Book Review: Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind

Book Review: Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

There are two topics that most people don't like to talk too deeply about: sex and money. This review deals talks about the latter.

Sometimes you go looking for a book and sometimes they come to you. When I signed up for some coaching on stock investing this book was given to me as a bonus and I had it read within 3 days. I have read several books on becoming wealthy (contrary to some's opinion it is not a sin to be wealthy!) but this one was really different. As the book subtitle states ("Mastering The Inner Game Of Wealth") this book book focuses less on how to attain wealth, but the necessary psychology that those who attain wealth have that differentiates them from the average person. Eker suggests that these psychological traits can be learned (he learned them) and that they can dramatically change one's life. From a counselling perspective I would say that he helps identify cognitive errors and negative self/money talk regarding finances as well as psychological blocks to being able to attain wealth.

Eker suggests that everyone has a financial blueprint, a map of your inner beliefs about money. This blueprint is conditioned into us by verbal programming (what did you hear about money when you were young), modeling (what did you see when you were young?), and specific incidents (what did you experience when you were young?). For instance if you hear "rich people are greedy" this will definitely have a subconscious effect on how much money you make and especially how much money you are able to hold onto. To discover your financial blueprint is the first step towards healing and improving it.

Another part of the book I enjoyed was Eker's observations of 17 ways that wealthy people think differently then those who are poor or middle class. You may find that such observations may make you think that Eker is elitist or arrogant but this is not the case. He is simply identifying the belief differences. Here are the 17 ways the rich think differently.

Reading this book illuminated to me a few different thing but one of the most profound was a few of my core beliefs about wealth. I realized that deep down in my being I believed that rich people are greedy. The idea that rich people could actually be generous and good people goes against a core belief of mine. Also, I realized that a few of the key models I've had in my life have had a great fear or distrust of money and how that affects me. Looking at the 17 ways rich people think differently, I saw that I have a few beliefs I need to overcome (and positively some I already have). I plan to read this book a few more times and do the exercises it suggests to fix some of my most unhelpful financial beliefs. Another interesting things about this book was it's side discussion on how different financial blueprints can affect a marriage. This was a huge eye opener for me and will help me as I counsel couples who struggle over money issues.

This book is inspirational in tone but the stories were great to illustrate the points and the theory seemed sound. I'd recommend this book to almost anyone who is interested in understanding how their beliefs about money impact how they earn, save, invest, and spend it. You don't have to have a great desire to be rich to get alot out of this book! It goes deeper then most and I appreciated it. Some people might balk at some of the exercises Eker suggests but there is nothing I found overly unethical or unchristian. I'd rate this book 4.6 ninja stars out of 5.