tl;dr - Three tips from a guy that worked single digit hours a week making six digits in his early 20s.

1) Find the lowest hanging fruit. Other people didn't go after the lowest hanging fruit because it has some kind of imperfection. Every fruit has imperfections though, so it will be necessary to learn how to deal with imperfections regardless of how shiny the fruit is. Pursuing the good fruit that few want, whether job or other opportunity, is more time efficient and gives you greater control over the fruit.

Example: I found my first 6 figure job on craigslist. (Full disclosure so I don't lead someone down a bad path: it wasn't one of those "Work From Home Making XXXX a Week!" ads)

2) Spend your money. This may sound backwards to most financial advice. Typically you hear "save" "save". Saving is the miser's route that never leads to financial independence. A miser may one day be independent from his job, but he never becomes independent of money. True financial independence is not caring about wealth at all. Rich, poor, its all the same. Spending as a mindset is better because it gives you power as the creator versus the consumer. People are the best place to spend. Spend on employees, social events, and gifts because every dollar wisely spent on people is returned with a dividend. Stocks and other equities are a proxy thatinvest in a group of people, so if you are not in a position to invest directly in people, stocks are the next best thing.

Example: I hosted a friend to lunch who shortly afterwards introduced me to one of my best freelance clients.

3) If you invest in your own business, invest in value, not growth. My number one mistake when starting to make businesses was investing in "The Idea!" -- That's the lightbulb that goes off that could make millions, no billions! Unless you are able to comfortably drop $100k-$300k on "The Idea!", don't even bother. Instead invest in "The Money Machine." The Money Machine eats some money on one end and spits out the same money and an extra bill or two on the other end. However, only invest your money in The Money Machine when it is on, and pay nothing to turn it on. So only use your existing knowledge and assets to turn it on. Place zero bets on things you do not have.

Example: if you want to start a restaurant but don't know shit about restaurants, first get a job at one and open a catering business from your personal kitchen. After you get a bead on a good market with zero investment (The Money Machine is on), then its time to invest. Maybe start investing by hiring a cook who works out of your kitchen so you don't have to do shit for The Money Machine to run. Yeah you can make a larger cut if you do the work, but there's only one of you. Make The Money Machine bigger instead of operating as part of it because you're the only one who can do that. If eventually your cook and other staff are part of a working scaled up catering Money Machine, invest in a retail location that will add new capacity and clients to your business.

Takeaway: These tips are for men aspiring to be millionaires early in life. Doing something few men do requires thought processes few men perform.