Under the searing Texas sun, Minh stood frozen before the gates of SpaceX’s Starbase. In his hands was a startup proposal that had already been rejected by twenty investment firms. Just then, a sleek black Tesla pulled up. The window rolled down, revealing the sharp, unmistakable features of Elon Musk. There were no pleasantries. Elon stared directly at the stack of papers and asked: “Why does the world need this?”

Minh stammered, “Because everyone else does it this way, and I think I can do it better…”

Elon cut him off, his gaze piercing. “Wrong. Never do something just because ‘that’s how it’s done.’ If you want to build wealth quickly and change the game, you must master these three habits.”

1. Shatter Prejudices with “First Principles Thinking”

Elon stepped out of the car and took Minh’s proposal. “First habit: Stop reasoning by analogy. Use First Principles. Don’t say ‘batteries are expensive because they’ve always been.’ Ask: What is a battery made of? Copper, nickel, aluminum, and chemical elements. If you buy those raw materials on the London Metal Exchange, they cost ten times less than the finished pack. Why?”

He emphasized: “Strip every complex problem down to its fundamental truths. When you stop copying others and start building from the ‘atoms’ up, you will find treasures that everyone else has missed.”

2. Obsessive Focus – “Work Like You Are in Hell”

Elon’s eyes grew more intense as he moved to the second habit. “Many young people want to be rich but spend eight hours a day on entertainment. You want to get wealthy fast? Work 100 hours a week. If someone else works 40 hours and you work 100, you will achieve in four months what takes them a year.”

He tapped Minh on the shoulder. “Focus isn’t just about working hard; it’s about having the courage to say no to everything that doesn’t serve your highest goal. Be a little obsessive. Normal people never reach the escape velocity required for true wealth.”

3. Take Risks While the “Cost of Failure” is Low

When Minh asked about the fear of failure, Elon offered a knowing smile. “The final habit: Take risks while you are young. Right now, you don’t have a family or massive commitments. Time is the only asset you can truly gamble with. Don’t let a false sense of security kill your ambition. If you don’t bet everything on a vision you’ve fundamentally proven to yourself, you’ll spend your life as a spectator watching others hold the trophy.”

The Tesla sped away, leaving Minh standing in the Texas dust. But this time, he wasn’t looking at his old proposal. He tore it up. He began breaking his vision into tiny, fundamental pieces, preparing for a 100-hour work week.

He finally understood: Building wealth quickly isn’t a miracle—it is the inevitable result of a different mindset and a brutal level of effort.