The Grit Mindset: Why Most People Stay Broke

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what actually separates people who build wealth from people who just talk about it. And I’m not talking about the usual crap people discuss, i.e., saving 10% in your 401(k), buying index funds, budgeting, etc. Are those meaningless? No, but they are very basic and only one very small part of the puzzle. Instead, I want to talk about something that nobody wants to admit because it sounds harsh.

It’s grit. Pure, unfiltered, relentless grit.

But not the kind of grit you hear about in motivational speeches. I’m talking about the grit mindset that refuses to accept default outcomes. The kind that makes you squeeze every possible advantage out of every situation, no matter how difficult. The kind that separates winners from everyone else.

Let me explain what I mean.

The Game Nobody Wants to Talk About

I was reading Bill Bonner’s book Un-Civilizing America on win-win deals recently, and I hit a chapter that stopped me cold. He makes the argument—and he’s right—that our fiat currency system is fundamentally rigged. The Fed can print money at will, manipulate interest rates, and inflate asset prices to the moon. Meanwhile, workers’ wages barely keep pace with inflation. Asset holders get richer. Workers fall further behind.

Then Bonner drops a word that bothered me: “complicit.”

He says that people like me—stock investors, real estate owners, anyone who benefited from the massive run-up in asset prices over the last couple of decades—are complicit in ripping off the working class. We profited while they struggled. That phrase, coming from an author I respect, telling ME I was complicit, hit me like a punch in the face. I had to stop, pause, and really give this some serious thought.

And you know what? He’s not entirely wrong.

I did benefit. My real estate appreciated far beyond what fundamentals would justify. My stock portfolio grew because the Fed flooded the market with cheap money. The system was absolutely rigged in favor of asset holders, and I was one of them.

But here’s what bothered me about the word “complicit”—it implies I had a choice not to play the game. It implies I somehow designed this system, voted for it, or lobbied for it.

I didn’t do any of that.

I didn’t create the Fed. I didn’t print the money. I didn’t manipulate interest rates. I was just a guy trying to take care of his family in the system I was born into. A system I didn’t design and can’t change anymore than I can stop the sun from rising tomorrow morning.

So, am I complicit? Or am I just someone who refused to be a victim?

The Difference Between Complicity and Grit

Here’s what I realized: I’m not complicit. I’m relentless.

And there’s a massive difference.

Complicity implies passive participation—going along with something wrong because it benefits you. But that’s not what happened. What actually happened is that I looked at the game being played, figured out the rules, and decided to play it better than everyone else.

That’s not complicity. That’s a grit mindset.

Let me give you some examples from my own life, because this isn’t theory. This is how I actually built wealth from nothing.

I grew up in Ohio. My dad was a truck driver. My mom worked part-time in a school cafeteria. I was the first person in my entire family—parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, all of them—to go to college. And when I got there, I struggled because I wasn’t that good of a student growing up and wasn’t entirely prepared for college.

Nobody handed me anything. I didn’t inherit wealth. I didn’t have connections. I didn’t grow up around role models showing me how to invest or build businesses.

I just refused to accept the default outcome.

When I bought my first house in 2000, it wasn’t because I had some brilliant investment strategy. It was because my wife and I were expecting our first child and I couldn’t stand living in an apartment with drunk college students stomping up the stairs at 3:00 AM when I had to get up for work. That’s it. That’s the whole reason.

But here’s the thing—when the housing bubble hit a few years later and my house suddenly appreciated by tens of thousands of dollars, I didn’t do what everyone else did. I didn’t refinance and pull out all that “equity” to buy a boat or take a vacation or upgrade my lifestyle.

Why not?

Because something felt wrong. I figured out that my house was making more money per month just sitting there than I was making by working at a 40+ hour per week job. How is that even possible? And even though I didn’t fully understand Austrian economics at the time, I knew intuitively that wasn’t right. That wasn’t sustainable. That was going to end badly. I just didn’t know how badly or when.

So, I didn’t touch it. While everyone around me was pulling equity out of their homes and living large, I kept my head down and kept building.

That’s the grit mindset.

Playing The Angles Nobody Else Sees

Fast forward to 2008. The housing market crashed. The financial system nearly collapsed. People lost everything. But I was fine. Actually, I was better than fine because I’d positioned myself to take advantage of what came next.

I bought my first rental property in 2010 at the bottom of the market. A house that 2 years earlier was “worth” 80K and I picked it up for 38K. I still own that house today and it is almost paid off. Did I take advantage of the seller? Nope, I simply paid what the market price was at that time and even took out a mortgage at prevailing rates (6.5%) to boot.

When interest rates crashed later, I didn’t sit around complaining about the Fed or the bailouts or how unfair it all was. I refinanced. Twice. Each time I brought my interest rate down by a full percentage point or more on my own home. On the second refinance, I converted from a 30-year to a 15-year mortgage, which allowed me to get to free and clear even faster.

Years later, that house also became a rental property. And because I’d paid it off aggressively, it’s far more profitable than it would have been otherwise. Further, I have collected enough in rents over 10 years that I have fully recovered my initial purchase price. Now every dollar that comes in is pure profit. Sorry, if that angers you, but again, I didn’t design the game I just played it. 

Then COVID hit. My wife and I were both able to work from home, so we never lost a single paycheck while government money essentially gave away “free” money that the Fed printed up. I didn’t ask for the money and had no way to refuse it or return it. We weren’t alone. Many people that didn’t need the money got it anyway. If you were one of the people that did need it because you lost your job during COVID, I am truly sorry for you. I still believe to this day the lock downs were a huge mistake. You can agree or disagree with that if you want.

However, since the money just showed up, I figured I might as well do something productive with it, so I didn’t blow it. I heard of people going out and buying jet skis, and big screen TVs. I invested it in more assets. I simply looked at the scenario around me, saw what was happening and played the hand I was dealt. I couldn’t change anything, I could only do my best to turn it to my advantage, so I did.

When the Fed dropped rates to basically zero, I refinanced again—this time locking in 2.99% for 30 years on a house I plan to live in for the rest of my life.

Today, that house is worth far more than I paid 10 years ago. And I’m sitting on a 2.99% mortgage that homeowners today can’t even dream about getting. Now think about this because it is important. What interest rate am I really paying? If you said 2.99% you are wrong. See, the real rate of interest you pay is the nominal rate, i.e., the rate of stated interest on your note and mortgage MINUS the rate of inflation.

Inflation, depending on who you believe, is at least 3-4% and honestly depending on which things you look at like healthcare, insurance, and other everyday costs, is probably much higher. So, I ask again, what interest rate am I really paying? Zero or even negative interest! You see I am paying off a mortgage in ever devaluing dollars. In other words, exactly what Austrian economist have said for years about fiat money. I just turned it into an advantage.

Was that luck? Partially. I can’t deny that the timing worked out in my favor in ways I didn’t plan or control. But here’s what most people miss: the breaks don’t matter if you don’t capitalize on them.

Lots of people had the same opportunities I did. They could have refinanced aggressively. They could have saved during COVID instead of spending. They could have locked in low rates. They could have avoided pulling equity out during the bubble.

But they didn’t.

Why not?

Because they didn’t have the grit mindset to extract every possible advantage from every situation, good or bad.

The Grit Mindset in Action

Here’s what this looks like in practice: I’ve refinanced my mortgages multiple times over the years. Not once. Not twice. Every single time rates dropped meaningfully, I was on it.

Most people refinance once, maybe. They think about it, put it off, tell themselves the hassle isn’t worth it, or don’t even realize the opportunity is there and when they do, they usually take money out to spend it. I never did.

Each refinance saved me thousands of dollars in interest. Each one shortened the path to owning my properties free and clear. Each one positioned me better for the next opportunity.

Is that exciting? No. Is it sexy? Absolutely not. But that’s the grit mindset in action. It’s recognizing that wealth isn’t built through one big score. It’s built through dozens of small, unglamorous decisions that compound over time.

When the housing bubble was inflating and my house appreciated by thousands, everyone around me was refinancing and pulling out equity. Buying boats. Taking vacations. Upgrading lifestyles. In other words, doing what famed writer Robert Kiyosaki calls buying doodads instead of investing in more assets.

I didn’t touch it. Something felt wrong about my house making more money than I was by actually working. So, I left that equity alone and kept building.

That decision positioned me to weather what came next. And when rates crashed after 2008, I was ready to capitalize while others were underwater. When everyone else’s house was suddenly underwater, I still had equity because I never pulled it out.

Figure Out The Game You’re Actually In

Here’s what I want you to understand: the system is rigged. Asset holders benefit from Fed policy in ways that workers don’t. Housing has become unaffordable relative to wages. The wealth gap is real and getting worse.

All of that is true.

But this is also true: you can’t change the system, but you can change how you operate within it.

You can complain that the game is rigged, or you can figure out the rules and play it better than everyone else.

That’s what the grit mindset is about.

It’s about recognizing that:

• You won’t always get dealt a good hand
• Life isn’t fair
• The playing field isn’t level
• Some people start with advantages you’ll never have

And then playing your hand so well that none of that matters.

The Three Components of a Grit Mindset

Based on everything I’ve lived and learned, I think the grit mindset comes down to three core components:

Extract Every Possible Advantage

When opportunity knocks, most people hesitate. They overthink it. They wait for permission. They wonder whether it’s fair or whether they deserve it, or, worse, they don’t even recognize it as an opportunity.

People with a grit mindset don’t do that. When an opportunity arises—a low interest rate, an inheritance, a job offer, a market crash that creates buying opportunities—they move. Fast. Without hesitation.

And they squeeze every possible drop of value out of it.

That doesn’t mean being unethical or stepping on people. It means being ruthlessly efficient with opportunities when they appear. You may ask, how do I learn to do this? Fair question, I did it through relentless personal development. As I have said in other posts, I attend seminars, read books, and take online classes. I am constantly sharpening my blade, so I am ready when the opportunity comes.

Play the Game Harder Than Everyone Else

Most people play at 60-70% capacity. They do enough to get by. They save a little. They invest a little. They learn a little.

People with a grit mindset play at 100%. They refinance twice when rates drop. They fight insurance companies for money that’s rightfully theirs. They learn skills that increase their earning capacity. They start businesses to access different tax treatment. They build alternative investments because they understand the angles and tax advantages.

It’s not that they’re smarter. They just play harder. They work angles others miss or just complain about.

Don’t Apologize for Winning

This is the part most people struggle with. They build wealth and then feel guilty about it. They worry about being “complicit” in an unfair system. They apologize for success.

The grit mindset says: I didn’t design this game, but I’m going to win it. And I’m not going to feel bad about providing for my family and building security for my future.

If that makes me complicit, so be it. But I’d rather be complicit and financially secure than philosophically pure and broke. It is fine to live by a stated philosophy when you control the world around you, most of us can’t control that world. We have a philosophy that contradicts the world in which we live.

For example, philosophically I believe we should have a monetary system backed by gold like every good Austrian economics person believes, but I can’t force the U.S. to do this. So, I use speed, maneuverability, and intelligence to play and win in a world of fiat currency that benefits debt and asset holders.

What This Means for You

Look, I can’t promise you that developing a grit mindset will make you wealthy. I had timing breaks that you might not get. I benefited from circumstances I didn’t create and couldn’t control.

But here’s what I can promise: without a grit mindset, you’re guaranteed to leave opportunities on the table.

Every generation has trials, tribulations, and opportunities. These are all different for every generation and they come at different times and in different forms. Your job is to spot them, avoid tribulations and maximize the opportunities.

You’ll hesitate when you should move. You’ll accept default outcomes when you could negotiate better ones. You’ll play at 70% when the situation demands 100%. And you’ll apologize for success when you should be building on it.

The system is rigged. That’s not changing anytime soon. Probably not in our lifetimes.

So, you have a choice, be a victim of the system, or figure out how to win within it.

I chose the latter. And everything I write on Money Outlaw is about showing you how to do the same.

Not by pretending the game is fair, because it isn’t. But by playing it so well that fairness becomes irrelevant.

Because at the end of the day, that’s what a grit mindset really is: the refusal to let circumstances—fair or unfair—determine your outcome.

You figure out the game you’re actually in. You play it harder than everyone else. And you don’t apologize for winning.

That’s the Money Outlaw way.