Secrets of the Millionaire Mind summary

Our minds are like computers, where the most important programs were installed in childhood: the patterns anchored within us are based on our earliest impressions. The things we heard our parents saying repeatedly about money as children are permanently saved in our minds, forming our ideas that end up determining the way we think about money later in life.

Sayings like “Money is the root of all evil,” “Money doesn’t grow on trees” and “You can’t buy happiness” ingrain themselves in our minds as our money blueprint and influence our opinion on money. Since our parents influence our behavior most when we’re young, there are only two possible ways to deal with their ideas about money and fortune. We can identify with and accept them, or we can rebel and reject them.

Our internalized attitude towards money and fortune is not only based on what we hear our parents say about money, but also on one specifically conditioned behavioral pattern: the way our parents earn their money and the way they handle it.

“That’s the way my mother always did it” is a valid response to the question of why you handle money issues the way you do – not unlike the question of why you make macaroni the way you do. So when you were a kid and asked your mother for money, and she told you to ask your father, the idea that the man is in charge of the finances and the woman can’t manage money makes an impression in our minds.

If you don’t achieve the level of affluence you desire, it usually has less to do with external factors than with an unconscious inner setting. But it’s never too late to change it.

The first step to becoming more financially successful is recognizing that you’ve fallen into such a thought pattern and that’s why you’re not getting rich. Once you’ve broken the pattern, the next thing you need to do is recognize where it comes from: Which habits and behavioral patterns did we learn from our parents and what effect did they have? Which thought patterns do you yourself follow? How much wealth are you programmed to achieve? Which unconscious strategies do we use to keep our account balances high?

As great as it’d be to get rich just by reading books – by knowing the theory behind wealth creation or hearing about what you need to do differently to rake in millions – unfortunately, it’s not enough. We have to overwrite the old information about money in our systems, not just save new information in addition to it.

The attitudes we’ve adopted towards money were spelled out in front of us on a regular basis when we were young. If we want to change them, we have to find new and better principles about money and fortune, and make a habit of spelling them out to ourselves like a mantra.

If you want to be financially successful, you have to internalize the idea that you are the one in control over your own (financial) life. Rich people know they’re at the wheel, while financially weaker people are always in the back seat, yielding control over their income to others.

It’s quite striking that people who are already poor will often spend half their salary on lottery tickets, hoping to get lucky and hit the big time. Rich people, by contrast, don’t gamble to get rich or wait for wealth to fall into their laps.

The idea that virtue and wealth can’t be reconciled is widespread among people without means, not among millionaires.

In order to get rich, you also have to like money. Poor people often harbor too many negative thoughts about wealth. They’re afraid that somebody would only like them because of their money, or even worse, that it could turn them into bad people. In addition, they’re afraid of the work and responsibility associated with wealth, which is a hindrance in many areas.

Rich people know from the beginning that their goal is affluence and thus develop an unconditional commitment to their prosperity. People who just want to get rich, but put limits on how much they’re willing to do or sacrifice to get rich stay poor.

Only people who are fully committed to wealth and would bet their lives on it will be prosperous. Working hard 16 hours a day for an indefinite period of time and accepting that you’ll have less freedom are part of that commitment.

Millionaires set their sights on having lots of money, while everyone else just wishes they could have a secure and sufficient income. The universe will, in turn, fulfill these wishes, because the scale of wealth you think about also plays a role.

The equation is simple: big thinking leads to big actions, which opens up the door to making big money. Small thinking in small dimensions equals a small income.

Earning massive amounts of money is one thing – not letting it slip through your fingers and making it grow is another. Dealing with money in a disciplined way and managing money cleverly are very important factors for achieving wealth and prosperity. 

Many people erroneously think that a high income is all that makes you rich. The proper way to measure people’s wealth is, however, their net worth, that is, the cash value of all their possessions. Savings and investment gains also count. You should strive to have as big a net income as possible and invest your money with an eye on the financial future.

One trait that separates wealthy people from less well-to-do people is that they know their value and are convinced that they deserve to be rich. Less well-to-do people often deem themselves unworthy and don’t believe in themselves. They remain financially unsuccessful because they think that they aren’t worth it and – often unconsciously – back away when it comes to distributing funds.

Since rich people are convinced of their value, they also understand how to promote themselves, their business ideas or their company. Leaders are usually rich because they earn more in these positions. But in order to be a leader, you have to find followers, which only works if you sell your ideas well.

The main message in this book is:

Our level of prosperity is preprogrammed by thought and behavioral patterns we learned as children. We can only change it if we consciously recognize it, actively adopt a new attitude and implant “millionaire thinking” into our minds.