THE MIND OF A MILLIONAIRE
- Jan 21, 2017
- 4 min read
You can create, in yourself, a new person by changing the way that you think. God is far more interested in changing our mind than changing our circumstances. Most of us have an instant desire for our circumstances to change before our thought process changes. No external transformation will happen until an internal transformation occurs. This statement is the summary of why 44% of lottery winners are completely bankrupt within 5 years of accepting their winnings. We have to learn to manage our minds, internal progress, before we can manage money, external progress. We must manage our minds for three reasons:
Our thoughts control our lives - Every single action begins as a thought. If you don't think it, you don't do it. If you learn to manage your mind, you will know how to manage your life
My mind is the battleground for terrible decision making - All temptation happens "between your ears". Your mind creates the foundation for whether you'll be financially poor or wealthy.
It's the key to peace and happiness - A mismanaged mind leads to disaster. A managed mind leads to success.
Only you can control your thoughts. It takes effort to change what takes up space within your mind. This takes me to the book, "The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy". This book was added to my reading list for the year. The general premise of 'The Millionaire Next Door' is that the popular culture concept of a millionaire is quite false and that most actual millionaires live a very simple lifestyle. The authors, Stanley and Danko, did extensive profiling of people whose net worth defined them as millionaires along with those whose salaries and age defined them as likely millionaires and, using this data, created a detailed profile of who exactly a typical millionaire is. From there, extensive interviews with these “typical” millionaires created a much more detailed picture of what it actually means to be a millionaire in today’s society. The authors warn that many people who earn high incomes are not rich. Most people with high incomes fail to accumulate any lasting wealth. They live hyperconsumer lifestyles, spending their money as fast as they earn it. In order to accumulate wealth, in order to become rich, one must not only earn a lot, i.e. play "good offense", but also develop frugal habits.
Below is a "mash-up" of some of my favorite quotes from the book:
"Financially independent people are happier than those in their same income/age cohort who are not financially secure. We have this thought that allocating time and money in the pursuit of looking superior is important. It's not, and it has a predictable outcome: inferior economic achievement. A financially irresponsible person's view of millionaires is shared by most people who are not wealthy. They think millionaires own expensive clothes, watches and other status artifacts. We have found this is not the case. It matters less how much more you make than what you do with what you already have. There are three words that profile the affluent: FRUGAL FRUGAL FRUGAL. Its amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it. You'll be surprised at how much money can be saved and invested when you have no alternative except to succeed and have a thought process to match."
Changing your thought process about money and your potential for obtaining wealth will take INTENTIONAL effort. We must do a few things to help change our mindsets:
Feed our minds with truth: We all know the importance of nutrition for our bodies. Our minds are just the same and we must treat our thought life well by feeding it with "nutritious" information. You need the best information to make the best decisions that God has for you. Make this a habit morning, noon, and night. Along with the Bible, find a book about financial basics to help you get closer to understanding your money.
Free our minds from destructive thoughts: Our minds need to be liberated, delivered and relieved. You'll become a prisoner of things that people have told you about yourself IF you allow it. So many of us have been told by friends and family what we will and won't achieve. If you have aspirations to become wealthy one day, their thoughts are irrelevant and your thoughts are what matter. Sometimes we even discourage ourselves due to our pasts. Free your life of those planting destructive thoughts in your life, even yourself!
Focus our minds on what matters most: There are frequently multiple voices that try to cloud your mind with things that don't matter and are discouraging. We need to focus our minds on the words and thoughts that matter most. This will create an optimistic thought life propelling you towards change and financial success. FOCUS!
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
The Millionaire Next Door
“One of the reasons that millionaires are economically successful is that they think differently.”
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