Whomever you’d like to be, you must first become.
How’s that for an opening statement?
What that means, is if you want to be a writer, you have to write. If you want to be a generous person, you have to give.
We can’t fool ourselves.
If you want to see yourself as a fit person, you have to do the exercises and eat healthily. If you don’t, the person you are breaking promises to is yourself.
On the other hand, when we live our values out ahead, something magical happens – congruence – you see yourself as the person you want to be and you become that person. Therefore, the primary question is not what do I want to have, but who do I want to be and how would such a person act in the world?
I’m often asked the question, “How can I become a millionaire?”
The answer I give is simple: Do what millionaires do.
And this is where so many get things wrong.
They see what millionaires have – nice cars, nice house and nice things – and then proceed to make the very common (and critical) mistake that many non-millionaires make…
They adopt a have-do-be mentality.
It goes something like this – “If I have money then I will do this (buy a new phone, get a brand new car, buy more house than needed) and I will be rich.
Does this sound familiar?
Many have the “If I have (blank), I’ll be rich” mindset. Those who do think that to be someone, they should first have something. The something makes them the somebody.
But that’s the complete opposite of what most millionaires did to get rich.
You see, to get rich a person must have a be-do-have mentality.
If these people would be a person of rich mentality (think like one, work like one, have the habits of one), and do more (read, improve, invest) then eventually they would have the things that rich people have (nice cars, houses, etc…).
Jim Rohn said it best here –
“Set a goal to become a millionaire, for what it will make of you to achieve It. Do it for the skills you have to learn and the person you have to become. Do it for what you’ll end up knowing about the marketplace. What you’ll learn about the management of time and working with people.
Do it for the ability of discovering how to keep your ego in check. For what you have to learn about being benevolent. Being kind as well as being strong. What you have to learn about society and business and government and taxes and becoming an accomplished person to reach the status of millionaire.”
When I started on my journey to wealth, nobody needed to tell me why being a millionaire was an important goal. As a young man, I knew it would be great to have a million dollars! But along the way I learned a reason that was infinitely more compelling than having a million dollars in the bank. It is one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned, and I’m about to share it with you.
The greatest value in life is not what you obtain; the greatest value in life is what you become along the way.
The major question to ask, wherever you are in life, is not “What am I getting here?” A much more powerful question is “What am I becoming here?” It’s not what you get that makes you valuable; it’s what you become along the way that makes you valuable.
To underscore this point, Jim Rohn himself, became a millionaire at age 31….and then lost it all just two years later. How did this happen?
The short answer is Rohn had the have-do-be mentality. Here’s Rohn again…
“I was rich by the age of thirty-one–a millionaire!–and I was broke by the age of thirty-three. I didn’t have to give it all away, because I lost it all. I made many foolish mistakes.
You see, as a farm boy from Idaho, that early money drove me bonkers. If I saw something I liked, I would ask, “How many colors does it come in? I’ll buy them all!” I just went crazy.
When I found myself broke at age thirty-three, I discovered for myself that the money did not mean that much. It represented only a fraction of all my assets. And when I began concentrating on these other assets–my skills, my discipline, my family–the money came back into my life.”
Friends, the process of becoming a millionaire radically changed me. So did the process of becoming a multi-millionaire. I became much more disciplined, more discerning, more patient, wiser and kinder. True to what Rohn said, I became a millionaire and multi-millionaire before those sums showed up in my bank account.
I would like to give you two ideas on this topic today…
1. Set the kind of goals that will make you a better person when you achieve them or when you are in the process of achieving them. Always ask yourself, “What will this goal make of me? If I set this goal and go forward, how will this change me in the process?” What a wonderful new concept in the setting of goals!
2. Invest at least 50% of your non-working time into “becoming”. Most people like to consume, rather than create, with their leisure time. They literally find something to consume their time – social media, entertainment binges and the like. Rather than making (creating) their future better, they actually make their future worse. Leisure and relaxation are important to recharge the batteries but many overdo it. Invest part of your free moments becoming a better you – reading, learning, thinking and doing. It is only by investing your time that you get a return on that time.
Some of the world’s most successful people are intense “becomers”. Bill Gates is a prolific reader and so is Warren Buffett. Charlie Munger once called Buffett a “learning machine”. They know that what they’ve become, and are becoming, determines how they see and experience the world. They know that what they’ve become determines the quality of relationships they have and the quality of life they experience as well.
Set goals for what they’ll make of you. Become a millionaire first and the million dollars will appear. Become a person who is financially free and you’ll become financially free.
Be free. Nothing else is worth it.
P.S. Why aren’t you wealthy yet? It’s because of something you don’t know. Otherwise you’d already be rich. Isn’t it time to learn what you don’t know? Consider signing-up for my newsletter below, to help you build wealth faster.
P.S.S. Looking to make an overnight fortune? Don’t sign-up to receive my newsletter below. There’s no magic secret. Becoming financially free takes time and dedication. But learning professional-grade money skills can have a life changing effect. If you’re ready to put in the work and learn, I can show you how to achieve financial freedom faster than normal.
P.S.S.S. There’s nothing for sale on this blog or in my newsletter. That’s right. Unlike other sites who claim to help people achieve financial success, I’m not trying to sell you anything. In fact, I find it a little disgusting that some sites insist that you buy something before they teach you how to become rich. Here on my blog and in my newsletter, I just provide actionable advice for free. It’s my way to give back. What do you have to lose? Subscribe today.
Ready for more tips on how to achieve the free life? Check-out more articles from the blog archives below:
The Simple Truths About Wealth Building That I Learned From Warren Buffett Years Ago.
Will You Be Successful? Warren Buffett Says This Factor Determines How You’ll Turn Out In Life!
How One Man Beat The Stock Market For Forty Seven Years. And No, It’s Not Warren Buffett.