Diet and Investment advice … the last of the snake-oil salesmen

I'm going to let you in on a little known fact, something that could disrupt a huge global industry and change lives all around the world if it were more widely known and appreciated.

Ready?

OK ...  if you want to lose excess weight, follow these two steps;

1. Burn more energy (calories) than you ingest on a daily basis. Repeat.
2. Foster better lifestyle habits, but only one at a time. Be patient.

The global diet industry is massive, turning over billions every year as people struggle to lose weight or improve their health. Can you imagine what would happen if the straightforward method outlined above became common knowledge? Think of all those vacuous glossy magazines with nothing to fill their pages, all those personal trainers with nobody to shout at, all those 'celebrity' fitness DVDs that would no longer have a market, fast food companies going out of business ... on second thoughts, tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell everybody.

But don't be too concerned for your friends in publishing, it most likely won't make any difference at all, and next month's Fitness Magazine will still have a 12-page feature on how to get your 'beach ready body'.

The only other comparable industry for the production of useless hot air is the financial press. Every single day, the media and your inbox is stuffed with an onslaught of contradicting investment advice from a wide array of self-appointed experts ... I'm pretty sure that no truly successful investor is arriving for a 4am make-up call at CNBC studios.

A similar two step approach can be taken to reliably build personal wealth;

1. Spend less than you earn on a weekly/monthly basis. Repeat.
2. Invest in a portfolio of businesses that sustainably generate excess capital, don’t overpay. Be patient.

“You can never be too rich or too thin” – Wallis Simpson

In both cases the methods outlined are not complicated, but they are hard to follow; both require self-discipline, restraint and uncommon levels of patience to achieve desired results over the longer term. It is not easy, it is not glamorous, it's hard work and it takes discipline and commitment.

If you can maintain long-term focus when 'quick wins' - be it tech start-ups or a juice detox - are being heavily promoted all around, then you are far more likely to enjoy a healthy bank balance, lower stress level, and maybe even a decent burger along the way.