The Myth: Millionaires Have to Be Fearless
Though it may seem like the only way to become a millionaire is to forge full-steam ahead and assume a lot of risk, fears are totally normal — even for the ultra-successful. Fifty-seven percent of the millionaires I surveyed said they were scared before starting their own business — scared of failure, disappointing their spouses or their families, scared of losing everything.
Anita Crook, founder of Pouchee, a purse organizer showcased on “The Today Show,” Fox Business and other media, started her company without any prior business experience. “Anybody who knows me knows I am not a salesperson,” Crook says. “I was scared to death to go into my first store to try to sell them something, especially something I had produced. I don’t take rejection well, so I was really afraid I was going to run out of the store crying if they had not liked it.” But Crook knew she had to try — it was the only way to sell her product. Once she heard “yes” from a few stores, she built the confidence to keep moving forward.
Success requires some risk, but wise millionaires don’t want to take uncalculated gambles. Millionaires have learned how to examine an opportunity and analyze the risk. They will even do small tests beforehand to see if an idea will work before going all in. They prefer to know as much information as they can ahead of time so they don’t make a bad investment.
Most millionaires find a happy medium between optimism and pessimism; they figure out how to examine opportunities realistically. They acknowledge amazing potential, but work tirelessly to learn and predict beforehand to make sure their investments pay off.
The Myth: They Earn Million-Dollar Paychecks
It’s true that many millionaires have earned their money by starting (or selling) their own businesses or finding high-paying positions within organizations. But this certainly isn’t the only way to amass $1 million. In his book “Millionaire Teacher,” Andrew Hallam explains how he saved over $1 million as a teacher well before retirement age, outlining how he used low-cost index funds and a disciplined approach to saving, investing and living on a budget to build a nest egg most of his fellow teachers would envy.
In addition to investing in the stock market, like Hallam, other millionaires boost their bottom lines by adding second jobs or passive streams of income. For instance, investing in real estate can allow a middle-income wage-earner to develop rental income as a second, reliable income stream. Artists who pay the bills and invest with the income earned through a day job might sell paintings for hundreds or thousands of dollars on the side and bank the extra income. Those who don’t earn million-dollar paychecks can still reach the $1 million mark; it just requires discipline, creativity and focus on the goal.
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