Three Big Takeaways:
 

1. Reshape life's focus on producing, not consuming. When you reframe your thinking from consumer to producer, you effectively switch teams and allegiances. You become a producer first and a consumer second. This means instead of buying products on TV, sell products. Instead of taking a class, offer a class. Instead of borrowing money, lend it. Break free from consumption, and reorient to the world as a producer. Once you see the world from a producer perspective, your perception sharpens like a fine-tuned radio frequency. Suddenly, opportunities have clarity. Being rich starts with a producer mindset. (pg. 117)
    

2. Take a look around. How do your friends and family value their time? Are they standing in line to save 4 bucks? Are they driving 40 minutes to save $10? Are they parked on the sofa anxiously waiting to see who wins Dancing with the Stars? The average American watches more than four hours of TV each day. And at 65 years of life, that person will have spent nine years glued to the tube. Show me someone who spends hours playing Clash of Clans or Candy Crush, and I'll show you someone who probably isn't very successful. Majority thinking yields mediocrity, and for that majority, time is an asset that is undervalued and mindlessly squandered. Instead of wasting 9 years on Game of Thrones and How I Met Your Mother, why not invest those 9 years into a business system that can pay dividends for the next 30 Years? (pg. 180)
    

3. Education is free for your consumption. Infinite knowledge is at your fingertips. Turn off the TV, pick up a book.  Quit playing fantasy football and hit the library. Quit the Xbox and hit the books. You have the innate power to become an expert at anything not requiring physical talent. The expertise for any discipline not requiring physical coordination is out there. What does it take? Your commitment of pursuit, and then applying it. (pg. 189)
   
    

Other Key Ideas:​​​​
 

A person under the age of 55 is 69.7% likely to have zero net worth, or negative net worth. An estimated 54% of all households in the United States have less than $100,000 in net worth. 83% of all under 35 households had a net worth less than $100,000. A person in the 34 to 44 age range has a median net worth of $18,197, excluding home equity. A person in the age range of 45 to 54 has a median net worth of $38,626, excluding home equity. (pg. 35)

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You have a poverty mindset when you put faith into politicians and government to change the system, instead of focusing on how you can change yourself. “A bigger government is the solution. More regulation, more programs, and more services. The government should serve the people. Rich people should pay more in taxes for their good fortune – they can afford it and I can't!” (pg. 36)

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You have a poverty mindset when you immerse yourself in alternate realities, including website celebrity gossip blogs, television, sports, video games, or soap operas. “I just love American Idol, The Walking Dead, and Law & Order. Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m, I know exactly where I'll be.” (pg. 37)

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In pop culture, master illusionists of wealth are called 30k millionaires. It characterizes someone who maintains a millionaire image, yet has no net worth. They drive entry-level BMWs, wear fancy designer clothes, and order bottle service, on credit. They act like they are rich, but behind it all, they are miserable magicians of poverty. (pg. 43)

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Affordability is when you don't have to think about it. How do you know you can afford it? If you pay cash in your lifestyle doesn't change regardless of future circumstances, you can afford it. If you can buy a boat, pay cash, and are not affected by unexpected bumps in the road, you can afford it. This is how affordability is measured against your level of wealth. (pg. 48)

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Instant gratification is a populist plague and its predominant side effects are easily spotted: debt and obesity. Most Americans are obese because the easiest instant gratification comes from food. When you plot your butt on the recliner and maul through a can of Pringles, you choose pleasure now in lieu of pain later. If you live with your parents and you financed $45,000 over 72 months for a new Mustang with a $31,000 a year bartenders wage, you let instant gratification win. Wealth, like health, isn't easy. They both require discipline, sacrifice, persistence, commitment, and delayed gratification. If you can't immunize yourself from the temptations of instant gratification, you'll be hard-pressed to find success in either health or wealth. (pg. 49)

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Those who refuse to get out of poverty are a major constituency in all countries. These people seek the easy life yet want someone else to pay for it. They believe the government should do more for them. They are victims of the system. They’re life's victims because they were dealt a bad hand. They vote for whatever politician promises them the world at no cost. Free health care. Free education. Free gas. Free mortgages. (pg. 57) 

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You can either live rich young or live rich old while risking death along the way. Rich at 25 years old beats the snot out of rich at 65 years old. Wealth is best lived young and enjoyed while you have health, energy, and maybe even some hair. Wealth is best lived in the prime of your life, not in its twilight after forty years of 50-hour workweeks have pulverized your dreams into surrender. (pg. 65)

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When a corporate CEO cash is 20 million dollars in stock options, have you ever looked at their age? Exclusive of the founders and owners, most of them are in their 50s and 60s. Obviously, the roads through corporate management don't happen overnight. From mailroom to CEO can take 40 years. And if it does, you get there by working hard. Sorry, but waiting for a golden parachute after 40 Years of patience and prayer isn’t a gamble I'd like to bet. (pg. 100)

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Publishing a book puts you into the fastlane universe.  First, it survives time and is capable of earning income long after my original time investment. From start to finish, the book cost roughly 1,000 hours of my time. If I sell a hundred thousand books at $5 profit each, I earn roughly $500 per hour invested. The more I sell, the greater the return on my original investment. (pg. 118)

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Content survives time. This book might have taken me years to write, but it also survives years. If someone buys this book 5 years from now, I will earn a small profit on a time investment I made years earlier. The content is an asset that is salable, over and over again, and with each sale, the hourly rate of return expands. (pg. 133)

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Focusing on making money may require you to turn your back at the people who spew foul headwinds in your direction. You have to break free of society's gravitational force and their expectations. If you aren't mindful to this natural gravity, life can deteriorate into a vicious self-perpetuating cycle, which is society's prescription for normal: get up, go to work, come home, eat, watch a few episodes of Law & Order, go to bed … then repeat year after year. Before you know it, 45 years have passed. Time passes, dreams die, and what remains? An old, withered body forlorn for what could have been. (pg. 175)

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I've learned that significant others can be some of the biggest headwinds out there. If your partner doesn't subscribe to an entrepreneurial philosophy, can you expect to grow together? Bad relationships are roadblocks to significant wealth. They drain energy and dim dreams. Why compound your journey by weighing down the car with someone who doesn't share your destination? Are you in the right relationship with the person who believes in you and your goals? Or is your relationship just comfortable enough to stand Pat? If so, it might be time to evaluate your passenger. (pg. 178)

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Why will most people never get rich? Look no further than a $6 bucket of chicken. People flock to restaurants and wait hours for a free $6 bucket of chicken. Know anyone who would stand in line for hours just to get something free? These people value their time at zero. They're convinced that time is an abundant, endless supply. They live their lives as if they were immortal. They are certain that time never runs empty. Value your time poorly and you will be poor. (pg. 179)

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Why do so few get rich while the rest will go from paycheck to paycheck? The distinction lies in the evaluation of free time. Guess the behaviors – rich or poor? This person sleeps until noon. This person watches hours of reality TV. This person drives 2 hours to save $20. This person buys airline tickets with multiple layovers to save $100. This person spends hours surfing social networks. This person is to level 10 in World of Warcraft. This person watches every Chicago Cubs game. (pg. 184)

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What idiot would pay $50,000 to attend a seminar? Many do. Do you know what you're buying? Let me tell you. You're paying $50,000 for someone to explain a book that's found at the bookstore for 19 bucks. People are lazy. People want it handed to them. They don't want to read and connect the dots. They want to be steered and handheld or have it done for them entirely. People want events, not process. (pg. 193)

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Your spouse is your lifelong partner, and if your roads don't run parallel, it could be rough riding ahead. Today's road that diverges 1 degree from your partner's road will be diverged 90 degrees years from now. Personally, I'm not interested in relationships that are good enough, but relationships that empower both individuals to be their best. (pg. 316)