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Intro The three wealthiest Americans, Bezos, Gates,

and Buffett are as wealthy as the bottom 50 percent of the US population combined, that's

over 160 million people.

Those are some fascinating numbers.

In fact, 2017 was one of the best years for billionaires because someone was joining the

club ever two days.

You too probably have some substantial financial goals, to be honest, most of us will never

join that secretive club of billionaires.

There are over 7 billion of us, and only a small minority of 2300 people are at that

level of wealth.

But the good news is that you can still become pretty wealthy even if you do not check the

billion-dollar benchmark, because let's be honest, you don't need that much money to

enjoy all the pleasers the world has to offer.

There are a gazillion number of ways to become a millionaire.

You don't have to be smart, extraordinary, or start up a revolutionary company.

In fact, you don't have to wait even till you get old to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

It's just a matter of few or maybe little more years of consistent, focused work!

I am not saying it's easy or anything like that.

Otherwise, everyone would be one, but its more about taking that extra mile that most

people avoid.

No matter what path you decide to take to achieve that million-dollar benchmark, There

are some fundamental principles you have to follow.

Without the skills we will discuss in this video, you are never going to make it unless

someone would just hand you a million dollars.

Most people have a bunch of habits and understandings that are preventing them from taking that

extra step.

But perhaps what's more important is that even if you don't know where to start, which

is probably your biggest problem.

Following these principles and the lessons will at least give you an idea, to begin with.

1.

Take off your pink glasses  Even though its important to be positive all

the time, the world is a harsh place.

Especially the business world, it's nowhere close to sunshine and rainbows.

Its a place filled with greed and brutality.

There are often times when you have to be Machiavellian to survive in that environment.

And that's not only in business, but the same also goes to politics, for example, and every

other aspect of life where there is competition.

Humans can be deceiving, and if you are not careful, you can easily be thrown under the

bus.

On the other side, it also means being able to embrace reality.

You have to learn to see your stupidity, your limitations.

A lot of people pursue something, thinking that they are great at that while, in reality,

they're not as good as they think.

And even if you end up making it, that's not going to last forever, one day, you brilliant

strategy will no longer be relevant, so keeping your eye sharp all the time is part of the

process.

2.

You are thinking short term

Around a year ago, I met a girl at a party; she began telling me that she wants to become

an Instagram model.

So I asked her: what's your plan?

She responded that she wants to gain 100k followers within the next six months.

I had to disappoint her because that's too ambitious, I don't have a problem with ambitious

goals but its critical that they are realistic.

So I naturally told her that she has to lower her expectations and focus on convincing 10K

people to follow within the next year.

She began to complain that she cannot wait till next year, that's too long and so on.

While writing this script, I checked her Instagram, and it seems like she didn't even get 500

new follows since we had that conversation.

There is a process of building anything, wealth, business, a movement, whatever!

And you have to respect that process!

Building the foundation for your wealth or career or mastering your craft is going to

take a significant amount of time.

3.

Do not forget the end game.

Here is the biggest reason why most people don't make it.

No matter who you are, what you are, this is the final destination (death) ! and most

people tend to forget that or at least pretend like its never going to happen!

it is not a forever game,  Every day, you are anxious, depressed, lazy,

whatever is a day wasted!

I like they way steve jobs put it - Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important

tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment

or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly

important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking

you have something to lose.

You are already naked.

There is no reason not to follow your heart.

4.

You are not doing your best.

Ninety-nine percent of people are not doing their best.

You literally have no idea of what a human spirit is capable of.

Regardless of who you are, you have the potential for greatness.

It doesn't matter what your financial goals are, as a human being, you have plenty of

potentials, and your job is only to realize them.

Most people overestimate what they can achieve in 1 year and underestimate what they can

achieve in 10 years.

It might seem like there is no way you can take that extra mile, but that's not the case,

deep inside you have power and will to do that, it's all in your mind.

When you are doing pull-ups, for example, after doing 10 or 15, you get tired, and you

just want to give up.

But we both know that you can make one more at least, its there in your mind, if you push

a little harder, you can do even two or even 5 more.

Yes, at some point, you will collapse and won't go further, but It's all about pushing

yourself to your maximum.

Imagine pushing beyond your limits everyday, you will easily make 100 pull-ups at once

in a matter of a month or maybe a little longer, which in the beginning seems impossible.

That's the case with everything else in life.

5.

Problems aren't always bad.

This might sound naive and vague.

Even when I came across it, I didn't take it seriously, but to be honest, life is full

of obstacles.

Every day a ton of things happen that push you back, anger you, frustrate you.

There is every reason to quit and never pursue anything.

But life has taught me that, no matter how big the problem is, almost every time, it's

possible to turn it into an advantage, into something that will empower, into an opportunity.

An average millionaire in the US at least goes bankrupt at least 3.5 times before making

that big leap, which says a lot.

Chances that will make it from the first time are so low that you shouldn't even think about

it.

Failure is an unavoidable part of it, and learning how to turn them into something positive

is crucial.

And I am not only talking about business.

There will be obstacles in your personal life or even health . Unless you learn to turn

every setback into something positive, you not going to go far.

Of course, it is not always going to work, and sometimes when you get hit with a brick,

you are going to fall, but even then, you should learn the lessons and keep a positive

mind and keep moving.

Contrary to common belief, many millionaires do not live in mansions or highly prestigious

neighborhoods.

In fact, half of all millionaires are self-employed or own a business.

But to achieve that you certainly have to learn how to self educate yourself.

And that's where The Great Courses Plus comes into the picture, to be fair, unlike other

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Their courses are taught by top professors from the Ivy League

and other exceptional universities.

And with a vast library of over 11,000 video lectures about anything that interests

you...science, math, history, literature, you name it!

you will definitely find what will interest you.

Let's say you are inspired by Warren Buffet, and you want to reach that million-dollar

benchmark through the stock market.

This course on the stock market by The Great courses Plus will teach you everything you

need to know from understanding the market in general to learning how to value and analyze

companies.

If you are interested in space and the universe for example, here is a course by none other

than Neil deGrasse Tyson.

I don't think he needs an introduction.

I recently started watching this course, and I definitely recommend you too.

You can try the great courses Plus with a free trial that they are offering you.

Click on the link in the description to get your free trial today or go to thegreatcoursesplus.com/proactivethinker.

In anyways, make sure you give this video a big thumbs up if you have enjoyed, And of

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Thanks for watching and until next time.