The Millionaire Professionals

THE MILLIONAIRE PROFESSIONALS

One of the most interesting books I have read recently was The Millionaire Mind, written by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley and published by Andrews McNeel Publishing, 4520 Main Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111. In preparing the material for this book, Dr. Stanley did an extensive study of the lives of millionaires in America. It appears that the survey included millionaire professionals.

1. KEY FACTORS TO THE SUCCESS OF MILLIONAIRES

In a remarkable part of The Millionaire Mind, Dr. Stanley analyzed the responses of 733 millionaires to a survey. The survey included a question asking the participants to rate the important factors to their success.

One might expect “working harder than most people” to be rated first among these top thirty success factors, but, in fact, it ranks fifth.

The number one ranked success factor is “being honest with all people”. Surprisingly, graduating near or at the top of the academic class is at the bottom of the table of the top thirty factors.

The top five and bottom four of the thirty success factors are as follows:

A Top Five:

1. Being honest with all people.
2. Being well disciplined.
3. Getting along with people.
4. Having a supportive spouse.
5. Working harder than most people.

B. Bottom Four:

1. Being lucky.
2. Investing in the equities of public corporations.
3. Having excellent investment advisers.
4. Graduating near/at top of my class.

II WHAT DO MILLIONAIRES DO WITH THEIR FREE TIME?

In The Millionaire Mind, Dr. Stanley analyzes the responses to this survey to ascertain what millionaires do with their free time. Four of the top five “most engaged in” activities don’t cost any money. The following list contains the top five and bottom five most engaged in activities of the surveyed participants within the twelve months prior to answering the survey:

A Top Five:

1. Consulting with a tax expert.
2. Going to museums.
3. Community/civic activities.
4. Gardening.
5. Raising funds for charity.

B. Bottom Five:
1. Attending a Grand Slam tennis tournament.0
2. Hunting/shooting.
3. “White-water” activities.
4. Skiing in the Alps.
5. Taking an ocean cruise around the world.

Activities one might expect wealthy individuals to engage in, such as “taking an ocean cruise around the world”, show up at the bottom of the table rather than at the top. Perhaps the information contained in these tables, will help provide the impetus for Alabama attorneys to emphasize these success factors in our practice and to engage in activities which cost less money during our free time.

Addendum: Sam Crosby is a member of the firm of Stone Crosby, P.C. with offices in Bay Minette, Daphne and Foley, Alabama.