“You can have everything you want
if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Zig Ziglar
I found Jim Stovall’s latest book, The Millionaire Map, to be an inspiring and exhilarating read. Stovall, the best-selling author of more than twenty books, is a self-made multi-millionaire even though he lost his eyesight in college and began his millionaire journey from a deep, dark hole of debt, despair, depression, and disability.
In The Millionaire Map, Stovall lays out a road map that you can use to become a millionaire, irrespective of your present financial position. He says becoming a millionaire is fairly simple, but it’s not easy.
The main points of Stovall’s practical advice can be summarized as follows:
- Define your destination on the millionaire map and make sure it’s what you really want.
- Figure out your starting point on your millionaire map, that is, your present net worth.
- If you owe more than you own, pay off your debts first.
(“I have never met a millionaire who told me that they borrowed their way to prosperity,” says Stovall.) - Calculate your destination price, the sum total of everything that you want to possess and give away and be prepared to pay the price.
- Choose your route to get from your starting point to your destination – the most effective way to become a millionaire is to start and develop your own business.
- Develop the millionaire mindset:
(“You can’t expand your wallet until you expand your mind.”) - Make sure you don’t miss the things in life that money won’t buy while pursuing the things that money will buy.
- Don’t accept advice from someone who hasn’t been where you want to go.
- As you travel the route toward your millionaire destination, manage your money prudently.
- Help others along the way to your millionaire destination and leave a legacy for future travelers.
- All the other steps are futile unless you take action today and doggedly persist until you reach your destination. Take your first step on your millionaire map today.
One of the original ideas in this book is the concept of the millionaire mindset.
Stovall states that the popular perception of millionaires being obsessed with money is false. On the contrary, millionaires have a tendency to focus on creativity, producing value and serving people. Their money is important to them only to the extent that it buys things or experiences they want for themselves or to share with others.
Developing the millionaire mindset is crucial and does not happen automatically once you become a millionaire. That’s why lottery winners are more likely to be bankrupt within a few years after winning the lottery. Though they have become millionaires, their mindset hasn’t changed.
However, once you develop the millionaire mindset and begin following your millionaire map, you exponentially increase your chances of securing your future and becoming a millionaire, even though you may currently have a negative net worth.
Finally, the most valuable insight that I got from this book is this:
The only long-term, consistent way to earn money is to create value and make a true and lasting difference in people’s lives. The bigger the difference you can make in the lives of others, the more money you will earn; therefore, becoming a millionaire is a function of performing great service for other people.
(11 December 2013)
Rohi Shetty is a freelance writer who blogs about the importance of humor, applied mindfulness and creative entrepreneurship at http://rohishetty.com. He is currently a star student of Danny Iny’s Audience Business Masterclass.
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