Want To Become A Multi-Millionaire? Do These 20 Things Immediately.

Elon Musk“The greatest reward in becoming a millionaire is not the amount of money that you earn. It is the kind of person that you have to become to become a millionaire.” — Jim Rohn

Most people wish their circumstances would magically change for them. They don’t have the desire to become better themselves so they can proactively improve their own circumstances.

Unlike most people, who simply wait and wish for luck, you can seek to become the kind of person equipped with the skills and abilities to do brilliant things.

You can become the kind of person who does highly influential work. Your work can solve pressing problems, improve people’s lives, and get noticed by important people who share your work not for your sake, but for theirs! Sharing your work makes them look good because of how great it is.

The quality of who you are as a person, and the work you do, is completely within your control. But you can’t wish for it to happen. You must become the kind of person who naturally attracts the success you seek.

Here’s how:

1. Invest At Least 10% Of Your Income In Yourself

If you don’t pay for something, you rarely pay attention.

Most people want stuff that’s free. But if you get something for free, you rarely prize that thing. You rarely take it seriously.

How much do you invest in yourself?

How committed are you to yourself?

If you aren’t investing in yourself, then you don’t have any skin in the game of your own life.

If you aren’t invested in your business, you probably won’t do high-quality work.

If you’re not invested in your relationships, you’re probably more focused on what you can get than what you can give.

When it comes to self-improvement, investing 10% of your income on yourself will yield a 100X or more return on that investment. For every dollar you spend on your education, skills, and relationships, you’ll get at least 100 dollars back in returns.

If you want to do something extremely well, you need to surround yourself with the right mentors. Anything that you’ll ever do well will be the result of high quality mentoring. If you suck at something, it’s because you haven’t received quality mentoring in that thing.

The best mentorships are the ones where you pay your mentor. Often, the more you pay the better because you’ll take the relationship far more seriously. You won’t solely be taking in that relationship. You won’t purely be a consumer. Instead, you’ll be invested, and as such, you’ll listen more carefully. You’ll care more. You’ll be more thoughtful and engaged. There will be higher consequences for not succeeding.

I invested $3,000 to get help writing my first book proposal from a highly successful writer. That $3,000 got me maybe 4 or 5 hours of his time. But in those 4 or 5 hours, he taught me what I needed to know to create an amazing book proposal. He provided me with resources that dramatically enhanced and sped up my process. With his help, I was able to get a literary agent and eventually a multi-six-figure book contract.

Had I been overly concerned about the $3,000, I’m confident that to this day, I’d still not have written a book proposal. At the very most, I’d have written a terrible one. I would not have been as motivated or invested, so I would have been far more likely to procrastinate needed action.

If you don’t have much money, surely you can afford to buy a book. How much money and time do you spend on entertainment, clothes, or food? It’s a matter of priority.

It’s only when you invest in something that you have the motivation to make it happen.

Beyond mentorships, you should invest in education programs such as online courses, books, quality products such as food and sleep.

Your level of success can generally be directly measured by your level of investment. If you’re not getting the results you want, it’s because you haven’t invested enough to get those results.

Your number 1 investment must be yourself.

Who you determine:

the quality of marriage you’ll havethe quality of parent you becomethe quality of work you producethe level of happiness you have

Here’s what you’ll find when you financially invest yourself in something. You become very committed to that thing. Economists call this sunk cost bias. But you can leverage this to your benefit. If you want to escalate your personal commitment to something, invest heavily in that thing.

Eventually, it will become a point of no return.

You’ll become so fiercely committed that withdrawing will seem ridiculous.

Hence, you’ll need to truly know WHAT you want and WHY. If you don’t know these things, then over-committing could be a huge and irrational problem.

However, if you are certain about WHO you are/want to be, WHAT you want, and WHY, then you need to invest yourself.

2. Invest At Least 80% Of Your “Off” Time Into Learning

Most people are consumers rather than creators.

They are at work to get their paycheck, not to make a difference.

When left to their own devices, most people consume their time as well. It is only by investing your time that you get a return on that time.

Nearly every second spent on social media is consumed time. You can’t have that time back. Rather than making your future better, it actually made your future worse. Just like eating bad food, every consumed moment leaves you worse off. Every invested moment leaves you better off.

Entertainment is all well and good. But only when that entertainment is an investment in your relationships or yourself. You’ll know if it was an investment if that entertainment continues to yield returns over and over in your future. That may include positive memories, transformational learning, or deepened relationships.

Even still, life isn’t purely about being entertained. Education and learning is also key. And although both are essential, education will provide far greater returns in your future.

The world’s most successful people are intense learners. They are hard readers. They know that what they know determines how well they see the world. They know that what they know determines the quality of the relationships they can have and the quality of work they can do.

If you are constantly consuming junk media, how can you possibly expect to create high-value work? Your input directly translates to your output. Garbage in, garbage out.

3. Invest At Least 10% Of Your Income Into Vehicles That Will Generate More Money

Do you have unnecessary debt?

Do you know how many dollars you spend each month?

Do you know how many dollars you make each month?

Are you making as much money as you’d like to be?

What’s holding you back from creating more value in other people’s lives?

Most people don’t track their expenses. But if they did, they’d be shocked how much money they waste on stuff like eating out.

I wasn’t able to become financially successful until I made finances a priority in my life. If something isn’t happening in your life, it’s because you haven’t made it a priority.

So how do you make finances a priority?

You set extremely clear and high financial goalsYou have powerful reasons (“WHY”) for achieving those goalsYou begin studying how to become financially successful (reading books, getting mentors, learning from other people’s mistakes)You learn how to sell something (as Joe Polish says, being “good” and “getting paid” are not correlated) — you need to learn how to sell and market or you’ll always be a starving artist or working for someone elseYou need to start investing money in 1) yourself and your own personal/professional development, 2) your future via retirement or some other investment tools, and 3) your key relationships — if you’re not investing in your relationships, then they probably aren’t getting better

If you can start to get yourself organized, you can begin making lots of money. You can make many thousands of dollars passively on a monthly basis.

Very few people create true wealth.

Even those who have high incomes are not truly wealthy. Most people’s lifestyles match their incomes. When they make more, they consume more. In fact, most people make money solely to consume.

Very few people make money to invest that money.

It’s best to think of your business as only 1/2 of your income equation. You have your business which brings income. Then, you have your investment entity to turn your income into even more money.

Like anything, how well you manage your money is determined by how well mentored you are. If you want to become brilliant with money, invest in education and mentoring.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The best time to start investing was also in the past. If you haven’t started yet, don’t sit and wallow in regret. Tomorrow doesn’t exist for people who don’t do something today.

Start today. Get yourself educated. Create a vehicle, or several vehicles, where you put at least 10% of your income. Eventually, your investment vehicle may even start producing more profits for you than your actual business.

Compound interest is a real thing. If you put 10% of your income into your investments over a long enough period of time, you’ll be set. Unlike the majority of high earners out there, you’ll be able to STOP WORKING whenever you want, because your money is making more than enough money for you to comfortably live with.

4. Don’t Work For Money, Work To Learn

“When you are young, work to learn, not to earn.” — Robert Kiyosaki

Just as a large majority of your downtime should be spent learning, so should a great deal of your “working” time.

Wealthy and happy people work to learn. Unsuccessful and unhappy people work primarily for money.

Only 20% of your energy should be spent doing your actual work. The rest should be spent learning, improving yourself, and resting.

It is by “sharpening your saw” that you’ll continue to become a better and more capable person. Thus, as you dedicate large portions of time becoming a better thinker, communicator, and better at your craft, the quality of your work will continue to increase. Eventually, you’ll be able to charge VERY VERY high fees for your work, because no one else can do it like you.

When you prioritize learning and recovery, then during the hours you are actually working, you’ll be in a deep flow state. You won’t be distracted like most people are when they work. You’re either 100% on or 100% off. While working, you can get more done in a few hours than most people get done in a number of days.

Your time is spent well because your priorities are clear, you’re well-rested, and your mind is stimulated.

5. Don’t Learn For Entertainment, Learn To Create More Value

“The key secret to success is not excessive expertise, but the ability to use it. Knowledge is worthless unless it is applied.” —  Max Lukominskyi

In our media and information age, there are a million things you could learn. But if you don’t put that learning into immediate practice, it becomes shallow information.

Information and knowledge are two very different things.

Knowledge and wisdom are also two very different things.

It takes wisdom to determine what you should learn, why you should learn it, and when you should learn it.

Unless you’re invested, you probably won’t learn with the intensity needed to maximize that knowledge.

Unless you understand the value of your time, you probably won’t have the discernment to ignore almost everything while learning that which will bring the highest return.

When you learn something, you should get a return on that learning. Far too many people read books now just to say they’ve read lots of books. If you’re not applying what you’re learning, your consuming and wasting your time.

6. Learn In Public (Even when you’re scared)

“I’m not talking about rehearsal. I’m talking about doing what musicians and boxers and lion tamers all do in order to get ready for their work. To become awesome at their crafts. They practice in public.”— Jeff Goins

“Obviously, there is a huge difference between abstract, theoretical knowledge and knowledge developed and tested in the crucible of experience”— Lorin K. Hansen

If you want to learn something fast, learn in public.

Learn through raw experience.

Learn through failure.

But put yourself in a position where you’re getting actual coaching. Surround yourself with a support system of people who love HELPING YOU and INVESTING in you.

You do this by both being a giver, and also, by being a good receiver.

When people help and teach you, be an incredible student.

When you take what people teach and get incredible results, people want to help you more. Your results become a reflection of THEM.

It takes courage to learn in public.

It takes courage to practice in public.

Most people won’t do it.

But if you do, your courage will be rewarded 10X. Because you’ll both learn 10X faster, and you’ll also garner huge respect.

7. Decide What Kind Of Life You Want, Then Figure Out How To Get It (When the ‘why’ is clear, you’ll figure out ‘how’)

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”— Oscar Wilde

Very few people live within their means.

Most people, particularly in Western Culture, have bought heavily into consumerism. They live paycheck-to-paycheck.

For most people, the notion of “living within your means” is the best advice that could be given.

And indeed, living within your means should be the foundation of a healthy financial life.

But that’s where most financial advice stops.

Rather than basing your lifestyle on what you’re currently making, a far more powerful and creation-based approach is to proactively decide what you want, and then figure out how to get it.

When you’re a giver, it’s not about HAVING more solely for the sake of it. Although having more is certainly not a sin.

The problem is becoming absorbed in stuff, trying to keep up, etc.

In an interview at the annual Genius Network Event in 2013, Tim Ferriss was asked, “With all of your various roles, do you ever get stressed out? Do you ever feel like you’ve taken on too much?”

Ferriss responded:

“Of course I get stressed out. If anyone says they don’t get stressed out they’re lying. But one thing that mitigates that is taking time each morning to declare and focus on the fact that ‘I have enough.’ I have enough. I don’t need to worry about responding to every email each day. If they get mad that’s their problem.”

Ferriss was later asked during the same interview:

“After having read The 4-Hour Workweek, I got the impression that Tim Ferriss doesn’t care about money. You talked about how you travel the world without spending any money. Talk about the balance and ability to let go of caring about making money.”

Ferriss responded:

“It’s totally okay to have lots of nice things. If it is addiction to wealth, like inFight Club, “The things you own end up owning you,” and it becomes a surrogate for things like long-term health and happiness — connection — then it becomes a disease state. But if you can have nice things, and not fear having them taken away, then it’s a good thing. Because money is a really valuable tool.”

Money is a tool. The more you make, the more good you can do.

Rather than fitting your dreams into your current lifestyle, fit your lifestyle around your dreams.

Decide what you want. Create a bold vision for your life. Decide how you want to contribute, how you want to live. THEN, figure out the means of making that happen.

When your WHY is clear and powerful, you’ll figure out the means to make it happen. That’s how faith as a principle of power works.

8. Know and Operate From Your Deepest “Why”

What is your WHY for what you’re doing or pursuing?

How could you possibly know your why?

More importantly, how could you know your REAL WHY?

It’s actually quite simple.

But it takes some radical honestly.

There’s an exercise I’ll walk you through to get to your WHY. And more importantly, once you know your deepest WHY for what you’re doing, you should operate FROM THAT STATE, not from your lower and base-level reasons.

When trying to understand why you do something, it’s better to ask “What” questions then “Why” questions, because “Why” questions tend to put people on the defensive.

Here’s a solid question you could ask yourself to understand your WHY.

What about ______________ is important to you?

Let’s say you want to start a business, or get a new cell phone, or go to the gym…

It could be big or small.

But put that thing in there.

What about “going to the gym” is important to you?

Then, you just write the first thing that comes to your mind: because I like feeling good.

Then you take your answer, and put it in the same question: What about ______________ is important to you?

So, given the previous answer: What about “feeling good” is important to you?

A simple way to structure this exercise is shown in the images just below.

So, you want to try to go 7-layers deep. Once you get to layers 5, 6, and 7, you’re going to have to be really honest with yourself.

Usually, you can answer layers 1–4 with your head. However, if you’re being really honest with yourself, and I mean REALLY HONEST, you’ll need to come from your heart to answer layers 5–7.

It’s at the deepest levels that you’ll discover your TRUE WHY for what you’re doing. Even if that something is as simple as getting a new cell phone or going to the gym.

But you want to remind yourself of your DEEPEST WHY when you’re doing something. And you want to operate from THAT LEVEL, because at your deepest level, you’ll be operating from your heart, not your head. Thus, your performance will be much deeper, more authentic, and powerful.

The stakes will be higher.

Suddenly, you’re not just going to the gym to “feel good,” but because you have a higher calling to perform and need to be as healthy as possible to make it happen (or whatever your deepest WHY is).

Your DEEPEST why will almost always expose something very personal about you, and about your fundamental beliefs about life.

You want to be aware of these things, and how/why they drive you to do what you’re doing.

If you truly go through this exercise in a genuine way, you should get some mental and emotional breakthroughs.

You should discover something about yourself, and why you are the way you are, and why you’re pursuing the specific things you are.

Know your why.

Then act from the DEEPEST and most powerful WHY you have.

You’ll be far more brilliant at what you do.

9. Have A Firm Stand, It Becomes Your Brand

In order to be successful, you must believe in something.

You must have a stand.

All successful people and brands have a clear WHY. As Simon Sinek explains in his book, Start With Why, people don’t buy what you sell, they buy why you sell it.

Apple is a great example. In all of their marketing, they don’t explain the technicalities of their products, they define and share their core values. They believe technology should be both easy to use and cool.

If you want to be compelling and interesting, you must truly believe in something. You must have a clear stand. That stand becomes your brand. It becomes your trademark. It becomes how you distinguish yourself from others.

When you have a clear stand and brand, you stand out. You are no longer neutral. You believe in something and are fighting to make a specific change.

As a result, people will either love you or hate you. That’s what you want. Lukewarm means you have nothing to say. Lukewarm means you’re trying to appeal to everyone.

The riches are in the niches. Your niche is your audience. They are a small group of people who agree with the stand you’re trying to make. They are your evangelists.

If you try to appeal to everyone, your message, marketing, and products will be terrible. You won’t be clear on your why, and neither will anyone else. Thus, you’ll be average like everyone else and your work won’t stand out.

Only people with firm stands get really really good at marketing. They care enough about their message to get it out there. They realize that the HOW is just as important as the WHAT and WHY.

10. Set 10X Goals and Face Your Fears

Look at your current goals.

Why is that your metric for “success”?

Why is that your target?

What would happen if, in all seriousness, you 10X’d that target?

What if rather than earning $3,000/month, you pursued $30,000/month?

Is that even possible?

Of course, it’s possible. There are several people doing it.

The only difference between them and you is their education, relationships, and strategy.

When you set a 10X goal, you’re required to think very differently about your daily behaviors. You’re required to be more serious in all aspects of your life. You’re required to eliminate limiting thinking and consumptive distractions.

Setting a 10X goal will be one of the best things you’ve ever done for yourself. This goal should be created while you are in a peak state. You get into a peak state by doing something powerful, whether that be exercising, learning, or being in a unique environment, such as a foreign country. You can even get into a peak state by being around certain types of people, the ones who inspire you to be the best version of yourself.

Only you know what gets you into a peak and passionate state. So, do whatever it is that gets you there, and then write down your goals. Declare what you’re going to do. Then write that goal down and visualize it’s achievement every single day until it becomes your reality.

When you think about this goal, don’t deviate from the natural flow of ideas that follow.

You can’t 10X your results by engaging in the same thinking and behaviors you’re currently performing. Consequently, while thinking about your goal, you’ll also get ideas about what you need to do, realistically, to achieve that goal.

Chances are, you don’t know what you don’t know. So you’ll need to start really educating yourself about how you could conceivably achieve your goal. You’ll need to get bolder about the work you’re doing. You’ll need to create more, and fail more. Over and over, in fact. Quantity is often the fastest path to quality.

Not only that, but when you think about your 10X goal, you’ll probably have ideas that scare you. When you do work that scares you, you cross a boundary that most people never cross. Scary work is often highly profitable and valuable work.

Courage is always required to get from where you currently are to where you want to be. As Mastin Kipp has said, “Unless you’re in mortal danger, fear is a compass showing you where to go.”

11. Be a GIVER, Not A Matcher Or A Taker (“Life gives to the givers and takes from the takers .” — Joe Polish)

“Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon.”— Adam Grant

Many people are TAKERS, especially those who desperately want success.

They engage in relationships solely for what they can get out of those relationships. Put bluntly, these people are TRANSACTIONAL.

Everything in their life is a transaction or an exchange.

Takers operate out of SCARCITY.

They don’t TRULY give. Their giving only goes to a certain point. Moreover, they are only grateful when they get what they want. They undervalue what others give.

If the relationship isn’t giving them what they want, there is no appreciation. The relationship ends.

12. Serve & Give As Much As You Can (Not to boast or put others down, but to have a clear conscious)

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”— Winston S. Churchill

“Give, but give until it hurts.”— Mother Teresa

There are two reasons to be a giver (all other reasons stem from these):

Because you genuinely want to help other peopleTo have a clear conscious

You don’t give to boast.

You don’t give to put others in debt to you.

You don’t give to get ahead.

You don’t give to make others feel inferior.

You give because you MUST. You can’t not give. You give of yourself, and organize your life to give so you can have a clear conscious about how you’re living your life.

You give because you understand the law of abundance.

You give because you believe in humanity.

When you have a clear conscious, you operate better in all areas of life. You sleep better and deeper. You’re more present in all situations. You digest food better. You’re more present to the needs of others. You learn faster. You’re more guided and inspired in your course of life. You’re more discerning about decisions and relationships.

13. Give 10X The Value Of What You Say You Will (Blow people’s minds)

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”— Warren Buffett

“The moment you make a mistake in pricing, you’re eating into your reputation or your profits.”— Katharine Paine

How do you get to passive income?

How do you create a sustainable and incredible business?

You GIVE WAY MORE than people pay for. You focus on value, not price.

When you focus on value, you can actually charge very large sums of money, because you know people will get at least 10X the value of what they paid for.

When you’re a giver, you MUST give more value than people pay. You do it because you find joy in doing your very best work. You do it because you value the fact that people came to you.

It’s really not about price.

People care about value.

Take this quote by musician, Fergie, for example:

“For me, it’s not about price. It’s about necessity, quality, and usefulness. Like, I have my Wet N Wild 666 lip liner. It’s 99 cents and always has been. I started using it when I was in high school, and it’s great.”

If you can blow people’s mind’s for less than $50, it won’t be hard to get them to pay you more. You have to earn people’s trust.

You have to genuinely create stuff that HELPS them.

What if you didn’t make a penny until people got the results you promised them?

How would that change your work?

How would that change the quality you put in?

That should be your benchmark. And then you should help them EVEN more.

14. Give Away Most Of Your Work For Free

“With the price of life these days, you’ve got to get everything for free you can.”— Carl Rogers

We live in what some have called the “Thank You” Economy.

Here’s how the THANK YOU economy works:

People are getting more used to having everything at their fingertipsPeople are getting used to having their needs met quickly, and cheapInterestingly, people are also lowering their standards for the quality of services they are getting (and information they are consuming), because so much stuff is now available for free

If you want to build an enormous clientele, you also need to give away LOTS for free. But your free stuff should be so valuable that it makes people want to come back for more. And even after people have become paying customers, you should give them lots for free.

You build trust and community through SERVING PEOPLE.

Transformational relationships begin with giving, not a transaction. Do transformational relationships involve transactions? Absolutely! Usually far bigger ones than transactional relationships.

But those transactions are done for an entirely different purpose.

They’re done as a win-win. Not as a win-lose.

These transactions usually occur after one or both parties have been abundant benefactors. Why else would someone invest?

15. Make More Stuff (But only really good stuff)

Ship often. Ship lousy stuff, but ship. Ship constantly.

Skip meetings. Often. Skip them with impunity. Ship.

Trick the lizard if you must, but declare war on it regardless. Understand that the only thing between you and the success you seek in a chaotic world is a lizard that figures out that safe is risky and risky is safe. The paradox of our time is that the instincts that kept us safe in the day of the saber tooth tiger and General Motors are precisely the instincts that will turn us into road kill in a faster than fast internet-fueled era.

The resistance is waiting. Fight it. Ship.— Seth Godin

Your behavior is what alters your identity.

Most people raised in Western Culture have this idea exactly backward. We’ve obsessed ourselves so much with the mind that it’s become everything.

We think the mind is the cause of everything. It’s not.

Mountains of research in Social Psychology portray that self-perception is the product of choices and environments.

This is VERY good news.

It means you can change your identity by simply changing your behavior and environment.

If you want more creativity, you simply need to do more creative work. You battle the resistance and get to work. Then, creativity becomes non-stop.

If you want to be a morning person, start getting up early. Before you know it, you’ll identify as a morning person (both to yourself and other people).

Make more stuff and your creativity will increase.

Give more love and your ability to love and receive love will increase.

Be more successful and you’ll become more successful (lol!).

16. Only Engage In Transformational Relationships (Because all transactional ones will end soon anyway)

“I take pleasure in my transformations. I look quiet and consistent, but few know how many women there are in me.”— Anaïs Nin

When two givers come together, transformation can occur — where the new WHOLE becomes infinitely more than the sum of its parts.

When a giver attempts to work with a taker, that relationship will only last until the taker has what they want. Or, until the giver realizes what is truly happening.

According to research from Wharton professor, Adam Grant, givers are both the least and most successful types of people. Some people give to a fault. They give everything they’ve got and, most importantly, they give to the WRONG TYPES OF PEOPLE.

When you give to takers, the pie gets smaller and eventually becomes exhausted.

When you give to givers, the pie continually gets bigger and bigger.

Thus, being a giver isn’t enough. You need to give to the right people if you want your success and relationships to last. Who you surround yourself with, and who you work with, really matters.

I’ve engaged in many business relationships over the past few years — some with givers and some with takers.

Takers are very hard to spot in the beginning, because they are very manipulative and cunning.

Strategic Coach founder, Dan Sullivan, says he can spot a taker within 10 minutes of being with them. Takers are motivated by greed, not growth. You have to be really intuitive to spot the subtle cues.

I’ve decided that, to the extent I can, I’m no longer going to engage in long-term relationships with takers. I’m done with transactional relationships. I prefer relationships that lead to growth and transformation.

In order for these types of relationships to exist, you must be willing to face brutal truths. Transformational relationships are messy. If you trust someone, you’ll be willing to engage in ideological conflict with that person. That conflict is NOT about the person, but rather, about moving past breakthrough and toward clarity.

Conflict is rough.

Most people quit relationships when conflict arises.

You’ll know someone is a giver when they genuinely help you without asking for anything in return. And they are truly, genuinely, happy for the success they help you have.

Those are the types of people you want to work with.

Givers also stay with you when you’re at a low point. They stick with you through conflicts and challenges.

17. Don’t Overvalue What You Contribute To Your Relationships While Undervaluing What Others Contribute (This is what basically everyone does)

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience, a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.”— Carl G. Jung

Think about your relationships.

In most of those relationships, do you OVERVALUE or UNDERVALUE what you contribute?

Moreover, do you OVERVALUE or UNDERVALUE what others in the relationship contribute?

Usually, people overvalue what they contribute and undervalue what others contribute.

If you’re a giver, you value and appreciate what others contribute. You’re genuinely grateful. You don’t take others for granted.

You don’t KEEP SCORE in your relationships.

18. Create Win-Win Strategic Partnerships To Achieve 10X or 100X Goals

“All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition.” — Peter Thiel

Most people are in a state of competition rather than collaboration.

Collaboration is a much higher level than the competition.

Competition is focused on the self. It’s also very low-level thinking because what you can do on your own is very limited.

People who are competing are grinding. They’re more focused on winning than creating real solutions.

However, when your thinking becomes expanded, you realize you could do so much more with other people. Collaboration creates unique connections working by yourself never could.

You have skills and knowledge that are awesome in your field. There are other people in different fields who have skills and knowledge completely outside of your current awareness. These people also have assets you don’t have.

If you want to get 10X or 100X the results of other people in your field, you need to develop strategic “win-win” partnerships. This generally happens when you devise a plan where your skill sets and assets merge with the skill sets and assets of someone else.

What you can do well, someone else may struggle with. What you struggle with, others can do extremely well.

Who can you partner with that could speed your process?

Who has assets and resources you don’t?

How could you help these people?

What types of partnerships could you develop, that would allow you to more quickly achieve your goals and help them more quickly achieve theirs?

When you collaborate with other people, 1+1=more than 2. The whole becomes DIFFERENT from the sum of it’s parts.

This is how TRANSFORMATION occurs. Only those who engage in collaboration actually experience true transformation. People who only work well by themselves are stuck in their own narrow worldview and agendas.

When you merge with others, your ideas and goals change. They become bigger and better. They become DIFFERENT from what you could ever create on your own.

The only way to have these types of partnerships is to think long-term. You must be invested and have skin in the game. It can’t be transactional. It’s can’t be this for that. It must be about something a lot deeper. When it is, you’ll have far more integrity in the work you do. You’ll express greater appreciation. You’ll consistently do the right thing, even if that right thing is difficult and uncomfortable.

Don’t seek transactional relationships. Only seek long-term TRANSFORMATIONAL relationships.

19. Get Really Really Good At Marketing

According to Joe Polish, there is no correlation between being “good” and “getting paid.” There are lots of starving artists out there who will never learn marketing or business.

Similarly, there are lots of people out there who are employees who want to be entrepreneurs — but never will make the leap. The reason is that they don’t learn how to market what they’re doing.

Marketing is nothing more than applied psychology — it’s storytelling.

It’s about connecting with people, persuading them, and helping them.

Many people think marketing is a nasty or immoral thing.

Many “artists” don’t learn marketing because they don’t want to “sell out.”They want their work to be pure.

Academics are not better. Their work is not accessible to the common man.

Marketing is nothing more than making your work easier and better to find and use.

People aren’t magically going to appear and buy your stuff.

People aren’t going to magically appear and read your stuff.

Even right now: How did you land on this page? Look at the title of this article. I could have just as easily called it, “Advice for becoming successful.”

But would you have clicked on that article?

Probably not.

But you clicked on this one.

Why did you click on this one?

How did you get this far down?

Think about the experience.

Marketing is the “HOW” to whatever it is you do.

The reason most people aren’t successful is that they either fear or avoid marketing. For the same reason, most people are bad teachers. They’re more focused on content than the delivery and design of that content.

But the delivery — the HOW — is just as important IF NOT MORE IMPORTANT than WHAT you’re doing or WHY you’re doing it.

You could have the cure for cancer. But if you don’t market it well, you’ll never get your cure out there.

You could have the world’s most important message, or greatest story, but no one will see it if you don’t promote and package it intelligently.

20. Don’t Focus On Time And Effort, Focus On Results Instead

Founder of the exclusive entrepreneurial coaching platform, Strategic Coach, Dan Sullivan distinguishes between those who are in the “Time-and-Effort Economy” with those who are in the “Results Economy.”

If you’re in the time and effort economy, you are focused on being busy. You actually believe the amount of time and energy you put into something merits praise. Conversely, when you are in the results economy, you are only focused on achieving a specific result.

The bottom line is what matters, and thus, it becomes very important to find the most effective way to get there. This is a key difference between entrepreneurs and employees. As Sullivan says:

Entrepreneurs have crossed “the risk line” from the “Time-and-Effort Economy” to the “Results Economy.” For them, there’s no guaranteed income, no one writing them a paycheck every two weeks. They live by their ability to generate opportunity by creating value for their clientele. Sometimes, they — and you — will put in a lot of time and effort and get no result. Other times, they don’t put in much time and effort and get a big result. The focus for entrepreneurs always has to be on results or there’s no revenue coming in. If you work for an entrepreneur, guess what! This is true for you, too. Though you probably have a guaranteed income, it’s important to understand that the business you work in exists inside The Results Economy, even if you’re sheltered somewhat from seeing that. I say this not to make you feel insecure, but to show you how to succeed in this environment: by maximizing your results while minimizing the time and effort it takes to get them.

Most people don’t think in terms of results because their security is in a paycheck. However, when you shift your focus from how little you can do to how much you can do, you change how you work.

You start learning ways to accomplish more faster. You take on greater responsibility. You change your environment. And you also realize just how important sleep and rest are to achieving the highest possible results. Hence, you begin to take more and more time off and rest.

When you dedicate 80 percent of your energy to rest and self-improvement, then you have a lot of fodder and a very sharp saw to use during the time you’re actually working.

You’re thinking 10X bigger than everyone else. You’re operating under short timelines and high pressure. You can tax yourself to extremes while you work because you spend lots and lots of time resting and preparing.

Conclusion

Are you doing these 20 things?

How aggressively are you doing them?

Do you want to become a multi-millionaire?

Are you ready to think and act bigger?

You’ve got this.

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Want To Become A Multi-Millionaire? Do These 20 Things Immediately. was originally published in Thrive Global on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.