When people ask me how a broke river guide making less than $4,000 a year could turn a thousand bucks into more than $1.5 million in just five years, they usually expect some kind of magic trick or hot stock tip. But the truth is much simpler. I didn’t stumble onto a lottery ticket. I didn’t gamble my way into a fortune. I learned the principles of real investing — the same straightforward, disciplined Rule #1 strategy I teach today — and I applied them with everything I had.

This is the story of how I went from riding rivers in the Grand Canyon to managing millions using the Rule #1 approach inspired by Warren Buffett and Ben Graham. And more importantly, it’s the story of how anyone can do the same thing once they understand how compounding works when you’re earning a high rate of return, buying wonderful businesses, and sticking to a rational, unemotional strategy.

A River Guide, $4,000 a Year, and a Life-Changing Rapid

Back in the early 1980s, I wasn’t thinking about investing at all. I had come home from Vietnam, dealing with what we now know was PTSD, and I fled to the only place that felt grounding and real: the Grand Canyon. I was a river guide living out of a duffel bag, riding a Harley, rebuilding an old Volkswagen engine every winter, and scraping by on a few thousand dollars a year. Investing wasn’t on my radar because, frankly, I didn’t have anything to invest.

But life has a funny way of flipping your script when you least expect it.

On one Outward Bound trip I was guiding, we had a group of wealthy trustees—men who funded outdoor programs for inner-city kids. Our goal was to put them through the same rugged experience we put kids through: paddle rafts, big whitewater, cold water hitting you in the face at 20 miles an hour. And on that trip, we came to the rapid that changes every trip: Crystal.

Crystal has a monstrous 35-foot drop waiting on the left side of the river—go over that, and you might not come out. My crew wasn’t paddling hard enough to stay right, and I knew if I didn’t turn that raft myself, we were going into the hole. So I spun the boat, dug in, slammed into the wall, and somehow we stood the raft straight up, spun around, and shot through untouched.

One man jumped out and threw up. Another jumped out and hugged me, saying, “You saved my life.”

Turns out, he was a serious investor. And for the rest of that river trip, he wouldn’t stop telling me: “Come see me. I’ll teach you to invest.”

Learning the Fundamentals From a Buffett Student

Months later, when a cold Flagstaff winter made sleeping in my van sound less appealing, I called him. He invited me to La Jolla, put me up in his home, and taught me the kind of investing he learned straight from Warren Buffett.

Not day trading. Not speculation. Not gambling on quarterly earnings.

He taught me:

• How to understand a business

• How to identify a moat

• How to evaluate management

• How to calculate intrinsic value

• How to demand a Margin of Safety

This became the foundation of the Rule #1 strategy I’ve taught for years.

Eventually, he offered me an apprenticeship. I worked with him for about a year, absorbing everything I could. And when it was time to go out on my own, I started with what I understood: farming, outdoor gear, tourism, firearms, anything connected to my life experience.

My very first deal was an almond orchard that Getty Oil wanted off its books. I bought it for the price of the dirt—no premium for the trees, the business, or the equipment. That’s what you call margin of safety in real life.

The tragic twist? The manager used a broken shaker on the orchard and killed every tree. I sold the land for exactly what I paid. I broke even.

Painful? Sure. Catastrophic? Not at all. Because margin of safety protected me from real loss.

That lesson has stayed with me for forty years.

The Turning Point: Jonas Salk and a Different Kind of Goal Setting

Not long after those early deals, I met Dr. Jonas Salk — the creator of the polio vaccine. He had a profound impact on how I approached investing and success.

At the time, I told him about my goal: “I want to make a million dollars.”

He looked at me and said something that changed my life: “If I had set goals, I would never have invented the vaccine. I didn’t have goals. I made a promise.”

He burned the ships. There was no going back. He would either succeed or fall trying.

So that’s what I did.

I made one promise:

I will make a million dollars in five years. And I will put every ounce of energy I have into doing it.

That mindset—combined with the right rules—became rocket fuel.

The Investments That Changed Everything

With discipline and deep understanding of the businesses I bought, I started finding opportunities that fit the Rule #1 framework: wonderful businesses at attractive prices.

My biggest winner in those early years was Westbridge, a small biotech company producing innovative fertilizers for farmers. I understood farming. I understood how this product fit. So I bought it.

And I held it for decades.

Across those five years, I had a few great winners and—importantly—no big losers. That’s how compounding works when you’re earning high returns and protecting your downside. The portfolio grew faster than I expected.

Five years later, almost to the month, I had $1.45 million in liquid assets.

From a thousand dollars.

As a river guide.

Without Wall Street. Without fancy degrees. Without connections.

Just the right rules, the right mindset, and the discipline to stay rational.

The Three Keys That Allowed Me to Build Wealth So Quickly

Looking back, I can summarize everything into three principles that anyone can adopt.

1. I Had the Right Rules

My real investing family wasn’t my blue-collar upbringing. It was Buffett, Graham, and the Rule #1 community.

I didn’t invent anything. I didn’t need to be a genius. I just followed principles that have worked for nearly a century.

• Understand the business

• Look for a big moat

• Evaluate management

• Demand a large margin of safety

Simple, not easy — but extraordinarily effective.

2. I Made a Promise, Not a Goal

My promise made me unstoppable. I burned the ships. I couldn’t quit. I couldn’t back down. That commitment created the intensity and focus I needed.

3. I Stayed Rational and Unemotional

I ignored the market noise. I stayed patient. I trusted the process.

Remember: Wall Street plays for the next quarter. We play for the next decade.

That’s why regular investors — armed with Rule #1 — have a huge advantage.

Why Anyone Can Do This

The biggest insight from that first five-year sprint was this:

Anyone can build extraordinary wealth when they follow Rule #1 Investing.

You don’t need a finance degree. You don’t need to be wealthy to start. You don’t need to trade every day.

You just need the rules, the mindset, and the ability to stay rational.

That’s why I’ve spent decades teaching these principles around the world — because I know firsthand how life-changing they are.

Want to Learn the Exact Strategy I Used?

If you want to get serious about achieving financial independence, I’d love to teach you what my mentor taught me.

Every month we host a 3-Day Rule #1 Investing Workshop — entirely online, filled with real education, no upsells, and a curriculum that thousands of students have rated even higher than top universities.

You’ll learn:

• How to find wonderful businesses

• How to calculate intrinsic value

• How to invest with a margin of safety

• How to build long-term compounding into your life

If you’re ready to take control of your financial future, join us at the next workshop.

Now go play.