Loveland, CO · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 123 votes
I just finished reading "Middle Class Millionaires" but I almost put it down before I got too far into it. A lot of it had to do with marketing to the MCM, things such as "concierge medical plans", "shared vacation homes", "shared Winnebagos" etc, which really doesn't interest me.
But a lot of it had to do with the mindset that got these MCM where they are today. Willingness to put in a lot of hours, they are about twice as likely to work 70 hour weeks as non millionaires in their cohort.
If you've read "The Millionaire Next Door", and if you haven't why are you reading this instead?, I'd suggest you read this book and check your work ethic and attitude against those who, while seemingly just like you, have already made a couple of million.
A work ethic is absolutely a requirement to success...no doubt.
But I think another often overlooked ingredient to success is passion.
If what you do is a labor of love you'll never stop. You are motivated by something bigger...more powerful...more transcendent...than simple persistence or will power.
Working 70 hours a week is easy when you love what you do. I know it sound cliche, but it's true.
All the big names were motivated by passion...not money.
I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.
Frank - I agree, a great book. I was just reading another post about a guy who had bad credit and wanted to quit his day job to then get started in REI - he needs to read this too.
A mentor suggested the book several months ago when it came out in February, and I've had both my kids (who both owned their first investment properties before age 20) read it too. The take home from the book is unquestionably what makes these people different - the key appears to be their attitude toward work.....
I remember when I was in kindergarten and my dad was publishing a music book that he sold (his first business). He got into a work/sleep pattern where he would work solid for 3 days, then sleep for 2 days. He went a little overboard but my first job was working for him full time when I was 12 years old while on school vacations. I made a dollar an hour for shoveling gravel or cleaning up job sites...lol
A work ethic is absolutely a requirement to success...no doubt.
But I think another often overlooked ingredient to success is passion.
If what you do is a labor of love you'll never stop. You are motivated by something bigger...more powerful...more transcendent...than simple persistence or will power.
Working 70 hours a week is easy when you love what you do. I know it sound cliche, but it's true.
All the big names were motivated by passion...not money.
I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.