Ah... the great American dream, become a millionaire and live like a king. Nothing is more enticing than to dream of nice cars, beautiful homes, and Italian suits. The question is, can the American dream be more than just an idea?
I've read story after story and countless books on the subject, and I believe the short answer is, yes, the dream is still alive. The problem is, even though some of what I've read is high quality, down to earth information, most of it is at best hyperbole and at worst, a total lie. You hear things like, it's easy to become a millionaire, all you have to do is step one through five, and you will be a millionaire. Although I do believe it is simple to become a millionaire, it certainly is anything but easy.
What do I mean? Ultimately the concepts behind becoming wealthy are time tested proven techniques that require insane discipline. The difficulty is not in how to's; those are simple; the difficulty lies in the mindset. You need a millionaire's mindset in order to become a millionaire; it's that simple, it's just not that easy, get it.
So what is a millionaire's mindset? It is an entirely different viewpoint of the world. The statistics don't lie; most people if given a million dollars would lose it within five years, look at most lottery winners. So then, one can conclude that it is not the lack of money that is why people are poor because even when they are given the money, they can't hold on to it. This is one reason why the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.
It is true that ultimately you have to have some vehicle to get you to your first million, but it is not the lack of opportunity that keeps people poor it is their lack of mindset. I am careful not to say knowledge because that boils down to the "how to" category. My concern is with the way you think, do you even believe that it's possible for you to ever have a million dollars or more at any point in your life. The truth is most people don't believe it, and I guarantee they probably never will have it.
So forget about the five or the ten steps to becoming a millionaire and forget about this get a rich idea or that one. The real answer lies in how wealthy people think, trust me; it is very different from the average person. Start reading books on wealthy people, read autobiographies, listen to speeches of the wealthy etcetera. Once you begin to see the differences, you will begin to understand. For example, did you know that most rich people buy cars that are at least two years old? The explanation was that you shouldn't buy a brand new car due to depreciation; most wealthy people are surprisingly frugal.
Here is a sample list of some of the things millionaires say when interviewed about how to become a millionaire in net worth.
Honesty, charity, frugality are some of the attributes along with debt avoidance, and being obsessed about your goals, at least for a period of time. This doesn't sound like the average person to me. As you can see, ultimately, if you want to become a millionaire, you need first to change the way you think, and then go after the how-to with obsession.
