This is an essay I wrote that was published on Dec. 19 by DIY Wealth – an online business that provides guidance on entrepreneurship, investing, and other aspects of building wealth. (Disclosure: I am an investor in that business.)

It starts like this:

You go to lunch with a colleague. Everything is good. When the waiter puts the bill on the table, the total is $26.

Do you pick it up? Do you wait and hope he does? Or do you suggest you split it?

On the surface, this is a minor decision. But in truth, it is one of a million chances you’ve had, have, and will have to become wealthier.

A cheapskate might look at it this way:

* If we split the bill, I’ll be $13 poorer.

* If I can get him to pay it, I’ll be $26 richer.

* If I pay the whole bill, I’ll be $26 poorer.

To the cheapskate, the best decision is obvious. So when the check arrives, he gets up to “go the bathroom,” hoping he’ll be $13 richer when he returns.

But I have a different view. For wealth building, like quantum mechanics, often operates according to laws that seem contrary to what is “obvious.”

Click here to read the rest of the essay.