This might seem like an obvious step towards your Millionaire Mentality, but even so, there are still those of you out there reading this post pondering what you should do with your life. You bounce back and forth between jobs, careers, or majors trying to find out what's right for you. Society tells you to "take your time" and "don't worry about it, we all fall into what we're supposed to do." So you watch Dancing with the Stars and American Idol, admiring those at the top while you dream and dream away at what's in store for your future. "It'll come" you say to yourself, "I'll get what I deserve; My life will turn out."Wake up.
The time for dreaming and pondering ended when you left your mother's teet. That time when you stopped asking your parents for twenty bucks so you could go to the movies and got a job, but you kept dreaming. Everyone told you it would come, the money, the lifestyle, all you had to do was go to college, work hard, get that piece of paper, and the world would be waiting to hand you what you deserve. What they didn't tell you is that you better decide exactly what the hell you're gonna do.
So you're thrown out into the world with a certificate that says "I can do it world!" Then the world asks "Do what exactly?" That's when you realize it. For the first time, the world is yours. You've proven yourself (at least that's what that frame on the wall and $40,000 in student loans say) and you have all these options. Unfortunately, in the midst of all the homework, the scantrons, the group projects, the cute guy or girl in 4B, your dog dying, lease signing, spring break, grade begging, pizza eating, and all around whirlwind of life that doesn't involve your mother tucking you in at night, you forget to define exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life. That's why you're here today, to make that decision, and never look back.
You Must Choose Before You Act
Don't be so swayed by the pressure to be something that you completely dive into the first opportunity given to you. That is exactly how pencil pushers end up going to bed one night when they're 23 and wake up the next day, 45 years old, and wondering which wife was allowed to take those 22 years in the divorce. Just because someone offers you a salary five times less than theirs to do ten times the amount of work they do doesn't mean you have to settle. The difference between the employer and the employee is the decision. At one point, the employer decided to be the boss and his employees decided to work for him. Choose to be the boss. Choose to be a millionaire. Whether you have 10 dollars or 10,000, it all begins with your decision.
Don't Choose What Others Choose For You
Everyone has an idea of how you should live your life. My family decided that I should go to college. They decided that I should do something "worth it." So I chose what I was good at, English. All of the sudden this major didn't compute with everyone's expectations of me.
"Have you chosen a major yet?"
"Yeah, English."
"Oh, so you're gonna be a teacher?"
"No I don't wanna be a teacher?"
"Well what are you gonna do then?"
"...I don't know."
Sound familiar to you? Everyone has already decided what you're going to be in their minds. They know where they see you in ten years. They know what you're supposed to do. There's one problem. They aren't you. They don't know exactly what goes on inside your mind. What you truly want to do, your life goal, your passion. They don't know what keeps you awake at night because you can't wait to get started. Each individual only knows what's best for themselves. Don't let another person, even if it's the closest person to you: your Mom your Dad, your Grandmother, your wife, your girlfriend, choose what's best for you. Not everyone will like what you've chosen, people will try and resist you, which brings me to my next point...
Be Willing to Do it Alone
I was having a rough time figuring out exactly what I wanted to do with my life, when my phone rang. It was my best friend who had recently just conquered his demons months before when he was abusing drugs and alcohol. He has always been an inspiration to me and even more so now that he has shaken addiction. We talked regularly after his breakthrough and he was always positive and uplifting. This afternoon however, I wasn't having it. I let him know everything, how I was upset with my academics, how I didn't care anymore, how I wanted to start up so many ideas and accomplish so many goals that had nothing to do with analyzing literature. I kept telling him no one was on my side, no one would help me, no one would give me the resources I needed to start up my ventures.
I told him it was all a crock: school, my dreams, life. After about twenty seconds of silence, I knew I had won, I knew I was right, that life wasn't about accomplishing your dreams, too much was against me. He cleared his throat and started laughing. At first I was upset, I asked him how he could be such an ass.
I told him it was all a crock: school, my dreams, life. After about twenty seconds of silence, I knew I had won, I knew I was right, that life wasn't about accomplishing your dreams, too much was against me. He cleared his throat and started laughing. At first I was upset, I asked him how he could be such an ass.
"What have you done about it?"
"What do you mean man, I've told everyone my ideas, I've asked everyone I know for help!"
"No man, what have you actually done though, you sit here and complain about how no one will help you, but what have you actually showed them."
"I show them that I care, that I'm willing."
"Yeah? You're talking like you want to be a writer, and you want to be a professional poker player, but when's the last time you sat down and wrote. When's the last time you went and played poker?"
That's when I started to realize. I was not attempting to make my dreams a reality, I was just talking about it. I wasn't putting in the work and the resources I wanted other people to put in for me, I was just asking for help. No one is going to believe in you until you have something to show them. You must be willing to do it alone for at least a little bit until people actually see you as a good investment.
If you want to be a professional basketball player and want your family to buy you a basketball net, personal coaching, a gym membership, and new shoes, you better be willing to do some push ups in the front yard. If you want a basketball hoop, you better be running 2 miles to the nearest court just to shoot threes and free throws. If you want a coach, you better be willing to coach yourself first, learning everything that you can, doing as many drills that you can. So that one day, someone can come along and invest in you and know you're going to make it.
If you want to be a professional basketball player and want your family to buy you a basketball net, personal coaching, a gym membership, and new shoes, you better be willing to do some push ups in the front yard. If you want a basketball hoop, you better be running 2 miles to the nearest court just to shoot threes and free throws. If you want a coach, you better be willing to coach yourself first, learning everything that you can, doing as many drills that you can. So that one day, someone can come along and invest in you and know you're going to make it.
Be Risky, Be Extravagant, Be Specific
No one ever became a millionaire doing something that was boring. Even if it seemed boring to the masses, I can assure you it was one of the top ten most exhilarating things to the Millionaire. What everyone doesn't see when Will Smith is blowing up the box offices are the hours upon hours of hard work and faith it took to get him to where he is today. They don't realize the risks that he had to take, skipping college, auditioning, and denying admission to MIT's Engineering program, in order become the superstar he is today(1). Those risks are the difference between $40,000 a year and $4,000,000.
When you think of your dream, you might destroy your opportunities by saying things like,
"That's unrealistic."
"That's unreachable."
"That's impossible."
"That's unimaginable."
I encourage you to be extravagant. I encourage you to still say these phrases to yourself and realize that the only thing holding you back from becoming the next Millionaire CEO, Professional Athlete, or Movie Star is one syllable. Without "im-" and "un-" your dreams become realistic. Your dreams become possible. Your dreams become reachable. Your dreams become imaginable. The only thing holding you back from deciding to accomplish these dreams is you.
I encourage you to be specific. Don't try to be a Movie Star, a Professional Athlete, and CEO at the same time. Pick something you can focus on. Pick a goal in which you can give your whole self. In order to accomplish your Millionaire Mentality, you must eat, sleep, and breathe your dream. You must not distract yourself with unspecific goals. Once you decide, that's it, it's done.
Don't Be Afraid to Commit
Once you know your goal. Once you're ready to be who you want to be. Once you're willing to have the Millionaire Mentality. You must commit 100%. You cannot half-ass it. Many people know what they want to do. They tell their friends. They convince their family. They tell everyone how hard it's going to be. How much work it's going to take. They pump themselves up and run up and down some steps to Eye of the Tiger.
But when it really comes down to it. When it's time to sweat. When it's time to hurt someones feelings or disappoint someone with their decision. They back out. They become so afraid of taking a chance, of jumping off the cliff, because they can't see through the fog at the bottom. Their fear keeps them from knowing the possibilities of greatness.
All they see when they look down is fog, and about the jagged rocks that might be on the other side. They fear the crashing tides of failure, eagerly waiting to sweep them into oblivion. They don't see that the water is full of success, that the dream will cushion their fall. They don't experience the rush of life that hits you when you penetrate the fog and realize that gravity isn't pushing you towards failure, but to a yacht with a million tempurpedics ready to embrace you. Stagnicity is failure. Sitting at the top of the cliff staring at the fog is failure. Don't be afraid to make the ultimate commitment and dive into your dream.
But when it really comes down to it. When it's time to sweat. When it's time to hurt someones feelings or disappoint someone with their decision. They back out. They become so afraid of taking a chance, of jumping off the cliff, because they can't see through the fog at the bottom. Their fear keeps them from knowing the possibilities of greatness.
All they see when they look down is fog, and about the jagged rocks that might be on the other side. They fear the crashing tides of failure, eagerly waiting to sweep them into oblivion. They don't see that the water is full of success, that the dream will cushion their fall. They don't experience the rush of life that hits you when you penetrate the fog and realize that gravity isn't pushing you towards failure, but to a yacht with a million tempurpedics ready to embrace you. Stagnicity is failure. Sitting at the top of the cliff staring at the fog is failure. Don't be afraid to make the ultimate commitment and dive into your dream.
Now Decide
My last point is the simplest but the most overlooked. You can come to this blog and read about how to have a Millionaire Mentality. You can get motivated and excited. You can imagine your life having it all, doing what you love, being fulfilled, living the perfect life. You can have it all, but you have to decide exactly what you want to do. I can't tell you that. I can tell you my dreams and my goals, but I have no idea what keeps you up at night. I can't experience your dreams for you. I can't choose for you. Once you decide, the rest is just a magnificent and beautiful process. So live it, dream it, breathe it, eat it, but first: CHOOSE IT!
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