My Saturday mornings are usually spent perusing magazines or books on my iPad mini. This past weekend was no different. An article in Essence magazine, Millionaire Mindset, caught my attention. The article summarizes a book published by Donald Kimbro, PhD titled: The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires. Kimbro highlights seven steps to: 1) Stretch yourself, 2) Think long-term, 3) Be a lifetime learner, 4) Love your work, 5) Spend conservatively, 6) Lean on your network and 7) Build a legacy. These are great steps, probably ones that we’ve probably all heard before. Now what?

So, let’s take a test, a different kind of test. (yes, a teacher lives somewhere deep, deep, deep, down inside of me). Grab a piece of paper and number it 1-7. Each number coincides with one of the seven (7) steps mentioned above. If you’re great at one of the steps, write a plus sign (+) next to it. If you absolutely suck at something, write a minus sign (-) next to it. And if you’re just ok at it, write a zero next to it. Now, when you finish this exercise, don’t follow “normal behavior” and count how many of each you have. Yes, this “teacher” actually said don’t worry about score or about counting how many +’s or -‘s you have… who cares? (wouldn’t you want to take my class??!)  The Millionaire Mindset is as much about knowing/acknowledging  WHO/WHERE/WHAT YOU ARE and WHO/WHERE/WHAT YOU WANT TO BE as it is about DOING SOMETHING TO CHANGE IT (based on your own personal needs and/or desires). So pick a step, any step. Maybe it’s one you’ve struggled with for sometime or something you’ve always wanted to do/improve/explore and ACT on it. For example, if you picked #3 Be a Lifetime Learner (my personal favorite), head over to edX and sign up for an online class in an area that interests you or dust off one of the books on your coffee table and give it a whirl. Start with one, and do something… anything. Then move on to another. Odds are, the one you picked will stay with you and eventually you’ll turn more -‘s into +’s.

So, I confess: the title of this Essence article is all wrong. The title should be What Millionaires Know & Do. Taking information in is not the key to a particular lifestyle. It’s what you DO with the information that opens the door. Happy Doing!