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1-Page Summary of The Millionaire Mind

Overview

What attitudes about money and wealth do we need to adopt if we want to become millionaires? Some people have the Midas touch, or they’re good at making money. Other people earn a lot of money from their business ideas, but then lose it all in bad investments. Still others don’t invest a dime, yet are broke anyway.

Many people believe that once they gain the right knowledge about business and financial management, they will automatically become financially successful. However, their income depends on more than just skills or luck; it also depends on unconscious thought patterns we all have ingrained in us. We are programmed for wealth as children by our parents and role models, so much so that these thought patterns directly influence our level of wealth later in life.

Incomes are closely tied to what level of wealth people have. If their income is low, they tend to spend it on luxuries and not save or invest it. However, if their incomes are high enough to make them wealthy, they will save and invest more money so that they can grow wealthier over time.

Most people are programmed to earn a low income. However, they have the potential to get rich and stay rich. Self-made billionaires like Donald Trump lose money at times but still manage to regain their wealth by thinking differently than others do. People who want to be wealthy should learn how self-made billionaires think and change their old thought patterns with new ones that will help them become millionaires.

Big Idea #1: Our financial habits are influenced by our parents’ teachings.

Our minds are like computers, where the most important programs were installed in childhood. What we hear our parents say repeatedly about money becomes a permanent part of us and determines the way we think about money later in life.

There are many common sayings about money and wealth. We hear them so often that they become ingrained in our minds until we believe them to be true. For example, “Money is the root of all evil,” “You can’t buy happiness” and “You can’t get something for nothing.” These ideas have influenced how we think about money since childhood, but there are two ways to deal with these beliefs: accept or reject them.

Either you want to follow in your parents’ footsteps and think of money the same way they do, or you want to try something new. However, just resisting that isn’t enough to break your financial patterns.

People who rebel against their parents often do so because they want to prove a point. They’re driven by the wrong motivation and end up losing what money they make or even going broke. This is because the behavior learned from their parents is still dominant in them, even if they try really hard to make money.

But those who are taught that money can buy anything at a young age will have an easier time making money because they’ll be motivated to make a lot of it.

Big Idea #2: We tend to live our lives the way that we were raised.

Our attitudes toward money usually stem from the way we were raised. We also pick up habits about how to earn and manage money from our parents.

“That’s the way my mother did it” is a valid response to why you do something. It’s like asking, “Why make macaroni the way your mom did?” The idea that men are in charge of money and women can’t manage money sticks with you.

If our parents went through a war or an economic crisis, they would be more likely to think that money is always important.

The experiences you have as a child are critical for your own financial education. You learn from watching and imitating what your parents do, which is why it’s so important to teach your children good financial habits when they’re young.