Secret of the Millionaire Mind: Wealth File #8 Rich People Are Willing to Promote Themselves and Their Values

This is a chapter-by-chapter summary of a book by T. Harv Eker’s Secret of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth (2005) series. One chapter, one article. Read this summary, buy the book. Enjoy!

Wealth File #8:

Rich People Are Willing to Promote Themselves and Their Values.

Poor People Think Negatively about Selling and Promotion.

“Resending promotion is one of the greatest obstacles to success,” said Harv Eker. “Rich people are almost always excellent promoters.” If you believe that what you have to offer can truly assist people, it’s your duty to let as many people as possible know about it. In this way, you not only help people, but you also get rich! How can you become rich if you don’t let people know about what you have to offer? How are they going to find out about you? How are you going to sell your product if nobody knows about it? Nobody buys a product he doesn’t even know about! Eker puts it this way: “If you don’t sell, you don’t earn a darn thing!”

If you believe that what you have to offer can truly assist people, it’s your DUTY to let as many people as possible know about it. That’s clear as water. You can help people – that’s great! Everybody wants to help other people, so, let them know about your value. That’s the coolest thing on earth: You help people AND you get rich! Eker shares about some reasons why poor people* have a problem with promotion and/or selling:

#1 They had a bad experience in the past with people promoting and lied to them. This will hold them back.

#2 They had a disempowering experience when they tried to sell something and maybe they experienced total rejection. They still fear failure… they need to let the past be the past.

#3 They probably have been conditioned that maybe they heard it’s impolite to ‘toot your own horn.’ In the real world though, if you don’t ‘toot’ you own ‘horn,’ nobody will…

#4 They maybe feel that promotion is not so important. The problem is that nobody is going to find them as nobody knows about them.

If you don’t like selling and promotion for whatever reason, just swallow it. If you want to become rich, you need to promote your value with passion and enthusiasm. Simple as that. Sell yourself! Be authentic. Be passionate about what you have to offer. If you absolutely can’t be passionate, then probably what you have to offer does not have much value… It is indispensable that what you offer needs to have value. Yet, the biggest value is useless if you don’t promote it! Who should be enthusiastic about your product if you not? Step out and promote what you have to offer – your skills, services, products – with passion and enthusiasm. If you believe in your value, how could it be appropriate to hide it from people who need it?

[*I need to note that the Harv Eker makes it clear in this book that he does not mean to degrade poor people. He does not think that rich people are better than poor or middle-class people. They’re just richer.]

I Have A Millionaire Mind!

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Wealth File #1 Rich People Believe "I Create My Life." Poor People Believe "Life Happens to Me" (Summary)

This is a chapter-by-chapter summary of a book by T. Harv Eker’s Secret of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth (2005) series. One chapter, one article. Read this summary, buy the book. Enjoy!

Wealth File #1:

Rich People believe “I Create My Life.”

Poor People believe “Life Happens to Me.”

If you want to create wealth, says Eker, it is imperative that you believe that you are at the steering wheel of your life, especially your financial life. You have to believe that you are the one who creates your success, that you are the one who creates your mediocrity, and that you are the one creating your struggle around money and success. Consciously or unconsciously, it’s still you. Instead of taking responsibility for what’s going on in their lives, poor people* choose to play the role of victim.

This is important. If you feel like ‘Life just happens to me, I can’t do anything about it,’ then how are you going to change? What kind of life do you live? “I can tell you,” said Eker, “you live the life of absolutely no purpose. Completely unconsciously and meaningless…” That’s definitely NOT how you want to live. This is the first Wealth File for a good reason. If you don’t think “I create my life” then you can’t change anything. Eker points out: “You must realize that you are the creator! You must sit at the steering wheel of your life. You make the choices. And you take responsibility for your life. Basically, you are the BOSS of your life. Yes, you are!” (This is where my faith conflict with Eker’s teaching about we are the creators. But based on the context, what he really means is that we can change or not our belief system. We can create or uncreate our own beliefs).

The author states that poor people* play the role of victim. They often BLAME other people. It’s never their fault, it’s always the fault of others. Poor people also often COMPLAIN. When you are complaining, you become a living, breathing “crap magnet.” That’s the worst thing you can do. So, never whine, bitch or complain. Poor people also JUSTIFY their situation. They say things like, “Money is not that important.” If you don’t think money is important, you simply won’t have any. Put this in perspective: “Money is extremely important in the areas in which it works, and extremely unimportant in the areas in which it doesn’t.” But the poor people will argue (and this is a brilliant but funny quote by Eker): “’Well, money isn’t as important as love.’ Now, is that comparison dumb or what? What’s more important, your arm or your leg? Maybe they’re both important.” It’s funny and it makes sense. So, don’t play the role of the victim and start take responsibility and steer your life to success!

[*I need to note that the Harv Eker makes it clear in this book that he does not mean to degrade poor people. He does not think that rich people are better than poor or middle-class people. They’re just richer.]

I Have a Millionaire Mind!

Start With Why: The Golden Circle (Chapter 3 Summary)

This book summary series is taken from Simon Sinek’s Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (2011). Your curiosity and knowledge is infinite, but your time is not. Read this summary – and you’ll be inspired!

The Golden Circle finds order and predictability in human behaviour. Put simply, it helps us understand why we do what we do.

WHAT: What do you do? [“Every organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. These are products they sell or services they offer.”]

HOW: How do you do what you do? [“Some organization know HOW they do It. these are the things that make them special or set them apart from their competitors.”]

WHY: Why do you do what you do? What’s the purpose? [“Very few organization know WHY they do it. WHY is not about making money. That’s a result. WHY is a purpose, cause or belief. It’s the very reason your organization exists.”]

Simon Sinek explains that most companies communicate on WHAT they do; from the outside to the inside of the golden circle. They know exactly what product or service they offer and what features it has. Some organizations might even know HOW they do it. This might be the Unique Selling Proposition (USP). But very few know WHY they do what they do. “The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

By starting with why and communicating from the inside out, organizations can inspire people to take action. For example, Apple Inc. company:

Apple if they were like everyone else:

We make great computers.
They are beautiful designed, simple to use and user-friendly.
Want to buy one?

How Apple actually communicate:

Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly. And we happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?

Apple simply doesn’t reverse the order of information, their message starts with WHY, a purpose, cause or belief that has nothing to do with WHAT they do. What they do – the products that they make, from computers to small electronics – no longer serves as the reason to buy, they serve as the tangible proof of their cause. “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

Most organizations, however, use the tangible features and benefits to build a rational argument for why their company, product or idea is better than another. Companies try to sell us WHAT they do, but we buy WHY they do it. When communicating from the inside and out, the WHY is offered as the reason to buy and the WHAT serve as the tangible proof of that belief. Consumers and investors are completely at ease with Apple offering so many different products in so many categories. It’s not WHAT Apple does that distinguishes them. It is WHY they do it. Their products give life to their cause and everything they do works to demonstrate their WHY.

Apples competitors lost their cause, they turned from companies with a cause into a company that sold products. And when that happens, price, quality, service and features become the primary currency to motivate a purchase decision. At that point a company and its products have become commodities. Simon assured that a company doesn’t have to have to best product, they just need to be good or very good. Better or best is a relative comparison. Sinek argued, “Without first understanding of WHY, the comparison itself is of no value on the decision maker.”

If a customer feels inspired rather than manipulated to buy a product, they will be able to verbalize the reasons why they think what they bought is better. It is the cause that is represented by the company, brand, product or person that inspires loyalty (see previous article). So, instead of asking “WHAT should we do to compete?” the question must be asked is, “WHY did we start doing WHAT we’re doing in the first place, and WHAT can we do to bring our cause to life considering all the technologies and market opportunities available today?”

From Inside Out: Ask WHY, then How, then WHAT. Always Start with WHY.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (Conclusion)

If you like to read all the summaries from Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (2016), click HERE

The key to becoming a happier person right now is to build a better sets of values. When your values are realistic, constructive and completely under your own control, you will be able to lead a life filled with healthy challenges.

If you really want to gain the knowledge from this book, and apply it in real life. Then here’s a checklist for actions to take:

Sit Down Right Now and Make An Honest List of the Values and measuring systems you use to evaluate your life. Then go through the list and using Manson’s criteria, determine which are good and had values. Brainstorm how to change the bad values into good ones.

Take An Honest Look at How Your Thought Measure Up with Your Actions. Are you deluding yourself into thinking that you are extraordinary and exceptional when in reality you have not done anything?

Next Time You Run Up Against A Problem You Are Struggling to Solve, Don’t Just Sit There, Do Something – anything. Let your action lead to inspiration and motivation rather than waiting around for inspiration to strike.

Not Giving A F*ck!

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck: ...And Then You Die (Chapter 9 Summary)

This is a chapter-by-chapter summary of a book by Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (2016) series. One chapter, one article. Read this summary, buy the book. Enjoy!

“The more I peer into the darkness, the brighter life gets, the quieter the world becomes, and the less unconscious resistance I feel to, well, anything.”

(Mark Manson)

This is one of the hardest things you will ever have to do, because human beings possess an innate terror of death. We are the only animals (writes Manson) able to contemplate our own mortality and it is all too easy to become obsessed with death terror, but paradoxically, this leads us to waste the time we have. Only once we become comfortable with death can we learn how to truly embrace the time we have.

And the only way to become comfortable with death is to concentrate on the legacy you want to leave behind – how do you want the world to have been changed by your presence. If you have good values, you want to leave the world better than you found it. This means believing in something bigger than yourself, and working to serve that something bigger. Some people find it in religion, others in community, but the point is to find it, and let it change your perception of death… to let it transform the way you view your life, said Manson.

Accept the fact that you are going to die.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck: The Value of Suffering (Chapter 4 Summary)

This is a chapter-by-chapter summary of a book by Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (2016) series. One chapter, one article. Read this summary, buy the book. Enjoy!

“If what we value is unhelpful, if what we consider success/failure is poorly chosen, then everything based upon those values – the thoughts, the emotions, the day-to-day feelings – will be all out of whack.”

(Mark Manson)

Not all problems are bad. In fact, problems are necessary for cultivating happiness. However, this does not mean that all problems are good. Sometimes we find ourselves confronted with bad problems, and inevitably these problems are a result of bad values. To illustrate this point, Manson uses contrasting anecdotes:

The first is the story of Dave Mustaine, a guitarist who was kicked out of the band Metallica just as they were poised for their big break. Mustaine vowed that he would start his own band and become more successful than the band who had snubbed him. He went on to form Megadeth, a band that sold over 25 million albums. However, even as a famous millionaire, Mustaine still felt like a failure because Metallica had gone on to sell over 150 million albums. By anyone else’s standards or values, Mustaine was successful, but by his own values, he was a loser.

The second story is of Pete Best, the drummer who was kicked out of The Beatles just as they were poised on the brink of success. Best did not go on to become a famous musician, but he eventually considered himself to be a great success and said that getting kicked out of The Beatles was the best thing that could have happened to him, because it lead to him meeting his wife and starting a family. The difference between Mustaine and Best is that Best chose better values with which to measure failure/success.

Manson defines bad values as superstitious, socially destructive and not immediate or controllable. For example, Mustaine’s values were to become better than Metallica. But Mustaine could not ultimately control which band became more popular. On the flip side, Manson defines good values as: 1) Reality-based, 2) Socially-Constructive, and 3) Immediate and Controllable. For example, Best probably valued spending time with his family – something he was able to control every day of his life and which helped his family bonds grow stronger.

Good values include things like honesty, creativity and charity. Bad values include things like becoming rich or being better than someone else. Choosing good values means choosing good problems. Valuing honesty sometimes means having painful or awkward confrontations, but these confrontations will lead to growth and healing, whereas lies would have “spiralled into destruction and a loss of trust.” In order to avoid bad problems, we must take the time to define our values and determine whether they fit the criteria to be good values.

Fill your life with good problems based on good values,

rather than bad problems on bad values.

F**k, bad values!

Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues in Life

Throughout history, people have been concerned about figuring out their values and trying to live by them. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), the American printer, author, diplomat, and scientist, was one of the writers of the Declaration of Independence. He also helped draft the U.S. Constitution. In his autobiography, Franklin explains how he tried to change his behaviour by describing and then trying to live by his values, which he called “virtues.” How are Franklin’s value applicable today? Which is Franklin’s values do you share?

The Thirteen Virtues

1)    Temperance: Eat not to dullness. Drink not to elevation.

2)    Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.

3)    Order: Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.

4)    Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.

5)    Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e. waste nothing.

6)    Industry: Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.

7)    Sincerity: Use no harmful deceit. Think innocently and justly; if you speak, speak accordingly.

8)    Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9)    Moderation: Avoid extremes. Forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10) Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

11) Tranquillity: Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12) Chastity: Rarely use venery* but for health or offspring – never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.

13) Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

[Taken from: Franklin Benjamin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and Selections from His Other Writings. New York: Random House, 1994, pg. 93-95. *Sexual activity.]

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)