# The Book

- [Introduction](/the-book/intro.md): What this is all about: the main aims and thematic threads
- [Revolutionising your relationship with money](/the-book/intro/0.0.1.md): Money profoundly affects our lives, for good and for ill, and in ways so hidden we’re hostage to them; to take control, and channel the energy of money to our benefit, we need to train our vision
- [Better money decisions, step by step](/the-book/intro/0.0.2.md): The practical steps on your path towards financial enlightenment are an unfolding story of becoming wiser with money, its star’s fate determined by each fork in the road
- [The slow suicide of monetary self-deception](/the-book/intro/0.0.3.md): The major ways we deceive ourselves about money involve blindly substituting something that doesn’t work for something that does
- [1: Towards Financial Enlightenment](/the-book/1.md): What you need to know about money – and how to know it
- [1.1: Becoming Wiser with Money](/the-book/1/1.1.md): If living well is your ultimate goal, this book is a guide to how to best use your money to achieve it
- [1.1.1: Becoming a better investor](/the-book/1/1.1/1.1.1.md): A better money mindset leads to better money behaviours leads to a better relationship with money leads to a better life
- [1.1.2: Financial philosophy: what is it and why is it necessary?](/the-book/1/1.1/1.1.2.md)
- [1.1.3: The two types of financial errors](/the-book/1/1.1/1.1.3.md): Wise money decisions start with avoiding mistakes in problem formulation and problem solving
- [1.1.4: What unites every money decision?](/the-book/1/1.1/1.1.4.md): Everything in this book ties to one central idea: we each have resources we’re trying to allocate in a way that turns them into our best possible life
- [1.2: The Root of All Deception](/the-book/1/1.2.md): No other life lessons have such immediate and compounding value as those that can be learned about living with money
- [1.2.1: Where does the path to good investing begin?](/the-book/1/1.2/1.2.1.md)
- [1.2.2: Why focus on money?](/the-book/1/1.2/1.2.2.md): Our minds and our environments are obsessed with money, and it enters into every decision; it’s therefore the most reliable means of changing our worlds
- [1.2.3: What other investment books miss](/the-book/1/1.2/1.2.3.md)
- [1.2.4: Money Blind](/the-book/1/1.2/1.2.4.md)
- [1.3: Money and the Good Life](/the-book/1/1.3.md): Paying attention to the right things and knowing things in the right way shapes your brain, trains your wisdom, and enhances the goodness of your life
- [1.3.1: You are a brain surgeon](/the-book/1/1.3/1.3.1.md)
- [1.3.2: The four types of knowing](/the-book/1/1.3/1.3.2.md)
- [1.3.3: Putting knowledge to use: becoming practically wise](/the-book/1/1.3/1.3.3.md): Abstract thinking about money easily drifts into self-deception; for money to serve the Good Life, we need to anchor it to a practical philosophy
- [1.3.4: What is the Good Life?](/the-book/1/1.3/1.3.4.md)
- [1.4: Is the Good Life for Sale?](/the-book/1/1.4.md): Money can fuel your inner fire, or accelerate you along the road to nowhere; take control of your life story, for the default destination is disaster
- [1.4.1: Money. Huh. What is it good for?](/the-book/1/1.4/1.4.1.md)
- [1.4.2: Is success for sale?](/the-book/1/1.4/1.4.2.md)
- [1.4.3: Editing your life story](/the-book/1/1.4/1.4.3.md)
- [1.4.4: From having a mind full of money to being mindful with money](/the-book/1/1.4/1.4.4.md)
- [1.5: Money Maxims](/the-book/1/1.5.md): To see the world differently, see your language differently; train yourself to use certain words and phrases as reminders to stop and think things through
- [1.5.1: Resetting your relationship with money](/the-book/1/1.5/1.5.1.md)
- [1.5.2: Principles](/the-book/1/1.5/1.5.2.md): Our guiding stars: the long-term inspiration behind our short-term actions
- [1.5.3: Rules](/the-book/1/1.5/1.5.3.md): Our guiding lights: mental notes to recall when required
- [1.5.4: Triggers](/the-book/1/1.5/1.5.4.md): Rewire your reactions: train to hear these as you would your name across a crowded room. Engage your brain. Label the thought. Reframe it. Make a wiser decision
- [Storytime: The most valuable knowledge in the world](/the-book/1/s1.md): Understanding financial-planning basics could easily be worth more to you than everything else you ever spend added together
- [2: How to Have a Healthy Relationship with Money](/the-book/2.md): Because all the money and the best investment knowledge in the world will not lead to a Good Life if the thinking that shapes your relationship with money is flawed
- [2.1: The Inner Game of Investing](/the-book/2/2.1.md): Finding the right solutions requires looking in the right places
- [Storytime: It. Never. Works.](/the-book/2/2.1/s2.md): Be slower to act like the Good Life is for sale, and quicker to question if this ever proves true
- [2.1.1: First per cent problems](/the-book/2/2.1/2.1.1.md)
- [2.1.2: The only way to solve money problems](/the-book/2/2.1/2.1.2.md): The roots of your money problems – and their solutions – are in the way your brain is wired, not how much money you have; having money isn’t the answer, being wiser with it is
- [2.1.3: Does financial advice help or hinder?](/the-book/2/2.1/2.1.3.md): The people you pay to solve money problems tend to make them worse
- [2.1.4: How to stop financial rumination](/the-book/2/2.1/2.1.4.md): Becoming wiser with money requires you to first stop your head spinning in ruminatory circles
- [2.2: Misunderstandings and Lethargy](/the-book/2/2.2.md): Our most pressing money problems are caused by ignorance and indolence, not idiocy
- [Storytime: Doubling down](/the-book/2/2.2/s3.md): Even ostensibly value-driven decisions can be misleading if they are not thought through
- [2.2.1: Expenditure is more important than income](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.1.md): The importance of your finances lies not in the numbers, but the life choices they symbolise
- [2.2.1.1: Universal basic instincts](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.1/2.2.1.1.md): Instinctively, everything points towards income being more important than expenditure, but this is a deception
- [2.2.1.2: How to spend it, and not spend it](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.1/2.2.1.2.md): Both the profligate and the parsimonious believe price is the arbiter of value; both are wrong
- [2.2.1.3: The unexamined dollar is not worth a dime](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.1/2.2.1.3.md): Wise spending decisions aren’t difficult, for you already know the answer; but you’re distracted and deceived
- [2.2.1.4: Adviser or enabler?](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.1/2.2.1.4.md): We – and those we employ to help us – are set-up to make mistakes with money, but they’re not unavoidable
- [2.2.1.5: The game of life is not a numbers game](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.1/2.2.1.5.md): How to examine your life through the medium of your money
- [2.2.2: Enough is more important than more](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.2.md): Living in alignment with your values beats living large
- [2.2.2.1 Give, give, give, me more, more, more](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.2/2.2.2.1-give-give-give-me-more-more-more.md): Our words may say we value quality over quantity, but our actions say otherwise
- [2.2.2.2 If less is more, then more is also less](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.2/2.2.2.2-if-less-is-more-then-more-is-also-less.md): Less of one thing means more of another, and money is only a small part of this
- [2.2.2.3 Enough is enough](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.2/2.2.2.3-enough-is-enough.md): Consciously choose quality over quantity and break the link in your mind between more and better
- [2.2.2.4 Right place, wrong mime](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.2/2.2.2.4-right-place-wrong-mime.md): Despite being in the best place to see the trouble of doing so, Advisers encourage living (and buying) the dream, not realising a life
- [2.2.2.5 Enough is more than enough](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.2/2.2.2.5-enough-is-more-than-enough.md): The quality of your life is not measured by quantities
- [2.2.3: Value is more important than price](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.3.md): Using the objectivity of price as a guide to subjective value is all-too-common, but all-too-foolish
- [2.2.3.1: Is it better to look rich, or be rich?](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.3/2.2.3.1-is-it-better-to-look-rich-or-be-rich.md): Our attachment to price tags is an attachment to appearances as a substitute of, and at the expense of, the actual wealth we want
- [2.2.3.2: Is it better to own or to rent?](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.3/2.2.3.2-is-it-better-to-own-or-to-rent.md): Most of the time, the desire to own things reflects a failure to see what’s valuable to us
- [2.2.3.3: There is always an underlying emotional reward](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.3/2.2.3.3-there-is-always-an-underlying-emotional-reward.md): What we seek when buying any good or service is an emotional reward, and it is against that that spending decisions should be weighed, measured, and judged
- [2.2.3.4: Selling style over substance](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.3/2.2.3.4-selling-style-over-substance.md): Advisers, being humans, also tend to overweight price and overlook value
- [2.2.3.5: Putting a price on real value](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.3/2.2.3.5-putting-a-price-on-real-value.md): Price signals saturate your vision, but value is what you see when you see clearly
- [↓ Coming Soon ↓](/the-book/2/2.2/coming-soon.md)
- [2.2.4: All purchases are investments](/the-book/2/2.2/2.2.4.md): A Good Life relies on good trades. Good trades rely on seeing relevant costs and benefits clearly. Seeing clearly relies on a sound framework applied to the money-entwined practice of daily living.
- [2.3: How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything](/the-book/2/2.3.md)
- [Storytime: What do Blackheath people do?](/the-book/2/2.3/s4.md)
- [2.3.1: Beware the Arrival Fallacy](/the-book/2/2.3/2.3.1.md)
- [2.3.2: Beyond needs and wants](/the-book/2/2.3/2.3.2.md)
- [2.3.3: Denunciation is still attachment](/the-book/2/2.3/2.3.3.md)
- [2.3.4: Take control](/the-book/2/2.3/2.3.4.md)
- [2.4: All Success Is Subjective](/the-book/2/2.4.md)
- [Storytime: Hollywood Hero](/the-book/2/2.4/s5.md): Learn to differentiate matters of importance from matters of circumstance – and common dreams of money and fame are all circumstances
- [2.4.1: No human is an island](/the-book/2/2.4/2.4.1.md)
- [2.4.2: What are you worth?](/the-book/2/2.4/2.4.2.md)
- [2.4.3: Write your own success story](/the-book/2/2.4/2.4.3.md)
- [2.4.4: Be your own hero](/the-book/2/2.4/2.4.4.md)
- [2.5: Inspired by Love and Guided by Knowledge](/the-book/2/2.5.md)
- [3: How to Invest Like a Non-idiot](/the-book/3.md)
- [3.1: All Investments are Gambles](/the-book/3/3.1.md)
- [3.2: Your Life in Your Money and Your Money in Your Life](/the-book/3/3.2.md)
- [3.3: The Investment Universe in a Grain of Sand](/the-book/3/3.3.md)
- [3.4: There Is No Best Investment](/the-book/3/3.4.md)
- [3.5: No Investment is an Island](/the-book/3/3.5.md)
- [4: How to Get Help That's Actually Helpful](/the-book/4.md)
- [4.1: Help!](/the-book/4/4.1.md)
- [4.2: (Almost) All Financial Advisers are Crooks or Idiots](/the-book/4/4.2.md)
- [4.3: Know your Enemy, and Your Friends](/the-book/4/4.3.md)
- [4.4: Should You Hire Help or Go It Alone?](/the-book/4/4.4.md)
- [4.5: The Future of Financial Advice](/the-book/4/4.5.md)
- [5: How to Buy a Better Life](/the-book/5.md)
- [5.1: Be a Financial Philosopher](/the-book/5/5.1.md)
- [5.2: The At-Least-I-Know-I'm-Doing-Something-Right Investing Checklist](/the-book/5/5.2.md)