How to Use Non-Financial Leverage

Zachary Bouck
Oct 17
3 min read

I had a few days last month where my blog had 10x the readers it usually does, so I must be getting better at blogging, promoting, and sharing ideas. I think my writing falls into three main categories:

How to Create Wealth — one of my biggest passions. I love talking about, learning about, and educating others on the topic.
Investing
Wealth Is Good — the idea that when you become wealthy (which you will if you make as much money as possible and invest intelligently), the next challenge is figuring out what to do with it. That’s what the Wealth Is Good blog is about.

Today’s post is categorized as ‘How to Create Wealth’. It’s about using leverage to create wealth in a world that is rapidly changing.

When I first explored the Ladders of Wealth Creation, the fourth ladder was the one I struggled with most. Other than building social networks, I couldn’t think of many ways to use leverage. Sure, you can record a song or start a blog, but the whole leverage concept felt somewhat abstract to me.

Over time, as I’ve thought more about it, using my favorite framework, which is history, I’ve started to see how leverage has evolved throughout time.

For most of human history, leverage meant getting more people to do what you wanted. Economies were built on labor. The more people you had building pyramids or plowing fields for you, the more power you held. That system persisted until the 19th century, when the Industrial Revolution transformed cheap labor into massive output. Human labor was no longer the dominant source of leverage.

From there, capital became the main multiplier. Banking and fundraising allowed people to pool money at scale to build railways, canals, factories, and cities. Selling stock in a company became another powerful way to create leverage.

Then came media—from the printing press to newspapers, magazines, TV, podcasts, and the internet. Media allowed a single message or idea to reach millions.

Now, in the 21st century, code is the newest and most scalable form of leverage. You can create one piece of software and distribute it to billions of users at essentially zero marginal cost. The end user even pays for the infrastructure through their own devices. There are no gatekeepers, and distribution is instant and global.

The next phase of AI—robotics, data centers, and physical replication—will push leverage even further. One invention could reach not just countless phones, but also countless robots, 3D printers, and physical tools operating worldwide.

If you want to make as much money as possible—or simply survive in this new kind of economy—you need to understand leverage. Selling your time for money is the hardest way to build wealth. Getting paid on output lets you share in the success of your work. Building a business that earns on the output of others multiplies your specific knowledge through labor.

But ultimately, learning how to apply leverage—especially in scalable, modern forms—is the number one way to create wealth. We’re entering an era where the best idea in the world can scale instantly, and everyone else is left behind.

The next 25 years will move fast. Think deeply about leverage. Work hard to apply it. The future belongs to those who do.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

Zachary Bouck, CFP®

EP: 170 - October Investment Insights

EP: 169 - September Investment Insights

How to Use Non-Financial Leverage