Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Wealth File #2 Rich People Play the Money Game to Win, Poor People Play to Not Lose (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 #2:

Rich People play the Money Game to Win.

Poor People play the Money Game to Not Lose.

Poor people’s* primary concerns are “survival and security” instead of creating wealth and abundance said Eker. The goal of truly rich people is to have massive wealth and abundance. Not just some money, but lots of money. “If your goal is to be comfortable, chances are you’ll never get rich,” Eker reasoned, “But if your goal is to be rich, chances are you’ll end up mighty comfortable.” He reminds us of the power of intention. When your intention is to have enough to pay the bills, that’s exactly how much you’ll get – just enough to pay the bills and not a dime more.

Think about this: If your goal is to have just enough money to pay the bills, how much money do you think you’ll get? Exactly! Just enough to pay the bills… You get what you truly intend to get. And that’s what so many people strive for: “I just want enough to pay the bills.” “I just want to live a moderate life and go on vacation once a year” (maybe this is my dream: to live moderately but slightly rich, and go on vacation at least twice a year) “I just want my steady income and make ends.” Well, if that’s what you want, that’s what you get. You may have enough to pay for the bills, but guess what? “You won’t have a dime more,” says Eker. That’s how it works, he said. You get what you truly intend to get.

Harv Eker advises us that our goal should be to become a millionaire and more: “If you shoot for the stars, you’ll at least hit the moon… If you want to get rich, your goal has to be rich. Not to have enough to pay the bills, and not just to have enough to be comfortable. Rich means rich!” So, say to yourself, “My goal is to become a millionaire and more!” and do what rich people do – play the money game to win. Win! Win! Win! Decide now that you commit to being rich.

[*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!

12 Rules for Life #9 Assume that the Person You are Listening to Might Know Something You Don't (Summary)

This is a chapter-by-chapter summary of a book by Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018) series. One chapter, one article. Read this summary, buy the book. Enjoy!

“The great majority of us could not listen; we would find ourselves compelled to evaluate because listening would seem too dangerous. So the first requirement is courage, and we do not always have it.”

(Carl Rogers)

When people argue about something, they often fall in the trap of trying to win over that argument and miss the true point of a good conversation. That is to come-out-wiser-than-you mentality when into it. First of all, winning over an argument does not necessarily mean that your thinking was smarter. If you happen to be more verbally fluent than the others, chances are against him even though he might be wiser than you, because as long as he cannot express his opinions with ease he can’t win because you don’t give him fair chances to win. And as mentioned before: “It’s not about winning.”

The best thing to do is to take a good advantage of what someone is trying to tell you. Give him or her a chance to fully explain and make you understand what he or she is exactly thinking. Who knows maybe, in the end, you could find his or her ideas or suggestions better than some of yours and prevent you from facing future problems. “If you listen, instead, without premature judgment, people will generally tell you everything they are thinking—and with very little deceit. People will tell you the most amazing, absurd, interesting things.” Peterson even says to “listen to your enemies.” Surely, they will lie about you, but also be sure that they will be frank about things that your friends might not see or don’t dare to tell you. Learn to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Beyoncé sang, “Listen!”

Start With Why: This Is Not Opinion, This Is Biology (Chapter 4 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 are infinite, but your time is not. Read this summary – and you’ll be inspired!

“The power of WHY is not opinion, it’s biology”
(Simon Sinek)

Sinek pointed that “our need to belong is not rational, but it is a constant that exists across all people in all cultures.” It is a feeling we get when those around us share our values and beliefs. When we feel like we belong we feel connected and we feel safe. As humans we crave the feeling and we seek it out. No matter where we go, we trust those with whom we are able to perceive common values or beliefs. In the same way, we want to be around people and companies who are like us and share our beliefs. “When a company clearly communicates their WHY and we believe what they believe, then we will sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to include those products or brands in our lives.” This is not because they are better, but because markers or symbols of the values and beliefs we hold dear. Simon believes that we are drawn to leaders and organizations that are good at communicating what they believe.  

Part of communicating what leaders value and believe is in how they make decisions. When good leaders thought that a certain decision feels right, they have a hard time explaining why they did what they did. Decision-making and the ability to explain those decisions exist in different parts of the brain. This is the famous gut decision, and it happens in the limbic brain. The reason gut decisions feel right is because the limbic brain also controls our feelings. This limbic brain is smart and often knows the right thing to do. It is our inability to verbalize the reasons that may cause us to doubt ourselves or trust the empirical evidence when our gut tells us not to.

Henry Ford once said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” This is the genius of great leadership. Great leaders and organizations are good at seeing what most of us can’t see. They are good at giving us things we should never think of asking for. In summary, Sinek writes, “Great leaders are those who trust their guts. They are those who understand the art before science, they win hearts before minds. They are the ones who start with WHY.” Products with a clear sense of WHY give people a way to tell the outside world who they are and what they believe (think of Apple Inc. and their loyal customers). If a company does not have a clear sense of WHY then it is impossible for the outside world to perceive anything more than WHAT the company does. And when that happens, manipulations that rely on price, features, service or quality became the primary currency of differentiation.

The Power of WHY is Not Opinion, It’s Biology

How to Nurture Your Child to Be Creative #2 Let Them Decide Where to Play

When I think of where parents normally carry out creative activities with their children, the usual choice is to let them sit up at the table. For some activities this is sensible, it’s difficult to glue, for example, if you are on the floor. But, if you think about where your child chooses to play most of the time, you quickly realize that preschool children often prefer to play on the floor rather than at the table (At least, I do). Not only is it more comfortable for them, but younger babies especially develop muscles and motor skills which help them to look up, roll and sit with improved posture when they are allowed to play on the floor.

Your child may often prefer to play outside too. Obviously this does depend on the whether to some extent, but there’s no doubt that the sights, sounds, smells and textures of the natural world provide wonderful stimuli to encourage creativity in your child.

Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)