6 Ways to Develop a Millionaire Mindset Chasing money has remarkable little to do with getting rich.
By Nick Unsworth Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
So you want to become a millionaire entrepreneur. You're not alone. Many dream of leaving their job and becoming their own boss, enjoying the various millionaire lifestyles we watch on TV. But there's a difference between those who dream of becoming millionaires and those who do. And it begins and ends with mindset. If you don't develop that mindset, you will continue to spin your wheels, working just as hard, but never going anywhere.
Developing a millionaire mindset requires you to stretch your thinking. Start by developing the following six attributes.
1. Have vision.
If you aspire to be a millionaire at some point in your life, or you aspire to have a seven-figure business, you've got to get really clear on why you want it. Throughout my 20s, making money was my "why." A number of business successes and failures taught me that it's not about the money, but about what the money can do for you.
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Why do you want to be a millionaire? You must be really clear on your "why," so that when times get tough, or you don't want to wake up at 4 am or make another cold call, you are pulled to do it anyway.
What impact do you want to have? What is the positive impact of achieving your seven-figure goal, and even more compelling, what's the negative impact of not achieving it? When we make our vision and our "why" about others, there's an exponential increase in the inspired action that we'll take to achieve it.
Some of the greatest entrepreneurs in the world have very big missions. They know exactly where they're going and why they're going there. They are clear on the impact and the legacy they're building. What is your impact? And what kind of legacy do you want to build? The greater you connect to your impact, the more willing you'll be to do the uncomfortable things that lead to rapid growth.
In addition, millionaire business owners have a "now" mentality. Rather than putting things off, they do what is necessary now, no matter how scary or impossible it feels. Knowing why you're doing what you're doing and being a "now" kind of person will push you to get what you want.
2. Love what you do.
When you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work. And, when you love what you do, money will inevitably flow to and through you. Even if, at the moment, you're working in a career or job you don't love, simply shifting the way you think about it can shift your entire mindset. Rather than bemoan your job, think of it as your banker that's supporting you as you work to where you want to be. Speak life into your present situation and shift your way of being so that you cherish your job for providing you the means to pursue the work you love.
3. Be solution-focused.
Be very clear on the problem your business solves.
In addition, being solution-focused means that you see solutions where others see problems, despite your circumstance. So when the going gets tough and most people pack it up and go home, the millionaire mind knows that there's always a solution, and that, no matter how big the problem or challenge, it's a blessing in disguise. Even failure reaps benefits that will serve you in the future.
Related: The Importance of Thinking Big and Believing in Yourself
By focusing on solutions rather than problems, you maintain a positive mindset and are not rattled by circumstances beyond your control that may derail others. The bigger you grow as an entrepreneur, the greater the pressure, the responsibility and the problems.
Millionaires are excited by their challenges because they know that abundance lies on the other side. Further, people who see solutions attract others who seek solutions.
4. Continually hone your leadership skills.
Focusing on your leadership skills is going to dramatically shift and change everything in your life and business. Grab the book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and internalize it. The more you grow your leadership skills, the more you're going to attract other like-minded leaders into your business.
One of my favorite irrefutable laws of leadership, the law of the lid, teaches that you are the lid on your container. In other words, you are the one who limits the growth of your business. By enhancing your leadership skills, you will blow the lid off your business.
5. Be growth-oriented.
Millionaire business owners endlessly pursue personal growth and development.
First and foremost, get a coach. My life was impacted more by having a coach than by anything else I've ever done in business or in life, in general.
Secondly, be coachable. Often what happens when you seek wise counsel is that you put up a wall between you and the feedback you're receiving. Know that a coach sees your business and life from an outside perspective that you cannot. Trust that your coach has wisdom and a full picture perspective that you just don't have. The more primed you are to hear and assimilate feedback, the faster and farther your business will grow.
Related: This Is How Thinking About Abundance Has Helped Me Build a Success Mindset
6. Flip your thinking from doing to being.
People, especially entrepreneurs, are constantly doing in order to have stuff -- a new car, house, clients or whatever it is that will make them feel significant and good about themselves. They believe that, once they become millionaires, they will truly be significant and have done something worthwhile. But that's backwards. If you truly want to have a million dollars, you must first be and think like a millionaire. By doing so, you will attract the necessary resources to you.
It's not about doing something in order to have something or in order to be someone. You must be someone first; someone who has what she needs in order to take the inspired action. To become a millionaire, you must be a millionaire who thinks like a millionaire, who has what a millionaire has, in order to take the inspired action that a millionaire takes.