Personal Development

Do you have a millionaire mind?

Do you have a millionaire mind?

In the comments on Monday’s post My Four Smartest Financial Decisions, Norcross wrote, “It’s alarming to know that most of our generation has no idea how to manage their money. But then again, a lot of our parents don’t, either…”

Perhaps we don’t know how to manage it because we were taught to think about it the wrong way.

Money is really the last taboo among some parents and their kids. It’s okay to talk about drugs, alcohol, even sex, but money never makes it into the conversation.

Instead, we watched as our parents made purchases with credit cards, or read the stock page in the newspaper, or complained about money, or planned lavish vacations, or handed over spending cash, or followed a strict budget. However our parents interacted with money, whether it was spoken out loud or not, is how we formed our money blueprint.

The book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker suggests that we all have a money blueprint, which dictates how we interact with our money. Do we make a lot of it? Do we struggle to make ends meet? Do we have a lot of credit card debt? Do we confident in our management? Do we ignore it?

Eker says that blueprint either makes us think rich or think poor.

• Rich people believe: “I create my life.” Poor people believe: “Life happens to me.”
• Rich people are committed to being rich. Poor people want to be rich.
• Rich people focus on opportunities. Poor people focus on obstacles.
• Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people.
• Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their value. Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion.
• Rich people act in spite of fear. Poor people let fear stop them.
• Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.

I know that some people are taken aback by the use of the word “poor.” To be sure, there are many reasons why an individual or a family becomes “poor.” Sometimes their circumstances are completely out of their control, serious illness, for one, comes to mind.

The point of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind is to teach you a new way of thinking so that you become rich. But, I like to look at, not as “rich and poor,” but as “successful and unsuccessful.”

Do you see truth in these statements:

• Successful people believe: “I create my life.” Unsuccessful people believe: “Life happens to me.”
• Successful people are committed to being successful. Unsuccessful people want to be successful.
• Successful people focus on opportunities. Unsuccessful people focus on obstacles.
• Successful people admire other successful people. Unsuccessful people resent successful and successful people.
• Successful people are willing to promote themselves and their value. Unsuccessful people think negatively about selling and promotion.
• Successful people act in spite of fear. Unsuccessful people let fear stop them.
• Successful people constantly learn and grow. Unsuccessful people think they already know.

Worse, according to Eker, to be comfortable, which, he says, is what the middle class is all about. Being comfortable is settling, and settling is an unfulfilling way to live.

It’s easy to get hung up on semantics with this book . I listened to the audio version, and, at times, he actually yells, “YOU WILL NEVER BE RICH, YOU WILL ALWAYS POOR.”

I actually felt bad at times.

And, maybe that’s Eker’s point. He’s certainly changed the way I think about money.