In my early twenties, I set a goal to become a millionaire. Not because I wanted to buy a lamborghini or live in a 10,000-square foot house.
Nope. I set a goal to become a millionaire for the same reason Jim Rohn believed it to be a worthy pursuit— “for what it will make of you to become it [a millionaire].”
Good enough for me. I bought a coffee mug with $1 million bill on it [pictured], and put it on my top shelf.
The true rewards in life are on the top shelf. And the way you get to them is by standing on the books you read. – Jim Rohn
Now you know why the mug went on the top shelf where I couldn’t reach it. Because I didn’t feel like I deserved it. Yet. Not until I was worth a cool million.
I was tempted. Oh man was I tempted.
Firstly, I love coffee. And I thought the mug was pretty slick. So I felt the enticement to drink from the mug every time I walked by the bookshelf.
But I wouldn’t do it. I believed deep-down that I hadn’t read enough books.
Standing on a chair instead of a book-stack to retrieve the mug would’ve felt like cheating. Then every subsequent sip would serve as a subtle reminder that millionaire-status wasn’t something I’d attained. I’d be drinking from the mug prematurely.
Let me go back to 1995. Guy who helped me land my first job at Burger King kept a condom attached to his keychain—said he was saving it until he lost his virginity.
But he & I knew it would be a while. Although he was built like an offensive lineman and could’ve made many a gal feel small in his embrace, he was also the only guy I knew who took ballet and theatre classes. And when chics did long balls and “Johnny Quarterbacks,” it’s going to be a while before you—in the words of Anthony Michael Hall in Sixteen Candles—”bag a babe.”
At parties on weekends we’d ask him to act out his part in upcoming plays. He’d nail it every time, and we’d go nuts. But this was back when chics were attracted to masculine dudes, and metro-sexuals weren’t yet a thing.
Anyway I heard he lives in Minnesota with a handful of kids.
Back to being a millionaire. You should know there’ll always be some d-bag who says, “Y’know, being a millionaire ain’t what it used to be.”
He’s the “it is what it is” guy on your Zoom calls. Same dude.
But he’s not wrong. Thirty years ago there were only 1.6 million millionaires in America. Today, there are 10X that many: 18.6 million millionaires.
But becoming a millionaire is still a worthy pursuit—an ambitious goal that requires discipline and a desire to serve others. Besides, “millionaire” has a nice ring to it.
One of my favorite questions to ask on the podcast is:
“If someone dropped $1 million in your lap tomorrow, what would you do with it?”
My guest’s answers give great insight into how they think. And what they value. I’ve compiled their answers here (in order of most recent):
- “We would build a home immediately and I would take care of family members. And I would definitely invest a little bit . . . I would probably buy a pharmacy / coffee shop for my wife and buy her a restaurant.” – Seth Thibodeaux
- “I’d probably give half of it to my parents and then just tuck the rest away. You see, I’m lying man, I’d probably have to spend that on something, honestly. A new truck—an F250 with maybe like a Ted Nugent sticker on the back.” – Nick Conley
- “Probably give a quarter of it to my parents, just to thank them for everything they did. Probably 1% in Bitcoin. 80% in Wealth Front. 20% in Tesla & other tech growth stocks.” – Alex and Books
- “Invest all of it in commercial real estate.” – Byron Hutcheson
- “Give 10% to church, spend 10%, and save & invest the remaining 80% in CaringBand.” – Charley Donaldson
- “Buy 2 or 3 dirt bikes, a truck, a Lamborghini, and invest the rest.” – Robert Leonard
- “Save some of it, pay off student loans, and open an animal sanctuary.” – Kisha Kloster
- “Buy real estate and focus on the fitness-side [of business] full-time.” – Alex Feinberg
- “30% stock market, 30% real estate, 30% gold, and 10% cash.” – Dovid Feldman
- “80%-90% on savings and investments, the rest would go to traveling with loved ones.” – Keagan Stokoe
- “Save $500k, give $250k to mom, throw a huge party and outsource my whole business with the remaining $250k.” – Sheila Brown
There you have it. Everyone I’ve asked would do something different from the next person if $1 million were dropped in their lap tomorrow. I like that.
