“Stinkin’ Rich By 30–10 Steps On The Path To Cash” by Loral Langemeier

Loral began her career working for the Chevron Corporation right out of college. It was clear to her early on that there was more to life than cubicles and trading her time for dollars. Despite her own fears and persuasion from friends and family against it, Loral quit her job at Chevron to become an Executive Coach.

Loral will be hosting a wine tasting and networking meeting for all investors at Ron’s upcoming Great American Real Estate Summit 2016, as well as one of our Sharks and delivering a keynote speech.

Here’s the 10 steps:

1) Stare in the Mirror. Ask yourself out loud, “What am I good at? What skill set do I possess?” Whatever your skill set is, somebody is probably already paying you to do that. So, why not do it on your own? You need to be finding a way to be entrepreneurial with it and make money. Now. As a young person, you have an advantage of having fewer responsibilities at this point in your life and the time to analyze yourself. The path to a million starts with you knowing you have a million-dollar skill set and you’re worth a million. When you do this, then you can live in an entrepreneurial, creative space with an expansive mindset.

2) Don’t Start from Scratch. A lot of people think being an entrepreneur means coming up with something totally new. False. What you need to do is find someone who is doing what you want to do and model them every day. How do they market? How do they sell? Why are they successful? Ask these things and create your own model off of their model. No need to reinvent anything. Refreshen and refine the idea.

3) Be an Annoying Little Brother or Sister. If you have a younger sibling, you know what I mean by “annoying.” They always follow you everywhere. Well, you need to be exactly that to someone you look up to. You’ve got to get a mentor. You have got to get somebody in your life playing a bigger and better game. If you’re not a millionaire, get with a millionaire. If you’re worth a million, you get somebody worth $5 million. Your job is to find somebody who is doing what you want to do and model them every day. Get in deep with the circles you want to hang with. Even if you aren’t from that structure, you’ll learn that structure. It’ll show you lots of lessons that you’ll have to use every day in the future. A lot of entrepreneurs have no structure. I moved into millionairedom at a young age (34), but I knew what to do when it came to every situation.

4) Write it Down. Some young people I’ve met have a bad habit of having dreams but not going after them. Actually, this pretty much goes for all age ranges, but the point is the same: You need to write down what you want. What do you want? After you have this, start backing into it. If you want an extra $500,000 per year, you need $41,700 per month. That’s $1,390 every day. Divide your large goals into smaller goals and start conquering them. Making your millionaire roadmap is key.

5) “Say YES! and Figure out How:” If you’ve heard this before, it’s because it’s single-handedly been the biggest key to success in my life. You’ll never hear me say “no.” When a problem comes up, an issue arises or a question is asked, the answer is always “yes.” You start with “yes,” and then you figure out if you can do it or if you know someone who can do it. Start saying “YES!” in your life daily and watch how your attitude toward everything changes. No goal is out of reach when you’re in this mindset. The truest entrepreneurs say “YES!” and go from there.

6) Beat People Up…With Your Energy! When you get into the habit of saying “YES!” all the time, your energy becomes so forceful that nothing can stop it. This “YES!” energy always wins. People who have “No” energy are the excuse-makers, the storytellers, the people who say “But I can’t…” Enough of that. No time for that. I guarantee you the strongest energy in the room will always win.

7) Run Away! The biggest mistake younger generations make when it comes to money is entitlement. There’s a lack of competition. There’s a lack of entitlement. Kids are living at home with parents until age 26 or 28. They’re over-educated and keep going back to school as opposed to getting mentors and getting on the street and becoming entrepreneurs with people that have already been there. Young people, you need to leave home, start new and take risks.

8) Ask for Cash: Truth is, a lot of us are entrepreneurs to some degree now. You may do side work for somebody or give people free advice on knowledge that took you time and money to acquire. Stop that. Know your value and get your value. Most people are too afraid to ask for cash, but how are you going to become a millionaire if you don’t ask for cash? I’ve been in cab rides with extra copies of some of my books and had people ask me, “Can I have an extra copy?” I said, “Sure, you got $10?” Don’t be afraid to get what you’re worth. And in entrepreneurship, you quickly learn to make the cash, keep the cash and make more of it as fast as you can.

9) Be Resilient: People look at my life and say, “Gee, Loral, you’re so fortunate to have a great life!” Ha, if only! I’ve been through million-dollar divorces, failed businesses, single-motherhood—you name it. I’ve had huge issues come up in my life, whether it be personal or professional, but you have to be resilient and keep your energy. Once something breaks you down, it’s tough to build yourself back up.

10) Spend Smart. You’ll notice that I didn’t say “save smart.” First of all, “saving” isn’t what millionaires do. They spend properly and invest properly. Get out of the “saving” mindset. Think about how much you would have to save to reach a million. Crazy, right? So, be smart with your money and allocate it where it will bring you the most results. Don’t overspend on your lifestyle. Keep your spending business-invested.