By Adam Khoo
Some of you may already know that I travel
around the region pretty frequently, having to visit and
conduct seminars at my offices in Malaysia , Indonesia ,
Thailand and Suzhou ( China )..I am in the airport almost
every other week so I get to bump into many people who have
attended my seminars or have read my books.Recently, someone
came up to me on a plane to KL and looked rather shocked.
He asked, ‘How come a millionaire like you is travelling
economy?’ My reply was, ‘That’s why I am a
millionaire. ‘ He still looked pretty confused. This
again confirms that greatest lie ever told about wealth
(which I wrote about in my latest book ‘Secrets of Self
Made Millionaires’ ). Many people have been brainwashed
to think that millionaires have to wear Gucci, Hugo Boss,
Rolex, and sit on first class in air travel. This is why so
many people never become rich because the moment that earn
more money, they think that it is only natural that they
spend more, putting them back to square one.The truth is
that most self-made millionaires (not those lucky bast**ds
who inherited or misappropriated money) are frugal and only
spend on what is necessary and of value. That is why they
are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so much
faster. Over the last 7 years, I have saved about 80% of my
income while today I save only about 60% (because I have my
wife, mother in law, 2 maids, 2 kids, etc. to support).
Still, it is way above most people who save 10% of their
income (if they are lucky). I refuse to buy a first class
ticket or to buy a $300 shirt because I think that it is a
complete waste of money. However, I happily pay $1,300 to
send my 2-year old daughter to Julia Gabriel Speech and
Drama without thinking twice.When I joined the YEO (Young
Entrepreneur’ s Organization) a few years back (YEO is an
exclusive club open to those who are under 40 and make over
$1m a year in their own business) I discovered that those
who were self-made thought like me. Many of them with net
worths well over $5m, travelled economy class and some even
drove Toyota’sand Nissans (not Audis, Mercs, BMWs). I
noticed that it was only those who never had to work hard to
build their own wealth (there were also a few ministers’
and tycoons’ sons in the club) who spent like there was
no tomorrow. Somehow, when you did not have to build
everything from scratch, you do not really value money.
This is precisely the reason why a family’s wealth (no
matter how much) rarely lasts past the third generation.
Thank God my rich dad (oh no! I sound like Kiyosaki) foresaw
this terrible possibility and refused to give me a cent to
start my business.Then some people ask me, ‘What is the
point in making so much money if you don’t enjoy
it?’ The thing is that I don’t really find
happiness in buying branded clothes, jewellery or sitting
first class. Even if buying something makes me happy it is
only for a while, it does not last.. Material happiness
never lasts, it just give you a quick fix. After a while
you feel lousy again and have to buy the next thing which
you think will make you happy. I always think that if you
need material things to make you happy, then you live a
pretty sad and unfulfilled life.Instead, what make ME happy
is when I see my children laughing and playing and learning
so fast. What makes me happy is when I see by companies and
trainers reaching more and more people every year in so many
more countries. What makes me really happy is when I read
all the emails about how my books and seminars have touched
and inspired someone’s life. What makes me really happy
is reading all