How To Think Like A Millionaire

A review of the book “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” by T. Harv Eker

Wondering why you’re not rich yet even though you seem to be doing all the right things? Maybe you’re just getting started on your wealth journey and want to do it right. Well, today I will be reviewing a book on money and mindset that is helping shape my view of wealth and can shape yours as well.

The book includes exercises that require you to do some introspection. These, I’ve labeled with “E”. I’ve included some of my responses to the exercises to possibly jog some thought for you. The book also includes declarations. Declarations are like affirmations. They are something for you to repeat to yourself often… to speak it into existence. I’ve labeled these as “D”. Finally, the author has many great quotes which I have included here (some paraphrased) and labeled those with a Q.

Verbal Conditioning, Modelling, and Incidents

E: Write down all the statements you heard about money, wealth, and rich people when you were young. How have these thoughts affected you so far? You have a choice to rethink negative imprints.

“Mo money, mo problems” was a thought pattern I unconconciously adopted growing up. My family lived life on the edge, not knowing how or where money was going to come from, scraping by. Honestly, it was kind of exciting and it left me with a feeling of success that we “pulled ourselves up from our bootstraps”, while all “those rich people” got it easy. Not owning much stuff makes me feel lightweight and lean and not “tied down” because stuff means commitments (and commitment is a struggle). I have an idea that wealth relates to needless stuff bloat, however this doesn’t necessarily have to be true! And it’s also myopic. I’m now realizing that wealth provides opportunities, not only for me but for those I love and care about. For example, I recently heard about a Dad that made a robotics lab for his kids and their friends’ robotics teams which he coached. That takes money and time (passive income) but sounds awesome. What plucks your heart strings?

I also grew up feeling like there is a “purity” to not making a lot of money doing what you’re doing. Somehow I adopted the idea that it proves you “don’t have alternative motives”. (Comes from my Dad’s research career). In other words, I’ve felt that there was a piety/nobility to not having a lot of money — which I think I got from a distorted view of what my religion feels about money. Actually (borrowing from the book “Millionaire Fastlane”) income is a function of how much value you bring to others. And the religious perspective of money is not that it is evil but that the greed or withholding of it is evil. Wealth can be good if you think not in terms of accumulation but rather contribution.

D: What I heard about money isn’t necessarily true. I chose to adopt new ways of thinking that support my happiness and success.

I choose to see money as giving me choices and freedom. It can be properly managed and doesn’t have to be a burden, but rather a source of life. I can still pursue creation and value while also pursuing money (they aren’t mutually exclusive and actually support each other). I don’t have to live extravagantly and can still live resourcefully while being wealthy. Having wealth means I have the means to bless others. Money doesn’t have to make my life bloated. I can still live “life on the edge” and “lean” even with wealth. In fact, passive income allows me to have more flexibility and thereby freedom with my time.

E: Did your parents manage money well? Were they spenders or savers, investors or not, risk taking or not, was money flowing or sparatic. Was money a struggle and source of arguments or source of joy. Consider these ways of being and habits your parents had in wealth. Write down the ways you may be the same or different than them.

My parents were not savers and didn’t manage money the best. We’d sometimes have money and try to survive on it as long as possible before the next miracle amount came in. I don’t want to put myself or others through this uncertainty. I want to know I have a steady source so that I can focus on other things.

D: What I saw modeled around money was their way. I choose my way.

Q: Poor people say money isn’t important. Money is important in the areas in which it works. Money pays for things: house, food, churches, etc.

E: What is something that didn’t go well today. What part did I have in making that happen?

I really like this exercise and want to start keeping a mistakes journal because once you own mistakes, you know how to overcome them in the future. It helps you not live life as a victim.

Q: Rich people play the money game to win. Poor people play to not lose. Its wealth and abundance versus survival and security.

Q: Most people don’t want to be rich because they think there is something wrong with being rich. Eg. what if I make it and lose it, I’ll be in the highest tax bracket, too much work, sacrifice friends and family, too much responsibility, mo money = mo problems.

I have a tendency to think that if I am rich, then it will be too much responsibility and I may come across as stuck up. But in actuality, he shows later in the book that wealthy people are some of the most generous! Being rich doesn’t mean I have to come across as stuck up! I can make the decision not to be!

Honestly, this is just the first half of the book. I’ll post the second half in a follow-up article! Hope y’all enjoyed this review of the book! I encourage you to do these exercises and if you really like this material, but the book!