Book Tamers| book reviews

One of the most important qualities of an informative book, no matter the domain, is the accessibility of the message. The book has to be read and understood easily. If it is about a dry domain as personal finances, the achievement is even greater. From this point of view, I have discovered a diamond. Being a field which captivates me, I read anything that is published, no matter the publishing house, author, the quality of the printing or the appearance. I have no preconceptions and I try to get the message as well as I can. The publishing house of this book has as its main domain esoteric books therefore one wouldn’t expect to find books about financial education there.

The Instant Millionaire is a pleasant reading even from the first pages. The author chooses to use classic writing techniques, but perfect for his purpose; I only note a few of them: the esoteric journey, the master-disciple relationship, the allegory. Basically, it is about a young man who wants to become rich and becomes a millionaire’s disciple who will tell him a special secret: how to become rich over night.

Do not expect financial revelations or investment techniques. These are methods, not ways. The message is clear: wealth is achieved beginning from the inside, by changing the mentality and the way one looks upon oneself and the reality around.

All really important financial education books emphasize this aspect: beginning with excerpts from the Bible (don’t laugh, I’m not joking!) and ending with Kiyosaki, the books dealing with this subject state that:
- wealth is an interior state of being, determined by the confidence in the self, in the fact that one deserves to become rich;
- it is achieved by minutely setting goals, mentioning the quantity (I want to have assets and liabilities worth 3 million $), and the time at hand to reach them (I want to get the money in 3 years);
- one must benefit from all the opportunities one has, immediately and without hesitation.

The Instant Millionaire emphasizes very well these phases, but touches other sensitive spots too, like the ways to exploit the extraordinary power of the subconscious, the way to relate to obstacles (they must be treated as opportunities and exploited as though), the way to look upon the issue of wealth, a.s.o.

You might say that these are not new things, that you have read them in other personal development or financial education books. True, but the way they are presented by Mark Fisher, the accessibility of the concepts achieved through the use of the story and narration bring great service to the reception of the message. In the end the reader can say that he or she has clearly understood what the author wanted to transmit, and has integrated the concepts in the mind. There is a reason for which Plato has chosen this dialogue technique, also used by the author.

However, the book is only an introduction in this area, it doesn’t go into details. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the author didn’t make a goal from going into details. It remains a foundation stone in the ground that each of us should build, that of competence in personal finances.

 Written by Luca