My friends,
In the spirit of following my reading goals of the year 2018, I am happy to tell you that so far I am on track! I have just completed my first book last week: “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” by T. Harv Eker.
After watching a video on Youtube (Edit 24/08/2022: The video has been removed) I thought: “This is a must-read! I will go and get it”,…
But is it?
Let’s dive into it. The book is separated into two parts: Your Money Blueprint and the 17 Wealth Files.
Your Money Blueprint
“What is a money blueprint? As an analogy, let’s consider the blueprint for a house, which is a preset plan or design for that particular home. In the same way, your money blueprint is simply your preset program or way of being in relation with money.” – T. Harv Eker
The author T. Harv Ecker boldly states: “Give me 5 minutes and I can predict your financial future for the rest of your life.” This is done by talking to people and identifying their “money blueprint”, not waving his hands around a crystal ball. Well after reading the book you will probably be able to do so too.
The money blueprint as described in the book will teach you how your thoughts about money stem from childhood experiences and how you today still react to that. You will replicate or rebel against the culture, the environment, and the beliefs you grew up with. As an example, you could “rebel” today by spending excessively while you grew up with frugal parents. This could also explain why you are a compulsive saver, why lottery winners lose it all very quickly, why you believe “Money is the root of all evil”… the key is that all your actions and hence financial results come from your thoughts, your – drumroll – millionaire mind.
I really enjoyed that part of the book as it made certain patterns, and behaviors in people around me more clear to understand. And although the book is primarily focused on money, you can apply the same logic to other aspects of our lives. This is the part where I got the most value from the book, this part alone is worth the purchase.
The Wealth Files: Seventeen Ways Rich People Think and Act Differently from Poor and Middle-Class People
For the 17 wealth files or 17 declarations of how different “poor” people and “rich” people think and act. If you have read Kiyosaki´s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” you will find many common ideas such as the rich do not work for the money, they let the money work for them, etc. Read the review here.
Here they are :
- Rich people believe “I create my life.” Poor people believe “Life happens to me.“
- Rich people play the money game to win. Poor people play the money game to not lose.
- Rich people are committed to being rich. Poor people want to be rich.
- Rich people think big. Poor people think small.
- Rich people focus on opportunities. Poor people focus on obstacles.
- Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people.
- Rich people associate with positive, successful people. Poor people associate with negative or unsuccessful people.
- Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their values. Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion.
- Rich people are bigger than their problems. Poor people are smaller than their problems.
- Rich people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.
- Rich people choose to get paid based on results. Poor people choose to get paid based on time.
- Rich people think “both”. Poor people think “either/or”.
- Rich people focus on their net worth. Poor people focus on their working income.
- Rich people manage their money well. Poor people mismanage their money well.
- Rich people have their money work hard for them. Poor people work hard for their money.
- Rich people act in spite of fear. Poor people let fear stop them.
- Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think “they already know.”
Please note that poor here is not meant to be disdainful or condescending to those with low net worth. Eker explains that he is using it as an illustrating tool to help the readers understand that it is about a rich vs. poor mindset.
The 4 affirmations that I liked the most were these ones :
– 6. Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people.
I have nothing against rich people personally, as long as their path to riches was honest let’s be happy for them! Why resent them?
– 10. Rich people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.
This one stood out as I had never seen it before. The author means that poor people often feel unworthy of receiving due to their money blueprint. If you are not a good receiver you can not be a good giver. Rich people work hard and believe it’s perfectly appropriate to be well rewarded for their efforts and the value they provide for others. I can only agree.
– 13. Rich people focus on their net worth. Poor people focus on their working income.
A “classic” but important to state again.
– 17. Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.
If you listen to the Tim Ferriss´show or read many interviews of high performers and successful personalities you will find that consistent pattern over and over again. They all read or educate themselves to know more during their whole life! The oracle of Omaha (Warren Buffett) still reads voraciously every day!
Should you read it?
The book, although not a total revolution, helped me understand more about the psychological aspects of money. The 17 wealth files will also give you some food for thought to help you revise your money blueprint and work towards achieving your financial goals. As part of running this blog, I deem it as an essential read. What I found fantastic is the fact that you are provided with the tools to identify and change your money blueprint and to set it for success!
There were however a few things that annoyed me as I was reading :
- The author constantly talks about his fricking seminar every 2 pages! Seriously if someone has the e-book make a search on the number of times the word “seminar” is written!
- There are some New Age stuff that I found unnecessary (“touch your head and say out loud: I have a millionaire mind”)
- Finally, some success stories are highlighted and that is great, however, it lacks details on how the people shifted their way of thinking. This reminds me of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” in that view. I had liked to know more here,… hey wait maybe I´ll find out by attending the seminar!
In short, The book was a quick read, I enjoyed most of it and have given it 4 stars on Goodreads. You will get a lot of value from it for sure! (even with the cheesy way of pushing you to attend his seminar).
So friends, have you read the book? Do you agree with the “wealth files”? I´d love to hear your thoughts!
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