Rich people do, do you believe you could become rich too?” I remember answering with all the confidence of a mush ball, “I think so.” “Then,” he replied, “all you have to do is copy how rich people think.” Being the skeptic I was at the time, I said, “So what are you thinking right now?” To which he replied, “I’m thinking that rich people keep their commitments and mine is to your dad right now. The guys are waiting for me, see ya.” Although he walked out, what he said sank in. Nothing else was working in my life, so I figured what the heck and threw myself wholeheartedly into studying rich people and how they think. I learned everything I could about the inner workings of the mind, but concentrated primarily on the psychology of money and success. I discovered that it was true: rich people really do think differently from poor and even middle-class people. Eventually, I became aware of how my own thoughts were holding me back from wealth. More important, I learned several powerful techniques and strategies to actually recondition my mind so that I would think in the same ways rich people do. Finally, I said, “Enough yakking about it, let’s put it to the test.”
I decided to attempt yet another business. Because I was really into health and exercise, I opened one of the first retail fitness stores in North America. I didn’t have any money, so I had to borrow $2,000 on my Visa card to get the business started. I began using what I’d learned by modeling rich people, both in terms of their business strategies and their thinking strategies. The first thing I did was commit to my success and playing to win. I swore I would focus and not even consider leaving this business until I was a millionaire or more. This was radically different from my previous efforts, where, because I always thought short-term.
Constantly get sidetracked by either good opportunities or when things got tough. I also began challenging my mental approach whenever I began thinking in financially negative or counterproductive ways. In the past, I believed that what my mind said was truth. I learned that in many ways, my mind was my biggest obstacle to success. I chose not to entertain thoughts that did not empower me toward my vision of wealth. I used every one of the principles you are going to learn in this book. Did it work? Boy, did it work! The business was so successful that I opened ten stores in only two and a half years. I then sold half the company shares to a Fortune 500 company for $1.6 million. After that, I moved to sunny San Diego. I took a couple of years off to refine my strategies and began doing one-on-one business consulting. I presume it was quite effective for people because they kept bringing friends, partners, and associates to our sessions. Soon I was coaching ten and sometimes twenty people at a time. One of my clients suggested that I might as well open up a school.
I thought that was a great idea, so I did. I founded the Street Smart Business School and taught thousands of people all across North America “street-smart” business strategies for “high-speed” success. As I traveled across the continent giving my seminars, I noticed something strange: You could have two people sitting side by side in exactly the same room, learning exactly the same principles and strategies. One person would take these tools and skyrocket to success. But what do you think might happen to the person sitting right next to him or her? The answer is, not much! That’s when it became obvious that you can have the greatest “
We live in a world of duality: up and down, light and dark, hot and cold, in and out, fast and slow, right and left. These are but a few examples of the thousands of opposite poles. For one pole to exist, the other pole must also exist. Is it possible to have a right side without a left side? Not a chance. Consequently, just as there are “outer” laws of money, there must be “inner” laws. The outer laws include things like business knowledge, money management, and investment strategies. These are essential. But the inner game is just as important. An analogy would be a carpenter and his tools.
Having top-of-the-line tools is imperative, but being the top- notch carpenter who masterfully uses those tools is even more critical. I have a saying: “It’s not enough to be in the right place at the right time. You have to be the right person in the right place at the right time.” So who are you? How do you think? What are your beliefs? What are your habits and traits? How do you really feel about yourself? How confident are you in yourself? How well do you relate to others? How much do you trust others? money and success. That, my friends, is the primary reason they don’t have much money. A perfect example is lottery winners. Research has shown again and again that regardless of the size of their winnings, most lottery eventualy return to their original fi- nancial state, the amount they can comfortably handle. On the other hand, the opposite occurs for self-made mil- lionaires.
Notice that when self-made millionaires lose their money, they usually have it back within a relatively short time. Donald Trump is a good example. Trump was worth billions, lost everything, and then a couple of years later, got it all back again and more. Why does this phenomenon occur? Because even though some self-made millionaires lose their money, they never lose the most important ingredient to their success: their millionaire mind. Of course in “The Donald’s” case, it’s his “billionaire” mind. Do you realize Donald Trump could never be just a millionaire? If Donald Trump had a net worth of only 1 million dollars, how do you think he’d feel about his financial success? Most people would agree that he’d probably feel broke, like a financial failure! “That’s because Donald Trump’s financial “