Leverage is the key to wealth (it's easy to create)
After the first year of running men's groups, I was fortunate to sit in a room with men from all walks of life—doctors, bricklayers, stay-at-home dads, students, athletes, and more.
We connected in ways I had never seen before.
Speaking on behalf of those who attended, we realised that we all had problems, goals, and a deep desire for connection.
Success looked different for each man, but the underlying issues were the same.
Over the years, I've sought meaning from these conversations.
How could I take what I heard and make my life as good as it could be? How can I be the best version of myself while building a great life?
Regardless of the problems most men faced, it boiled down to being trapped in the relentless grind of life. They might have experienced success in their careers, family lives, and social circles, but the responsibilities weighed them down.
They lacked leverage.
Whether it came through time, money, network, health, or adventure, their current lifestyles had set them up to be great at what they had optimised for, but as the seasons of life changed, they were stuck.
I believe the key to living a great life is being able to optimise for change—it's part of life.
What would your life look like if you could be your best while adapting to the changes life throws at you? Is it waking up early, commuting through traffic, putting in long hours at the office—struggling to break free? The cycle repeats, and the hamster wheel continues to spin…
or is there a better way for you?
If you've followed me long enough, you know I've been doing life differently. It may not be better for you, but for me, I didn't want to subscribe to the status quo. I wanted to do what I want, with who I want, when I want, without financial constraint.
The lessons from those men's groups made me realise there is no traditional solution.
It had to be created. And that boiled down to LEVERAGE.
In this instance, "leverage" refers to using time strategically to amplify results and achieve goals more effectively.
How Anyone Can Use Leverage
Leverage isn't restricted for the wealthy. It is available to anyone who is prepared to create it. If you don't have it… you will have to grow in order to achieve it. This means leverage is found in the uncomfortable zone.
That alone is one of the biggest factors limiting most people from achieving it. They avoid discomfort. They avoid growth.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about leverage and how anyone can use it.
In order to amplify results and improve effectiveness/efficiency… we need to grow in value. When we have more value to give, we can receive more in return.
When we have more value to offer, we can receive more in return. This means we can achieve better results with less effort.
That can come through finances, network and the things I mentioned above.
Let's use jeff Bezos as an example. At the time of writing this, his net worth is $200 billion.
According to INC. Jeff made $7.9million per hour.
How does he make more in an hour than most people make in their entire life?
You guessed it. Leverage.
He has the same amount of hours as everyone else.
But he has people working for him which increases the amount of hours being worked at amazon.
He has influencers & affiliate growing their brand which is how he leverages network
So how can you learn and implement things like this into your life?
I'll use myself as a personal example… I am still learning but have some experience.
My first experience in business was in network marketing. Essentially building a sales team (you can argue about pyramid schemes in the comments) but it taught me the power of growing and developing a team with a common goal.
If I helped enough people get what they wanted, I in turn would get what I want. Initially I had to work a lot of hours but once my team was built… I experienced the benefit of investing time in coaching and selling.
The next benefit of leverage I have experience was through my podcast. After publishing almost 600 episodes. It has given me enough credibility to chat to some people I never would have had access to. I get to learn & establish credibility as a result.
Finally. Personal business. I used to trade time for money. In which I do still I guess. But they effort I put in brings a significantly larger return. Putting a week into building a course that launches and generate $20k achieves more than I could in a week working full time.
Here is the framework I would use
Lachlan's Leverage Ladder
Invest in yourself
Increase your Hourly rate $
Cut back work hours (ideal day)
Grow your network
Leverage Technology
Scale
Keep your money working
Modern Leverage VS Traditional Leverage
I've been exploring how to create more leverage in my life, especially over the past five years. Within my business, I've had staff members and been in business partnerships, all with the goal of freeing up more time and boosting results.
I view this as traditional leverage, where people are the main resource. For example, having two staff members would bring my business an additional 76 hours per week to achieve tasks.
The personal challenge I experienced was that it meant I had to manage these people to ensure they were generating more revenue than I was paying them (that’s how all business works).
I quickly found out I didn't enjoy that. I wasn’t experiencing leverage; instead, I had higher overheads and was spending more time on the business. Many businesses push through and employ a manager, but I looked for other options.
I revisited my vision, realigning to my values: health, freedom, family, connection, and adventure.
It was tough for me to acknowledge that I didn't want to grow my business the traditional way. In a way, I felt like a failure. But it also opened me up to explore different options. This led me down the rabbit hole of modern leverage, which includes:
Personal Brand
Technology
Systems
This excited me much more, to be honest. I found it less risky and more aligned with the life I wanted. If I got it right, I wouldn’t need to manage people; I would manage my system.
If I got it right, I would be the brand, which meant the more I stayed true to who I was and documented that, the more I would be considered for opportunities.
I loved this idea, and it was the first time I really started looking at business through the lens of traditional versus modern leverage.
Traditional Leverage:
Staff and Employees: Increase manpower to accomplish more tasks.
Physical Location: Rely on brick-and-mortar businesses to provide services or sell products.
Manual Processes: Use manual processes and workflows to run the business.
High Overheads: Higher costs associated with salaries, benefits, and physical space.
Limited Scalability: Growth is often limited by the physical and human resources available.
Modern Leverage:
Personal Brand: Build and leverage a personal brand to attract opportunities and grow influence.
Technology: Utilise technology to automate processes, increase efficiency, and reduce the need for human intervention.
Systems: Implement systems that streamline operations and enhance productivity.
Low Overheads: Reduced costs by minimising reliance on physical spaces and large teams.
Scalability: Greater potential for scalability as technology and systems can handle increased demand without proportional increases in resources.
As much as I fell in love with modern leverage. It comes with it's own challenges.
You ARE the sole person responsible for success. You don't have anyone to hide behind. You are direct line of sight.
Many people can't handle that. The more successful you become in this space, the more people will feel they know you because they follow your personal brand.
It's not for everyone but something worth considering. I personally am happy with the tradeoff.
Even though there a plenty of moments I want to go and live in the forest haha.
I am still learning more about this as I believe it's something I need to have more of in my life to keep living a great life. It gives you control over your time, reduces overwhelm and allows you to have time for what's important.
I said it a few weeks ago, I believe the most important place to start is with finances. It has such an upside to provide more time and resources to scale other areas.
I am diving heavily into this in my next program. You can join the waitlist here:
I will help you build you vision, establish your business readiness, build a management system & mindset for success.
You don't need to be an expert to start, the key is to start. If you like my approach you will love this course. It will open you up to embark on the best journey of personal development as you establish personal brand.
I am really excited to launch this.
Thanks for being here with me this week.
Be sure to check out my most recent episode with Mike Zeller.
I will see you next week.
Cheers
Lachlan Stuart
Personal Progress 18th July - 25th July 🤯
What Happened ✅:
Running: Completed 38.2km. (Ran 45 minutes every hour for 5 hours)
Workshop: Prepared for my upcoming workshop in Australia
Marriage: Date night to "Bad Idea" - French/Asian inspired food
What's Coming Up 📅:
Podcast: Rebrand! I am rebranding. I'll share more in each episode until it goes live
Strong Men of Value Academy: This is changing. More info to come
Travel: I am flying back to Australia this weekend - I CAN'T WAIT