THE LESSONS SCHOOL FORGOT

Contents

About the author

Preface

Part I Revolution

Chapter 1 A lesson about school

STEM is not enough

Time to unlearn

The history of the present

Why change hurts

Incentives shape behaviour

Hack the system!

Chapter 2 A proxy for happiness

The education tightrope

The paperwork

Formal now or formal later?

Pull up your roots

Chapter 3 The future is informal

Discover the entrepreneur within

Self-reliance needs a comeback

The pace of change is super-radical

It’s time to just make stuff up again

The formal institutions really don’t get it

Definitions really matter

Success is a choice

You’re smarter than you think

My school report

Chapter 4 The future of work

Your job is already gone

An independent future

The labour escalator

The hierarchy of human needs revisited

Ignore your weaknesses

Strength-finding hacks

The grade 3 hack

The 10 per cent rule

Quit quickly

Follow your effort

Economics is always major

Part II Revenue

Chapter 5 The truth about money

Are you being or organising?

Why ESTEEM matters

Divide and conquer, economics style

Learning to do both

The jobs and growth hoax

Chapter 6 Money isn’t money

Delivering against a future promise

The three types of money

1. Earned money (wages or salary — high probability — low return)

2. Invested money (equity and property — medium probability — medium return and risk)

3. Invented money (entrepreneurship — highest risk — highest return)

From ownership to access

Wages, profits and tax

Chapter 7 The seeds of greatness

Spent money vs invested money

Where did it go? The necessities confusion

Society says spend

Finance is a game

The three places money can be stored

1. Cash

2. Property

3. Equity

Where to allocate our dollars

The 30 per cent split

It’s bigger than you

Chapter 8 The future of money

The company isn’t real

The ‘turnaround’ hoax

The future value equation

Unions — the false friend

Chapter 9 The best way to invest money

Time and money — the two investments we make

The basics are beautiful

The main challenges to investing

1. Probability

2. Price

3. Patience

Mistaking gambling for investing

The success bias

What makes investments go up in value

Introduction to index investing

Introduction to residential property investing

Financial independence

The financial wealth success ratio

A story about the stars

A story about the rich

How to hack your ratio

Know your ratio

Other advantages of the wealth equation

How to build passive income

Capital always wins

Part III Reinvention

Chapter 10 Portfolio living

How to become … anything

The 10-meeting method

Prove it!

The most valuable thing I’ve ever done

The portfolio of you

You are an entrepreneur — right now

Venn living

Speed, momentum and success

The feedback loop

Chapter 11 Freelancing is rad

A win–win solution

You’re worth more than you think — freelance pricing

Portfolio theory and the projecteers

The greatest freelance hack of all time

Chapter 12 Upskilling

Make the market (people) love you

Become a one percenter

Find human filters

The impact of technology, not how it works

The no-excuse list — how to learn anything for free and change your life

Privileged Johnny vs Hardworking Mary

The ultimate pitch method — how to sell anything to anyone

Tesla

Ikea

Driverless cars

Uber

Chapter 13 Instant startup entrepreneur

All or nothing is terrible advice

Side projects and the MVP

Become an entrepreneur — today

Run an event

Have a garage sale

Set up an eBay store

Start a meetup group

Sell your advice

Make something and sell it

Arbitrage goods

Do commission-only sales

Make a smartphone app

Do a crowdfunding campaign

Your personal brand

Chapter 14 DNA is DESTINY

en●tre●pre●neur

What to teach your kids

Philosophy is greater than tactics

The truth about wealth

Notes

Index

EULA