Kind of a weird subject line, but I'll get to that shortly.
Let's begin.
I'm often asked, what does it take to be rich?
Is it something that you have to show some signs of achieving great wealth when your young? Do you have to have a history of doing paper rounds at 7 years of age? Selling lemonade to complete strangers? …Or working at McDonalds at a tender age of 15 for $7.50 an hour?
When I look at my life, there is absolutely no way that anybody could have predicted that I would achieve any sort of financial success.
I was sitting down at lunch on Sunday with my parents and I asked my mother what my attitude to money was when I was young. She said to me that I didn't care about money, it was never a priority and it neither disappointed me or excited me if I had it, or worse still, if I didn't have it.
Wow, innocent on the surface but totally profound.
My mother's words were,
“…never a priority. Didn't care whether I had it or not.”
Now is that a good attitude towards money? All the devotees metaphysical teachings might say yes.
Here's what I think…
Because money was never a priority to me as a young person, I lived a life of struggle and mediocrity… Financially anyway.
I personally got to 36 years of age and I was typically middle-class. Just earning enough to survive, no more.Basically, that means broke.
Until… I decided that enough was enough, I was not going to live like this anymore and I decided to get rich.
I made “making money” the number 1 priority.
I think it's profound that a lot of folks are broke because they simply have not made that decision.
If your parents are still alive (i apologise in advance if they're not), ask them, in particular your mother, what your attitude towards money was when you were young.
Within that question may lie the answer to completely transforming your financial future.
So, the question to you is… Have you decided to be rich?
Here's the thing… It doesn't take a genius to get rich, nor any special talents. You don't need to be lucky, and you certainly don't need to be privileged.
However, you have to make getting rich a priority in your life and be willing to focus the majority of your time and energy on doing what it takes to build real wealth.
My decision to become rich at 36 wasn't the beginning of improving and working on myself. You see, I'd been doing that for 18 years. Reading books, going to seminars, joining MLM's, brainstorming business ideas, etc, etc, etc.
However, I never made making money my number 1 priority.
…The bottom line was, I was putting off taking massive action and just getting a kick out of learning and feeling motivated.
You may be different to me, your circumstances might be different, however I know that as you get older, you get to the point where you simply are not willing to accept living and struggling through life financially.
You have to come to a turning point or significant cross-road, and at that point in your life, make a major life-transforming decision.
Perhaps you've been there a few times and nothing's changed. You see, just making the decision isn't enough. You have to start changing the way you start living life.
You don't go from struggle to wealth by making small changes. Small changes will give you virtually no visible results. You have to make massive changes if you want to achieve massive results.
I believe anybody can be rich. Here's a few suggestions if you're willing to make the decision to become wealthy.
You can acquire a million-dollar net worth by doing just 6 things.
1. Get to work an hour early and leave an hour late.
Are you friggin' kidding me?
You're probably going to freak out that I just said that, I mean, how are you supposed to become wealthier if I'm telling you that you have to spend more time working.
Let me say that there would be only 1% of the population that would actually do this. What you're doing by getting to work earlier is that you're actually building a very important habit, as well as creating more value for yourself and your employer.
If your employer doesn't recognise it, let me tell you that there are plenty people who will, but you're not doing for them, you're doing it for yourself.
Going the extra mile is a significant millionaire trait. You have to break the 9-5 habit, because that isn't going to make you wealthy.
2. Master a financially valuable skill.
You've heard the old saying of save 10% of your income. 99% of the population never do this. How can you save 10% when most families are usually spending 110% of their income?
The secret to being able to save not only 10%, but let's say, like in my case, 50% of your income is to actually increase your income dramatically.
You need to develop a financially valuable skill. If you're working for somebody, then that skill would have to contribute to the profits of the business. That's adding value. No one's ever going to pay you more for doing less.
Here's a big secret. Add value first, then ask for a pay-rise. Most folks do it the other way around.
You'll notice that I don't advocate leaving your job initially, until you've developed enough valuable skills or you have the confidence to do things on your own terms.
Another valuable financial skill is to understand how to invest money for profits. That could be anything to do with real estate or share trading. Investing your time and money in these areas, I've always found, have given me a high percentage return over time.
3. Earn more than you spend.
You don't have to earn a ton of money to become a millionaire, but you do need a higher than average income. It's possible to become financial independent on an annual income of $50,000 but you'll do so only if you scrimp and save only for a long time.
To get wealthy whilst you are young enough to enjoy it, you need to make at least $100,000 a year. When your income exceeds $100,000 after taxes, you can begin to save some money without compromising your lifestyle.
It takes some effort to get your income above $100,000 but it can be done. When you break through that level by becoming more valuable, going to the next level is a little bit easier. What that means is that you start making more money with less effort.
Tomorrow, I'll give you another 3 suggestions on how to build million-dollar habits that will accelerate your wealth accumulation in 2008.