At one time, I thought those few that were rich would always be rich, and those many that were middle class would always be destined for the middle class.
Then I read a book called “The Millionaire Next Door“, (hey, this link took me to what looks like a free online ebook! How cool is that!) to simplify and paraphrase it, the books pretty much said no “Money Reasons”, you are wrong! You can still become financially independent if you live a frugal life, stay out of debt, invest your money and use your common sense…. You too could potential be rich or at least financially independent someday!
Much like Neo in “The Matrix“, you have to believe that you are the one, and fake it until you are the one. Then at some point, much like the turning point in “The Matrix”… You are the one!
One of the more important point within the movie is that without other people, Neo would still be chained to his bleak 9 to 5 job, working away getting nowhere! This is analogous to getting a human support structure that positively give you encouragement, or even advice on how you can succeed and live better!
Half the battle is believing in yourself! Next is taking action and making supportive friends to help you and enable you to enjoy life! Friends can make things happen for you, and if you believe in yourself, you can make things happen for yourself!
So wake up financial Neo, start believing you are the one! The one who will make you financially independent and possible rich!
-MR
I love the photo! Also, it was the perfect time for such an encouraging post. Thanks!
I haven’t read “Millionaire Next Door” yet but I enjoyed “The Automatic Millionaire” and they both seem to portray the way we are trying to achieve early retirement…spend less, earn more, and save the difference (automatically as much as possible, lol). Woot!
@Everyday Tips
Hehe, sometime when I throw together a post, it’s to motivate myself to think just a little harder on such issues!
I need a kick in the seat to get my act together sometimes and when I ruminate about the matter in different forms, eventually I get enought critical mass that I spring (or at least get up slowly) into action.
@Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
The “Automatic Millionaire” is by David Bach, and a good book in its own right. It states that we should automate our finances and demonstrates how we can same additional money by excluding or at least reducing small luxuries (ex. the latte factor).
In comparison, “The Millionaire Next Door” has much much more actual data from large sample sets to back up it’s claims. At the time, the book’s data was the read deal and was a great work. A lot of ideas about the rich were shattered with that book, including mine 🙂
In additional comparison, “The Millionaire Next Door” may be a bit dry in comparison, but an incredible resource in its own right. It is a bit dated though. If you click on the link going to the book above in my post, it appears that there is an online ebook of “The Millionaire Next Door”. Check out the chapters and you will see that it’s a good bit different. To bad the money and earnings numbers inside the book are so dated though 🙁
would you consider this the power of positive thinking? if so how you view yourself is how the world views you.
@James
Yep, I agree… if you believe in yourself, soon others will believe in you too, then it will spread from there!
You said:
“Half the battle is believing in yourself! Next is taking action and making supportive friends to help you and enable you to enjoy life! Friends can make things happen for you, and if you believe in yourself, you can make things happen for yourself!”
This is great advice, I totally agree. You have to believe in yourself, and if you do have doubts – it certainly helps to have supportive people around you. People that are naysayers who pigeonhole you aren’t going to help you. Ignore them. Believe in yourself and feed of the positive energy of supporters.
@Squirrelers
Yes, and now to find those supporters!!! 🙂
Actually I find that people on other blogs are great motivators and overall provide very positive support!
Too bad all us bloggers didn’t live in the same area 🙂
Hey I read that book it is really nice, you can also read other books like, ‘Your Money or Your Life’ by Dominguez and Robi and ‘The Total Money Makeover’ by Dave Ramsey. These are equally good books to refer.
I’ve skimmed “Your Money or Your Life”, it’s good!
So far, I’ve bucked the trend and haven’t read any books by Ramsey yet. I’m sure he’s great from all that I’ve heard about him, but I’ve never had problems handling my debt…
Pingback: Some of My Favorite Posts For the Week Ending 6/26 | Everyday Tips and Thoughts...
This title really got me, I really like the Matrix and the whole point behind it – devotion, hard work, discipline and focus, motivation … this is what we all need to tweak the world we live in