How Rich People Think

Statistics in the first week of June have shown that another recession may be on the horizon. And to think, we just got out of a recession two years ago. But author Steve Siebold claims that more people will emerge as self-made millionaires than ever in the past during the next five years.

Let's be frank, America is a country full of problems in dire need of solutions. But America is also full of smart entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and inventors that can turn problems into profitable opportunities. Siebold says that the amount of resources available at our finger tips has never been seen before. Technology has given us the tools to connect with the right people and find information. These tools along with significant problems with energy, the environment, the financial system, and education will breed millionaires.

Steve Siebold, author of "How Rich People Think" (link to view item on Amazon on the left) interviewed hundreds of millionaires over 27 years to determine how these people think and why they succeed where so many have failed. In a recent television interview, he pointed out a few subtle differences in their mindset.

The first thing he mentioned was that millionaires use money as an opportunity rather than a means and they view money as something positive, not as a negative or a fear-based asset.

Siebold writes that millionaires use the money to make more money, while the rest of us save money in fear that we will need it for retirement or that we will be laid off. They earn money and work towards something they want instead of earning money to move away from something they don't want, which is what the masses do. It's like working at a job you dislike and saving enough to leave the place, or you can think like a millionaire and work at a job you dislike, but save enough to start a new life. They may have the same result, but the subtle difference in mindset is key.

He also explains that millionaires view money as something positive, where most people view it as something negative. People who do not have a millionaire mindset will think rich people are greedy, narcissistic, and don't pay their fair share of taxes. It's a very common belief from low and middle income earners. For the first 23 years of my life, I thought rich people were all snobby, and then I worked at a brokerage, soon realizing that the millionaires I dealt with everyday were more optimistic, more respectful, and more tolerant of others. It completely changed my perceptions on rich people. Strangely, I found those who were "poor" had a unique sense of entitlement, wanting things for free, wanting refunds, and complained over the smallest things for reasons they found justified.

Another reason rich people are rich is because they seek resolution during dark times. They reject middle-class cynicism during recessions. It's difficult for people to move forward when the media, friends, and family are negative, yet the ones that rise to the occasion are often spoiled with the riches and goals they desire. It is a little known fact, but more millionaires were made during the Great Depression than in any era of American history. Think for yourself, over the last three years, since the recession started (and ended in 2009), did you find yourself saving money for a rainy day or did you find yourself investing it in assets and creating solutions?

It seems so simple, so why do so few of us ever become high net-worth? It's because we've been trained by those who do not possess riches and think like the common man. We have been taught by people like our parents, friends, church leaders, and maybe an entry-level banker on how to save money. But who in your life has ever taught you to create opportunity with the few dollars you have?

When you treat money as something you earn for being an employee then you become stagnant. Financially, you will never grow. But if you treat money as your employee, as a tool to become wealthier, then you grow as a person, as will your riches.