The One Minute Millionaire -
By Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen

The One Minute Millionaire, despite its title does not make you a millionaire in one minute. It will take you considerably longer to get through this book, or should I rather say two books. You see, the book is split in two, one side, the left, the authors share with you the 'enlightened' way to becoming a millionaire. And on the right, they tell the story of Michelle - a mum that has to find a way to make a million dollars in 90 days or never see her two children again.

Despite it being a difficult format for me to read - the splitting of attention between two stories - I found this book enlightening. The premise upon which they build the search (to become enlightened millionaire), that of a mother standing to lose custody of her children, serves to show us what one is capable of if you do not accept any excuse into your life. It is like the young man that came to the philosopher Aristotle seeking wisdom, and Aristotle being the wise man that he is, took the young man to a stream and promptly dunked the man's head under water till he started struggling for breath. It is not until we want wisdom as badly as you need to breath, that we are willing to let it into our life and appreciate it for what it is. It is not until we are willing to fight and not accept any excuse whatsoever to reach that which we are fighting for. (See the philosopher's lesson.)

Enough philosophical ranting, back to the book. The book starts of with a section titled 'Millionaire Ahas'. This is a bundled section of wisdom around wealth creation and manifestation in life. From the first aha - "Everyone Manifests" where you learn that where you are is because of what you have manifested through your choices and decisions up to now, good and bad - to the last aha -"Putting It All Together" which is about being congruent with your thoughts and actions and moving it all in the same direction - the authors share some of the insightful wisdom they learned on the path to becoming millionaires.

The second section is devoted to how you can get more results without you doing all the extra work, also known as leverage. In real estate, it might be leverage of the bank's money to invest in an appreciating asset (OPM - other people's money). If you're starting a business, you might bring in a business partner that have the right experience (OPE - other people's experience). Maybe you're strapped for ideas, why not buy someone else's idea like Ray Kroc did with McDonald's (OPI - other people's ideas). Or if you don't have all the time to invest, get someone who does (OPT - other people's time). And some people do not want to take a risk, they just want security, so you can give them a job (OPW - other people's work).

If you want to start a business in a specific industry, but have no clue what it is about, you can find a mentor who can guide you. The same principle can be applied to any part of the wealth building process, whether that is real estate, business building or investments. The third section of the book is all about the mentoring process. From finding the right mentor for you, to explaining the mentoring process. Maybe you'd like to ask a millionaire some questions - why not take them out for lunch and ask them personally? A mentor will help you avoid the mistakes they made the first time, or if you do make your own mistakes, to help you maintain perspective and encourage you to continue.

Have you ever tried to play a team sport by yourself? If you have, you may have found yourself on the losing side. It is often the side with a team, that will trump the lone player. I'd go so far as to say the team will always beat the individual. If you set out on a journey to becoming a millionaire, one of the necessary things is a solid team beside you. By having a team, you fill the gaps in your own experience/education. A team makes the tasks you dread, easier to swallow. Or if your personality clashes with the world, a team member might just be the thing you need. How to find and build your dream team is what the fourth section is about. You'll learn about the different types of worker personalities, how to get maximum effect from meetings and how to create a win/win situation for everyone in the team.

One area in my life that I'm still learning about is the power of networks. The fifth section tells you all the important things about networks that you need to know. Its about getting known by people in the know, its about getting interested in people and them getting interested in you, its about the relationships you have with everyone around you, its about mustering the art of the 'weak tie'. Keeping in touch with the 'weak ties' is how you can keep your network of contacts polished. A little stickiness along a great surface, makes for a lot of stickiness.

The Infinite Network. God. The Universe. Mother Nature. It goes by many names, that higher state of 'rightness'. When you pursue a worthwhile purpose for the enlightenment of many, you just have to tap into and believe in this higher power and all its resources will be at your disposal. Its about making deposits into the infinite network (doing good without expecting reward, paying it forward, tithing) that will keep you in good standing with the bank. The One Minute Millionaire is after all about the 'enlightened' path to becoming a millionaire.

Then comes the part about skills and tools. Probably the number one excuse everyone else uses for not following their dreams '...but I don't know how...'. This section deals with how you can get the skill sets and tools you require, from the persuading others to what you can offer them in return. Its about managing what you do to what you do with what you have. Money management to time management in bullet point lists (good for later review).

Probably one of the most important sections of the book is the one dealing about systems. How to change your way of thinking to that of 'systems thinking' - how can you change what you are doing into a system? How can you make what you do more automated? How can you make it take less time? How can you take some of the effort out of the work? How can you make it cost less? How can you reduce the risk in what you do? How can you create a system that brings in residual income (whether you continue working or stop working)? How can you create multiple streams if income in what you do?

The last couple of sections deal with the mountains of wealth that you can decide to conquer - be that real estate, business, investments or the Internet (of course the authors had to do a bit of self promotion). And right at the end they come to answer the question to how you can become a millionaire in a minute. But I won't spoil that for you, save to say that if you can believe it and believe in the means to achieve it, that anything is possible. Even becoming a One Minute Millionaire.

For more information on the One Minute Millionaire book, you can check out the authors' website at: The One Minute Millionaire or get The One Minute Millionaire from Amazon. .