Do Not—Care What Others Think
(Adopting The Millionaire Mindset)
If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, … sweep streets so well that all the host of Heaven and earth will say, “Here lived a great sweeper, who swept his job well.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Scores of books have been written on developing what has been dubbed the “millionaire mentality” (or mindset) and how to change it. Anything that has been learned, especially if it is detrimental to our financial well-being, can also be permanently unlearned. Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a first-rate example of someone who can change his mindset. In his case, Scrooge went from the epitome of stingy miser to caring philanthropist literally over night. He had to discover the reasons behind his beliefs that bound him and to see the future results of not making changes.
Changing your harmful habits requires changing your unconstructive actions, which necessitates changing your inferior patterns stemming from your negative thoughts. Developing the millionaire mentality all begins in the mind. The good news is that you have already chosen your pathway for the rest of your life (in your mind at least) by tracking your spending and doing something about taking control of your finances.
Personal development guru Joe Vitale delves deeply into the secrets of the law of attraction in his book The Attractor Factor and offers what he feels are the keys to creating a joyful and abundant life by using the power of positive thought. He also makes it plainly clear that although optimistic and positive thoughts draw altruistic results, they require action. You’ve heard it said that “you reap what you sow” and “what comes around, goes around.” Both of these sayings are actions-based.
The millionaire mindset is a positive state of mind and begins in one’s personal beliefs. All these beliefs have been adopted and accepted, based upon your experiences. Know that what you have been taught to believe can be changed for the better. Believe that you can overcome any hardship and that you can “change your stars.”
The above term comes from the movie A Knight’s Tale. Heath Ledger’s character William Thacker is a peasant squire born into poverty who breaks all the rules of jousting when he passes himself off as a nobleman. Thacker believes that a man can “change his stars,” meaning that no matter what station you are born into and whatever class distinction you may be labeled, that there is no such thing as fate and one can drive his own destiny.
Disappointments can lead to new developments. The millionaire mentality always looks for the broad picture and for the long-term implications and outcomes. The millionaire mindset is optimistic and positive. It looks beyond the horizon for what lies just out of sight, but always within reach. The millionaire mind has the ability to take any roadblock and turn it into an opportunity. We can change our stars and drive our own destiny by believing, by feeling deserving, by deciding upon an action plan, and finally by taking the required steps and putting forth the essential effort dictated by the desired outcome, even if the pathways seem impassable.
When faced with adversity, the man or woman with a developed millionaire mindset will plough through and endure to the end. Additionally, these people will look back in retrospect and be grateful for the experience. Perseverance also constitutes a large makeup of the mindset. Confucius said, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising each time we fall.” Champions are people who “never say die.”
Once you are automatically able to distinguish between a casual want and a true need, (meaning that this ability has become part of your psyche), you will be well entrenched on your path to financial freedom and you will easily be able to hold onto more of your hard-earned cash.
In their book, The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley and William Danko describe what America’s wealthy really look like, and more importantly, how they act. America’s wealthy are frugal and live not just within, but below their means. The majority of truly wealthy people do not drive Mercedes Benzes or Cadillac Escalades. You would never know they had a lot of money by their outward appearances as they don’t care what others think. They pay cash for everything and plan their purchases wisely and according to needs.
If you consider yourself poor, are you poor by choice? Additionally, what are you doing to change your circumstances? After having made the choice to be wealthy, your future actions will dictate your outcome. The millionaire mindset is not content with mediocrity or in not living up to one’s full potential. The mindset sifts through problems until a solution is discovered.
The millionaire mentality does not give into impulse or lingering sadness. The mindset that you wish to develop in order to live a prosperous lifestyle is positive and resolute. The person who has developed this mindset is optimistic and visionary and unencumbered by the obstacles that life throws their way. These are the leaders of the world who take charge and stand up as beacons. All the world loves a hero, but heroes are nothing more than ordinary men and women who when faced with a defining moment, choose to define the moment and to take advantage of a new opportunity rather than to allow the barrier impediment them on their journey.
Kory Koontz: Excerpts from his book: Do or Do Not—An Inspirational 12-Step Program to Prosperous Living. C. 2009
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