By Mike Enemigo
America’s #1 incarcerated author and CEO of The Cell Block, Mike Enemigo, breaks down the 20 Jewels every self-made millionaire prisoner must possess.
- Dream BIG Dreams. You have to HAVE a dream in order to make a dream come true. Get a vision of the future, believe that you can do whatever you are dreaming.
- Do what you love. Choose a field where you can become totally absorbed in your work. Do what you do for the sheer joy of it.
- Focus on your strengths. Find your special talents and abilities that make you different from everyone else and apply them to your best advantage.
- See yourself as self-employed. Take a high degree of responsibility with whatever company or customer you are working with. Be a team player and stay “results” focused.
- NEVER consider the possibility of failure. Self-made Millionaire prisoners are not gamblers, but are willing to take calculated risks. There is no security in life, only opportunity. Ask yourself what the worst is that can happen … and then make sure that it doesn’t!
- Develop a clear sense of direction. Don’t fail to plan. INTENSE goal orientation is an essential characteristic of all self-made Millionaire Prisoners.
- Develop a “workaholic” mentality. Work 50 hours a week. ALL Self-made Millionaire prisoners work HARD! This is the bottom line. You work 8 hours for survival; everything over 8 is for success.
- Get around the right people; positive, success-minded people! Unfailingly avoid negative people. Hanging around negative people at work or home is enough to condemn a person to failure.
- Be teachable. Be open to new information. Remain curious, interested, questioning, and open to new knowledge.
- Be prepared to climb from peak to peak. Rarely is success one long upward progression. Prepare yourself for the cycles of ups and downs, ebb and flow, regression and progression.
- Develop resilience and bounce back after temporary defeats or disappointments. Everyone faces setbacks and obstacles, but the high achiever is the person who mentally prepares for them in advance and then takes them in stride. ALL self-made Millionaire prisoners have suffered resounding defeatsbefore “making it.”
- Focus on continuous personal development. All self-made Millionaire prisoners spend A LOT of time on personal development. Commit yourself to becoming a perpetual “learning machine.” Read books and magazines that enrich your mind and develop your skills. Listen to audio CDs and read books by the experts in your field.
- Be an unshakable optimist. This is a very rare trait, but it can be developed through practice if you don’t currently possess it. Expect to GAIN something positive from every good, or bad situation.
- Dedicate yourself to serving others. Maintain a preoccupation with serving your customers. Do something that benefits others in some way.
- Develop a reputation for speed and dependability. The easiest, most valuable quality you can develop is a “sense of urgency,” a bias for action, a drive to move quickly. Less than 2% of the population moves quickly.
- Be impeccably honest with yourself and others. Integrity is an indispensable perquisite for business success. All successful relationships are built on trust.
- Concentrate single-mindedly on one thing at a time. High achievers do “first things first,” and one thing at a time. They persevere without diversion or distraction.
- Be decisive. Take time to think, and then ACT. Be quick on your feet, willing to make mistakes and admit error, if appropriate.
- Back your plans and goals with persistence and determination. Resolve in advance that you will NEVER give up. Your greatest asset will be your willingness to stay at it longer than ANYONE else!
- Be self-disciplined. Do what you should do when you should do it, whether you like it or not.
About the author: Mike Enemigo is a successful “prisonpreneur” who turned his dirty hustle clean. He’s the founder and executive publisher of The Cell Block, a company that only publishes works created inside prison. Among them are The Millionaire Prisoner; Get Out, Get Rich: How to Get Paid LEGALLY When You Get Out of Prison!; and The CEO Manual: How to Start Your Own Business When You Get Out of Prison! For more info, visit thecellblock.net.
