3 Easy Steps!”

“How could she do something like this to me?” said a voice in my head. All the time. Every day.

Back in 2011, when everything had gradients, iOS icons made sense, and people used deodorants, I was stuck in middle of a pretty bad depression due to my divorce.

Thankfully, I think I was smart enough (and had great people around me) so I found ways to stay afloat…

Focus on what’s important, and NOT the method/tool used to get the result you want. 

Think of ONE thing that’s killing your time right now.
Then, and only then, should you scan this list and look for a solution to that one thing.

I used to think it was a silly waste of time to think about a vision for my life. Who does that? It seems to touchy-feely, too Tony Robbins-ish.

But then, as I started learning how to change my life and my habits, I realized something: people avoid creating a vision for their lives because they believe the exercise is futile. Why make a vision when it’s impossible to accomplish those things anyway?

I’ve also noticed something over the past several years…

You can gather all the information in the world, but it won’t create any tangible results in your life unless you consistently take action on what you learn.

That is why understanding how to create a new habit is so important.

Let’s have a look at the most powerful strategies I’ve found for doing that…

When I was 17 years old, I used to work and study for about 20 hours a day. I went to school, did my homework during breaks and managed a not-for-profit organization at night.

At that time, working hard landed me countless national campaigns, opportunities to work with A-list organizations and a successful career. As I got older, I started thinking differently.

I realized that working harder is not always the right path to success. Sometimes, working less can actually produce better results…

On April 2, I put myself to a new challenge. It was one of the biggest life hacks I’ve ever done.

If it works for me, maybe it works for you!

The challenge was simple: waking up 21 consecutive workdays at 4:30 a.m., a challenge I gave the name of #21earlydays.

I was already used to waking up early (6 a.m. almost every day), but this time I wanted to go further.

I wanted to test myself and be more aware of my own limits. And at the same time, my idea was to share my progress with the world and try to change some preconceived ideas that society obliges us to follow…

You think the title’s too much huh? Don’t blame me- blame Thomas J. Stanley.

Who’s that you ask? Thomas was a writer who spent 20 years studying American millionaires and patterns in their habits. The result of all his research was the bestselling book, “The Millionaire Next Door”.

This book was recommended by several great finance bloggers, so in turn, I recommend it to you.

If you don’t have time to read the whole thing, you’re in luck! This letter is for you. I tried to condense the book’s ideas into 5 rules…

People hardly do what they say. That was also the story of my life.

So for the next year or so I spent thinking, reading, and researching to find the principles my mentor was talking about.

I asked myself: What are things that people talk about, but they never do?

Here’s what I came up with until now…

Most of us have, at some point, considered what we would do if we could travel back in time. Maybe we would give ourselves some hot investment advice and become millionaires, or change history for the better, or witness our favorite historical event.

If I could travel back in time and do one thing, I wouldn’t cheat on the stock market, or kill Hitler. I would simply give myself a few words of advice.

What follows are some of the most important lessons I’ve learned in life- from books, from hard-fought experience, from friends, teachers and mentors much wiser than myself…