Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Wealth File #11
Rich people choose to get paid based on results. 
Poor people choose to get paid based on time.
Have you ever heard this advice: “Go to school, get good 
grades, get a good job, get a steady paycheck, be on time, work 
hard . . . and you’ll live happily ever after”? I don’t know about 
you, but I’d sure love to see the written guarantee on that one. 
Unfortunately, this sage advice comes directly from the Book of 
Fairy Tales, Volume I, right after the tooth fairy story.
I’m not going to bother debunking the entire statement. 
You can do that for yourself by checking your own experience 
and the lives of everyone around you. What I will discuss is the 
idea behind the “steady” paycheck. There’s nothing wrong 
with getting a steady paycheck, unless it interferes with your 
ability to earn what you’re worth. There’s the rub. It usually 
does.
WEALTH PRINCIPLE:
There’s nothing wrong with getting a steady 
paycheck, unless it interferes with your ability
to earn what you’re worth. There’s the rub.
It usually does.
Poor people prefer to be paid a steady salary or hourly wage. 
They need the “security” of knowing that exactly the 

---

124 - 
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
same amount of money is coming in at exactly the same time, 
month in, month out. What they don’t realize is that this 
security comes with a price, and the cost is wealth.
Living based in security is living based in fear. What you’re 
actually saying is “I’m afraid I won’t be able to earn enough 
based on my performance, so I’ll settle for earning just enough 
to survive or to be comfortable.”
Rich people prefer to get paid based on the results they 
produce, if not totally, then at least partially. Rich people 
usually own their own business in some form. They make their 
income from their profits. Rich people work on commission 
or percentages of revenue. Rich people choose stock options 
and profit sharing in lieu of higher salaries. Notice there are no 
guarantees with any of the above. As stated earlier, in the 
financial world the rewards are usually proportionate to the 
risk.
Rich people believe in themselves. They believe in their 
value and in their ability to deliver it. Poor people don’t. That’s 
why they need “guarantees.”
Recently, I dealt with a public relations consultant who 
wanted me to pay her a fee of $4,000 per month. I asked her 
what I’d receive for my $4,000. She replied that I’d see at least 
$20,000 of coverage per month in the media. I said, “What if 
you don’t produce those results or anything close to it?” She 
answered that she would still be putting in the time, so she 
deserved to get paid.
I replied, “I’m not interested in paying for your time. I’m 
interested in paying you for a specific result, and if you don’t 
produce that result, why should I pay you? On the other hand, 
if you produce even greater results, you should get paid more. 
Tell you what: I’ll give you fifty percent of whatever media 
value you produce. According to your figures, 

---

The Wealth Files - 125
that would mean paying you ten thousand dollars per month, 
which is more than double your fee.”
Did she go for it? Nope! Is she broke? Yup! And she will be 
for the rest of her life or until she figures out that to get rich 
you will need to be paid based on results.
Poor people trade their time for money. The problem with 
this strategy is that your time is limited. This means that you 
invariably end up breaking Wealth Rule #1, which states, 
“Never have a ceiling on your income.” If you choose to get 
paid for your time, you are pretty much killing your chances 
for wealth.