The 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires ( PDFDrive )

This law says thatwhen you learn the success secrets of self-made mil-lionaires and apply them in your own life, you will ex-perience results and rewards far beyond anything youhave acco

BOOKS BY BRIAN TRACY

Advanced Selling Strategies Effective Leadership

The Gift of Self-Confidence The Great Big Book of Wisdom Little Silver Book of Prosperity Mastering Your Time

COAUTHORED BY BRIAN TRACY

Speaking Secrets of the Masters Insights into Excellence

BRIAN TRACY

The 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made MillionairesCopyright © 2001 by Brian Tracy

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First Edition

Hardcover print edition ISBN 978-1-58376-205-9

PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-57675-918-9

2008-1

Copyediting and proofreading by Peoplespeak.

Book design and composition by Beverly Butterfield, Girl of the West Productions.

Success Secrets

v

13 Develop a Reputation for Speed

14 Be Prepared to Climb from Peak to Peak 48

15 Practice Self-Discipline in All Things 50

16 Unlock Your Inborn Creativity 54

17 Get around the Right People 57

18 Take Excellent Care of Your

Physical Health 61

19 Be Decisive and Action Oriented 64

20 Never Allow Failure to Be an Option 66

21 Pass the “Persistence Test” 69

Conclusion: Success Is Predictable 73

About the Author 75

Index 79

The Millionaire-Maker Seminar 81

Brian Tracy, Speaker, Trainer, Seminar Leader 82

Brian Tracy Audio Learning Programs 83

vi The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

This book is the culmination of 15 years of search, teaching, and personal experience on thesubject of self-made millionaires These pages containthe key ideas and strategies I have discovered in read-ing hundreds of books and thousands of articles on thesubject of wealth accumulation The ideas and strate-gies are presented in a simple, tested, proven, easy-to-use format so that you can learn and apply themimmediately

re-When I was a teenager growing up in Pomona,California, in a home where we never had very muchmoney, my dream, my fantasy, was to be a millionaire

by the time I was 30 Lots of people have the samedream, I’m sure

However, when I reached the age of 30, I was stilljust as broke as when I was 20 Then I did somethingthat changed my life I began asking, Why are somepeople more successful than others? I especiallywanted to know, How is it that some people start offwith nothing and eventually become millionaires?

vii

This question set me off on a search for the answers,which has led to this book.

I chose self-made millionaires as my focal point cause these people had demonstrated special qualitiesand behaviors that were both observable and measura-ble They had started with nothing and passed themagic million-dollar mark as the result of doing certainthings in a certain way, over and over

be-What I learned was that in order to achieve greatsuccess in life, you must become a special kind of per-son To rise above the majority, you must developqualities and disciplines that the average person lacks.The most important factor in achieving great fi-nancial success is not the money It is the kind of per-son you have to become to earn that money and thenhold on to it

These 21 “success secrets” are the keys to greatsuccess in every area of life, whether or not you make

a lot of money The good news is that these principlesare so powerful that you can apply them to accom-plish almost anything you really want Many of thesemethods and techniques will seem familiar to you.This is because they have been discovered and redis-covered for hundreds of years I see myself more as astudent of success—a reader, a researcher, a synthe-sizer, and a teacher of great ideas—than as an origina-tor or creator of brand new concepts I believe, as itsays in Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under thesun.”

viii The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

Since you are reading this book, I know that one ofyour great goals in life is to become an extraordinaryperson, to realize more and more of your true poten-tial Each of these success secrets will help you tomove ahead more rapidly toward the wonderful lifethat is possible for you Enjoy the journey!

BRIANTRACY

August 2000

P re fa ce ix

To my wonderful son, David,

a fine student, a great entrepreneur, and a self-made millionaire of the future

The Law of Cause

and Effect

What you are about to learn can change your life

These ideas, insights, and strategies have beenthe springboards to financial success for millions ofmen and women, young and old, rich and poor Theseprinciples are simple, effective, and fairly easy toapply They have been tested and proven over andover again, and they will work for you if you will takethem and apply them in your own life

We are living at the greatest time in all of humanhistory More people are becoming wealthy today,starting from nothing, than ever before imagined.There are more than seven million millionaires inAmerica, most of them self-made, and the number isgrowing by 15 to 20 percent each year We even haveself-made ten millionaires, hundred millionaires, andmore than two hundred billionaires We have neverseen this type of rapid wealth creation in all ofhuman history

Here’s the best news of all Virtually everyone

1

starts with nothing More than 90 percent of all cially successful people today started off broke ornearly broke The average self-made millionaire hasbeen bankrupt or nearly bankrupt 3.2 times Mostwealthy people failed many times before they finallyfound the right opportunity that they were able toleverage into financial success And what hundreds ofthousands and millions of other people have done,you can do as well.

finan-The iron law of human destiny is the Law of Causeand Effect This law is simple yet very powerful Itsays that there is a specific effect for every cause Forevery action, there is a reaction This law says thatsuccess is not an accident Financial success is the re-sult of doing certain, specific things over and overagain until you achieve the financial independencethat you desire

Nature is neutral The natural world, the place, or our society does not care who you are orwhat you are The Law of Cause and Effect says that ifyou do what other successful people do, you will even-tually get the results that other successful people get.And if you don’t, you won’t This law says thatwhen you learn the success secrets of self-made mil-lionaires and apply them in your own life, you will ex-perience results and rewards far beyond anything youhave accomplished up until now

market-Here is an important point for you to remember.Nobody is better than you and nobody is smarter

2 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

than you Let me repeat that Nobody is better thanyou and nobody is smarter than you Get thosethoughts out of your mind One of the primary reasonsfor selling yourself short, for underachievement andlack of financial success, is the conviction that people

who are doing better than you are better than you.

This is simply not the case

The fact is that most self-made millionaires areordinary people with average educations working ataverage jobs and living in average neighborhoods inaverage houses driving average cars But they havefound out what other financially successful people doand they have done those same things over and overagain until they achieved the same results It is nomiracle and it is no accident And when you think thesame thoughts and do the same things that self-mademillionaires do, you will begin to get the same resultsand benefits they do It is simply a matter of causeand effect

There are 21 success secrets of self-made aires Each of these is indispensable to your becomingfinancially independent The failure to apply any one

million-of these principles can, by itself, undermine and evendestroy your chances for health, happiness, and greatprosperity

The good news is that you can learn every one ofthese principles by practice and repetition, over andover again, until they become as natural to you asbreathing in and breathing out Just as you learned to

I n t ro d u c t i o n : T h e L aw o f C a u s e a n d E f fe c t 3

ride a bicycle or drive a car, you can learn the successsecrets of self-made millionaires and apply them inyour life And there are no limits except the limitsyou place on yourself by your own thinking Now, let

us begin

4 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

All great men and women begin with a dream ofsomething wonderful and different from what theyhave today You know the song that says “You have tohave a dream if you want to make a dream come true.”It’s true for you and for everyone else, as well Imagine that you have no limitations on whatyou can be, have, or do in life Just for the moment,

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◆ SUCCESS SECRET

1

imagine that you have all the time, all the money, allthe education, all the experience, all the friends, allthe contacts, all the resources, and everything elseyou need to achieve anything you want in life If yourpotential were completely unlimited, what kind of alife would you want to create for yourself and yourfamily?

Practice “back from the future” thinking This is apowerful technique practiced continually by high-performing men and women This way of thinkinghas an amazing effect on your mind and on your be-havior Here is how it works: Project yourself forwardfive years Imagine that five years have passed andthat your life is now perfect in every respect Whatdoes it look like? What are you doing? Where are youworking? How much money are you earning? Howmuch do you have in the bank? What kind of alifestyle do you have?

Create a vision for yourself for the long-term ture The more clear your vision of health, happiness,and prosperity, the faster you move toward it and thefaster it moves toward you When you create a clearmental picture of where you are going in life, you be-come more positive, more motivated, and more deter-mined to make it a reality You trigger your naturalcreativity and come up with idea after idea to helpmake your vision come true

fu-You always tend to move in the direction of yourdominant dreams, images, and visions The very act of

6 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

allowing yourself to dream big dreams actually raisesyour self-esteem and causes you to like and respectyourself more It improves your self-concept and in-creases your level of self-confidence It increases yourpersonal level of self-respect and happiness There issomething about dreams and visions that is excitingand that stimulates you to do and be better than youever have before.

Here is a great question for you to ask and answer,over and over again: What one thing would I dare todream if I knew I could not fail?

If you were absolutely guaranteed of success inany one goal in life, large or small, short-term or long-term, what would it be? What one great goal wouldyou dare to dream if you knew you could not fail?Whatever it is, write it down and begin imaginingthat you have achieved this one great goal already.Then, look back to where you are today What wouldyou have done to get where you want to go? Whatsteps would you have taken? What would you havechanged in your life? What would you have started up

or abandoned? Who would you be with? Who wouldyou no longer be with? If your life were perfect inevery respect, what would it look like? Whatever it isthat you would do differently, take the first step today.Dreaming big dreams is the starting point ofachieving your goal of financial independence Thenumber one reason that people never succeed finan-cially is because it never occurs to them that they can

D re a m B i g D re a m s 7

do it As a result, they never try They never getstarted They continue to go around in financial cir-cles, spending everything they earn and a little bitmore besides But when you begin to dream bigdreams about financial success, you begin to changethe way you see yourself and your life You begin to dodifferent things, bit by bit, gradually, until the wholedirection of your life changes for the better Dreamingbig dreams is the starting point of financial successand of becoming a self-made millionaire.

ACTION EXERCISE

Make a list of everything you would

do or attempt if you were absolutely

guaranteed of success Then decide

upon one specific action and do it

im-mediately.

8 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

◆

pens to you in life are what you think about and how

you think about it most of the time

9

◆SUCCESS SECRET 2

Successful people think about their goals most of

the time As a result, they are continually moving toward their goals, and their goals are continuallymoving toward them Whatever you think about most

of the time grows and increases in your life If you arethinking about, talking about, and visualizing yourgoals, you tend to accomplish far, far more than the average person, who is usually thinking and talk-ing about his or her worries and problems most of the time

Here is a simple seven-step formula for setting andachieving goals that you can use to become a mil-lionaire:

First, decide exactly what you want in each area ofyour life, especially in your financial life Most peoplenever do this

Second, write down your goals clearly and cally Something amazing happens between your headand your hand when you put your goals in writing.Third, set a deadline for each goal Set subdead-lines if a goal is big enough Give yourself a target toaim at

specifi-Fourth, make a list of everything you can think ofthat you will have to do to achieve each goal As youthink of new ideas, add them to your list until it iscomplete

Fifth, organize your list into a plan of action termine what you are going to do first and what you

De-10 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

will do later Decide what is more important and what

is less important

Sixth, take action on your plan immediately It isamazing how many splendid goals and plans arenever realized because of procrastination and delay.Seventh, and perhaps most important, do some-thing every day that moves you at least one step closer

to your most important goal This commitment todaily action will make you a big success in anythingyou decide to accomplish

Here is an exercise for you Take a sheet of paperand write the word “Goals” at the top of the page withtoday’s date Then, make a list of 10 goals that youwould like to achieve over the next 12 months Writeyour goals in the present tense, as though a year haspassed and you have already achieved them Begineach goal with the word “I” to make it personal to you

By making out a list of 10 goals for yourself for thenext year, you will move yourself into an exclusivegroup consisting of only 3 percent of adults in our so-ciety The sad fact is that 97 percent of adults havenever made a list of goals in their entire lives

Once you have your list of 10 goals, go over the list

and ask this key question: Which one goal on this list,

if I were to achieve it, would have the greatest positiveimpact on my life?

Whatever your answer to that question, circle thatgoal and make that your number one, most important

D e ve l o p a C l e a r S e n s e o f D i re c t i o n 11

goal for the future Set a deadline, make a plan, takeaction on your plan, and do something every day thatmoves you toward that goal.

From now on, think and talk about that goal all thetime Think and talk about how you can achieve thatgoal Think and talk about all the different steps thatyou can take to make that goal a reality This exercisewill stimulate your creativity, increase your energy,and unlock more and more of your potential

ACTION EXERCISE

Always think on paper Sit down and

begin writing out your goals and

creat-ing your plan to achieve them This

ex-ercise alone can make you a self-made

millionaire.

12 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

◆

See Yourself as Self-Employed

I am the captain of my soul;

I am the master of my fate.

—W ILLIAM H ENLEY

FROM NOW ON, accept complete, 100 percent sibility for everything you are and everything you willever be Refuse to make excuses or to blame other peo-ple for your problems or shortcomings Stop com-plaining about things in your life that you are nothappy about Refuse to criticize other people for any-thing You are responsible If there is something inyour life that you don’t like, it is up to you to change

respon-it You are in charge

The top 3 percent of Americans see themselves asself-employed, no matter who signs their paychecks.The biggest mistake you can ever make is to think thatyou work for anyone other than yourself You are

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◆SUCCESS SECRET 3

always self-employed You are always the president ofyour own personal service corporation, no matterwhere you might be working at the moment.

When you see yourself as self-employed, you

de-velop an entrepreneur mentality, the mentality of

highly independent, self-responsible, self-starting

individuals Instead of waiting for things to happen, you make things happen You see yourself as the boss

of your own life You see yourself as completely incharge of your physical health, your financial well-being, your career, your relationships, your lifestyle,your home, your car, and every other element of yourexistence This is the mind-set of the self-made mil-lionaire

Self-responsible people are intensely result ented They always take high levels of initiative Theyvolunteer for assignments and are always asking formore responsibility As a result, they become the mostvaluable and respected people in their organizations.They continually prepare themselves for positions ofhigher authority and responsibility in the future Youshould do the same

ori-Here’s a question: If you were president of yourcompany for a day or were completely responsiblefor results where you work, what one change wouldyou enact immediately?

Whatever it is, write it down, make a plan, and gin implementing it today This action alone couldchange your life

be-14 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

ACTION EXERCISE

Identify your favorite reasons and

ex-cuses for not committing

wholeheart-edly to your financial goals Is there

anyone or anything in your life that

you are blaming for holding you back?

Whatever it might be, accept complete

responsibility for your life and take

action today!

S e e Yo u r s e l f a s S e l f - E m p l oye d 15

◆

Do What You

Love to Do

When you start doing what you really love to do, you’ll never work another day in your life.

—B RIAN T RACY

DOING WHAT YOU love to do is one of the great secrets

of financial success One of your primary ities in life is to find out what you really enjoy doing,what you have a natural talent for, and then to throwyour whole heart into doing that particular work very,very well

responsibil-Self-made millionaires are those who have found afield where their natural strengths and abilities are ex-actly what is required to do the job and achieve the re-sults desired Most self-made millionaires say that

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◆ SUCCESS SECRET

4

D o W h a t Yo u L ove t o D o 17

they “never worked a day in their life.” You must find a

field in which you can be totally absorbed—a job orarea of endeavor that completely fascinates you, thatholds your attention, that is a natural expression ofyour special talents and abilities

When you are doing what you love to do, youseem to have a continuous flow of excitement, en-ergy, and ideas to do what you do even better Here is

a question for you: If you won a million dollars, taxfree, tomorrow, would you continue to do what youare currently doing?

This is a great question It simply asks you whatyou would do if you had all the time and money youneeded and you were free to choose your occupation.Self-made millionaires, if they won a million dollarscash, would continue doing what they are doing.They would only do it differently or better or at ahigher level But they love their work so much thatthey wouldn’t even think of leaving it or retiring.Perhaps the greatest responsibility of adult life,when you are surrounded by so many differentchoices of occupation and career, is for you to find outwhat you really love doing and then dedicate yourself

to that field And no one else can do this for you

18 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

ACTION EXERCISE

Identify the type of work that you enjoy the most What activities have been most responsible for your suc- cess in life to date? If you could do any job at all and be successful at it, what would you choose? Set it as a goal, make a plan, and begin moving

in that direction today.

◆

Commit to

Excellence

The quality of your life will be

determined by the depth of your

commitment to excellence, no matter

what your chosen field.

—V INCE L OMBARDI

RESOLVE TODAY TO be the very best at what you do Set

a goal for yourself to join the top 10 percent of yourfield, whatever it is This decision, to become very,very good at what you do, can be the turning point inyour life Virtually all successful people are recog-nized as being extremely competent in their chosenfields

Remember that no one is better than you, and noone is smarter than you And everyone who is in

◆SUCCESS SECRET 5

the top 10 percent today started off in the bottom

10 percent Everyone who is doing well was once ing poorly Everyone who is at the top of his or herfield was at one time in another field altogether Andwhat countless others have done, you can do as well

do-Here is a great rule for success: Your life only gets

better when you get better And since there is no limit to

how much better you can become, there is no limit tohow much better you can make your life

Your decision to become excellent at what you do,

to join the top 10 percent in your field, is the turningpoint in your life It is the key to great success It isalso the foundation of high levels of self-esteem, self-respect, and personal pride When you are really good

at what you do, you feel wonderful about yourself.Being excellent affects your whole personality and allyour relationships with other people You feel happyand proud when you know you are at the top of yourfield

Here is one of the most important questions youwill ever ask and answer, for the rest of your career:What one skill, if I developed and did it in an excel-lent fashion, would have the greatest positive im-pact on my life?

You cannot become good at everything right away,but you can identify the one skill that can help you themost and then throw your whole heart into develop-ing that skill Set it as a goal Write it down Set a dead-

20 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

line Make a plan And work on becoming better inthat area every single day You will be absolutelyamazed at the difference this commitment to excel-lence will make in your life This commitment alonecan make you a self-made millionaire in the course ofyour career.

ACTION EXERCISE

Identify your key result areas in your

current job What are the parts of

your work that you must absolutely,

positively perform in an excellent

fashion to move to the top of your

field? Where are you strong and where

are you weak? Make a plan today to

get better in the one skill area where

improvement can help you the most.

C o m m i t t o E xce l l e n ce 21

◆

Work Longer and Harder

The harder I work, the luckier I get.

—J AMES T HURBER

ALL SELF-MADE millionaires work hard, hard, hard.They start earlier, they work harder, and they staylater They develop a reputation for being amongst thehardest working people in their fields And everybodyknows it

Practice the “40 Plus” formula This formula saysthat you work 40 hours per week for survival; every-thing over 40 hours is for success If you work only 40hours (and the average workweek today is closer to 35hours), all you will ever do is survive You will neverget ahead You will never be a big financial success.You will never be highly respected and esteemed byyour colleagues You will always be mediocre workingthe basic 40-hour week

◆ SUCCESS SECRET

6

But every hour over 40 hours is an investment inyour future In fact, you can tell with tremendous ac-curacy where you are going to be in five years bylooking at how many hours over 40 you put in everyweek There is just no substitute for long days andhard work.

Self-made millionaires in America work an age of 59 hours per week Many of them work 70 or

aver-80 hours, especially at the start of their careers Theywork an average of six days per week, rather thanfive, and work longer days as well If you want to call

a self-made millionaire, phone the office before mal working hours and after normal working hours.The self-made millionaire is there when the staff, the

nor-“nine-to-fivers,” arrive and is still there when theyleave

And here’s the key: Work all the time you work.When you work, don’t waste time When you get inearly, put your head down and get started immedi-ately When people want to talk to you, excuse your-self and say, “I have to get back to work!”

Do not drop off your dry cleaning, phone yourfriends, socialize with your coworkers, or read thenewspaper Work all the time you work Resolve today

to develop the reputation for being the hardest ing person in your company This will bring you tothe attention of people who can help you faster thanalmost anything else you can do

work-Wo r k L o n ge r a n d H a rd e r 23

24 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

ACTION EXERCISE

Make a plan today to increase the number of hours you work each day Resolve to get to the office one hour earlier and get a head start on the day Work at lunchtime when others are gone Stay one hour later to get caught up This strategy alone will double your output while adding only two hours to your day.

◆

But your mind is like a muscle It develops onlywith use Just as you have to strain your physical

◆SUCCESS SECRET 7

muscles to build them, you have to work your mentalmuscles to build your mind as well The good news isthat the more you learn, the more you can learn Justlike the more you play a sport, the better you get atthe sport The more you dedicate yourself to lifelonglearning, the easier it is for you to learn even more.Leaders are learners Continuous learning is thekey to the 21st century Lifelong learning is the mini-mum requirement for success in your field or in anyfield Make a decision today that you are going to be-come a student of your craft and that you are going tocontinue learning and becoming better for the rest ofyour life.

There are three keys to lifelong learning The firstkey is to read in your field for at least 30 to 60 minuteseach day Reading is to the mind as exercise is to thebody Reading for an hour each day will translate intoabout one book per week One book per week willtranslate into 50 books per year Fifty books per yearwill translate into 500 books over the next 10 years.Since the average adult reads less than one bookper year, when you begin reading one hour per day,one book per week, this alone will give you an in-credible edge in your field You will become one of thesmartest, most competent, and highest paid people inyour profession by simply reading one hour each day.The second key to lifelong learning is to listen toaudio programs in your car as you drive from place toplace The average person sits behind the wheel in his

26 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

D e d i c a t e Yo u r s e l f t o L i fe l o n g L e a r n i n g 27

or her car 500 to 1,000 hours per year This is theequivalent of 12 to 24 forty-hour weeks, or as much asthree to six months of working time that you spend inyour car This is the equivalent of one to two full-timesemesters at a university

Turn your car into a learning machine, into a

uni-versity on wheels Never let your car motor be ning without an educational audio program playing.Many people have become millionaires through themiracle of audio learning This is why audio learning

run-is often called the greatest breakthrough in educationsince the invention of the printing press

A third key to lifelong learning is to attend everycourse and seminar you can possibly find that canhelp you to be better in your field.* The combination

of books, audio programs, and seminars will enableyou to save hundreds of hours and thousands of dol-lars, and many years of hard work, in achieving thelevel of financial success that you desire

Make a decision today to become a lifelong learner.You will be amazed at the effect that it has in your ca-reer Lifelong learning can be a major factor in yourbecoming a self-made millionaire

*To attend Brian Tracy’s exciting two-day seminar on ing a millionaire, see p 81.

becom-28 The 2 1 S u cce s s S e c re t s o f S e l f - M a d e M i l l i o n a i re s

ACTION EXERCISE

Select a subject that can really help you to be more productive and effec- tive in your field Set a goal to master this subject Make it a “do-it-to- yourself” project Then, read on this subject every day Listen to audio pro- grams on the subject Attend courses

on the subject Work on this project

as if your future depends on it, cause it does!

be-◆

PayYourself First

A part of all you earn is yours to keep, and if you cannot save money, the seeds of greatness are not in you.

—W C LEMENT S TONE

RESOLVE TODAY THAT you are going to save and invest

at least 10 percent of your income throughout yourworking life Take 10 percent of your income off thetop of your paycheck each time you receive one andput it into a special account for financial accumula-tion The fact is that if you save just $100 per monththroughout your working lifetime and you invest thatmoney in an average mutual fund that grows at 10 per-cent per annum, you will be worth more than one mil-lion dollars by the time you retire This means thatanyone, even a person earning minimum wage, if he

or she starts early enough and saves long enough, canbecome a millionaire over the course of his or herworking lifetime

◆SUCCESS SECRET 8