Review: How Ordinary People Became Millionaires

A Japanese study on how to become a millionaire

I found an interesting book titled “How Ordinary People Became Millionaires” written by Ken Honda (in Japanese – I’m bilingual and have access to the whole lot of resources non-Japanese speaking people have not. . .)

What’s really interesting is that the author surveyed not only the millionaires in Japan but also asked the same questions to non-millionaires. The result was startling. Millionaires do think and act differently from the rest of the population.
(Photo by Leefotos)

The millionaire mind is the entrepreneurs’ mind.

The book says four out of five millionaires surveyed made their fortune themselves. Even in old country like Japan, entrepreneurship is the main way to build wealth (51%, including independent specialists such as lawyers and accountants), followed by corporate senior management (24%) and heirs of inheritance (18%). So the millionaire mindset is also the successful entrepreneurs’ mindset.

Here is what I’ve learned about the millionaire mindset vs wannabes mindset. Which do you identify with more? (While the book often makes contrast between the Wannabes and real Millionaires, I did add my own 2c in Wannabes descriptions to supplement. I think I know what it is like to be a Wannabe. . .)

1. Possibilities

Wannabes: Unless I win the lottery, there is no way I can become a millionaire.
Millionaires: It’s very possible to be rich and I work hard every day toward this goal.

2. Work

Wannabes: I chose my job for the pay and working conditions (such as location).
Millionaires: I chose my business because I love doing this, I am good at doing this, and I can make people happy doing this.

Wannabes: I hate what I do. When I get a better job, I’d work harder. (But I have little idea what that is.)
Millionaires: I do my best in whatever I am doing, and this is how I’ve found what I love to do.

Wannabes: I work to get paid. What else?
Millionaires: I work to grow as a person and to contribute to the society.

3. Money

Wannabes: Show me the money.
Millionaires: The money follows me when I deliver value.

Wannabes: Millionaires use money lavishly.
Millionaires: It is critical to use money mindfully. Also, it’s important to get the best life out of things. (One proudly reports he has been driving the same car for 19 years.)

Wannabes: I’m not interested in money. Money doesn’t buy me happiness. (Actually, I think million dollars will make me happy, but I’m not going to admit it.)
Millionaires: Money is energy, and so it’s critical to grow big and strong as a person so that you can manage money, rather than being managed by money. No, money doesn’t automatically buy you happiness.

4. Luck

Wannabes: Luck is everything to get rich. And I have no control over luck.
Millionaires: Luck comes to those who do the honest hard work, and I can find and catch it.

5. Failure

Wannabes: I hate failures. I’m afraid of failures.
Millionaires: We learn through overcoming failures. My success came through learning from failures.

Wannabes: Gosh, I messed up! What am I gonna do? This is the end of the world.
OR, Well, maybe something will work out. . .
Millionaires: This is what happened, and these are the things I can do. Let’s prioritize them. I need to be honest and ask for help . . .

6. People

Wannabes: I have some friends, but I’m pretty much on my own.
Millionaires: I’m grateful for all the people who have guided me and supported me. I have the trust of many people (50+) because I always do my honest best.

Wannabes: What do you have for me? Right now? (Isn’t this how rich people use others?)
Millionaires: I treat everyone with respect. Relationships are for long-term, and it’s important to cultivate deep meaningful relationships. Luck often comes through people, but that is not the purpose of meeting people.

7. Mentor

Wannabes: Mentor? You mean someone who can teach me job skills?
Millionaires: I have mentors. I learn more about life from my mentors.

8. Relationship

Wannabes: I don’t like talking about work at home.
Millionaires: My spouse is my best supporter. We talk about everything. My spouse is the source of my courage and insights. (It doesn’t necessarily mean the spouse is involved in their businesses.)

9. Education

Wannabes: Go to school, get good grades, get a good job.
Millionaires: The best education is the rich life experiences that prepares a person to changing times and to help the person to meet many people. It’s also important to find what you like doing through these experiences.

Wannabes: Education adds credentials to get a good job.
Millionaires: Education is not only about formal education. Any experience that you can learn the desired skills, such as apprenticeship, is good education. (Some reports taking low-paying jobs as a way to learn the trade and to build network.)

10. Vision and Decision-Making

Wannabes: Another hard day. Let’s just watch TV to unwind . . .
Millionaires: I think about what I’ll be doing 10 years from now, and prepare for it today.

Wannabes: I’ll think about it tomorrow.
Millionaires: Practice making many decisions. You need to shoot many times to get good at it. And do it fast. (The author reports the wealthiest group returned the survey answers the quickest.)

Wannabes: I’ll do it if I feel like it.
Millionaires: I have a clear vision for my life and business and make decisions based on the vision.

Wannabes: . . . (analysis paralysis) . . .
Millionaires: I make decisions intuitively.

What is surprising is there is nothing surprising about millionaires’ way of thinking.

Each statement is so common sense. Yet when you read carefully, you notice there is something extraordinary about them. For instance, do you have 50 or more people supporting you? Do you feel you can attract good luck?

Overall, do you see how millionaires take ownership of their lives, think long-term and positive while the wannabes are opportunistic, short-sighted and sound bitter?

Is this really the secret of their success?

Now some of you may be thinking “This is just BS. These millionaires are hiding the secret of their success.” Well, I don’t know any of them, so I have no reason to defend them, but I do think they mean what they say. Why? Because it makes sense.

Go back and read what they say, this time just the millionaires’ parts. Do you see how each aspect of their life work together with other aspects, making the whole a streamlined system of thoughts and actions?

They do the honest hard work and deliver value to their customers, which delights the customers, leading to attract more customers and business opportunities (=luck). When there is a problem, the people around them support them because they know they are trustworthy. They learn from their failures and grow stronger. When they go home, they are the same trustworthy person who love what they do, still talking and thinking about their businesses with passion. They learn from everyone and everything, and this feedback to their business growth . . .

There is no contradiction, no isolated aspect, no waste of energy. The whole system of their thoughts and beliefs is perfectly aligned with the universal truth of love and abundance.

I think this is yet another example of the Law of Attraction at work

It’s hard work, but it’s not just hard work. It’s a lot more than that. I think it’s the whole system of thoughts and action in alignment.

What do you think about these millionaires / entrepreneurs? Do you want to follow their way?

5 Qualities I Find In Successful Entrepreneurs

(Photo by Stuck in Customs)

Is it intelligence? Is it luck? Is it connection? What does it really take to become a successful entrepreneur?

We have all thought about this looking at the cover of Forbes 500, haven’t we? Or when we notice one business (be it a deli or an accounting firm) doing so well while another similar business around the corner fails miserably. I am on a mission to find out what qualities or characteristics it takes to become a successful entrepreneur – and this is what I have found so far. . .

1. Passion

This is the moving force that gets us take the leap and gets us out of bed with excitement every morning. Successful entrepreneurs love what they do. So spending a lot of time doing it is actually a pleasure, not really a work. They love doing not just the part that immediately affects the bottom line, but also studying about it and thinking and dreaming about it. When you are like this, the people around you feel your passion and naturally help you out.

Usually, the passion is about the service or products you want to offer, but sometimes there are variations. I heard that Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, was passionate about building a business that treats its employees well more than he was passionate about coffee. Because he grew up looking at his dad who was treated poorly at work and yet could not leave the work.

Or how about the case of Chris Gardner, who rose from poverty to become a successful stock broker and established his own brokerage firm Gardner Rich. (His story became a movie The Pursuit of Happyness (Widescreen Edition) His main passion seems to be about being a good father to his kid, and this drove him to aim high.

2. Self-Love

Successful entrepreneurs believe in themselves to the point they take their ideas seriously and put them into business. Self-love and sense of service together form the foundation of strong entrepreneurship. This is where the strength comes from when the going gets tough.

Self-love is also about defining a healthy boundary, which is critical in dealing with others effectively. Further, a new sense of self-discovery, supported by self-love, is the critical part of clarifying our niche and carving out our own brand. People don’t like doing business with faceless organizations really – and without the self-love, how will you put yourself in front of your customers? (Have you noticed the name of this blog, “Yes to Me”? This is for you, the aspiring entrepreneur, to love yourself to the point you say “Yes to me.”)

3. Sense of Service

If you’ve been thinking you need to somehow cheat, manipulate, or otherwise take advantage of people to be a successful business owner, this may come as surprise. I was first introduced to this idea of entrepreneur as social server in one of Rich Dad’s books Rich Dad’s Retire Young, Retire Rich. In this book, he asks “a very important question” that “if answered and acted upon, that makes people millionaires, even billionaires.” The question is:

How can I do what I do for more people with less work and for a better price?

Entrepreneurs serve the world through the work we do. And as entrepreneurs, we are the biggest beneficiary of this service because it gives us the strength to carry out our businesses. Without the sense that what we are doing makes a positive difference to other people’s lives, and to the world, it is hard to keep going.

4. Compassion

10 years ago, I might have called this inter-personal skills, but now I know it is more than a skill.  As entrepreneurs, we need genuine compassion for the people around us, whether they are customers, potential customers, employees, business partners and advisers, and just anyone and everyone. Because everyone has the potential to help us in one way or the other, but for that to happen, we must first care for them so that they know us and care for us. And this is not about being a people-pleaser. There are people who are not the right match. Compassion is still the basis of true inter-personal relationships.

Liz Strauss at Successful Blog has a good post about this. It is titled The Best Business Advice Ever . . . in 50 Words. She says she learned the most important business lesson from her father. Let me quote:

Learn your business from your customers. Understand their minds, their hearts, and their lives. Do what you do to make their lives easier. When a problem comes, leave them a place to stand and stand tall beside them. . . . And remember, everyone is your customer, even your dad.

5. Skills / Knowledge

I am a practical dreamer. Here I am saying we do need to learn what we need to learn. If you are not prepared, what do you do when the opportunity falls on you? Liz has another post that illustrates this scenario. It is titled Success Can Come Right Out of Nowhere. Make no mistake. This is NOT about overnight success that takes no effort nor skills. The girl sure got an opportunity of a life time “out of nowhere”, but the real reason of her success is her great performance, her singing skill exhibited on the stage even though it was her first time. The opportunity may fall on you by accident, but if you are not well equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge, it will amount to nothing.

As a small business owner, you will need to learn not just the core skill you feel passionate about, but also the basic skills of running a successful business. You can hire a pro for, say, bookkeeping, if you don’t like accounting, but at least you need to know the difference between gross profit and operational profit.

One of the most critical skills of a successful entrepreneur is, I think, the skill to build efficient system.

Yes, this is a very holistic view of entrepreneurship.

I believe it takes far more than business knowledge (like how to write business plan, how to keep a book, and so on) to be a successful entrepreneur – it is about mental, emotional, and even spiritual change. What do you think? Do you know other “secret of success” I have missed? Tell me!

Thanks to Rob for including this post in Coaching Carnival, to E3 for inclusion in Carnival of Success Principles, to Carnival of Careers for inclusion.