Introduction Game On

      Congratulations! Whether you're just getting started in your nonexistent career or contemplating a switch from your current job, the smartest thing you've done to date is to buy this book. If you bummed it off your buddy, then kudos to you! You've already taken one small step toward proving you have the right mettle for earning a high salary in this dog-eat-dog world. The pearls included in these pages may not be the first career advice you've ever received, but I guarantee these tricks of the trade will be the most valuable.

      As the title suggests, The Way of the Wall Street Warrior will show you how to use tips, tricks, and smartcuts to get hired, get ahead, survive, and excel on Wall Street, Main Street, or any other street where you're mining for gold. It comes from my experience as a 25-year investment banking veteran who did the unthinkable. I, an Asian American with a cleft lip and palate, rose up in the white, male-dominated world of high finance, becoming a managing director before the age of 33. I then left my high-profile job in my early 40s, on my own terms, while on top.

      While my lessons were learned on Wall Street, they're applicable to anyone, anywhere working in any competitive corporate environment. If you can make it in the Machiavellian world of banking, you can make it anywhere. Wall Street is a jungle, the toughest jungle there is. I had a highly successful career because I learned how to game the system, and now I'm writing this book so you'll learn my tricks and avoid making the same mistakes as your peers.

Unrig Your Mind

      If you care about money, this book is for you. If you want practical advice without the BS but don't mind some acerbic humor that goes along with it, you're in luck. If the do-nothing in the cubicle next to you is earning more than you, or you can no longer stomach hearing your mother's sighs and your father's tsk-tsks, or you need a kick in the pants—read this book!

      Here's what you'll gain: You'll learn how to survive and thrive by not relying on the skills you mastered in the warm confines of the classroom. Instead, you'll learn from me what it actually takes to get ahead.

Another reason to read this book is if you're stuck in a dead-end job. You might be severely disillusioned and filled with self-doubt. Perhaps you've been wondering if there is a secret handshake that will gain you entrance into the inner circle or a magic carpet that will carry you up to the executive suite. Maybe you're the person who buys every how-to book you can get your hands on, hoping one might unlock the secrets for getting that coveted raise or promotion. Even if you have yet to reach this level of angsty ambition, I can guarantee you've seen dropouts become billionaires or buffoons become your bosses and asked yourself, “Why not me?” What's the answer? You already know because you feel it in your bones: THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED!

      The Way of the Wall Street Warrior is going to unrig it for you. From a young age, we're pounded with the idea of meritocracy—that we're rewarded based on our talents. If we just study hard, keep our nose to the grindstone and follow the straight and narrow, we can achieve greatness. These rules of engagement were pounded into my brain during my Asian American upbringing. The tenets of respect, honor, and obedience are an integral part of our culture. We're taught that if we work hard and obey the rules, life will take care of itself, and that in business you'll get promoted and do great.

      Horse manure!

      I got ahead by ignoring these rules. Most of what we're taught in school and by our elders are just guardrails put there to keep us in check. We know that getting the right opportunity is less about what you know and more about who you know and that the easiest way to get filthy rich is to start rich. Of course that doesn't work for most of us, so if you, too, feel fooled, it's time to come up with a new mindset and a new game plan. If you take this book seriously (but not too seriously), the tricks and tactics revealed in the following pages will drop like dollars from heaven.

Built with Sweat, Backed by Science

      I have more good news. The tactics in this book are not just something I made up out of thin air. In fact, they're based on scientific research in the fields of cognitive bias and behavioral economics. In get-rich-for-dummies terms, these disciplines use an understanding of human psychology to account for why people often don't act rationally, particularly in economic decision-making. Smarter people than I have won Nobel Prizes for their work in this field, and I'm here to summarize their most salient takeaways—to help you get that big promotion and salary you've always wanted. I got hooked on the field more than 20 years ago, read every book I could get my grubby hands on, and actually applied what I found to advance my career. So what are their conclusions? That human beings are imperfect and fundamentally irrational when making decisions. In my words, people can be stupid.

The interesting point here is that there are creative ways (that have scientific backing) for you to maneuver events and attitudes toward your advantage. But don't worry, there won't be any pedantic lessons, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint gibberish, or 15-letter acronyms in my explanations. You've had a lifetime of that already. Instead, The Way