A man observes evergreens growing along the roadside and thinks the trees look pretty, covered with snow. Another man sees the same trees and thinks, “These trees would look good in people’s living rooms at Christmas. I wonder what they would pay for them?”
The first man has an ordinary mind. The second, the mind of a natural-born moneymaker.
There are some interesting discussions taking place that provide some interesting insights into the way moneymakers think:
The discussions go something like this "an active, inquisitive mind is a hallmark of the successful entrepreneur. The most successful entrepreneurs in history, have this sort of mind.
Thomas Edison: He was a “virtual thinking machine. Almost until the day he died, his mind poured forth a torrent of ideas, and he might track as many as 60 experiments at a time in his laboratory.”
Steve Jobs: He bombarded people with his ideas – his investors, his board of directors, his customers, his subordinates, and his CEO.
Henry Ford: “He threw himself into every detail, insisting on getting small things absolutely right… But he never lost sight of the ultimate, overall objection. He had a vision of what his new car (the Model T) should look like. From all the improvisation, hard thought, and hard work came a machine that was at once the simplest and the most sophisticated automobile built to date anywhere in the world.”
I can see this type of mind in my clients…
Check this example, an émigré from Venezuela, who has this kind of moneymaking mind. I have known him for a few years. During that time he has started a couple of pretty successful companies. Every company he forms, it seems, becomes successful very quickly. there are always a few hiccups on the journey, but none the less he is a wealthy man and enjoys a wealthy man’s lifestyle, but his interest in making money has never waned.
In that respect, he is very different from me. I'm working on building wealth by making plans and working my ass off. Once I make more than I need I will switch mindsets to working because I want to, not because I want to accumulate wealth. At that point, I can stop paying attention to the number.
He made his money effortlessly. Or so it always seemed. And he continues to make money because he really enjoys the process.
I admire that about him. I like talking to him about all his recent deals. His excitement gets me excited.
What if you don’t have the Mind?
I've been around others, who for example were making $400,000 a year when suddenly, sell off everything and retire. Then take off to India and today make a living teaching Yoga. Income is more modest, but nonetheless lives in a beautiful house, belongs to a private golf club, and takes vacations every two months.
Both the people in these examples enjoy life. They work when they want to, rests when they want to, and enjoy the best that life has to offer.
The formers secret is that he knows how to buy the best of everything for pennies on the dollar. I am always amazed at how he and his wife can take off to Colorado, Costa Rica, or China, stay at fine hotels, and do everything but on a budget.
I’m convinced these individuals both to have very special minds. Like Edison, Jobs, and Ford, they think differently than I do.
Raw intelligence is not the issue. These guys are smart but don’t think they are any smarter than I am. And anyway, if it were a matter of intelligence, Einstein and a slew of other geniuses would have been wealthy men.
I refer to what these guys have as a financial mindset. I’ve also called it a Wealthy Mindset.
Here’s the goal: to discover exactly how they do what they do by figuring out how they think. If you study this – and implement the suggestions I’ll be making – we all may be able to “upgrade” our brain to one that will allow having the kind of life they enjoy.
I’m not doing only doing this for you. I’m doing it for myself. I’ve been working diligently on one part of the equation: making money through entrepreneurship. But the other part – enjoying a Wealthy lifestyle on a limited budget – has so far eluded me.
Some Preliminary Observations
To get started, here are some observations I’ve made from studying and observing people and from reading about great wealth builders like Jobs and Edison, and Ford.
1. An “average” person is concerned with protecting his ego. When dealing with a problem he doesn’t really understand, he pretends he understands the contributing factors and doesn’t try to find out what anyone else thinks. A person with a multimillionaire mind asks questions incessantly. He has no ego when it comes to learning. He knows that knowledge is power. Furthermore, they understand that applying the knowledge is where power and wisdom meet.
2. An “average” person has a consumer mentality. He looks at a hot new product and thinks about how he would like to own one. A person with a financial/Wealthy mindset has an entrepreneurial mentality. He looks at it and thinks, “How can I produce this or something similar in my own industry?”
3. An “average” person is wish-focused. He daydreams about making gobs of money. A person with a financial/wealthy mindset is reality-based. He is always analyzing his own success and the success of others and wondering how he could learn from it.
4. An “average” person, when confronted with a challenging idea, thinks of all the reasons why it might not work. A person with a financial/wealthy mindset sees the potential in it and disregards the problems until he has a clear vision of how it might succeed.
5. An “average” person resists change. A person with a financial/wealthy mindset embraces it.
6. An “average” person accepts the status quo. A person with a financial/wealthy mindset is always looking to make things – even good things – better.
7. An “average” person reacts. A person with a financial/wealthy mind is proactive.
8. An “average” person looks at successful business owners and thinks, “That guy’s lucky.” Or “That guy’s super shady.” A person with a financial/wealthy mindset thinks, “What’s his secret?” And, “How can I do that?”
Most importantly, a person with a financial/wealthy mindset likes living like everything is abundant. He doesn’t shortchange himself when it comes to comfort and luxury. Rather than believing always that pain leads to gain, he thinks, “If I’m smart I can have my gluten-free cake and eat it too! Besides, what's the point of having the cake if you can't eat it!!!
Here's to the journey of becoming above average!
Track Of The Day - Can't Hold Us - Macklemore & Ryan Dalton
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