"How-To-Be-A-Millionaire" Books Are Bullshit

in #money7 years ago (edited)

John wins the lottery. Playing tickets day after day was his thing. It finally paid off. Deep inside he knew that one day he would have succeeded. John really believed in himself you know. Four months after winning the lottery, he decides to write a book. He wants to help others to become as lucky as him. He believes that his dedication along with all his lifestyle rituals made a difference in becoming rich.

He was thinking that maybe it was his grit. Maybe it was his 6am push-up routine. Perhaps it was his weekly colon cleansing. Maybe it was the spiritual way he came to orgasm through the kamasutra book his girlfriend bought. The organic kale smoothie right before sleep on this slightly elevated natural-made mattress also helped. John was also certain that giving 20 cents every morning to the beggar at the park "aided his chakras" into attaining full luck.

John, much like the rest "how-to-make-lots-of-money-book-authors", is full of shit. Survivorship bias got him my the balls and everyone else that would be reading his book.


Have you ever tried to write a book about your successes? In all likelihood you are hesitant because you don't have much to show. Perhaps you do have something to show but you are too lazy. Maybe you look at those awesome books from awesome people like John and you realize that you suck way too much to even try.




The people who choose to write a book always do it after they have become successful. In other words, they describe themselves post-hoc. Something good happens in their life and then they create a narrative about how a series of events helped them to reach their goal. The same events could have resulted in grave injury or financial destruction and they wouldn't have written a book about how much all those strategies didn't work. Yet, they believe that they are unique snowflakes and that they should let everyone know about their awesomeness.

Personally, I would only take into consideration advice about becoming a millionaire from someone who started writing a book, completely broke lying half dead in a ditch. If, by the time they issue their 5th book, they are also sitting on a seven figure bank account, then I will take their advice into consideration.


Making lots of money in life has to do a lot with luck. I know you might be thinking that knowing business fundamentals, keeping a shiny attire and being a smooth talker helps. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Millions of others follow the same social memes and they accomplish nothing extraordinary.

The "millionaire ways" have become quite popular — from the books of all the "successful" people. Whoever ends up "succeeding" from the middle class is due to luck. There is only so much you can do.




People suck at statistics. Believing you will win the lottery or becoming a millionaire by following some strategy carries similar odds. There are so many events that take place around us that either one could be considered a bad or good omen. We always know which is which right after an event has taken place. Someone who has a pot landing on his head, rendering him braindead and someone who has a fat wallet landing on his feet carry the same statistical odds. They are both lucky, depending how one chooses to see things.

You could be a straight talker and end up alone and broke. You could use the same strategy but happen to talk to people who dig this kind of behavior and become a millionaire. We cannot know how the environment responds to us because it is ever changing.


In all likelihood you will never become a millionaire. In all likelihood all the books you read about becoming a millionaire will make you even more depressed than you currently are. Life is a curious game and the rules are not set in stone. There is no secret recipe or path one can take. There are no formulas and no books to guide you. You are better off reading a novel, watching a movie or scratching a lottery ticket.







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How to be a millionaire recipe (recursion version).

Sell 1000 tickets for $1000 each on your training course called "How to be a millionaire"

When I'm being honest about my success, the foundation has mostly been laid in luck. That being said, certain habits can help cultivate the sort of attitude that makes it easier to be open to success and maintain it if/when it arrives. Whether those habits are contained in "how to be a millionaire books," I can't say.

awesome comment. this is exactly how an honest successful person should frame it.

I disagree. Books like Rich Dad Poor Dad can radically change the way people view money. Not only does it contain useful information but it acts as a source of inspiration and get's people to question their previous attitudes. Sure, reading it won't single handedly make you a millionaire but for most people it will help to some extent.

I agree. Rich Dad Poor Dad was of big inspiration to me, and changed the way I thought about my financial situation. Read it in my late twenties some 15 years ago, and I'm very grateful that I did.

I love the richest man in babillon. It changed my way of life and positioned me to path of financial growth.

Yeh, great book!

Did he write the book before he made money?

no.

your argument is invalid. Any book on this spirit can act as an inspiration if the author is already successful. Also, lets get real for a sec. They re shuffle the same material that has been written already a million times. Is just every generation finds a new guy to aspire to. Previous generation had Tony Robbins guys. this generations has your guy. next generation..another guy with the same ol' stuff.

I believe success is a matter of luck and ability. It is luck of your ability is valuable in the perfect time. For example. Would Bill Gates be rich if he was born 10 years earlier or later than he did? If he developed his OS earlier it would have been useless as the PC was not invented. Later and someone else would have developed a better OS. It is only by trying again and again,adapting your ideas will you be successful. But how successful depends on circumstances beyond your control

I believe success is a matter of luck and ability. It is luck of your ability is valuable in the perfect time. For example. Would Bill Gates be rich if he was born 10 years earlier or later than he did? I

definitely not.

If he developed his OS earlier it would have been useless as the PC was not invented.

IBM would have beaten him to the race.

It is only by trying again and again,adapting your ideas will you be successful. But how successful depends on circumstances beyond your control

exactly.

IBM paid Bill Gates to create DOS for them.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS

I think Apple would have have been more successful longer. How computer history would have changed if Apple computers beat the Wintel? Steve Jobs would not have been fired from Apple and he would have been CEO of Apple longer before he died.

This is what I'm saying about success and circumstances

many companies where doing advances around that point in time. I was reading a book somewhere that some systems were even at the level of windows but failed to be popularized due to poor understanding of the public. same as with blockchain today

Yes, rjona1. Success does depend on circumstances beyond your control. But what is behind having a desire to be a millioaire in the first place. In reality, the more you have the more freedom you lose. I mean, you have to work at holding onto that million. Right? Is it greed that makes ones want to become a millionaire. Will he or she be more loved. Willl there be more friends? So, how much do we need to live a fulfilled life and have financial freedom? Is it true, that the richer you are the more you have to worry about? I think so. You memtioned Bill Gates. I suppose he has to depend on security cameras and officers to protect him day and night. What a miserable way to live. But yes, I believe Bill was at the right place and at the right time and he had opportunity and all the attributes to plug away at developing microsoft and contribute to the world. I praise him for having the self-discipline to make the sacrafices that he made. And I praise his parents for teaching him the value of an education and making him study first before play. Im just guessing he was raised by his natural parents. I don't know. But I do know that Ex-President Obama had a Mother who made him get up 3 hours before he went to school and practice on his English grammar and speaking. Everyday! How many Mothers could do that? Not many, because Mothers have to get their rest and punch a time clock. Thanks for your input.
'

They should be called "how to help a millionaire get even richer". lol

lol. exactly!

The trick is not to read the book but to write it. That is where the millions come from!

I really appreciate creative posts and look forward to seeing more of your content in the future! I just followed you, and I hope you'll do the same so we can connect and continue to evolve and learn from each other!

Cheers.

thank you

"We've been all raised by television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars, but we won't and we're slowly learning that fact, and we're very very pissed off.”

“Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned.”

― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

excellent

Haha...that is the most epic example of this topic. "Follow my strategy" to win the lottery. Completely ridiculous.

There are no guaranteed ways to become a millionaire. You can practice methods others have used to put yourself in a position to do well, but it does not mean it will happen.

Heck, steemit can be used as a microcosm of that. There are those that post the same type of content for the same amount of time, yet one may be doing much better than the other because they happened to check a whales attention that became a regular curater of their content.

yeap. yet, not so many people realize that is the exact same thing.

If I knew how to get rich I wouldn't be wasting my time writing self-help books.

They are, they really are.

I find that - like most selfhelp books - books that promise you everything you need to become a millionaire tend to just tell you EXACTLY what the author knows you want to hear. They're more about making you feel good about yourself than actually providing any real help. And either way, if there were books telling you EXACTLY and reliably how to make it, we'd all be millionaires - which obviously isn't possible.

Well said my friend

I totally agree. All those books are bullshit, its just a mean of self promotion, and people buy those books in hopes that some of that "luck" might rub off on them. If you really want to become a millionaire, think of a need that doesn't have a solution yet, and create a product that solves the problem. The more value you give to the world, the more value you will receive.

yeap, the solution is simple. yet, some people just buy into a meme...

Survivorship bias is a big problem with these kinds of things.

They never show any of the plentiful examples of people not making it to their goals. Whether that means failed businesses, or even lottery winners spending all their money.

I take any self-help book proclaiming to give you the ability to get wealthy with a large dollop of skepticism. If their "trick" was so valuable, why would they be giving it away for free?

yeap, not many employ critical thinking. most people buying these books are emotional. most Americans that do buy into the meme are simply drinking the american dream kool aid.


If being a millionaire was something people could learn by reading books, there would have been millionaires dime a dozen.
Thank you for bringing this thought provoking blog to us.@kyriacos - I agree. It is very easy to 'find' reasons of one's success in hindsight. In hindsight, everything that the successful person did seems to 'contribute to success'. In reality, many times, two people with exactly the same strategy, effort and capability may come up with different outcomes just because of one of them was at the right time and right place due to his/her luck.

Upvoted and followed.

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well, I would say that reading books only give you past insights of the particular author who wrote the books. Tactics and strategies to employ to get "rich" differs from person to person and they don't always situate OUR circumstances and situation. Let me give you an example:

  1. If you are born beautiful and attract a ton of attention of the opposite sex, then it's only natural for you to capitalize on your "BEAUTY" power to make money.
  2. If you love science and you spend all your time inventing stuff as a scientist, then you are trading your brains to capitalize on your "INTELLECTUAL" power to make money.
  3. If you are athletically-inclined and can run a mile under 5 min, then you are using your muscle to capitalize on your "PHYSICAL" power to make money.

I can go on and on, but you get what I mean.

We all have different attributes and personality that allows us to convert our "power" to money. Many of us also require a lot of time to unlock our "power" through various stages of our lives. The earlier we discover our potential, the faster we can "capitalize" on our abilities.

A wrong situation, a wrong timing, a wrong decision might set us off on a different path so we'll never discover our "power."

That's where "luck" plays a role.

Then again, money is just a medium of exchange. What's the use of becoming a millionaire when there's no services or goods to purchase.

Just a thought. :D

reading books wont in itself make you successful but if you read many books at least you can have various perspectives and can find some common rules or practices which will give you at least a decent chance at being better than what you are today

common rules and practices will put you in the same position as millions of others — aka luck will be the only edge you can have...

These books are designed to generate more income for the millionaire or to help them become a millionaire...as in they may not be worth that much to begin with. I have read soem books that compares millionaires, their not "how to books" per se, they simply evaluate what these people do. Example, the average millionaire drives a practical vehicle...most own a ford truck. They have multiple income streams and send their kids to Junior or regular college vs private and ivory schools. They live below their income instead of on or above it. Anyhow, I found it interesting, better than how to books.

yeap, the simple things that are more or less well known can make you more money than you could ever imagine making through various entrepreneurial quests.

If all the "How to become a millionaire" books and videos were accurate, everyone would be a millionaire by now. The real succes can be aquired by hard work, research/education & dedication.

Of course, the "best" strategy on how to make a million dollars: sell 1,000 courses at $1000 per course on how to make a million dollars selling courses on how to make a million dollars, and the cycle repeats...

Sadly sounds like a joke, but you know...

this is how most people do it really and yet the idiots are still buying into the meme

Economic studies of success suggest that capitalism actually rewards repeated trials rather than intelligence. Someone who stays in the game and pursues businesses from multiple angles is much more likely to become wealthy than someone with innate intelligence that just works hard in one pursuit.

I would tend to agree with this.

Yeah, "grit" supposedly outperforms sheer talent alone, in the long run.

Have some combination of both, and you're pretty much primed to be successful.

actually rich parents outperform anything else .

Almost everything you say here is true, except...

Back in the 1980's Dave Del Dotto and similar authors started writing books on how to profit from Real Estate. I actually coughed up the scratch and tried it.

I bought several houses with no money down, and even took checks at closing for no less than $17,000 - on every house I ever purchased. In 2008 I owned a 4 bedroom house on ten acres, that I paid off in full in less than three years.

Dodd-Frank and the housing crisis ended all that, and none of it changed the fact that my ex wife decided that house was more valuable to her than our marriage, and now I live in a tool trailer I built from jobsite scrap and a few bedframes I bought at Goodwill.

Life isn't predictable, but not all financial advice books are just bullshit. Education, skill, and hard work can be used to good effect, but we are not in charge of our destiny. Strange that, but true nonetheless.

Thanks for being a skeptic. It is the first quality of a scientist. The second is humility, and very few scientists can get over how great and smart they are to reach that second quality. The third quality is being open minded and willing to follow the evidence, even if it goes where you don't expect.

Don't let your knowledge get in the way of learning the truth.

Very well said!

agree here

That is real life, right there. It's rare for people to hit it big and keep it the first time.... or second.

Still, this does not prove anything. Again, the lottery example. Many people bought the book. Some ended up like you, making some sales. Most didn't. Your thereafter life events only add to my arguments since they could happen before you bought the book and your life would be completely different.

The books were what they were advertised to be, a system that allowed someone with no money to buy property and get paid to do it. I only know this because, despite my skepticism, I bought the books and did it.

Other people might get such information and not follow it. I can't fault the books for that. That I ended up losing everything I ever owned was not the books fault either, it was mine for being in a terrible marriage to a terrible person and putting a fat, juicy reward on the table for betraying me and my kids.

My takeaway from the life I've led is that I am not the author of my destiny. I am but the protagonist.

The books were what they were advertised to be, a system that allowed someone with no money to buy property and get paid to do it. I only know this because, despite my skepticism, I bought the books and did it.

just because it happened to you it doesn't mean it could happen to everyone else. it is not a recipe. read this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

I am aware that YMMV. Honestly, I am the poster child for YMMV! However, the books I purchased were exactly a recipe that could be followed by anyone. That's what I did. That doesn't mean that everyone that tries to follow a recipe is an equally good cook, or that all those with the recipe follow it.

I'm not trying to convince you that self help books are all legit. All I know is my personal experience with the real estate books showed that those were.

Sadly, Dodd-Frank legislation wrongly ended lender's ability to fund the kinds of purchases and buyers that such books taught. This is a large part of why I have not done it again.

When I tried, the legal landscape involving private finance had changed a lot, and lenders that worked in the area were heavily regulated to prevent the poor from breaking out of their poverty, as I had in the past.

Presently, if you aren't availed of a high paying job and a good credit score, creative financing methods are limited to such personal acquaintances as you may have, because commercial sources have been eliminated from the market.

My friend, more than this I do not know.

I'm not trying to convince you that self help books are all legit. All I know is my personal experience with the real estate books showed that those were.

People who are religious and survive car accidents claim that miracles are real. They go out and are describe how their ways saved them. Heck they even describe their vision just before the accident.

Do you know what the problem is?

The vast majority of christians that took the exact same steps did not survive to say "hey dude, it didn't work". You only hear the opinion from those who are alive.

same exact thing happens with self-help books.

I like the way most successful people set an agenda for their days and try to stick with it.
Steemit has brought this mindset home for me, just keep at it!


'There can never be a path made for you, if there is to be one, you must build it yourself.'

Namaste

This entire blog is based on the concept that "success" is achieved only by becoming a millionaire, the truth is u can be broke as f*ck and still be "successful" it depends purely on what u define success to be, if im one day living off the grid with my family, eating fresh food and able to live a life free from stress then i would call that successful, money is fake and has nothing to do with true success.

The title specifies "how to be millionaire books"

It's sort of a straw man to say that all books with advice on business and personal finance are just advocating for "keeping a shiny attire and speaking smoothly," isn't it? I feel like books are a great way to learn and apply new skills. Luck plays a role, but your actions do as well...

I gave the general gist of the advice. They are the same things repeated over and over again in many books since the time of Seneca

I won a car and couple of years later my husband won a car. There was no intention to want to win those two cars, but it happened. Was it luck?
Enjoyed your post, thank you

yeap! thank you

Being a millionaire may not be all that great. You spend your entire existence protecting your wealth and trying to make more wealth that you miss life, family and true friendship. Seems like all the rich are the same. Fake!

we all chase something i guess. for some is money, for others family.

I think success come from your ability to everyday keep pushing forward a little bit towards your goals..this type of behavior Will generate wealth weather it's monetary, spiritual or salud..the secret is being consistent. Good article, thanks.

not always but it will at least make you believe you are doing something which is always helpful psychologically wise.

I kinda agree with you in a way. However, theses books are more like guidelines, people showing you steps they took and it worked for them. What works for Mr A might not work for Mr B. Most books just help you keep your positive spirit going.

they are more like "generic things all over the place that make money for the author"

My favorite Derek Sivers quote: "If information was all it took, we'd all be billionaires with six-pack abs!"

I find there is a great logical fallacy with many people. They assume that someone who is successful knew what they were doing and following that recipe will produce similar results.

Problem is that those successful people themselves probably won't even be able to obtain the same results with the same formula...

Bill Gates? Very intelligent, very business aggressive, would have done well in any field, but the reason he became so monumentally rich was an equally monumental mistake by IBM...

A lot of success is due to right place right time effects. Of course there is plenty of competence, work and sacrifice involved but many people who worked just as hard, were just as competent and intelligent got nowhere with exactly the same formula.

I think Scott Adams point of view makes more sense when it comes to success:

Problem is that those successful people themselves probably won't even be able to obtain the same results with the same formula...

exactly

Bill Gates? Very intelligent, very business aggressive, would have done well in any field, but the reason he became so monumentally rich was an equally monumental mistake by IBM...

many people overlook this

Great read!
Yeah can read a 100 of those books a year but if you don't get your ass in gear and do the work, the books don't do so much.

yeap, but still, work has very little to do with it.

It's like reading a book on how to win at poker. Only way that works is if the dude has stopped playing poker, otherwise do you really think he is going to give away his edge? And if he's stopped playing poker, then ask why? Has enough money? Then why is he asking you to pay for the information?

Be wary of all financial advice. Cracks me up to see all these financial guys going on TV and telling folks what to do. You know they are tailoring this information to fit what they want you to do, because they want you to make choices that help their portfolio. They aren't interested in you getting rich.

You know they are tailoring this information to fit what they want you to do, because they want you to make choices that help their portfolio. They aren't interested in you getting rich.

I was actually attacked after criticizing many people in here for posting crypto charts. they call it technical analysis. I call it crypto mafia 2.0

Hah! Good analogy.

I think the people wrote this type of success stories become millionaire they earn a lot of money for this hot topic. Other wise you can not get money or success on any gives formula. It is your personal interest, effort and luck that hit your target.

yeap, much like steemit posts about making money in steemit :)

If success is easy after reading books no one in this world remain poor. All will read articles and act upon it. But life is different from bookish knowledge.

How to be a millionaire books do make the authors millionaires :)

most certainly

great post looking forward for another one :)

thank you

I agree with you! These book won't help you to became millionaire, maybe to motivate you 1%.

Nice post with nice topic :D

yeap. thank you

Why would anyone buy such books(apart from research material for an article haha), I know I wouldnt.

low self esteem?

You might be right. Then it will only make it worse, when they do everything like in the books without getting results. I think another part is naivety. Being successful economically wont necessarily make you happier.

good post you

thank you

Very much in general depends on luck, and not on the effort.

precisely

How to be a millionaire rule #1. Dont waste your money on "how to be a millionaire" books!

it should be put on the cover of every book, much like the smoking warnings.

It got famous to be a game ...Thanks.

Thank you very much for this post. I have upvoted, please do the same thing for me to help each other

Hey man I just wrote a lengty comment about this and now you write this! I was hoping you'd come up with some clever math but you dissapointed me from the second half! :)

So let me reiterate: I just wrote a lengthy comment about those positive-thinking books that they are in essence full of shit. Just like you said. Why?

If I have $1 and you have $1 and we are the only ones. If I'll sell you a hamburger for $1 you are poor because you have no money and I'll be twice as rich when I was before. Now if I were to sell you a cow and you already had a bull you'd be poor but selling me milk or meat rather soon you wouldn't be poor for a long time. The funny thing is as long as we have things to trade we don't need any money. But money is also a method of accounting and ledger will do just as fine. And thus we could grow our fortunes rather well.

This is of course the ideal story but I somehow don't believe that it could work in this day and age. Why?

Taxes? Regulations? Competition? Too much people and too little resources? So many people doing non-productive work like me writing this comment?

I don't have yet all the answers but I'm thinking long and hard to find out. Something with debt being always greater than the amount of money is a hint for why many of us in the world are so poor with no positive end in sight. If it is not a bug it must be a feature!

Also I found this to be quite funny and you are absolutely right!

Personally, I would only take into consideration advice about success from someone who started writing a book, dead broke lying half dead in a ditch. If, by the time they issue their 5th book, they are also sitting on a seven figure bank account, then I will take their advice into consideration.

LOL, I should start then!

There is no reason for clever math. I explain with simple examples how an event in the midst of chaotic other parameters can be rendered fortunate or unfortunate.

Sure, do your thing. But for myself I need proof for how say the monetary system works. It's not even clever math but basic math!

Like if I am a bank and have $1.50 and you have $0.50 and wer are the only ones in the country. Say I lend you $0.50 with 10% interest, now we both have $1.

But where will the interest come from? The whole economy is just $2. :)

Thanks I will now

It's not a fallacy per sé, the world is finite therefore if one takes over the world there is nothing left for the rest of us.

You have inspired me to write the How-to-Become Rich & Famous book that will earn me notoriety and untold riches.

All I have is the title, but in today's world, that should be enough.

I am going to call it, "How To Become Rich & Famous By Being Born Into Wealth & Fame, (and YOU can too)."

Of course, I am totally unqualified to author something like that, but, in today's world, it doesn't seem to matter.

Onward, to wealth and fame.

Damnit! That's what my plan was!

"How To Become Rich & Famous By Being Born Into Wealth & Fame, (and YOU can too)."

do it! it would be an awesome post.

Thanks for the great post, I enjoyed reading it. I've skimmed over a few of the internet articles of how to win the lottery based on previous winners strategies and I agree they are all bull.

Hard work and dedication are the only things that matter in my opinion. You might not become a millionaire, but you will be able to support your family and live a good life. And if your lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and make it big, hopefully you will not let it ruin what you have.

True fact here ! I agree !

They say money can't buy happiness but it sure as hell makes life easier. I think we make our own luck by the people we choose to surround ourselves in life with. These people can make or break you. Choose wisely.

yeap...still a coin toss

Special theme Thank you I wish you a beautiful day

thank you

yeah they prey on the mentally weak and give generic advice for the sake of publishing a book

How to be Steemit thousander blogs are shit.

I never believed in luck I live in Hawaii I am a surfer It takes skill to know yourself and to realize that making millions of dollars does not equal success. I cannot name one of my millionaire friends that is happy being rich. I own my time their bank account owns them.

Skill will take you only that far....

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