If you’re reading this blog post then it means you are looking to make your life better and trying to find a way to increase your wealth to at least $1 million or more. At the end of the day, becoming a millionaire is a journey. I call this blog an expedition because you have a starting point where you are today and a goal to reach a mountain top where you can be financially secure and not have to work day in and day out.
This blog will outline a step by step process to figure out where you are today, where you want to go and how to get there. Three simple parts.
Millionaire Mindset
The first thing you need on your journey is the millionaire mindset. I have gone to a few seminars with “self help gurus” and paid the $100 entry fee and I have seen what the $1000 pays for when it comes to these seminars. I have also read the books by guys like Tony Robbins and I am here to save you $1000s of dollars. The one common thread between all of the seminars is simple – you need to change your mindset. If you want to be wealthy and you want to have more freedom to do what you want in life, you need to PUT IT OUT THERE into the universe. That sounds weird doesn’t it? The fact is, when you think about the goals and dreams you want to achieve, things will happen. The more you focus on your goals, the more you will subconsciously start making different choices to achieve your dreams. It may seem weird, but it really does work.
Time is Invaluable
The next thing you will learn is that time means everything in achieving success. Going back to the mindset of a successful person, time is the one thing that will determine your success. I had a pretty nasty divorce and every day, I would spend about 2-3 hours thinking of a myriad ways that my ex could fall off a cliff “by accident” or different ways to get back at her vicious attorney. Those 2-3 hours took away from my goals of growing my web design business and started to affect my income. I would stop following up on leads from interested companies or lose business because I was just distracted with thinking about my wife’s attorney drowning in acid and I flat out just wasn’t paying attention to what made me money. That led me to a realization. I have CHOICES on how to use my time. If I took that 2-3 hours per day and made one extra call or created one more marketing email to send out to my clients to generate more income, I would be able to increase my monthly revenue instead of being angry and distracted.
In addition to using your time effectively, it takes time for money that is put into investments to mature and multiply so you can sit back and generate money without doing anything at all.
Focus, Patience & Determination
The last thing I would say is that to complete a successful expedition, you need focus. I have started a few businesses over the past few decades and talked to people about their dreams. Every time people start something new, there is a beginning phase that will determine the success or failure of their journey. Everyone gets really excited about starting a company. They build web sites, create business cards, tell all of their friends about their amazing new venture and start riding high based on the “idea” of owning a company. Then, reality sets in. The t-shirts they were selling aren’t making enough money fast enough. Customers are a pain in the ass to deal with. Their child care facility closed and now the kids are back to home. Life changes, circumstances change and this is when you will decide if your dreams will continue or if you will go back to the grind and the same habits. If you can navigate the changes and challenges in your life and persevere with your business, you will see results.
Also remember, marketing and branding takes time. People are getting hit every day with marketing messages from the internet, tv, friends, radio and more. It takes someone to see an ad about 6 times before it gets embedded in their brain. Also, research shows that only 3% of people are looking for a specific product or service at any one time. Therefore, if you are marketing a service (like accounting), someone might see your ad, but they don’t need that service that day. However, the LONGER or more frequently you market your service and advertise, the more chances you have that that same person might need your service 6 months or a year from now. I have given people quotes for web design work and took 9 months for those people to come back and start when they were ready.
The good news is that you don’t have to jump into starting a new company immediately. You can work your regular job and start a side business like I did. You can make small changes in your life and gradually change your habits to work up to something bigger. If your business takes off immediately, GREAT! If not, you have the security of a job while you grow your business. An expedition requires small step by steps. Just always keep in mind that nothing in this blog will make you rich overnight. This isn’t a lottery or a gambling bet. This is a process and a journey that takes time, focus and determination.
Say What You Do and Do What You Say
One of the most important things in life and and in business is to perform your service or create a product that will satisfy your clients. If your service is outstanding and you follow through with what you promise your customers, two things will happen 1) they will be a customer for life and 2) you will get referrals. Referrals and consistent business from your current clients are absolutely vital to a business. I am good at what I do. People love the web sites I create for them and I am very responsive (usually within hours). In my industry, people and businesses are SUPER FLAKY so just being responsive and completing projects in a timely manner are huge reasons I have over 300 clients who pay monthly hosting and maintenance fees. I also get a ton of referrals and repeat business from my existing clients because they know the quality they will get in a web site and the service.
