This post is inspired by twitter friend, Steveonomics. The funniest thing about his twitter handle is he “disliked this website” back in 2015 or so and then suddenly is much more positive on it. The conclusion? His life got better. Funny how that works. If your life is getting better and you’re making more money, the website becomes more “likable” and the “ideas” become more reasonable. We saw a similar thing happen with Ed Latimore over the past 3 years or so. Unsurprisingly, after he inflected on his earnings the stuff talked about here seemed to resonate a lot more. Essentially the same “energy” is being omitted. The energy of getting better and moving up in life.
With the introduction out of the way we’re going to leave a “SHOCKING” item up front. The places in this article are not 100% for partying. Back 5-6 years ago, all the locations were solely focused on partying hard. Unsurprisingly as you get older and richer you change up the venues as the same old “hitting the clubs” gets old. Make no mistake, you can still hit the clubs later in life, but as we mentioned on Twitter there is a transition phase into “restaurants and lounges” and less “bars and clubs”. The worst possible transition someone can make is from clubs to bars because their finances are still a disaster and they can’t keep up with the club scene anymore.
Now before all the hate comes in, we can all but guarantee the new “lifestyle” is a huge upgrade from the constant partying. Some will say “oh many but you must attract *less* girls!”… It’s actually the reverse. When you get more money what we’re referring to is bringing out a bunch of people to a nice restaurant that you frequent. Essentially, you will be going to places where “regular people” celebrate on a special occasion. That alone should explain the type of spot we’re referring to. So as soon as you become a regular there we will promise you the staff and everyone else will suddenly become your friend and introduce other people to you. It’s how the snowball begins to roll… The only downside? It’s a little bit less “crazy”. Anyone who has gone to the clubs more than 500-1000 times knows how ridiculous it can get. The upside? You never have to worry about some random drunk broke guy who paid $25 cover to get in puking all over your shoes. (second hint, something like this will happen to you later in life triggering the lifestyle adjustment).
Short Destination Update
NYC, Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles: No matter what. If you’re looking to party all four of these cities remain at the top of the heap. Our opinion is to focus on NYC and Miami but all four of them are perfectly fine if you’re still looking to go all out. Luckily not much has changed allowing the quick rattle off: Vegas just stay at the Wynn/Encore or the Four Seasons if you’re bringing a girl. New York City, same old move just more concentrated: SoHo, Tribeca, Meatpacking. Miami: Stick with Brickell and parts of South Beach. Los Angeles: As usual there are only really five spots, West Hollywood, Venice, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Malibu. All of these are extremely different atmospheres and similar to Miami the best way to go is to be “connected”. As usual if you’re going somewhere alone with zero friends and no contacts, you’re best off in Vegas and New York for the party scene. As a note, this section is entirely dedicated to “livable” cities with a decent life outside of just partying.
Foreign Exchange – Ski Trip: As you travel more internationally, you’re going to look at different ideas that do not involve partying so we’ll give one easy one: Ski Trips / Snowboarding in Canada. Right now there is a good exchange rate for the US to Canadian Dollar. While you’ll care less about saving on cost as you ramp up, someone who is “on their way up” is going to find a lot of value here. The high end hotels are essentially 33% off or more. You can honestly get a 5-star hotel for around USD $200 or less due to the current exchange rate. Pretty good deal for a fun week long ski trip. No point in going to places in the USA if you can visit a brand new city and have it cost less. Whistler is naturally one of the most commonly mentioned ones, but there are many of them on both the east and west coast so it doesn’t matter where you currently live. It’s a short flight and you get to visit the new major cities practically for free.
Interested in Food? Another strange thing… as you get older you have a higher standard for food. We’re not sure if anyone is in that same camp but we’ll go ahead and give you the answer: Go to Italy. Of course food is relative and we’re giving a strong preference out here, but it has a lot of nice restaurants with high quality food. You can look for them yourself but a few are Combal.Zero and Le Calandre. Even if you’re not interested in going to the high end, the “standard” food is higher quality for some unknown reason. You’ll walk into bakeries and people will be sipping their espressos over a piece of glass as the pastries are all lined up below. It’s a different experience relative to the typical US one where there is a line and very fast *MUCH* lower quality selections. The party scene/nightlife is just okay so bring a date with you if you’re going to Italy would be the recommendation.
Boats: This is hilarious timing (another “coincidence”) as steveonomics is apparently moving to the Carolinas. For those in the know there is a very big boating scene out there. So if you’re going to stay in the area for a long period of time, we’d suggest getting into the scene. You’ll meet a lot of high quality people here (if you can afford a boat you’re probably in good shape), and it’s the easiest entertainment sell. The clubbing/party scene in the Carolinas is not going to compare to the big four we mentioned up front, but the boating scene can be maximized both for dating and for financial opportunities in that particular area. Similar to dressing nice with a boat in the Carolinas, you’ll open up a lot of new doors if that’s of interest to you. Of course, there is always Florida for boats, but everyone knows about that one.
Tier Two US Cities (Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans): Before the tomatoes are thrown, Dallas and Chicago are above Philadelphia/New Orleans… But we’ve noticed a lack of competition in these two “mid sized” cities. Never spent large amounts of time in either of them, but if you’ve got a week or two to burn and want to do something “different” all four of those will be surprising in different ways. In some cases the city isn’t all that pretty but the people are extremely nice and the top competition you’ll see is some dude with $90K a year driving a 3-series BMW. That’s really the “top of the heap”. So. If you’re well off and you show up to the second two on the list… it’s just going to be easy for you. The other two: Dallas/Chicago are both what we’d call up and coming. They are great for short periods of time. You don’t want to be in Chicago during the winter and Dallas has a smaller selection of areas to go out (unless you enjoy driving a ton).
“The Hawaii Trip”: Oh my god you’ve changed! You’re talking about Hawaii? Well… yes. Here is the reason why you’ll probably go to Hawaii. One of the major issues with an event that sends you into financial independence or more… you’ll likely go through a drug/alcohol problem. We got numerous emails from that post since it resonated with people who actually made it. The same thing happened to them! Unsurprisingly. Unless you were a total nerd the whole time (there are still a lot of those), you’ll likely go through a hedonistic phase. Luckily. We’ve got a solution, take a one week trip to Hawaii. Try to find the quietest part (anything but Honolulu) and spend a week there. No alcohol, no partying, just high quality food and exercise. This will *reset* your dopamine levels. You’ll be writing to friends more, texting and emailing more out of pure excitement for your latest achievement. In Hawaii, people move extremely slow it is almost as if you’re on a different planet. If you go from a big city like New York it feels like you’ve travelled back in time as people move around extremely slowly. Also, there are some cool wild life spots within Maui, Kauai and Oahu. So when you make your first pot of gold, we hope you remember this small paragraph. Don’t celebrate your massive win at the clubs for a month straight, do the opposite and book a flight to a slow paced city.
Standard Party Items: So to avoid losing the younger reader base, the same destinations are solid for partying. If you’re young hitting cabo/cancun for Spring Break still works. Going to concerts/festivals is still popular as everyone is partying hard. Russia, Colombia, Brazil, and general Eastern Europe are still solid if your sole objective is to find attractive women. If you’re on a budget we still recommend going to these destinations as you’ll get a glimpse of what it’s like to be high up the food chain across the board.
Lifestyle Update
The reality is your lifestyle is going to change. While we used to be adamant about “value” and simply partying hard and never buying “high-end” items, it has significant value as you get older. The guys who are in their mid-20s going to clubs in Gucci clothing are posers because no one who has a large amount of high quality clothing is going into a club solo. Seriously, they are not. This sends the wrong message, that you’re trying to buy attention. The real way to leverage the lifestyle update is to have everything line up. Going to a top tier restaurant 2-3x a week in nothing but high quality clothing every time sends a very clear message. You’re well off and the clothing is just part of your life (the right image).
In a throwback we’ll go ahead and do more of a step by step of a new lifestyle on days when you have no real work to do. Lets say you had an event, say you sold a Company or large equity stake in someone else’s company. Maybe we know someone who just did this. Maybe… But. That is not the point. The point is that your style of life changes as follows.
Wake Up: You get up at a reasonable hour. Our guess is around 8am. When you’re well off you begin waking up earlier even on the “off days” since you’re more excited than usual to be alive. This puts you in a good mood in general. So you simply shower get changed and put on some clothing for the high-end gym. Something like the Equinox at minimum or it could be as high as those expensive luxury “clubs”. Which path you decide really isn’t for us to decide. So you hit the gym for a nice workout.
Near the End: After completing your workout, you begin setting up “the day”. There is typically a Juice Bar near by or a place to buy a quick protein shake. Either one. Allowing you to message your small group of close friends. Lets be honest. You’re probably dating someone and quasi seeing someone at minimum (typically more than one). Set up the usual date for either the afternoon or dinner.
Head off to Relax: A good way to prepare for a night out is a solid 60-90 minute massage. So you get a nice shower in, get a massage in and you’ll feel like a million bucks. Don’t really care about the cheap seats saying massages don’t work. Professional athletes have them done all the time and anyone who has had them consistently know they loosen you up over time. Unless someone is a training professional athletes and says he never allows them to get massages, we’re just not interested in their opinion. Always go where the money is and if the pros are all doing it as part of their health routine, you can imagine that is works. If it was damaging or didn’t work, it would be cut out as many millions of dollars are at stake.
Out for the Day Time: There are lots of small ways to occupy the day if it is nice out. You can go out to buy some new items, ties, shoes or even *gasp* books. Essentially you’re going to spend your time outside since this increases your social interactions for the day. Dressed up in nice clothing in case you run into someone you want to talk to. If you look terrible it reduces the chances they are going to respond positively.
During the day you’ll be responding to messages from various people. People you’re considering working with, your close group of friends, girls and unfortunately the customer service questions that always come up at the worst possible time. Try to push off the customer service ones until Sunday. And. Before it is 3pm you’ll already know who you’re meeting to go out. Also, in other situations, someone might have come out to meet you during the day to go ahead and buy some stuff and grab a coffee/drink.
Head off to Eat: If you’re actually well off, in less than 1 month every single person in the restaurant is going to know you. It is *not* common for someone to go to a high quality restaurant on a weekly basis so you’ll stand out like the Ferrari parked out front (everyone will know you by first name). Here is typically where the “going out” begins. Instead of going to clubs and bars you’re either eating and drinking there or heading to a lounge that is also close by. Unsurprisingly, this also includes high-end hotels. High-end hotels typically have a roof top bar or nice lounge within the exact same scene. All set up perfectly for you.
Someone always brings someone. This is just how it works. You’ll go out with say 2 people and they’ll bring a girl and her friend or her sister or cousin or whatever it is. This *always* happens. It’s almost guaranteed. If you’re going to a nice place to eat every girl is going to say “oh yeah for sure i’d love to go too!” since they wouldn’t turn down a nice place to eat to start the night.
Start the Jump Around: You’ll have a list of places you typically go to (not clubs) and you’ll bounce around to each one of nigher lounge type areas or roof top bars. This then leads to people splitting up or an eventual move to some person’s nice house/condo. Always one of the two. If you’re in New York it’s 99% of the time going to lead to some sort of split up. Whoever you’re with will have the group cut in half within 2 hours at minimum.
During this bounce around instead of drinking hard alcohol, it’s more likely you’re drinking wine/champagne and maybe 1 drink of some stronger alcohol (vodka/tequilla/whiskey etc.). Sure there are people who can somehow drink tons of hard alcohol at all times but it becomes less necessary over time. More like 2-3 drinks as the night gets “more ridiculous” as everyone you’re with is 6-8 drinks deep.
Leave Early: Never understood why people take pride in staying until last call. The reality is that last call is also a signal for “lower quality people”. You should be leaving early for an obvious reason. If it’s a slow night then you’ll be heading to some person’s party/event (not sure why but there is always some “event” every weekend that you’ll get invited to). This is unlikely but just like everything in life, some nights will be mediocre so you’ll end up at one of these closed off private “events”.
Get To Your Spot: After getting to your spot, you’ll have your hangover cures ready to go, just chug them and move on. For those that are unaware, this is typically green juice, chlorella and some pedialyte or coconut water. Essentially looking for greens + electrolytes. The girl is not going to notice at all, or care. When you wake up you’ll feel like a million bucks since you didn’t drink as much, correctly spaced out your alcohol and re-hydrated before passing out (1:00-4:00am).
As a few added quick touches, it’s a good idea to go ahead and buy a few extra tooth brushes, floss and mouth wash. Just go onto amazon and buy the single use mouthwash packages or the travel sized ones (about 1.2 ounces) along with a case of toothbrushes. This is a good added touch and no one will care, if someone asks just say “Oh… it’s easier for travel which is why I buy them”.
Mentality Change
The best way to describe the mentality change for people who are actually rich and *not* socially weird is this: no need to be competitive. While you will remain ultra competitive in your work (company or career etc.), the rest of the stuff becomes irrelevant. The majority of “competition” is really just a bunch of guys trying to claim they are “the man”. If you really are at the top of the food chain, people simply know. You’re not worried if someone isn’t interested in you and you’re not worried if a girl is interested in some other dude.
To drive the point home it’s the same concept as usual. If someone says “trust me i don’t lie” then you know for sure they are constantly lying to you. No one who is telling the truth needs to “tell you” they are telling the truth. Similarly, no one who is actually set needs to “tell you” they are better than you. They simply live their life and let everyone else decide. There is no point in trying to convince people and rich people know this. They just live their life and the “implied messages” add up. The guy doesn’t seem to be emotional, he doesn’t seem to get completely drunk, doesn’t seem to care about the money for the drinks, food and black cars. He just seems to be enjoying the night. Anyone out “looking” is not in the same game since they have to take an “active” approach. Much better to sit back relax and only talk to the few people that interest you. If they don’t work out (unlikely as they’ll realize your a high value person), then you simply move on. Gone are the days spent analyzing and “thinking” of the best way to do something. The new reaction is “wow this person is crazy, i could fix their life with a phone call and they are spending their time trying to complain to me instead. Oh well. Their loss.” As always, the classic: Smile, Nod and Agree. You’ll be doing it a lot with people you’re trying to avoid.
