Top 5 High Income Skills That Will Make You Rich in 2026

Ready to discover the skills that could skyrocket your success this year? These aren't academic theories. They're practical, in-demand abilities that you can learn without a formal degree. Each skill taps into emerging market needs, offers entrepreneurial leverage, and has scalable impact. Let's dive in and imagine the possibilities each one opens up for your business and income. Skill number 1, AI integration and automation, turning intelligence into income. Okay, so what is it? Here we're gonna leverage AI and automation tools to streamline operations, create smarter products, or even launch AI-driven services. It's using machines to do the heavy thinking or doing for you, from chatbots that handle customer inquiries to AI systems that optimize your marketing or inventory in real time. Here's why it matters this year. The AI revolution isn't coming. It's right here now, and it's rewriting the rules of business. By 2024, 70% of organizations reported using AI in some capacity, up from just 55% the year before. Companies are pouring investments in AI at record levels, over $109 billion in the US in 2024, with nearly $34 billion globally into generative AI. And they desperately need people who can make it work. The catch? There's a huge talent gap. 94% of business leaders say they face AI-related skill shortages on their teams, with 1 in 3 reporting massive gaps in critical AI roles. What does that mean? Demand is way bigger than supply, and that means opportunities for you. Entrepreneurs who are AI-savvy can step in and command premium prices for their solutions. This isn't just for tech companies either. From healthcare to finance, AI is being woven into daily operations. Even the FDA has approved hundreds of AI-enabled medical devices, and self-driving cars are logging thousands of rides right now. The world is racing to adopt AI, and those who can ride that wave stand to reap huge rewards. So how can entrepreneurs profit? Think of AI as a force multiplier for your business. An entrepreneur with AI skills can automate super boring processes, freeing up time to scale faster. You can make smarter products with better features. You can offer AI consulting and integration services to companies who are willing to pay for help. Uh, so for example, a small e-commerce founder might use AI to personalize their shopping experience for each customer automatically, leading to happier customers and higher sales. Or maybe you're launching a micro SaaS tool that uses AI, like a AI scheduling assistant or content generator. Even a one-person business can serve thousands of customers when AI is doing most of the work. The evidence is everywhere. Companies using AI report higher productivity and lower costs, and many have seen AI-driven projects boost their bottom line. One entrepreneur created an AI-powered copywriting service and landed hundreds of clients globally, essentially earning money 24/7 as the AI works for them. The key is that AI is practical and learnable. With countless online courses and tools, you can start applying AI even if you're not a programmer. Many AI platforms are actually plug and play. So this year, knowing how to harness AI is like having a superpower. It's not just about efficiency. It's about unlocking new income streams. From automating your marketing to building the next ChatGPT-like app for a niche industry, AI integration is a skill that can pay off almost immediately. So Embrace it and you ride the biggest tech wave of our era straight towards profit. Now, AI might be the brains, but data is the backbone. So next, let's look at the skills that turn raw numbers into gold. If you've been here before, drop a hashtag #believe in the comments below so I can feature you here in a future video. And if you're new, welcome to Believe Nation, the only channel that helps you believe in yourself daily, one video at a time. Believe. Skill number 2, data analytics and business intelligence. Profiting from big data. Okay, so what is it? It's the skill of collecting, analyzing, and drawing smart insights from data to drive business decisions. So data analytics is like having x-ray vision for your business. It lets you see the patterns and trends that normal people's eyes would miss. So business intelligence, or BI, goes hand in hand, focusing on those who are using insights to make strategic calls. This skill isn't about math genius. It's about knowing which numbers matter and how to translate them into action. So why it matters right now in this year, we live in a world that has tons of data. Every click, every purchase, every interaction, it can be tracked, but few people know how to turn that ocean of information into actual real value. And that's where you can come in. Companies have realized that gut instinct isn't enough. 81% of businesses now believe data should be at the heart of all decision-making, and they're willing to pay handsomely for those who can deliver results. Why? Because data-driven businesses simply perform better. They're more productive and more profitable on average than their less data-savvy peers. Companies that truly embrace analytics have seen efficiencies boost as high as 60 to 80% in operations. It's not just about giant corporations. Even small startups benefit when they can quickly identify which product feature is a hit or which marketing channel brings the best ROI. And this is a very clear trend. The global big data analytics market is massive. It's over $270 billion in value and still growing. And there's a shortage of professionals who can wrangle data effectively. Executives are literally hungry for insights. A recent survey found 88% of business leaders rank data analytics as a top priority for upskilling in the organization. So this year, being fluent in data is like having a secret weapon in your market. You base decisions on facts, not guesses, which is a recipe for winning. So how can entrepreneurs use it? Data analytics can make you rich in two ways. First, by applying it to your own business. You can pinpoint your most profitable customers. You can find inefficiencies to cut. You can test pricing strategies with actual hard evidence. For example, Netflix famously used data analytics analytics to save $1 billion a year by recommending exactly what viewers wanted. So imagine bringing that kind of insight into your business decisions. Secondly, you can sell this skill as a service to others. Many companies, especially smaller ones, they drown in data but have no idea what to do with it. You could come in as a freelance analyst or consultant, turn their data into a clear action plan, and charge premium fees for delivering growth or savings. So picture telling your client, I found a way to boost your sales 20% by analyzing your customer behavior and then actually doing it. There are real case studies of entrepreneurs doing just this. One startup founder used business intelligence tools to optimize her inventory and eliminated over $100,000 in annual waste, directly padding her profits. Another built a consulting agency that helps local businesses set up simple dashboards and KPIs, and within a year he was booking 5-figure contracts regularly. The bottom line is data analytics is practical and learnable. There's tons of online courses, YouTube videos, tools that are now drag and drop. Master it, and you can either supercharge your own business or become the go-to data guru who turns others' confusion into cash. So in this year, data, it's a new oil, and knowing how to drill for it is an extremely high-income skill. Now, having great data is pointless if you can't attract customers. That's where our next skill comes in. It's time to cash in on the art of getting noticed. Skill number 3: digital marketing and growth hacking, scaling visibility into wealth. So what is it? Digital marketing is a skill of getting customers for people's businesses online through channels like social media, through search engines, through email, through LLMs, and more. Growth hacking is a trendy way to say creative, fast-paced marketing experimentation, right? So finding clever, low-cost tactics to drive growth or sales for your business or other people's. This skill is about making your business impossible to ignore on the internet and turning that attention into revenue. So covers everything from running targeted ads, optimizing a website to rank on Google, or GPT crafting viral more content, analyzing campaign data to tweak for better results, making YouTube videos to spread your message. Why it matters this year is you could have the best product or service in the world, but if nobody knows about it, you don't make a dime. This year, digital marketing remains one of the highest skills for entrepreneurs because online attention is the currency of our kingdom. Just look at the numbers. Global digital ad spending is projected to hit $843 billion. Yes, with a B. Companies large and small are pouring money into Facebook ads, Google searches, TikTok videos, wherever their audience lives online, and they need experts who know how to navigate this landscape. The job outlook also reflects that demand. Marketing roles are expected to grow by 10%, faster than the average for all careers. And in particular, there's surging demand for people skilled in areas like marketing analytics, content creation, and SEO/SEM, because every business wants to rank number one on Google and decode the algorithms of ChatGPT. The beauty of digital marketing is that it's practical and learnable. No MBA required, just practice, creativity, and keeping up with the trends. We're also seeing new frontiers like AI-driven marketing. Over 50% of businesses are already using generative AI to improve their operations. All this means that entrepreneurial marketers who stay sharp can out-hustle their bigger competitors. So in this year, if you know how to get the right message to the right people at the right time online, you basically have a license to print money. So how can you use it as an entrepreneur? Digital marketing is often the make-or-break skill that determines if you scale or if you stay stuck. And so if you master it and you can acquire customers on demand, you can enter new markets quickly. You can even build a personal brand that multiplies all of your opportunities. Take for example, an online fitness coach who who leverages social media marketing. By mastering YouTube and Instagram, she grows her audience to hundreds of thousands and launches a fitness app that earns 7 figures online. Or think of a small local business owner who uses savvy Google search ads and SEO to dominate local search traffic, right? Their store goes from unknown to the go-to place in town. And these aren't hypotheticals. These things are happening right now all around us. As an entrepreneur, you can also sell digital marketing expertise. If you're great at, say, SEO or Facebook ads, You can freelance or start an agency. Businesses are eager to pay because they've seen the ROI. For every dollar spent on email marketing can yield $36 in return, as various studies have shown. So a skilled email marketer is worth their weight in gold. Another real-world use case: an entrepreneur growth hacked his startup by creating a referral program that went viral. So think Dropbox's free storage for referral strategy, acquiring millions of users without a massive ad budget. That's growth hacking in action. So digital marketing lets you scale up quickly. An ad campaign can reach millions of people overnight. A piece of content that catches fire can bring in floods of traffic. You're not limited by your local area, your storefront. And with analytics tools, you can measure every penny and double down on what works, like truly data-driven marketing. And the emotional side— it's pretty thrilling to see your business blow up because of a campaign that you created. The control is right here. It's in your hands. With consumer attention shifting every year— today it might be YouTube or LinkedIn newsletters tomorrow, who knows? Entrepreneurs who have the skill will ride each wave and outpace their competition. Digital marketing and growth hacking are high-income skills because they directly drive revenue, and mastering them means you can virtually write your own success story in this digital age. So now you've got the customer's attention. Now we need to convince them to open their wallets. The next skill is all about the art of persuasion, and it's one of the oldest and most profitable tricks in the book. Also, if you want to take real action after this video, I made a free worksheet just for you. It covers the top lessons from today, gives you space to write your biggest takeaways, and helps you build a simple action plan. It's 100% free. Just click the link in the description to go grab it. I'll see you there. Skill number 4, persuasive communication and storytelling, selling anything to anyone. So what is it? This is the skill of conveying ideas in a compelling way. So that's through sales pitches and marketing copy, or even everyday networking conversations. It includes sales and negotiation, right? Convincing a customer or partner to say yes. Copywriting, which is writing words that sell from ads to landing pages. And storytelling, crafting a narrative that hooks people in emotionally. It's how to talk or write so people listen, trust you, and feel motivated to act, like clicking the buy now or signing a contract. Why it matters this year is no matter how advanced technology gets, the power of a good story and genuine connection never goes out of style. In fact, as automation rises, those human-centered skills become more valuable. This year's marketplace is hyperstimulated. Consumers see thousands of ads and posts a day, so the ability to cut through that noise with a resonant message is pure gold. 68% of consumers say that a brand story influences their buying decisions. People remember stories up to 22 times more than plain facts. That's huge for entrepreneurs trying to build a memorable brand or pitch to investors. And yes, we see evidence that storytelling and communication translate to better Results: marketing campaigns built around the narrative can boost conversion rates by 30% or more. On the sales side, companies are actively looking for leaders with strong social influence and communication skills. Even the World Economic Forum highlighted leadership and social influence as a top skill for the future. Why? Because a person who can rally a team, win over a client, negotiate a profitable deal, they are invaluable. Also, let's talk money. Jobs like sales executives or copywriters are often high paying because they directly bring in revenue. A top performer a domain tech sales rep, for example, can earn a 6-figure base salary plus another 6 figures in commissions. Copywriters who crack the code of persuasion are similarly rewarded. Many freelance copywriters charge $100+ an hour, and businesses happily pay because one killer sales page or email sequence can generate hundreds of thousands in sales. Words are powerful, and this year, those who can wield that power expertly will find that it translates into serious income. So how can you use it as an entrepreneur? You're always selling, not just your products, but your vision, your brand, even selling yourself as a trustworthy partner. Persuasive communication turns this into a superpower. Mastering storytelling means you can craft a brand narrative that makes customers feel something and remember you. So for example, instead of just saying, uh, our shoe is comfortable, you share the story of a customer who, thanks to your shoe, ran their first marathon pain-free to honor a loved one. Right now you're not just selling a shoe, you're selling inspiration, you're selling identity. That's the difference that makes people lifetime fans. On a more practical side, entrepreneurs skilled in communication, they'll just close more deals. So imagine you're negotiating with a supplier or an investor. If you can clearly articulate your value and persuade them effectively, you'll likely get better terms, maybe tens of thousands saved or gained in one conversation. If you sell services or high-ticket products, Strong sales techniques like consultative selling or solutions-based selling is key. Today's customers expect you to understand their needs and tailor your offer. Being able to do that can literally double or triple your closing rate. So for example, you can monetize a skill by offering freelance copywriting or sales consulting. Great copywriters are in short supply, even with AI writing tools around, because someone has to give the AI the right emotional direction. Businesses will pay top dollar for emails and ads that actually convert. One excellent sales page can be worth millions to a company. So paying a writer $10,000 a craft, it's a no-brainer for some companies. Skilled copywriters routinely earn over $150,000 a year once they built a reputation. And don't forget content creators and influencers. They are essentially storytellers too, turning authentic communication into followers and income from ads and sponsorships or product sales. Emotions drive decisions. And if you can tap into emotions with genuine communication, you can drive decisions in your favor. So this year, mastering persuasive communication and storytelling isn't just a nice to have. It's often the difference between a business that just fizzles out and one that actually becomes a phenomenon. We've covered brains, data, marketing, charm. Our final skill might not sound as glamorous, but it's a massive moneymaker in today's world. It's all about protecting the wealth that you're building. and it's an area where demand is exploding. Skill number 5, cybersecurity and data protection, guarding the digital gold mine. Okay, so what is it? Cybersecurity is the skill of keeping data, software systems safe from hackers and breaches. It's being the, uh, digital bodyguard for businesses. This includes understanding how to prevent attacks. So think malware, phishing, ransomware, knowing how to plug vulnerabilities in networks or websites and making sure that companies follow best practices. Sensitive information like consumer data is not stolen or compromised. It's deeply technical for those who specialize, but at a high level, it's very learn-by-doing, problem-solving field, and you don't need a PhD to get good at it— just solid training and experience and a curious mind. Data protection goes hand in hand, so think dealing with proper handling and compliance, like the laws of the land. So for an entrepreneur, having cybersecurity skills means that you can both both protect your own venture, but also potentially offer security solutions to other people as a business. So why does it matter this year? One word: risk. As businesses digitize every aspect of their operations, the risk of cyber attacks have skyrocketed, and so have the costs. The average cost of a single data breach hit an eye-watering $4.9 million globally. So for a small or mid-sized company, that kind of hit can be fatal. That's why firms are desperate for cybersecurity expertise and why it's become a high-income skill high-demand skill. We're in a situation where there aren't nearly enough cybersecurity pros to go around. The global cybersecurity workforce is millions short. One recent study showed about 4.8 million cybersecurity roles are unfulfilled worldwide. There are millions of openings and not enough people with the skills, a gap that widened by 19% in just one year. So talent shortage is actually the number one obstacle companies face in securing their systems. This kind of supply-demand mismatch is exactly what drives up incomes for those who have the skill. So companies have even started to prioritize this in budgets because they simply cannot afford the alternative. Companies without adequate security staff end up paying on average $1.76 million more per breach due to slower response and damage control. But just beyond like corporate IT departments, every entrepreneur with an online presence needs at least basic cybersecurity savviness. Cyber threats this year are more sophisticated. Yes, hackers are using AI too. So on top of that, customer trust and regulations require more solid data protection. You don't want to be that startup that leaked user data and lost credibility overnight. So from ransomware attacks shutting down hospitals to small businesses getting scammed from phishing, the threat is universal. This urgency is driving a huge market for cybersecurity products and consultants. Global spending on cybersecurity is rising every year, tens of billions of dollars annually, as businesses effectively say, please take our money and keep us safe. If you can step in with the skills to do so, you will be richly be rewarded. So as some evidence, top freelance cybersecurity experts report rates of $200 to $300 an hour, and experienced security consultants can make over $500,000 a year by serving multiple clients. So it's no surprise that when the stakes are this high, companies are willing to pay for peace of mind. So how can entrepreneurs use it? If you're building your own company, cybersecurity skills are like an insurance policy and a selling point. You can save a ton of money by implementing security measures yourself, instead of hiring some expensive firms and avoid disaster that could derail your business. But also being more security-minded from day one can be a competitive advantage. You can use that in your marketing. Customers and partners will feel safer dealing with you. So for example, e-commerce entrepreneur who knows how to secure their payment systems and protect customer data not only avoids costly breaches but can market their store as ultra secure, which gains more customer trust and extra sales. In an era of privacy concerns. On the other side, cybersecurity is also an amazing service and a business opportunity. So given that huge talent gap, you could start a consultancy or freelance as a virtual CISO, as Chief Information Security Officer, for multiple small companies that can't afford one in-house. They get your expertise part-time, you get a hefty paycheck. Some entrepreneurs are launching cybersecurity startups. So whether that's, um, developing a niche security software tool or you're offering specialized training. There's even demand for things like ethical hackers who companies pay to test their defenses. We've seen solo consultants charge retainers in the thousands per month per client just to be on call for security incidents. And with new data privacy laws popping up all the time, like Europe's GDPR and others, businesses are scrambling for guidance, which is another avenue for advisory services you could offer if you're well-versed in compliance. So the key point is this: threats are growing. And talent is scarce. If you equip yourself with this skill, you become part of a highly sought-after elite group of people. Not only can you command higher fees because preventing a multimillion-dollar breach is essentially worth a high payout, but you also carry the confidence that you can protect the empire that you're building too. In a time where a single hack can wipe out years of effort, the entrepreneurs who understand cybersecurity will safeguard their wealth and even turn security into a profitable service for others. It's truly a high-impact, high-income skill for today's age. So each of these 5 skills— AI integration, data analytics, digital marketing, persuasive communication, and cybersecurity— hits the sweet spot of being practical, learnable, and immediately valuable this year. They align with the biggest technology shifts and market needs that we are seeing right now. AI is everywhere. Data is the king. Online growth is non-negotiable. Human connection still seals a deal, and security underpins it all. The best part is you don't need a fancy degree to get started with any of these. There are YouTube videos, boot camps, online courses, communities for each skill that you can start learning right now. Entrepreneurs who invest time in mastering even one or two of these will position themselves to generate wealth in the short term. We're talking within a year or two, not decades, and and it's all backed by trends and numbers that I've already cited throughout this entire video. The market is hungry for these abilities. So ask yourself, which of these skills speaks to you right now? The entrepreneurs getting rich this year aren't necessarily the ones with the most funding or the fanciest ideas. Often they're the ones who have the right skills at the right time and execute relentlessly. Now you know 5 of those right skills. It's time to choose. Learn and leap. Here's to your success, because this year might be the year your hard work and high-income skills make you the next great success story. And congratulations, you're one video closer to who you're meant to be. Believe. Now let's learn how anyone can learn to invest. Investing is not a talent reserved for the rich. It's a skill you have to learn or you'll stay broke. Every self-made investor started with zero knowledge and had to figure it out through learning and If you keep waiting for someone else to show you how to invest, you'll be stuck watching opportunities pass you by while others multiply their money. At 19 years old, Warren Buffett got rejected by his dream school. He had applied to Harvard Business School, and they told him he wasn't good enough. Buffett was crushed. He thought this rejection might derail his ambitions before they even began. But instead of giving up, he found another path. He discovered that his hero, Benjamin Graham, Graham was teaching at Columbia University. Buffett applied to Columbia last minute, got accepted, and eagerly soaked up everything Graham had to offer. In one cold Saturday, Buffett took a train to Washington, D.C. and literally pounded on the door of a little insurance company called GEICO just to learn more. A janitor let him in, and Buffett ended up getting a 4-hour crash course from a GEICO executive. No one has ever received a better half-day course, Buffett said. That one bold move led to Buffett's first big investment profit. He made about a 50% gain on GEICO stock within a year. The point is, Buffett felt a burning urgency to learn everything about investing. He didn't wait for a teacher to come to him. He hunted down knowledge. The pressure he felt to prove himself, to seize the opportunity to learn, is the same pressure that you're feeling right now. When I was 19, I partnered in my first company. It was a biotech software. I worked 12 hours a day and earned almost no money. I was making about $300 a month and eating the same cheap bean salad for lunch every day. Month after month, nothing worked. After 9 months without a single win, my confidence had collapsed. One day, I picked up the phone, I called my business partner and said the words I never thought I'd say: I quit. The moment I hung up, I broke down sobbing. I'd never felt like such a failure. I'd always seen myself as a fighter, not a quitter. Yet there I was, quitting. I barely slept that night. I was heartbroken and thinking I'd just thrown away my dream. But by morning, a new feeling hit me. Regret. I imagined looking back years later, knowing that I gave up, and the pain felt even worse than my pain of failing. So I swallowed my pride, went back to my partner, and asked if I could undo my mistake. It'd be great to take me back. But I knew I couldn't just return to doing the same things. I needed a new strategy. Instead of trying to figure it all out by myself, I studied how Bill Gates built Microsoft through partnerships. I stopped trying to reinvent the wheel and modeled someone who had already succeeded. Within 3 weeks, we landed a $13,500 deal. After months of almost zero income, $13,500 felt like a million dollars, and that one deal saved our business. We kept using that strategy, grew the business to success, and eventually sold the company. I learned one of the most important lessons of my life: when you feel like quitting, that's the moment you must push yourself to learn to try something new. Under that pressure of failure, I finally opened up to learning from others and it changed everything. Now, maybe you're still thinking, well, that sounds great for Buffett or for you, Evan, but I have no idea where to start. I'm not a financial genius. I seriously need someone to help me or I'll mess this up. In fact, one of you, Vishal Bhardi, a subscriber, asked me point blank, can anyone help me learn investing? And I get it. When you're new, it feels like you're stumbling in the dark and you desperately want a guide. You might think you need a finance degree or a mentor holding your hand, or you're worried that you'll lose money because you don't know what you're doing. But thinking that is exactly what is holding you back. If you keep believing that you're helpless without an expert, you're giving away your power. The truth is you have more resources at your fingertips today than Warren Buffett did at 19, than I did when I got started. The only permission you need to start learning is your own. Others can help through videos, interviews, books, but nobody can do your push-ups for you. For every excuse you have— I'm not good with numbers, I don't have a mentor, I might fail— there's someone out there with the same obstacle who went out and learned investing anyway. If a broke teenager in Omaha could knock on doors to learn finance, if a struggling entrepreneur could model a billionaire's strategy to save his business, why not you? The moment you stop waiting for help and start helping yourself, you'll realize you're not as lost as you think. So let's break this down. Here's how you can take charge and learn investing no matter where you're starting from. Shift your mindset. Anyone can learn investing. The first thing you must do is believe that you can learn this. If you think investing is only for math geniuses or Wall Street wizards, think again. One of the most powerful investing stories is about a man named Ronald Read, a janitor from Vermont who quietly amassed an $8 million fortune by the time he died in 2014. He had no fancy degree, no high-paying job. He simply saved and invested consistently over his lifetime. His friends were stunned. But the message is anyone can be a great investor. In his book, The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel uses Reed's story to drive home that successful investing isn't about social status or IQ. It's about mindset and behavior. Modern psychology backs this up. The research on growth mindset shows that if you believe skills can be developed, you perform better and go further. And investing is no exception. It's a set of skills you can improve with study and practice, not some innate talent you either have or you don't. Billionaire investor Charlie Munger put it like this: I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up. So becoming a learning machine is far more important than having a high IQ or making one lucky trade. Adopt the identity of a student of investing. Commit to being the person who reads, who asks questions, who tries things. Did you know that in a 5-year study of rich people's habits, 88% of self-made millionaires reported that they read for at least 30 minutes every day to educate themselves. They weren't born knowing how money works. They devoured knowledge daily until it started to click. Warren Buffett, one of the richest investors on the planet, famously said that he reads 500 pages a day because that's how knowledge works. It builds up like compound interest. And he added that anyone can do it, but most people won't. So you can prove him wrong. Start viewing yourself as a lifelong learner of finance. You don't have to read 500 pages today. But do read something. Replace the thought, I can't learn investing, with I'm learning investing every day. Every expert was once a beginner who decided to learn, and so embrace that mindset today. Model the masters. Learn from the great investors. The fastest way to learn investing is to stand on the shoulders of giants. You don't have to invent a strategy from scratch. You can model the masters. I built my YouTube channel on this idea. Success leaves clues. In my own life, modeling Bill Gates's partnership strategy saved my business. In the investing world, the giants have left roadmaps in the forms of books and letters and interviews. Seek them out. You can start with the classics. Warren Buffett became Warren Buffett by studying others. He read Ben Graham's book The Intelligent Investor at age 20, and it changed his life. In fact, Buffett calls The Intelligent Investor by far the best book on investing ever written. So So why not read the book the greatest investor used himself? There's a treasure trove of wisdom available to you from investors who've been through it all. Here are a few must-read resources that can kickstart your education. So we talked about The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham. That's a definitive book on value investing. And Warren Buffett credits this book for shaping his investing philosophy, again, calling it the best book about investing ever written. It will teach you how to think about stocks for the long run and not fall for short-term market swings. Next is One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. It's a read that shows how average people can beat the pros by investing in what they know. So Lynch was one of the most successful mutual fund managers ever, and he writes in pretty plain English for beginners. The book proves that your everyday knowledge, the stores that you shop at, the trends you see, can translate into great investments. It's empowering and practical for first-time investors. And third is The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. It's a modern classic on the behavioral side of investing. So Housel's insight is that that mastering investing isn't just about what you know, it's about how you think and act. So he shares 19 short stories that show how our mindset and habits impact our financial success. So this book teaches you how to manage your fear, your greed, and impatience, the emotions that most often hurt investors more than a lack of knowledge. So absorb the wisdom from these masters. Read Buffett's annual shareholder letters. They are free and they're online. You can learn how he analyzes Watch interviews with investors like Ray Dalio or Cathie Wood or Chamath Palihapitiya. We've done top tens on all of these people to see how they approach decision-making. When you study the greats, you're essentially getting mentored by them across time and space. It can collapse your learning curve dramatically. But remember, learning alone isn't enough. You'll need to actually put it into practice. Which brings us to the next point. Start small. Learn by doing. You can read 100 books on investing, but nothing will teach you faster than actually doing it. It's like learning to ride a bicycle. At some point, you have to hop on and start to pedal. Start small and get your feet wet. Open a brokerage account or even a simulated trading account if you're nervous and make your first tiny investment. It could be as little as $50 or $100 in an index fund or a company that you believe in. The amount isn't going to make you rich. That's not the point. The point is to turn theory into experience. Studies on learning show that active practice beats passive study by a mile. Educational research illustrates that people retain up to 75% of what they learn when they practice by doing, compared to maybe 10% retention from reading about it. In other words, you could read about investing for a year and still feel unsure. But if you actually invest, even with play money, you start internalizing the lessons. You'll feel the emotional ups and downs of the market, learn how to place orders, and see how you react when the stock you bought drops 10%, which it will at some point. Those experiences are invaluable. They give you feedback that no book or video can fully simulate. So keep your initial stakes small so your early mistakes are cheap. Think of any minor losses as tuition fees in the school of investing, right? Every mistake is showing you what not to do the next time. And nearly every great investor went through a phase of errors and learning. The key is they learned and they didn't quit. And as you gain confidence, you can gradually invest more. Most successful investors begin with basic low-risk portfolios and learn by doing, growing bolder as their knowledge increases. You might start with a simple index fund or a few stocks, and over time, as you study and observe, you'll get better at identifying what makes a good investment for you. And here's a practical approach. Keep an investing journal. Each time you buy or sell something, jot down why you did it. For example, I bought Company X because I think their new product will increase profits next year, or I sold Y because I panicked when it fell 5% in a day. Review these notes periodically. Patterns will emerge and teach you about your own psychology. Maybe you'll see that you sell too quickly out of fear, or that your best decisions were when you stuck to companies that you understand. This internal reflection turns experience into wisdom. And don't be afraid to ask questions and engage with community. Join an investing forum or find peers who are also learning. Teaching somebody else what you just learned is another powerful way to solidify the knowledge. And remember, there's a learning pyramid. Teaching others has the highest retention. You could share a bit of what you learned from a book or discuss a small investing experiment. It will make you more confident that, hey, I do know a lot of things now. The bottom line is this: action creates clarity. So the, the fog of I don't know what I'm doing begins to lift as soon as you placing that first trade or start that first investing project. Suddenly, P/E ratios, index funds, dividends— they're not just concepts. They're real things that you're interacting with. Every step you take gives you a little more competence and a little more confidence. So start now with whatever small step you can. Buy one share of that company you admire or set up an automatic transfer of $20 a week into an investment account. Get in the game and learn as you go. Stay consistent for the long term. Remember that investing is a long-term game. The goal isn't to get rich by next Tuesday. It's to build wealth and knowledge steadily year after year. So as you start learning and investing, think of it like a marathon. It's not a sprint. Consistency and patience are your superpowers here. Now, there will be times when you feel discouraged or confused. Maybe the market dips and your portfolio loses some value, or you hit a complex concept that frustrates you. Expect that. It happens to to every investor, no matter how experienced. The ones who succeed aren't the ones who never have any doubts. They're the ones who persist through them. Volatility in your emotions and in the market is part of this process. As one investment guide puts it, the market will prove you wrong at times. You will make mistakes. But learning to be a successful investor is a gradual process, and sticking with it for the long run is crucial. So when things go wrong, So don't beat yourself up. Analyze it, learn the lesson, and keep moving forward. Remember, every setback is an opportunity to learn. So make a habit of continuous learning and investing. So, for example, commit to reading one investing article or a few pages of a book or one video. No matter what, commit to putting a little money aside every month to invest. No matter what the market is doing, this discipline builds momentum, and over time, your knowledge compounds just like your money does. Think of how compound interest works. A little growth each day can lead to massive growth over years. Knowledge compounds too. Every new thing you learn builds on the last and expands your ability to make good decisions. So 5 years from now, if you stay consistent, you'll look back and be amazed at how far you've come, both in your portfolio and in your understanding. It also helps to keep your why in mind. Why do you want to learn investing in the first place? Is it to secure your family's family's future, you want to achieve financial freedom, you want to not feel clueless when money decisions come up. Whatever it is, write it down. Think about it. In tough moments, revisit your why. It can help give you more patience. When you know you're in this for the long haul, the day-to-day bumps don't shake you as much. You start thinking like an investor who asks, what will this be worth in 5 or 10 years, instead of panicking over today's news. And one more reminder: celebrate your progress, not perfection. Did you finish reading your first investment book? Awesome. Did you make your first profitable trade, even if it was only a $20 gain? Amazing, right? These are milestones. By acknowledging them, you reinforce the identity that you are an investor now, a learner. You're a doer. You're someone who actively is building their future. And that identity shift, that becomes everything. You're no longer the person wondering, can anyone help me learn investing? You're the person who is helping yourself learn it. Every single day. You made it this far in the video, which tells me that you're serious about your financial future. Every investing master was once a beginner who simply refused to give up, and now you're on the same path. So keep feeding your mind, keep taking action no matter how small, and be proud that you're doing what most people only talk about. By showing up and learning today, you've already set yourself apart from most people. Now let's learn how to dial in your avatar and messaging launch your offer. Trying to sell to everyone guarantees that no one will listen. Broad messaging only gets ignored. People only pay attention when they feel like you're talking directly to them. If you launch your new offer without a clearly defined avatar and message, your marketing will fall flat and you'll start wondering if you're really cut out to be an entrepreneur. Jeff Bezos had an odd rule at Amazon. He kept one empty chair in every meeting. That chair represented the customer, the most important person in the room. He did it because even at Amazon's size, Bezos feared what happens when you forget who you're serving. The empty chair was a constant reminder. Every decision had to keep the customer's needs front and center. Think about that. If the guy who built Amazon felt that pressure, imagine the pressure on you with your new offer. You have to fight the same fight to keep your customer's voice in every conversation. When I was 19, I learned this the hard way. I had a software startup that was struggling. I was making about $300 a month and eating cheap bean salad for lunch every day. After 9 months of zero sales growth, I hit my breaking point. I called my business partner and quit. The second I hung up, I cried harder than I ever had in my life. I felt like I had betrayed myself. I was the never-quit guy, and yet here I was quitting. The next morning, I felt something worse than failure— regret. I realized the pain of not knowing would haunt me more than the pain of failing. So I swallowed my pride and went back to my partner's apartment the next day. I knew I couldn't quit. I had to keep going. I knocked on the door. He let me in, but I knew we had to change our approach. Instead of trying to do everything alone, I looked for someone who already had the audience we needed. I took a page from Bill Gates's playbook and pitched our product to a bigger company as a partnership. 3 weeks later, we closed a $13,500 partnership deal. That deal gave us momentum. We started getting traction. We grew the business, and a few years later, we sold the business. I went from sobbing on the floor to hearing customers tell me how our software changed their lives. It only happened because I finally humbled myself to focus on where my customers were and what they actually needed. Maybe you're still skeptical. You might be thinking, but I don't want to narrow down too much. My product can help I want to help everyone. Why limit myself? I hear you. It feels counterintuitive to exclude potential customers, but here's the truth. A broad message is a boring message. Marketing 101 says that if you speak to everyone, you speak to no one. In fact, almost half of buyers will choose a solution that speaks directly to their specific needs. So focusing your message isn't shrinking your opportunity. It's actually increasing your odds of connecting with the right people. All right, so how do we actually do it? How do you dial in your avatar and messaging so your new offer actually connects? One marketing study found that your messaging can determine 80% of your conversion rate. That's how important this is. So I'm going to share 5 steps to make it happen. Step number 1: Define your one person, your avatar. Don't start with a market of everyone who might buy someday. Pick one ideal customer, one avatar, and get specific. Give them a name, an age, a story. The more concrete, the better. If you think this doesn't matter, think again. When Dollar Shave Club launched, they weren't targeting anyone who needs razors. They focused on young men fed up with expensive, over-engineered razors, and he spoke directly to that frustration. The first viral video literally opened with, "Our blades are effing great," delivered with humor and attitude that perfectly matched their avatar. It resonated and brought in 12,000 customers in 2 days because those people felt, "This is for me." Paint a vivid picture of your target person. Are they a 35-year-old first-time working mom from home, overwhelmed and looking for convenience? Are they a 22-year-old startup founder who values speed over polish? Know who you are speaking to. If you catch yourself saying, well, it could be for anybody, take a step back. As the saying goes, if you try to be for everyone, you end up being for no one. Zero in on the one person you want most to serve right now. Step number 2, research their pain points Pains and desires. Now that you have a specific avatar in mind, go find out what really keeps them up at night. This isn't a guessing game. You need to ask and listen. Hop on calls, run surveys, read forums and Amazon reviews in your niche. Your goal is to understand the world through your customer's eyes. What are they frustrated by? What words do they use to describe their problem? What solutions have they tried before that failed? This step here is non-negotiable. According to CB Insights, 42% of startups fail because they build it's something that nobody wants. In other words, nearly half of new businesses die from ignoring this step. I don't care how brilliant you think your idea is, if it's not solving a real pain for your avatar, it's not going to work. The good news is that when you do talk to your customers, you'll often discover small tweaks that make your offer dramatically more appealing. You might learn that your coaching program's audience doesn't actually care about your 10-step process. That's your obsession. What they really want is to free up 2 hours in their day to spend with their family. That insight lets you change your messaging to lead with that benefit, instantly making it more compelling. So immerse yourself in their perspective. Use their language, and we'll talk more about that soon. And don't be afraid to literally echo their complaints back to them in your messaging. When your viewer, your reader, your listener has this eerie feeling like, whoa, it's like you're inside my head. You've done your job. You're ready to craft a message that connects. Step number 3: Focus on emotions and outcomes, not just features. People buy with their hearts, not just their heads. Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman says 95% of purchasing decisions happen in the subconscious mind. Translation: Logic might justify, but emotion decides. This means your messaging has to go beyond listing features and technical details, you need to speak to how your offer feels and what it means to your customer. Think about Nike. Nike sells shoes, but their ads rarely talk about rubber soles or foam cushioning. They sell the emotion of victory, the feeling of inspiration. Steve Jobs put it best when explaining Apple's marketing. Nike honors great athletes and great athletics. They never talk about the product's details. I want you to do the same with your messaging. Paint. Don't just tout what your product does. Paint a picture of the result it creates. Will it make your customer feel proud and confident? Will it remove a stress that's been weighing them down for years? One Inc. article put it this way: you can measure features but sell the lifestyle and the feeling. Highlight the emotional payoff your customers get. If you're offering a fitness program, the feature might be 3 workouts a week, 30 minutes each. Important important? Sure. But the message should be, feel stronger and more energetic than you have in years so you can run around with your kids and never get tired. See the difference? One speaks to the feature, the other speaks to the feeling and life outcome. Whenever possible, tell a mini story in your customer's life that your product makes possible, because that story creates an emotional response—hope, relief, excitement—and Emotion is what really drives action. Step number 4, speak your customer's language. Personalize your message. To really dial in your messaging, you have to use the exact words your customer uses. Too many entrepreneurs make the mistake of slipping into industry jargon or generic marketing speak. Don't do that. Use the words that light your customers up. How do you find those words? By listening. Listen to their rants, listen to their reviews, their everyday conversations. If your target customer calls herself a solo entrepreneur and never an SMB, use her term. If she jokes that she's allergic to spreadsheets, maybe that's the line you can weave into your copy. This is more than a trick. It's about making your messaging feel like a one-on-one conversation. Studies show 63% of customers are more likely to engage with brands that personalize their messaging to reflect the customer's own needs and situation. People will instinctively pay attention to what sounds like it's meant for them. Think of your messaging as a mirror that you hold up to your avatar. When they see themselves in it, trust forms. They think, finally, someone understands me. And here's a practical tip: write as if you're writing to a single person. Imagine your ideal client is is named Jamie. Start your draft with "Dear Jamie" and write like a personal letter offering to help with a specific problem. You can delete the "Dear Jamie" later, but you'll find that the tone stays personal and focused. Also, address your customer as you, just like I'm doing with you right now. It pulls the reader in. Avoid saying "our customers" or "they." Make it direct. The best part is when you nail this, your audience will start to feel a connection with you beyond the product. What it does is create a sense of belonging with them. They don't just buy the product, they buy into the mission, the vibe, the identity of your brand because it matches their own. That's how you turn a casual buyer into a raving fan. And step number 5, test, refine, and iterate. Crafting your avatar and messaging isn't a one and done task. It's an ongoing process. The market changes, trends change, and sometimes you'll find that your first guess at messaging maybe isn't resonating as much as you hoped. That's okay. This is where testing and iteration come in. You want to be thinking like a scientist running experiments. Test different headlines, different angles, different stories in your content. Use A/B tests for your emails and your videos and your ads and see whether version A or version B gets a better response. Pay attention to the feedback. Both the data and the direct comments from your audience. If people aren't responding, it might be a sign that you need to tweak the avatar or refine your value proposition. For example, you might discover through testing that your audience responds way better when you talk about freedom than when you talk about success. Or maybe a phrase that you've been using just isn't clicking, but another phrase makes people perk up and click buy. These are golden clues. Incorporate them. Remember, even big brands constantly refine their messaging. Coca-Cola has been associating itself with happiness for decades— Open Happiness, Choose Happiness, and now it's Taste the Feeling. Yet they still evolve their slogans every few years to keep it fresh. You should be doing the same on a smaller scale. Every piece of content you put out is an opportunity to learn more about your customer. Use those opportunities and don't get discouraged if your early messaging misses the mark. View it as data, not failure. It's telling you something. The entrepreneurs who win are the ones who listen and adapt. As you gather more real-world feedback, your picture of your avatar will sharpen and your messaging will get tighter and more powerful. The bottom line is stay curious and stay flexible. You're crafting a conversation with your audience, and conversations are dynamic. So keep tuning in to what they say back. When you notice an uptick in engagement—more clicks, more comments, more OMG, were you reading my mind reactions Double down on that. You're finding your groove. Keep refining and keep going. Showing up here and putting in the work already sets you apart from the pack. Plenty of others would have given up or skipped this, but not you. You're here. You're doing the work to try to get better. So keep refining your avatar. Keep sharpening your message. Keep moving forward on your mission. For the 7 morning habits of billionaires that you're not doing yet, check the video right there next to me at I think you'll love it. Continue to believe, and I'll see you there. You might be sabotaging your success every morning without even knowing it. Billionaires have specific morning habits that set them up to win each day, and chances are you're not doing them yet.