The Story Behind the Book

The Moment I Knew I Had to Write This Book

There’s a moment in life when you realize you’ve been playing the wrong game.

For me, it hit like a brick wall.

I was watching people—some younger, some my age—building real wealth while I was stuck, following all the so-called expert advice. I had done everything “right” and yet, financially, I wasn’t where I wanted to be.

But here’s the kicker: when I finally cracked the code—when I started thinking and acting differently with money—I realized how obvious it all was. The wealthy weren’t doing anything magical. They just weren’t following the same rules everyone else was told to follow.

That’s when it hit me: Why the hell aren’t more people talking about this?

At first, I figured maybe people don’t want to hear that they’ve been fed financial lies their entire lives. But then I realized… maybe they just haven’t heard it in a way that makes sense.

So, I started writing.

And as I wrote, I kept thinking about Wallace Wattles—the man who laid out, in no uncertain terms, how success and wealth really work. Wattles had a way of cutting through the noise and laying out timeless truths about money and success—but his language, while brilliant, can feel dated to the modern reader.

So, in many ways, this book became my way of channeling my inner Wattles—putting his core ideas into my own words, in a way that’s easier to understand and actually apply today. Because the truth is, the principles of wealth-building haven’t changed, but the way we talk about them 

And I think Wattles would be happy and proud to see that what he wrote back in 1910 is still helping people achieve success—over a century later.

The First (Terrible) Draft

I wish I could say this book poured out of me in one inspired weekend. It didn’t.

The first draft? Awful. Way too formal. Too cautious. Too much like every other boring finance book.

And that’s exactly what I didn’t want.

I wanted this book to feel like sitting down for a no-BS conversation with someone who actually wants you to win—not some professor spouting theories from an ivory tower.

So, I threw out the first draft and started over. This time, I wrote how I talk—direct, blunt, with a little edge. I made sure every chapter felt like something I wish I had read when I was stuck, frustrated, and wondering why financial success seemed so out of reach.

The Hardest Chapter to Write

Some of the hardest chapters to write were Chapters 2, 3, and 4—because I know, firsthand, that what I’m saying in them goes against everything we were taught about money.

Writing “Hard work alone won’t make you rich”wasn’t easy. Not because I doubted it—but because I knew it would trigger some people. Hard work is a deeply ingrained value in our culture, and for good reason. But the truth is, working harder isn’t the same as working smarter—and refusing to acknowledge that keeps a lot of good, hardworking people financially stuck.

I wrestled with these chapters because I wanted to get them just right. I didn’t want to discourage people who pride themselves on their work ethic, but I also couldn’t sugarcoat the reality: If hard work alone made people rich, the hardest-working people in the world wouldn’t be struggling to pay their bills.

I had to challenge my own thinking in these chapters, digging into the uncomfortable truths about wealth-building—truths I had to learn the hard way. These weren’t just words on a page; they were the lessons that forced me to change how I played the money game.

And if they challenge the reader, too? Good. That means they’re working.

What Almost Kept Me from Publishing

There was a point where I almost scrapped the book entirely.

Doubt crept in. Does the world really need another personal finance book? Then I realized: No, it doesn’t. But it needs THIS one.

Because this book isn’t like the others.

This isn’t a book about cutting out coffee and saving a few bucks. It’s a book about breaking free from the system that keeps people broke—and if I had a book like this years ago, I would have saved myself a ton of frustration.

That’s when I knew: I had to get this into people’s hands.

What I Hope This Book Does for You

I didn’t write this book to entertain or impress people. I wrote it because I want to see more people winning financially—more people realizing that they don’t have to accept being stuck.

But if I’m being completely honest, I also wrote this book to prove something to myself.

I’ve spent years studying, experimenting, failing, and ultimately succeeding in ways I never imagined when I first started out. Along the way, I had to unlearn so much of what I was taught about money and success. Writing this book wasn’t just about helping others—it was also a way to test myself, to lay out everything I had learned in a way that forced me to deeply examine and refine my own thinking.

I wanted to be able to step back and say, Yes, I’ve thought about this from every angle. I’ve lived it, I’ve tested it, and I know it works. And, to be perfectly blunt, I wanted to be able to hand this book to the people who matter most to me—whether it’s family, friends, or my future generations—and say, This is what I know to be true. This is what changed my life. And if you take it seriously, it can change yours too.

So, if you’re reading this and you’ve ever felt stuck, frustrated, or like you’re playing a game where the rules were written to keep you losing—know that I’ve been there. And know that there’s a way out.

This book is my way of making sure you don’t need to figure it all out the hard way like I did. -JCK