Seven Years to Seven Figures: The Fast-Track Plan to Becoming a Millionaire

Chapter 12. LESSONS FROM LIFE: WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT BUILDING WEALTH QUICKLY

In answering the challenge of this book's title—how to acquire a seven-figure net worth in seven years or less—I made sure to follow a few rules:

• I would start with a blank slate.

• I would be critical of the premise.

• I would stick to what I know to be true.

• I would "show" rather than "tell."

And, finally, I would admit my shortcomings.

These rules weren't created randomly. They were suggested by what I learned from writing my three previous books on success:Auto-matic Wealth, Power & Persuasion, and Automatic Wealth for Grads . . . and Anyone Else Just Starting Out.

In my enthusiasm to tell people what I know, I can be too self-assured and too critical and dismissive of contrary ideas. I so strongly believe in my way of doing things (particularly when it comes to wealth building) that I have sometimes pooh-poohed other strategies without giving them a fair shake.

When I agreed to write this book, I promised myself that I wouldn't do that. I began by erasing from the blackboard of my mind any pre-existing notations about "good" and "bad" ways to get rich.

STARTING WITH A TABULA RASA

"Maybe you can get rich quickly by trading stocks," I told myself. "And maybe options and commodities and currencies can work, too. Maybe you can even acquire a seven-figure net worth in seven years by tapping into the power of positive thinking."

So I wiped away the cynicism I had for those wealth gurus whose ideas about getting rich ...