Book Review: The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley

The Basics

• Category: Personal Development
• Originally Published: 2000
• Pages: 393

Book Summary / What This Book Is About

This book is mainly about what the typical millionaire looks like, what they believe, and how they approach their life, their vocation, their education, and their finances. It dispels the myths about what people believe makes someone a millionaire and how a typical millionaire lives.

Spoiler: it’s not all glitz and glam. The Millionaire Mind shows that most millionaires are practical, low-key, church-going family people that take calculated risks, usually go into business for themselves, and live below their means.

Interesting to probably no one but myself: (which is fine because there will probably only be three readers of this blog: myself, my wife Candace and my mom (not complaining, just describing)): this was the only book on my list that was a second reading. I first read this book in 2007 just as I was entering my first phase of regular reading from 2006-2010. What prompted me to read this again was listening to Dave Ramsey, on his podcast, talking about it, and I realized how little of the book I remembered. So re-reading this books made me want to 1) re-read more books from my past to recapture information and concepts that have left me and am no longer able to articulate, and 2) take better notes so I can always get a quick refresher course if/when needed.

Main Takeaway / The First Thing I Think About When I Think About This Book

Two points really stick with me.

One is: Live below your means. When I read this last year (2024), I was figuring out how to create and live on a budget. Budgets are not sexy or fun, but there’s really no way to learn how to live below your means until you figure out what your means are and then decide how much you want to live below them. Most people’s means are based off their fixed salary, but as a business owner it’s not as easy to come up with a number because I don’t have a fixed salary. This book confirmed that having a family budget was the right move, even if it was a pain to figure out and sometimes difficult to live by. I happen to think that everyone should have a budget. It like food. Most people that want to be healthy have rules that they establish in advance to guide them when they’re tempted to indulge. Healthy eaters hold back. They avoid certain foods. They meal plan. I think of spending habits the same way. When you tell yourself in advance what you want to spend your money on, it makes it easier to say No when tempted buy now.

The second item that I took away is the concept of Unique Ability and how I want to be operating in it to reach my maximum potential. “Unique Ability” comes from Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach, an entrepreneurial group I’ve been a member of since 2018. What Unique Ability is is that thing you do best in your own unique way. It’s like a combination of your talents, passion, and mission in life (this is another concept I learned from another great book by Ken Colemen From Paycheck to Purpose). While The Millionaire Mind doesn’t use the phrase “Unique Ability,” it reinforces the idea that the typical millionaire works in their Unique Ability, which makes them effective, energized by their work – not drained, and ultimately, financially successful. It’s not about an industry or a specific skill set – it’s about how you operate best, and what keeps you endlessly fascinated. Reading The Millionaire Mind was therefore a reminder to systematically keep pushing towards working exclusively in my Unique Ability.

Final Thoughts

Wow, what a great book. I’m really glad I re-read it and thought it was fascinating to compare this reading with my previous reading in 2007. Again, I can’t believe how little of it I remember it the first time, but also how much of it I absorbed and internalized. It’s something that I realize I do: I absorb concepts and principles and internalize them, often without being able to recite (or even remember) the source. I need to change that. I need to remember and cite sources because it helps me help my future self, others, and it provides credibility when teaching, discussing, or debating with others.

Lastly, another thing I thought was interesting was how Thomas Stanley mentioned more than once that the data showed that most millionaires tend to be traditional churchgoers with a deep faith in God. Having been a Christian most of my life, I’ve learned that the idea of wealth and money always comes with a warning, which presents somewhat of a paradox. We learn that love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, but also that the biblical principles of diligence, honesty, hard work, discipline, and good stewardship, and resourcefulness, that a Christian should live by, incidentally often lead to financial success. So wealth is something that you can reasonably expect to build by living how God wants you to live, but also to be careful with it because if you love money and use it for self-centered purposes, you’re opening the door to all kinds of sin. Also, while material success may be a result of proper living, the Bible does not guarantee material success nor use it as a measure of how much God favors you. I think that much of the world’s problems are a result of an empty self-centered pursuit of money and that a biblical understanding of money enacted upon would solve much of the world’s problems. It would be a start!