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Develop a Mindset for Success

When I was growing up, my mother would tell me, “Marshall, work hard, get
ahead,” and she meant well, yet her mindset hindered my life for years. This
angel on earth raised 10 children, largely on her own, and worked three jobs
to put food on the table for us, yet her idea of creating greater wealth was to
sleep one hour less so that she could work one more hour.
For years, I traded my precious hours for too few dollars. I was always
asking myself, “how can I get more work done?” and always struggling, until
one day when I was in my early twenties. I was searching frantically for
enough spare change in the couch to buy a box of macaroni and cheese. I was
about to be kicked out of my apartment for nonpayment of the rent and I was
the manager! I realized I had to start clearing my mind of the pauper thoughts
that were holding me captive. I started asking, “How can I create more
wealth?” and as I did, I began to see a second big difference between million-
aires and paupers.

Difference 2: Millionaires Upgrade the
Value of Their Time

What do you think is more valuable, a Moped or a Rolls Royce? A Rolls
Royce, of course—unless you live on a mountain with goat paths for roads.
Then, a Moped is far more valuable. What I’m saying is, what something
costs has nothing to do with its value; it’s what others are willing to pay that
matters.
You are rewarded in life by what you create as value for someone else.
Look at all the new service businesses and products we have today that didn’t
exist 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. Could you have ever imagined that someday,
you might pay a “pet-sitter,” while you were at work or on vacation? Spend
$5 for a cup of coffee, or $1 for a bottle of water? Use a “sponge-less” mop to
clean up a spill? How many times have you seen a product advertised on tele-
vision or in a store and thought: “I wish I had come up with that idea. What a
timesaver!” You can create value for others with the most common, or most
exotic, idea or concept.
To create wealth, you also have to upgrade the value of your time so that
others are willing to pay more for it. How do you do that? Give more than
you ask. Remember that those who receive what you create determine its
value. If you had paid every dollar you have to buy this book, you would be
reading it more thoughtfully. When this information multiplies your net
worth 1,000 times over, it is worth every dollar.

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