READING TIME: 2 MINUTES

If you haven’t read Felix Dennis’ book, How To Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets, I highly recommend picking up a copy. It’s a quick, fun, blunt read - so blunt in fact that Dennis spends the first half of the book convincing you not to try and become rich, for reasons you have to discover for yourself.

Dennis made his fortune in publishing. He started computer magazines and founded the publication Maxim. I first learned of the book from investor Mohnish Pabrai, listed on a recommended reading list in a lecture he gave to Dakshana students in 2018, among many other great books on investing and wealth creation.

Felix Dennis died of cancer in 2014. But, he leaves behind a gem of an instruction manual on the mental space one needs to be in to become rich. One of the things that stuck with me from the book was the way he talks about fear; specifically, the fear of failure. He argues that it’s one of the most powerful forces preventing people from pursuing real wealth. He breaks it into two components: 1) the fear of lettings others or yourself down and the financial destruction that could follow, and 2) the fear of the embarrassment of failure.

I have battled both of these in my life to some extent. The fear of financial destruction is especially poignant, even if it’s not as realistic as our instincts may indicate. I have made good money my whole life working for others, and I am grateful for those opportunties. A weekly pay check is hard to let go of.

The fear of the embarrassment of failure has had less of an impact on me. I tend to care very little what other people think about me, and that has been a blessing all my life. But every now and then it creeps in, especially with the people I love. The idea of failing publicly in front of them is not pleasant.

So, you struggle with these fears just like everyone else. What is Dennis’ solution to fear? You must learn to say two simple words: Fear Nothing.

And if you internalize these words, Dennis says you will become a predator, not prey. One of my favorite passages from the book reads: “You cannot banish fear, but you can face it down, stomp on it, crush it, bury it, padlock it into the deepest recesses of your heart and soul and leave it there to rot.”

That’s what you must do - you cannot destroy fear entirely, but you can suffocate it by not giving it a moment’s thought. You must certainly think about consequences, and weigh decisions rationally, but you can never let fear stop you from acting. If fear stops you from acting, it has won. You can talk as much as you like about the various enterprises you’d like to build, all the wealth you’ll have one day, and why you deserve that wealth, but until you act, you are nothing.

I have a plaque next to my desk, inspired by the book, that reads: “No fear. Lock it in your heart and suffocate it.” I look at it everyday.

So Fear Nothing and act. That’s what Dennis would do.

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Dennis, Felix. How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets. Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.