Skip to Content

How to Think like a Billionaire and Actually Become a Billionaire

Do you want to learn how to think like a billionaire? What mindset do the successful entrepreneurs and drop out billionaires possess that others don’t? Do you know that the thinking capacity of millionaires differ from that of billionaires?

What is the thinking pattern of billionaires such as Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Oprah Winfrey, Aliko Dangote, Warren Buffett and others? Do you want to develop the billionaire mindset? If your answer to the last question is yes, then please read on because this article is for you.

“When we direct our thoughts properly, we can control our emotions.” – W. Clement Stone

In this article, I will be explaining in detail how you can develop your mindset, control your thoughts and ultimately think like a billionaire. Now why should you think like a billionaire? I believe you are entitled to your thinking pattern but it is also worthwhile you know that your pattern of thinking will definitely affect your level of achievement in life.

“All personal achievements start in your mind. The first step is to know exactly what your problem, goal or desire is.” – W. Clement Stone

Why You Need to Think Like a Billionaire?

Have you observed that your state of mind or your perception is directly proportional to your status in life? What I am trying to say in essence is that if you think like a millionaire, you will become a millionaire and if you decide to increase your thinking capacity to the billionaire level; you will ultimately become a billionaire.

That’s why Donald Trump wrote a book titled “How to think like a billionaire” because he knows the importance of the human thinking pattern to the process of achieving anything in life and that’s why the bible states that

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” – The Holy Bible

The mindset of a millionaire will never put you in the position of a billionaire; period. That’s the reason why I am emphasizing you develop your mindset. I have seen entrepreneurs turn down a $100,000 startup capital simply because all they need is a seed capital of $30,000.

Their rejection of the $100,000 capital has nothing to do with financial prudence; it’s all about the mindset. They’ve not trained their mindset to go beyond their financial capacity and that’s why they will remain average. I have also seen accidental millionaires who got lucky and won the lottery to the tune of millions.

After several years, they are back to square one; living from hand to mouth. I have also seen people come into an inheritance of millions only to lose it all. Are these set of individuals doomed to be failures? My answer is a resounding no. The only problem they’ve got is their state of mind; they lack the right mindset to handle their change in financial position.

That’s why I wrote this article for you; I wrote this article to challenge you to develop your mindset by going beyond your present thinking pattern to a higher level. So if you are ready to develop your mindset and think like a billionaire, if you are prepared to go beyond your present thinking capacity; then please read on as I share with you five strategic steps to developing your mindset.

How to Think like a Billionaire and Actually Become a Billionaire

1. Have a Strong Desire to Develop your Mindset

“You have to act and act now.” – Larry Ellison

The first step to developing your mindset positive is to strongly desire it. You must see the need to develop your mindset positively and increase your thinking capacity. You must also be willing to go through the process and the process is definitely not going to be easy because it entails a change of perception and core values.

Just as entrepreneurs go through the entrepreneurial process; so will you need go through the mindset development process. Once you identify the need to develop your mindset and you desire it so strongly, you will successfully go through the process and a new world will open to you.

2. Change your Perception towards failure

“Failure is just a resting place. It is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

This is another distinct core value that separates the average individuals and millionaires from billionaires.

  • How do you handle failure?
  • How do you react in the face of failure?
  • Do you fear failure or do you embrace failure as a learning opportunity?

Your answer to these questions will help you determine if you are thinking in the pattern of the billionaires or mediocre.

“If I lose a billion dollars, I will have it back in less than five years.” – Henry Ford

To develop you mindset and think like a billionaire, you must change your perception towards failure. You must stop avoiding failure and you must not see failure as a sign of incompetence or defeat. Instead, you must see failure as a learning opportunity; you must embrace failure as an opportunity to learn something you never knew.

“Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.” – Ingvar Kamprad

Has there been any billionaire without a stint of failure? My answer is a resounding no. All the billionaires I can think of has been through some sort of failure; from Donald Trump, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, J. Paul Getty to Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Larry Ellison, Ray Kroc and Sam Walton. So if you want to join the league of billionaires; then you must embrace failure and take giants strides without the fear of failure.

“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison

3. Increase your Risk Bearing Capacity

Risk bearing capacity is another critical difference between the average individuals, the millionaires and the self made billionaires. Show me a billionaire that avoids risk and maybe I will show someone who became a billionaire by inheritance. What I am trying to explain in essence is that there is no self made billionaire who started from scratch that made it without taking a certain amount of risk.

“You must take risks, both with your own money or with borrowed money. Risk taking is essential to business growth.” – J. Paul Getty

So if you are going to develop the mindset of billionaires, then you must increase your risk bearing capacity.

  • How willing are you to take risk?
  • Do you avoid risk?
  • How do you react when presented with a business or investment opportunity?

Your answer to these questions will determine if you will hit the billionaire status or not. Now how do billionaires handle risk? In the world of business and investing, it’s a known fact that risk can never be completely eliminated. Risk is part of the game of money and billionaires know that the chances of success or failure in any investment is 50 – 50.

But instead of billionaires shying away from promising investments, what they do is to assemble a business team and put up a strong risk management policy. Billionaires don’t fear risk, instead; they act with a hedge to curtail their risk factor. So if you are going to think like a billionaire, then you have to develop your mindset to handle risk.

“Without the element of uncertainty, the bringing off of even, the greatest business triumph would be dull, routine and eminently unsatisfying.” – J. Paul Getty

4. Model your Thoughts after the Billionaires

This article was specifically written to help you develop your mindset and think like a billionaire but before I share with you tips on how you can model your thoughts after the billionaires, I want to ask the following questions.

  • Do you think big?
  • What do you do in the face of challenges?
  • Are you an optimist or pessimist?
  • Do you have a billionaire mentor or role model?

The questions I asked above are not for fun; their answers hold the pattern your thoughts will flow towards. To model your thoughts after billionaires, you must put yourself in the shoes of the billionaires when faced with problem or challenges.

“I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.” – Donald Trump

For instance, when I am presented with a business opportunity that looks a bit risky; all I do is to simply close my eyes and ask myself:

“What would Richard Branson do if presented with this business opportunity posing as a problem.”

This is exactly the strategy I use to model my thoughts after billionaires. When negotiating a deal, I think Donald Trump and when it comes shrewd cash flow management or critical resource management; I think Ingvar Kamprad. So if you are going to develop your mindset and think like the billionaires; then you must model your thoughts and actions like those of billionaires.

5. Seek out Problems

Do you know what set billionaires apart from the average individuals and millionaires? Well, I am going tell you. Billionaires are problem solvers; not just any problem but complex problems. Billionaires became billionaires because they seek out problems that others don’t want to be involved with. They move in when other are fleeing; they buy when others are screaming “the sky is falling.

“The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.” – John D. Rockefeller

“Buy when everyone else is selling and hold when everyone else is buying. This is not merely a catchy slogan. It is the very essence of successful investments.” – J. Paul Getty

Critical problem solving is the ultimate reason why poverty stricken individuals like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford rose to become billionaires. Take a look at the billionaires of today and you will see that they strive to solve problems that we don’t want to be associated with.

Bill Gates and Larry Ellison are experts at solving software problems; Donald Trump is an expert at solving housing problems or Real estate problems and George Soros, Sir John Templeton and Peter Lynch are experts at handling stock market volatility.

J. Paul Getty and John D. Rockefeller solved the problem of oil drilling and distribution. Henry Ford solved the problem of automobiles affordability, Andrew Carnegie solved the problem of mass production of steel.

“In the end, you are measured not by how much you undertake but by what you finally accomplished.” – Donald Trump

That’s brings me to the last questions of this article:

“What are you an expert at? What problems are you good at solving?

If you are going to become a billionaire, then you must think like a billionaire and thinking like a billionaire entails that you must be good at solving other people’s problems. So when others are screaming “stay away, the end is near,” you should instead be asking yourself; “what can I do to address the situation.

This pattern of thinking is called the process of “turning lead into gold” by the ancient alchemists. So if you want to develop the mindset of billionaires; then become a critical problem solver and your financial status will never remain the same.

“Behind every adversity is an opportunity. If you lament over the adversity, you will miss the opportunity.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

As a final note, I want you to know that becoming anything in life begins with the mind. So if you want to change your thinking pattern to those of billionaires, then implement the steps above and I will see you at the top.