The Millionaire Mentality

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The Millionaire Mentality -- according to J. Paul Getty

Posted By: Dien Rice
Date: Tuesday, 26 September 2000, at 9:18 p.m.

I believe in learning from those who have succeeded. When it comes to profits, I study the writings of those who are great successes.

J. Paul Getty was one of those. He made big money in oil exploration, and made another fortune in art collection and evaluation. In the mid-1960s, he published a book which was a collection of essays, called "How To Be Rich."

Here's one of Getty's pieces of advice…. On how to achieve the Millionaire Mentality.

Getty says that he believes that most people fall into one of four general categories….

1. Those people who work best when they are working for themselves. They don't want to be employed by anyone, and want complete independence. The don't care for the security that they get from a salaried job. Instead, they want to create their own security on their own, and keep their own future in their own hands. In short, they want to be their own bosses, and take the responsibilities and risks which is associated with this.

2. Those people who for whatever reason, don't want to go into business for themselves, but work best when they are employed by others and share in the profits of the business. In this category you'll find the top-flight salespeople, who like to earn a commission for everything they sell, to some of the world's top executives.

3. Those who only want to be salaried employees, who work best when they are employed by others and they enjoy the security of a good salary. They are content with receiving a regular salary with the hope of the occasional raise. According to Getty, they don't have the initiative and independence, and maybe also the self-confidence, of those on the first two groups.

4. Those who work for others but who have a consistently negative attitude towards their jobs and employers. Their motivation is low. Their work could in fact even be a drain on the businesses they are working for.

I think Getty is probably right, and you probably can divide people into these general four categories…. In the small business world, everyone talks about person of type number 1. But there is nothing wrong if you fit into one of the other categories (well, except perhaps category number 4, which isn't a very flattering category).

This gets back to what Gordon Alexander is constantly saying…. What do you want? What do you enjoy?

Getty then starts to talk about what he calls the "Millionaire Mentality." Here's what he says…..

"Like it or not, there is a thing that can be called The Millionaire Mentality. There is a frame of mind which puts an individual a long way ahead on the road to success. In short, The Millionaire Mentality is one which is always and above all cost-conscious and profit-minded. It is most likely to be found among men in the first two categories I have cited."

How to be Rich by J. Paul Getty, p. 41

There's the concept, floating around in Getty's time, and still floating around today, which says "You have to think BIG to make a profit." Getty says that no other concept has been more widely misinterpreted.

YES - you must have imagination. You have to be farsighted. You must have dreams. You have to be willing (according to Getty) to spend and risk money (OR your time - I would add). BUT only when the expenditure is justified, and the risk is carefully calculated and you can see it's worth it.

About this, Getty says….

"In my opinion, it's more important for the man with The Millionaire Mentality to be able to think small than to think big - in the sense that he gives meticulous attention to even the smallest details and misses no opportunity to reduce costs in his own or his employer's business."

How to be Rich by J. Paul Getty, p. 43.

Essentially, according to Getty, you HAVE to be profit-conscious. That means doing things like keeping to a budget. You can't just spend with an open-hand on anything you fancy. That's a big mistake some people make in business (and it's something I have to watch myself)….

I once read a story about a group of people who decided to start a consulting company. The first thing they did was rent out an office in the expensive part of town. They furnished their office with the most costly furniture. They had the highest quality custom-made curtains, the most fashionable mahogany desks, the most expensive plush carpet. It was a wonderful place to work - they spent a lot of money making sure it was so. The only problem - they had no customers. They went bankrupt in just a few months.

In some ways, Getty took his penny-pinching to its extreme in his personal life, and I wouldn't recommend that. But in your business, it's good to keep an eye on costs, and be conscious of where profits can be increased, and costs reduced without affecting those profits.

So if someone asked him advice on how to make money, this is the way that Getty would reply. Now, how can you use it yourself?

"等到有一天"

【"等到有一天" 你或許沒有機會】 作者：孫越 

在今天，我們的房子越來越大，但是家庭越來越小。 生活越來越方便，但是時間卻越來越少。 ⋯⋯ 我們的學位越來越高，常識卻越來越少。 知識越來越多，判斷力卻越來越差。 我們有更多的專家，但是也有更多的問題。 醫藥越來越好，但健康越來越...少。 我們花費太多，歡笑太少。 車開得太快，火氣上來也更快。 睡得太晚，閱讀太少，電視看得太多，而且禱告太少。 我們所擁有的資產倍增，但是價值卻遞減。 我們說得太多，但是愛心太少，且謊話連篇。 我們學習如何經營生活，但沒有建造生命。 我們在生命中加增歲月，卻沒有在歲月中增長生命。 我們有越來越高的建築，但也有越來越低的 EQ。 有更寬廣的高速公路，但有更狹窄的視野。 我們花費得更多，但擁有的更少。 我們買得更多，但享受得更少。 我們可以登陸月球回來。但是卻無法拜訪對街的鄰居。 我們可以征服外太空。但是卻無法掌控內心世界。 我們可以分裂原子核，但是卻無法挪去心中的偏見。 我們更多書寫，卻更少學習。 更多計畫，卻更少成就。 我們學會忙碌，但學不會等候。 我們的收入更高了，但道德更低了。 我們生產更多電腦，掌握更多資訊， 複製更多拷貝，但我們的溝通卻更貧乏。 我們的數量提高了，品質卻降低了 這是快速食品充斥卻消化不良的時代。 高大的身軀與低劣的性格並存的時代。 更多休閒卻更少歡樂。 更多食物卻更少營養。 更多雙收入家庭，但更高的離婚率。 更多千萬豪宅，但 卻更多破碎的家庭。 

我建議，在今天這樣的世代， 你不要保留任何事情到特殊的場合才做， 因為你活著的每一天都是特殊場合。 勤加閱讀，追求知識， 坐在你家的前廊上欣賞自然美景， 無需汲汲營營於生活需要。 多花時間與家人及好友在一起， 享受喜歡的食物， 到你喜愛的地方去遊覽。 生命不只是為了存活， 而是一連串愉快事件組成的的鏈條。 將你的水晶高腳杯拿出來， 不要將妳最好的香水存起來， 任何時候你想要用的時候就用它吧。 把「有一天」「將來的某一天」 從你的字典中刪除。 現在就去寫那一封 你曾經想過要等到「有一天」才來寫的信。 讓我們現在就告訴我們的家人我們多愛他們。 不要將會帶給你歡笑及喜樂的任何事情拖延到未來。 每一天，每一小時，每一分鐘都是特別的， 而且你不知道那是否是你的最後一刻。