The One Minute Millionaire Makeover

The wide gulf that exists between the world of millionaires and the middle class can be narrowed down to financial habits played out in the minute that matters the most. A minute seems insignificant, but makes a lifetime of difference. Attention to detail, making minor adjustments, and taking care of the small stuff amounts to much in the long run. The course of a giant ocean liner is changed by a slight turn of an almost invisible rudder. Millionaires are aware of this fact, and use it to their full advantage while the poor and middle class gloss over it.

Take a simple transaction at the store for example. At the checkout, most people hurriedly pay up, collect their receipts with hardly a glance, stuff it somewhere and hurriedly zoom off. They are too embarrassed to be seen cross-checking in public. The millionaire takes a minute to scan it for errors and file it neatly away for record purposes before moving on.

At the end of the month, the millionaire has a clear idea of where his money went, and the exact state of his finances while the middle-class folk are clueless. In an experiment some few years ago, $5 cheques were mailed out to a select group of people made up of millionaire and middle-class folks. A few days later, most of the millionaires have cashed their cheques while none of the middle-class folks would be bothered by such an insignificant sum.

I remember one experience at an eatery a while back. I went in to order a takeaway lunch pack for two, promptly paid, and zoomed off. As I left the premises, I had a nagging feeling that the total did not seem right, was on the high side, but I was not sure. When I got home and the feeling refused to go away, I decided to settle it once and for all by taking a second look at the receipt. Bingo!, I was billed for three servings of fried rice instead of the two supplied. It was too late to head back to the eatery. It will be my word against the cashier. I fumed for hours, blaming myself for not catching it while in the store.

This lack of attention to detail comes back to bite us in matters minor and major.

The difference between properly filed financial records and one in disarray is often a minute at a time. It takes a minute to file away receipts, account statements, investment portfolio reports, etc as they arrive. It might take a minute to file them away, but hours to look for them when not properly filed. Sometimes, we can’t find them when we need them.

Our homes are littered with bank statements left unopened. Some of the bank statements contain transactions we are not aware of and have no way of getting the bank to rectify them as we do not even bother to open them. They eventually end up in the thrash. We have cheques and dividend warrants not cashed, cash lying around the house not accounted for, etc. Items that would have taken one minute at a time to file away properly.

The secret to your financial future is hidden in your current financial habits. It takes a minute to decide to do something different. Major changes come about through minor adjustments to our daily routine.

It takes a minute to decide whether to watch TV or balance our books or read a good personal finance or self-improvement book.

Procrastination takes a minute, to make the choice to do it now or wait till tomorrow.

It takes a minute to give in to impulse, to buy now seek a second opinion or sleep over it.

If we take the time to review our decisions rather than go with the flow, we can change the course of our financial future.

The best way to change course is to make minor adjustments to the things we do daily. Rather than go with the flow, let’s stop for a minute and think.

The difference between living life intentionally and living by default lies in that crucial minute, the gap between stimulus and response. You can act without thinking or choose your action intentionally

It takes a minute to change your mind and decide to do it differently. The adjustments required to set you on a new course may not be earthshaking, but minor adjustments to your daily habits.

It takes a minute to decide. It takes a minute to affect the minor adjustments required to cross the gulf between the poor, middle class, and rich.