The Millionaire Next Door – 5 valuable lessons I learned from this book!

Short summary:

The Millionaire Next Door tries to debunk myths about the wealthy and to show how we have been misled about millionaires in recent years. The author analyzed the profiles of the wealthy and offered crucial advice on how to achieve financial freedom.

The millionaire next door:

In the world, there is a powerful experiment for determining a person’s success. It is not a massive experiment, but rather a small one. It is an experiment with marshmallows. In this experiment, some boys were called and each received one marshmallow. Then the researchers said, “If you don’t eat the marshmallow for a few minutes, you’ll get an extra one.” If you consume the marshmallow, you won’t be able to acquire another. “

Now, tell me what you would do if you were in that experiment. Did you eat the marshmallow or were you able to resist the temptation and hunt for an add-on?

Returning to the experiment, the majority of the boys ate the marshmallow. But others waited, controlled their urges for a few minutes, and received two.

Don’t even think about what might happen with this small experiment. Researchers followed these boys for years before determining the outcome. As a result, the boys who controlled their temptation during the marshmallow test were more likely to succeed than the boys who ate the marshmallows at random.

According to the study, people who practice delayed gratification become more successful in life. They possessed stronger social skills, were healthier, responded better to stress, had fewer substance misuse concerns, and performed higher on standardized examinations. This example of delayed gratification demonstrates how important it is in practically every aspect of life. People who want immediate gratification, on the other hand, are not wealthy.

Lesson 1:

Delayed gratification:

Delayed gratification is the act of resisting the temptation of an immediate benefit in order to obtain a greater reward later. True millionaires are those who spend less than they need. They don’t spend much since they don’t spend right away. Despite being enticed by advertisements, new product launches, or whatever the case may be, they resist temptation. As a result, their financial situation would improve.

Instant gratification:

Even if some people are desperately poor, they frequently purchase attractive items. Some people spend more money than they earn. They enjoy pretending to be wealthy. These people were powerless to resist their temptations. As a result, their financial situation deteriorates day by day.

Here are some examples of delayed gratification:

Relationship: Instead of using your phone while you’re with your sweetheart, totally engage with him/her.

Career: Instead of going out for the night, work on your presentation for tomorrow.

Health: Instead of succumbing to the momentary gratification of eating that slice of cake, postpone your gratification and get the benefits of vitality and energy later.

Finances: Put off the gratification of buying something you don’t really need in order to reap the long-term benefit of more savings and financial independence.

And if you look around, you’ll notice this happening all over…

You will study more effectively if you turn off the television and complete your assignments.
You will become healthy if you resist the temptation to eat junk food.
You will save more money if you save it instead of buying unnecessary items.

Starting with the smallest of things, delayed gratification may play a significant role in our lives if we use it appropriately.

How do you practice delayed gratification?

Start small: Begin with the simplest of tasks. For example, if you want to get fit and healthy, do this. If you have a dessert, wait 3 minutes before eating it. Wait 7 minutes the next time. Increase the waiting period from 3 minutes to 3 months over time. You are more likely to succeed if you begin small. Do you know why? The reason for this is that if you set an impossible goal, you will most probably collapse.

For example, is it possible to lose 5 kg in 10 days? After 10 days, you feel dissatisfied and abandon your goal. Remember that valuable things take time to establish. As a result, you create attainable goals. For example, you can lose 3 kg in 30 days. After you have succeeded, you will feel a sense of accomplishment that will lead you to believe that you can achieve anything. Furthermore, you will realize that delayed gratification pays better.

Make your own rules: rather than breaking them, consider making your own. For example, if you are a shopaholic who buys 20 or more items per month, make a rule. Reduce it to 18 or 15 things. Make it a rule to wait one week before buying anything. Make some crazy rules. Whatever the rule is, as long as it helps you achieve your goal, it is a good rule.

Gratitude: This is the most basic, yet most effective method for following up on delayed gratification. Gratitude for what you have will keep you from purchasing new items. Consider yourself fortunate to have a vehicle, as some people do not. Consider yourself fortunate to have food when others do not. This can allow you to avoid thinking about instant gratification, such as purchasing a new automobile or ordering food online. Practice gratitude.

Remember your goals: When attempting to purchase undesired items, keep in mind your ultimate aim of purchasing a home. You’ll be less prone to spending on stuff you don’t need if you keep your aim in mind. Keep a photo of your goal on your phone as a reminder of what you’re working for—you can even make it your wallpaper. It will make deferred gratification much more manageable.

Who is a millionaire?

What images do you conjure up in your head when you hear the word millionaire? Consider someone who is wealthy. How do you envision it? Huge mansions with swimming pools, designer clothes and watches, costly cars, and what else? This is the misconception we have. This is the distinction between ordinary people and millionaires. The true millionaires were ordinary people who might live in your neighborhood. You’d never guess that they were millionaires. Because nothing could tempt them, they lived a simple life, which is why they became millionaires.

The main thing to remember is that if a guy purchases costly automobiles and items, it does not imply that he earns a lot of money; rather, it indicates that he spends a lot of money.

It demonstrates how much she spends.
It does not indicate how much she makes.

What is the objective of faking wealth? When are you going to be truly wealthy if you keep pretending? So, if you’re the type of person who spends more and gets instant gratification merely to gain a false image from others, you need to put a stop to those attitudes since they never make you rich; instead, they make you financially weak.

Here are some of the factors that millionaires explore!

Lesson 2:

Live below your means:

This is the first aspect, which is nothing but delayed gratification, as previously discussed. Another significant change is that ordinary people have become defensive about their income and offensive about their spending. What does it imply?

Let me give you an example.

If you offer a friend to join you in a new business, new investment, or new idea to make more money, they will just refuse. They make excuses and pass up the opportunity. However, if you invite a friend to a trip, a movie, supper, or any other form of amusement, they will respond enthusiastically. Even though they were aware that they would have to pay money, time, and energy for instant gratification, they were willing to do so. This is referred to as defensive earning and offensive spending.

Millionaires, on the other hand, are concerned about TEM, which stands for time, money, and energy. They become offensive in terms of income and defensive in terms of spending. This does not imply that they are miserly, but rather that they value their money and time more than others. People who understand the value of money and time are more likely to succeed in life.

Lesson 3:

TME

As previously stated, time, money, and energy are the three most important factors in becoming a millionaire. Millionaires spend their money on valuable things. The term “valuable things” does not refer to pricey items such as automobiles or accessories. It means they spend money on something with a mission, which results in a new source of income later on. For example, they may spend money on a course that will help them develop their talents and achieve more success. Similarly, they devote time to improving their abilities and knowledge in order to live a better life. They spend less time on social media and more time reading self-help books for the future.