If you don’t already have money but you have ambition to be more than a wage slave all your life, there are some well-worn paths for turning the “nothing” you have into real money. It starts with this reframe.
Usual Frame: It takes money to make money.
Reframe: I can turn energy into money.
Obviously the energy must be applied in the right places, and I don’t mean working for a paycheck. I mean working on yourself until others see you as money. Here are some methods for doing just that.
Reciprocity
If you can find a way to provide value to someone at a low or reasonable cost to yourself, you can create an asset out of “nothing.” Humans are wired to reciprocate. Do a favor for someone who has access to many resources, someone who hires people, or someone who knows a lot of people, and your odds of someday getting something tangible in return are good.
Usual Frame: Don’t give something for nothing.
Reframe: Giving triggers reciprocity (on average).
Give More Than Expected
If I could only give you one piece of career advice, it would be to always give more than is expected of you. When you do that, you instantly stand out as a person of character. And doing more than expected is almost always doable. For example, you might go out of your way to thank someone for a job well-done, or you might offer to stay late to help a coworker finish a project. Whenever an expectation about your actions is established, ask yourself what it would take to exceed it. There is no simpler formula for social and career success.
Who is the first person you think of when you think about people who give more than expected? Ask yourself how much you respect that person. I’ll bet you have a favorable opinion, and that’s the point. You can create an asset out of nothing by creating a pattern that says working with you is always a good deal.
Usual Frame: Do your job.
Reframe: Do more than your job.
Networking
Who you know is almost as important as how much value you can add to the world. The more people you know, the more likely someone will recommend you for an opportunity you didn’t know existed. Meeting people and forming connections is a skill, and it won’t cost you much to do it. This book is not a how-to on networking, and frankly I’m not especially good at it. But many people have added me to their networks over the years, and more than a few ended up happy about it. Networking doesn’t guarantee success, but it is by far the strongest way to create something from nothing. You might need to work on your social skills before tackling this. I always recommend the Dale Carnegie courses for that. You can probably find a local class.
You can’t know for sure if you have met all the people who can ever help you in your career, so compensate for that by meeting as many people as you can. Networking is a numbers game. Get your numbers up.
Usual Frame: Success depends on who you know.
Reframe: Success depends on how many people you know.
Working Late
If you have bosses, make sure those bosses see you at work when they arrive and see you still working when they leave. This is especially important for a first impression. Make sure your new boss sees you as the “whatever it takes” person who isn’t afraid of hard work. You might be getting to work five minutes before your boss and leaving five minutes after. That’s all it takes to be in the top 10 percent of most work groups. No one likes to work extra hours for no extra pay, but doing so is free and has a high likelihood of making you stand out.
Usual Frame: Your hard work will be rewarded.
Reframe: The illusion of hard work will be rewarded.
I’m not suggesting you cheat your employer. I’m only saying you will benefit by making sure your employer has the impression you are a superstar worker. Avoid being a self-assured employee who needs no external validation. That can get you fired first in any rounds of downsizing.
Taking Initiative
In a world of followers, leaders stand out. Take initiative any time people are around to notice. It won’t take that much extra work, and it puts you at the top of the promotion list.
Years ago in my banking career, I put together a visual timeline of the bank’s mainframe computer lease expirations to make it easier for management to do capital budgeting. My boss chastised me for spending time doing something outside my job description, but I convinced her to show it to the big boss, a Senior Vice President. His feedback was that it was terrific and solved a big problem, and he wanted to see more like that.
Obviously, the initiative you show must appear valuable or else it is a waste of time, but you can generally predict what will appear valuable.
Usual Frame: Do what you are told.
Reframe: Do what you are NOT told but maybe someone should have.
When you take initiative in front of others, they will trust you are the kind of person who takes care of business when no one is watching. Everyone wants to hire that person. Doing what you are told gets you a paycheck. Doing what you are NOT told (but is useful) gets you promoted. It also prepares you to be an entrepreneur if you want that in your future.
Continuous Learning
As mentioned earlier, a powerful way to make something out of nothing involves building a talent stack—a set of skills that work well together. Learning isn’t free, but it can be close to free if your employer pays for career-advancing classes or if you learn on your own online. Developing valuable skills is the main way any adult turns nothing into something. If you are not actively learning something of potential commercial value—all the time—you might be leaving money on the table.
Usual Frame: Learn what you need.
Reframe: Learn continuously, especially skills that work well together.
Honesty
Honesty is a rare superpower. Outside of family members, you probably only know a handful of people you trust to do the right thing when there are no witnesses.
Keeping your word and being consistent about it creates an asset that is hard to compete with in today’s sketchy world. I have a handful of friends I trust completely, which is an incredible resource for them to have. If any of them asked me for a favor, I would say yes before hearing the details. Each of them created that asset—my potential assistance on some future endeavor—by being high-character people. It cost them nothing.
Fitness
Fitness is one of the most controllable variables for success, so control it completely. It’s like free money. Fitness has a ripple effect that benefits everything from your career to your personal life. We humans are shallow, and we automatically respond to the fitness of people we meet. Get in shape and you will see the difference in how people treat you. When you feel strong and healthy, you can take on bigger challenges, too.
Last night, I accidentally got enough sleep for the first time in four decades or so. I woke up ready to conquer the world, break down any door, slay any monster. Fitness, sleep, and diet are all power boosters if you do them right. And when your personal energy is high, you feel confident you can take on bigger challenges. People will notice and want to be around you.
That’s an asset you built from nothing—all by maintaining your body in a smart way.
Be Dependable
It doesn’t cost you anything to show up to work when you say you will or to complete assignments on time. When you call in sick on too many Mondays and Fridays, you do the opposite. Dependability is an asset you can acquire with a little bit of effort. It’s worth it.
By the time I was fourteen, I had already developed a work habit of showing up early, working hard, not complaining, and not causing trouble in any way. If someone needed a hand, I happily pitched in. None of those things are hard to do. I would have happily hired my fourteen-year-old self for just about any job a teen can handle. Being among the best teen workers for your employer is one of the easiest things you can do. And being among the best adult workers in your group isn’t that much harder. You don’t need to be perfect to succeed. You only need to be better than most of the people with whom you work. And the bar for that is low.