Think Like a Billionaire: 10 Strategies to Rewire Your Mind
The thinking behind billion-dollar legacies—and how to apply it to your life.
The Art of Becoming is about turning obstacles into opportunities. Drawing from philosophy, resilience, and real-life experiences, I share lessons on navigating adversity, cultivating wisdom, and living with purpose. Because in the end, life isn’t about avoiding hardship—it’s about becoming someone who thrives in it.
We won’t always have the answers, but we can search for them together.
Today, we learn how to develop a mindset like the world’s wealthiest men and women.
I hope you’ll join me.
I’m walking through Spain on the Camino de Santiago, so I’m in low-power mode. But during this pilgrimage, I’ve been thinking about what separates the ultra-successful from everyone else.
It’s not their wealth. It’s their mindset.
Money doesn’t make the mindset. But the right mindset will lead to wealth.
Across centuries and cultures, the wealthiest people shared one thing in common: a way of thinking that shaped how they saw risk, growth, discipline, and purpose.
Here are 10 powerful quotes I’ve collected from some of the richest minds in history—and how you can use their wisdom to shape your own path.
Warren Buffett
"The most important investment you can make is in yourself."
How to use it: Make daily learning non-negotiable. Read, reflect, and prioritize self-development like your future depends on it—because it does. This is more than making money. It’s setting goals, learning new skills, building your network, developing healthy habits, prioritizing your mental health, and investing in your financial literacy.
Jeff Bezos
"If you decide that you're going to do only the things you know are going to work, you're going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table."
How to use it: Don’t wait for certainty. Take smart risks. Growth comes from trying things that might fail. If you’re always waiting for a sure thing, you’ll always be waiting.
Oprah Winfrey
"You become what you believe, not what you want."
How to use it: Change your self-talk. Replace doubt with belief. Confidence is built from within before it’s proven on the outside. This isn’t about affirmations—it’s about choosing to be the person those affirmations claim you already are.
Elon Musk
"I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary."
How to use it: Stop waiting to be picked. Choose yourself. Bold action—not your past or background—defines your ceiling.
Andrew Carnegie
"The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled."
How to use it: Master your thoughts. Self-control and discipline are the keys to building and keeping wealth. As Jocko Willink said, “Discipline is freedom.” And wealth comes from that freedom.
John D. Rockefeller
"The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well."
How to use it: Excellence in the basics builds empires. Focus. Master the fundamentals and deliver them with discipline. McDonald’s, In-N-Out, Five Guys, Chick-fil-A are all billion-dollar companies that mastered serving common food uncommonly well.
Henry Ford
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right."
How to use it: Your mindset becomes your prophecy. Speak belief into your vision—and work like it’s true. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will either.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
"Any fool can make a fortune. It takes a man of brains to hold onto it."
How to use it: Don’t just chase money—protect it. Build strategy, systems, and habits that sustain wealth over time. Spend less than you earn. Invest a portion of every dollar. Think long term. Wealth isn’t built in a moment—it’s preserved through discipline and patience.
Andrew Mellon
"Give me a man with an average ability but a burning desire to succeed and I will give you a winner in exchange every time."
How to use it: Desire beats talent when talent lacks fire. Keep your hunger alive—and act on it. Desire is the foundation that holds up all other aspects of success. A hungry person will beat a satisfied person every time.
Benjamin Franklin (Would be worth billions today)
"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."
How to use it: Never stop learning. Every book, mentor, or lesson compounds over time—just like capital. Everything comes down to what you know—and how you use it.
Thanks for reading. Your mindset becomes your prophecy. Choose the right one.
Love to you and yours,
Michael