9 Secrets on How to Become a Millionaire

9 Secrets on How to Become a Millionaire
I was inspired to write this article when I read Keith Cameron Smith’s Book “The 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class“. The book resonated with my ideas so well that I almost could have written the book. I have taken some of his ideas, meshed it with my own to create this short article on How To Become a Millionaire.  Another interesting point is I do not think people should aspire just to money.  It is best if money is the byproduct of another passion.

1. Millionaires think long-term. I believe that the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people has to do with the ability for delayed gratification. If you think about those people in society whom are respected and successful – they often have a lot of education, which means they delayed making money and worked hard; they delayed gratification. This is also true of great sports figures or Olympic athletes, they spend hours working out and practicing their craft instead of sitting in front of the television.

2. Embrace change. We all wish for the good old days, but the fact is the good old days will never happen again, change is opportunity. Accept it, prepare for it, study for it and you will thrive.

It’s not survival of the fittest, it’s survival of the most adaptable and our world changes rapidly, the more we can adapt, the better we can do.

3. Be a constant learner (this is one of Hillary Clintons’ Leadership Secrets). I’ve even gone so far as to not have a television. Instead I read, I believe it feeds my mind more. I believe in being a constant learner, I ask myself everyday before I go to bed “what did I learn today?”.

I also choose topics I feel I need to know more about and I study them. That’s the habit of Millionaires.

4. Ask empowering questions. In most cases, empowering questions are how. How can I do this or how can I do that, as opposed to why. If you ask why, you often get the reason and it reinforces an unsuccessful loop.

Asking a big how question also inspires greater action than a small how question. How can you increase sales by 5% comes back with almost no changes to doing things the same way. How can you increase sales 60% creates a change that you’ll need to do something dramatically different.

5. Be frugal. Now I don’t mean cheap – I mean frugal. Frugal is about getting good value for money, so I’m often willing to spend a higher price if I feel the value I’m receiving is better value.  I am known for “throwing pennies around like manhole covers”.

6. Start now. I’ve found that life is much easier for me because I started hard and worked hard from a very young age. That created a momentum effect that has now made my life much easier.

7. Be grateful. I’m a big believer in having an attitude of gratitude. I know I lead a charmed life and I appreciate everything in life.

8. Be giving. To not be generous with both time and money creates the lack of abundance and a fear there is limited resources. Being generous creates the opposite effect.

For myself, the toughest one is time, since I am a time management guy and my time is so valuable.

9. Study time management. I’m a big believer that most of my success has to do with using my time well, which is largely having proper goals, knowing what needs to be done and then setting my priorities.

Although the title of this article is ‘How to Be a Millionaire’ and many people aspire to that, money in itself is a hollow goal. Money is a byproduct of doing something that I love and getting fully involved and immersed in it.


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