It
has been said that one of the
greatest keys to becoming wealthy, is
to learn how to think like a rich
man. The reason being that we first
need to create our reality inside
us, before we can create it outside
us.
Now
the interesting thing is that many
of us, don’t quite know, how millionaires think. And that’s
probably the biggest reason why, so
few of us are wealthy.
In
this brief article we will explore
the results of a survey conducted on 733
millionaires. This survey was
performed by Dr Thomas J Stanley who
has been studying the wealthy since
1973.
We
will briefly consider some of the
Character Traits and Reasoning, which Millionaires possess. This will form a solid
foundation for anyone wishing to
become wealthy.
And yes it is true
that anyone can become rich. And no,
you do not need to compromise your
principles to get there. The true
secret to wealth is to follow
certain key principles in the right way.
Let us begin
1. Do what gives
you a Rush
Paul
Allen who has a net worth of approximately $16 Billion was once asked:
Q: What is the best advice, business or
otherwise, you’ve had and from
whom?
A: The
best advice I’ve received came many years
ago from my father. He
told me that you should love
whatever work you do, you should try
to find something you truly enjoy.
And I’ve been lucky through the
years that the work I’ve been
involved with has been challenging
and for the most part, fun.
Another
Millionaire put it this way, ”Do
what gives you a RUSH!” Most
millionaires will tell you that it
is very difficult to become Rich by
doing something you hate. Building
wealth demands passion and intense
commitment. If you don’t love what
you are doing you will not be willing
to put in the energy and work
required to build your
fortune.
Doing what you love is the first step
to becoming wealthy.
One
way to discover your All
consuming Desire, or the thing
that Gives you a Rush, is to
ask yourself questions like
these:
What gives me a Rush?
What do I absolutely love doing?
What would I
do even if I had to pay for the
privilege?
What comes to me naturally?
Where do
my Talents and Passions overlap?
What high margin or high turnover products or services can I provide, that would really excite me?
2. Work hard, work smart
Solomon,
who was quite possibly the
wealthiest man to ever live, said,
“
Do you know a hard-working man? He
shall be successful and stand before
kings! ”
Millionaires
are often ordinary people who merely
out worked everybody else. It is
often that simple. Find what you
love and give it your all. It is
said that you can become a
world-leader within 5 to
10 years, in almost any
endeavor, just by working harder at
it than everybody else.
One
way you can develop the habit of hard
work is to develop a sort of
work-fitness. This is done in a
similar way to developing physical
fitness. All you do is work a little
harder everyday. In time you will
find yourself being able to easily
outwork others.
But
do remember to keep balance in your
life. That's where working smart comes in. Not all actions are created equal. Some actions lead to more profit than others. Prefer actions that maximize the return on your time and energy.
And remember Family and quality of life
should always be a priority, as they
form the basis of true wealth.
3.
Build Relationships
A
millionaire once said that you can
make more progress with the help of
a Mentor in one day than you could
by working for 10 years!
Millionaires understand this and
they also understand the fact that
nobody can do it alone; everybody
needs a helping hand, somewhere along
the line.
This
is evident in the beliefs of the
Rich. Andrew Carnegie believed that he
didn’t need to know everything or
be an expert in everything. So he
surrounded himself by people who
were experts in each area of his
business. He hired manufacturing
experts, an marketing experts and
whatever other expertise he required
for the manufacturing of Steel.
When he needed to know or do
something he consulted his experts
for advice and then made an informed
decision.
When
we think about these things we begin
to realize that the creation of true
wealth is almost always a team
effort. And team effort requires
solid relationships.
A
simple way to build solid
relationships is to practice
treating people with love, dignity
and respect. To refrain from trying
to please ourselves or our own
‘Egos’ and to rather focus on
adding value to the lives of others.
A
star salesman once told me, “
People buy from those they like. ”
4. Be Disciplined
Success
in any venture requires Discipline.
Millionaires realize that wealth is
often made up of, the cumulative
effect of years of effort. Yes, you
do find overnight Millionaires, but
what percentage of Millionaires
actually did it overnight. Even Bill
Gates took almost 10 years to build
his fortune.
We’ve
all seen the fruits of get rich
quick schemes. The creator of the
scheme usually gets rich while
everybody else becomes poorer.
It
is also interesting to note that
most lottery winners end up in the
same place they started, or even
worse,
within 5 years of winning their
prize.
Wealth
built gradually usually far-outlasts anything gained quickly. So if you
want to be rich, it is better to be
disciplined. It is better to spend
your money according to the return,
and not according to your whims.
Save,
Invest into your Dream. Get
educated. And diligently work on your
Dream everyday.
5. Start your Own Business
More
than 80% of Millionaires have their
own business. Do you think that Bill
Gates or Richard Branson would be as
Wealthy as they are today,... had they not
has their own business?
Starting
a business is important because it
allows you to earn according to your
efforts and not according to what
others think you are worth. Most
wage earning jobs pay according to
the cost of living. Basically they
pay you enough to live, not enough
to become wealthy.
But
the real question here is:
What
business do I start?
The answer is,
one where there is demand,
but few competitors. Where you can sell high margin products or services, and there are enough customers to buy these products or services.
So find a niche
and develop your own brand in it.
The way you can find this gap is to
simply ask yourself questions such
as:
In
the area of my passion, what do I
want that nobody seems to be able to
give me?
What does everybody seem to
want that no-one is giving them?
Of these things which can I sell with a high margin?
Maybe
you are into fishing and you find
that you need a certain type of
fishing boat, but nobody seems to
make that type of boat. Ask around
and do a bit of a survey to find out
how many other fishermen also want
that type of boat. If you find that
most of them want or need it, then
you have a winner.
6. Become a Leader
An
important trait of Self Made
Millionaires is the ability to be a strong
leader. Creating wealth often
involves the co-ordination of the
efforts of many people. This
requires Leadership. A strong leader
is someone who creates a Dream for
people, that touches their hearts. He
then takes those people to the fulfillment
of that Dream. He does it
in a way that everybody benefits.
The
motto of a good leader is often: T.E.A.M – Together Everybody Achieves More.
7. Learn how to Persuade
Business
is often about ideas and getting
others to believe in them. Without
the ability to persuade others to
your way of thinking, it often
impossible to build considerable
wealth. Just where would Colonel
Saunders be without Kentucky Fried
Chicken. Or Ray Kroc without Ronald McDonald's
The
basic key to persuasion is to link
your idea, to somebody else’s
needs. So if you want to
sell a car. You need to find a
person who has a need for that car. The easiest, way to
find out if someone has a
need for something is to ask
questions.
So
in our car example you can ask them about what they are looking for
in a car. Ask them about their
family. Their business goals, their
passions. And then listen and
observe. Dale Carnegie said that the
best conversationalist is a
listener.
Once
you know what someone wants,
demonstrate to them how your
product, idea, service etc… gives
them that. So if they like speed,
let them press the gas a little. Or
if they like comfort let them sit in
the Drivers seat.
Remember to persuade by
action, not just words. Seeing is
believing for most.
8. Be Trustworthy
Yes
it is true that you can become
wealthy by lying and cheating and
stealing. But at what price? Isn’t
it so much better to have a clear
conscience at night when you go to
bed. Deep down in our hearts we all
know that, hurting others never feels good.
A
millionaire once said that for every
lie one tells, one needs to tell
another 15 to cover it up. Imagine
that, one lie leads to 15 more. So
it is better and easier to be
honest.
It
is also important to remember, that trust is the hardest thing
in the world to earn
back, once it has been lost. We all
have an instinctive distrust, of
those that deceive, us and will often
never do business with them again
(especially if it cost us money!).
The
moral of the story is simple.
Promise what you can deliver. And
then deliver it.
9. Get
a supportive spouse
It
has been said that there is no great
man without a great woman behind
him. Marriage and family are
important for Wealth generation.
They give you a reason to work hard
and to provide. They give you a
place to refine and perfect yourself
in a supportive environment.
But
remember that you need to be
teachable. You need to understand
the advice that people give you as
well as their motive behind it.
If
you are already married make sure
that you love and support your
spouse. If they have done you harm,
forgive them. Build a solid
foundation of trust and caring. Be
nice to them. And always remember to
go first. In the long term a good
marriage is in your own best
interests.
If
you are unmarried, find a spouse
that believes in your Dreams. Make
sure that your spouse has integrity
and that they keep their word.
Choose what my one friend calls, “
A Presidents Wife. ” A spouse that
brings out the best in your
character, that conducts themselves
well in public and that tells you
both your strengths and your
weaknesses in a loving way. Choose
someone that will make you GREAT!
10.
Take Calculated Risks
Richard
Branson who is one of the Wealthiest
men in Britain, says that when he
makes a decision, he chooses the
option with the greatest payback, and
then minimizes the downside. Richard
practices what is known as
calculated risk taking.
A
calculated risk is where one first has a
venture with a good promise of
financial return (usually your gut
will tell you that it is a good
option to pursue). In this type of
situation you will have considered
all of your options and will be
fully aware of what you stand to
gain, and what you stand to loose, for
each option.
You
then choose the option that seems to
provide the best return, and work out
a plan to minimize or manage the
downside. If you cannot manage the
downside, then you need to consider,
whether or not, you can pay the price should
things go completely wrong. If you
can't, it’s usually better to pursue a
safer alternative.
However
if you can manage the downside, then
it is usually best to pursue the
high reward alternative. Motivational Speaker Chris Widener puts it this way,
“
... usually things will work out and if
they don’t you will often learn
valuable lessons that will allow you
to succeed next time around ...
”
Research
indicates that there is a direct
correlation between the willingness
to take risks and financial net
worth.
11.
Follow the Path of your own
Greatness
There
have been few self-made millionaires,
who have followed the crowd. Just
imagine what the world would be like,
if we had we all stuck to doing the same
things, as we did 100 years ago. There
would be no Electricity, no TV, no
Radio, no Air Travel, no Computers,
no Internet.
Our
modern world was created by people,
who followed their own intuition,
even if it meant going against the
crowd. The wise call this intuition,
our source of power. It is the inner
guide. The inner path, which our gut
tells us to pursue.
The
way we find out what this path is, is by
asking ourselves questions such as:
What
do I instinctively feel it the right
path to take?
What do I
instinctively feel is the correct
direction for me to pursue?
What
path do I feel ‘most at peace’
with pursuing?
This
path will not always make logical
sense, but it will be the correct
path in the long run. When you first pursue this
path, it may even
seem as if things are going wrong,
But
in time you will discover that it was
the best path after all.
12.
Have Faith
Much
of the success literature over the
last Century, has focused on the
right application of the principle
of Faith. Faith is the ability to
see something in your imagination as
if it already is, and to then believe
that it will be so.
It
is said that Faith creates reality,
and that all of our circumstances are
directly related to our application of the faith principle.
The
secret to creating wealth using
Faith, is to first mentally picture
what we want. You must then ponder on
this mental image until it becomes a
reality to you. You can then imagine
that this reality is busy unfolding
in your live. You must rehearse this
process until the thing you are
imagining feels as real as the world
around you.
Finally
you must follow the Inner Path of your
own intuition towards the fulfillment
of
this reality. If your intuition
seems to say, "go", then
go. If it says, "wait"
then wait. If it says, "do this
instead." Then do it.
We must constantly and
in Gratitude ask, What do I
instinctively feel is the correct
direction for me to pursue ? What do
I instinctively feel is the correct
way to go about this?
And
finally we need to remember to thank
God for the things he has given us.
We need to be thankful for what we
have, as God creates the
opportunities that our Faith
provides.
Bonus Prinicple: Give
I never knew what it was to have large amounts of money until I started giving. This is a time tested and proven principle.
Here is a summary of this principle, which for some strange reason, was deleted off Wikipedia a few years ago:
The Success Formula
The success formula is a concept that Napoleon Hill studied extensively. Andrew Carnegie told Hill that the formula for success was so powerful, that if learning how to apply it was taught to students, the time they needed to spend in formal schooling could be cut in half.
This formula, Carnegie repeated, was used by all the leading businessmen and inventors of the late 19th and early 20th century. Carnegie asked Hill to go out and confirm the application of the formula by the 500 richest Americans (and others).
The formula can be summed up as "Whatever you give will come back to you", a common concept many businesses use today. Hill gave many examples in his book of the formula being used, in one case in the creation of the Unites States Steel Corporation which yielded a sum of $600,000,000 of new wealth in the early 1900's.
With only a third grade education, Carnegie became the most unbelievably rich man the world has ever seen. Carnegie was, by some estimates, 100 times richer than Bill Gates (as a percentage of GNP of the United States economy at the time). Hill stated often in his book that "Whatever price you ask of life, life is willing to pay".
Hill and Carnegie spent a great deal of time in Hill's monumental work Think and Grow Rich discussing the life of inventor Thomas Edison. It was stated in the book that the great inventor personally put his stamp of approval on use of the success formula as being necessary for the attainment of all achievement, including riches.
Attempts to describe the Carnegie formula fill the literature and history of our world. "Give and ye shall receive" is one early example. "It is better to give than to receive" is another. |
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