Book Review: The Unemployed Millionaire
Escape the Rat Race, Fire Your Boss, and Live Life on YOUR Terms
I purchased this book from Amazon.com last week, and it sat on my coffee table until today. I can’t remember the last time I’ve picked up a book and read it all within a day, but that is what I did with The Unemployed Millionaire by Matt Morris (I started it at a coffee shop this morning and finished it at home tonight). I think I liked it just as much as The 4-Hour Work Week.
If you are like me and don’t have any plans to “escape the rat race, fire your boss, and live life on YOUR terms”, this book can still help us all. I took notes today and have posted them below in case you won’t have time to read the book. If you do read the book, I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I’d love to compare my notes with your own. Since it is getting late I need to head to bed but wanted to share as soon as I could, so forgive any spelling or grammar errors as I am copying/pasting straight from my word processor.
Key Points & Takeaways
- Introduction
- When he turned four years old, his parents divorced. A year later, his father broke into their home and murdered my mother’s boyfriend by shooting him dead right in front of her. After serving his time in prison, he returned to severed alcoholism while my mom raised me, working two jobs with no child support and on food stamps at times, while working to finish her degree. When he was 13 years old, his father committed suicide. When he turned 18, he decided to become an entrepreneur and by 21, he was such a miserable failure I ended up $30,000 in debt, homeless, and living out of my little beat-up Honda Civic, bathing in gas station bathrooms.
- By age 21 he was a self-made millionaire. By age 32 he has generated well over $20,000,000 for his companies and feels like he is just getting started.
- The book starts with Morris in a college Marketing class. The professor, Dr. Nguyen, won’t let students go to the bathroom and if they do go to the bathroom they are considered “absent”. Additionally, for each class, he has assigned seating.
- The professor said the only way to really “make it” in business is to have a degree. The only way to be “great” at business is to have a master’s degree. The only way to really climb the corporate ladder is to get a PhD. Morris has a desire to work and not hear theories from professors who have never stepped foot in the business world, which leaves him to literally stand up and leave the Marketing class one day and never return to college.
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”
— Ben Franklin
The Rock Bottom Moment
Would sleep in his car in church parking lots because he figured “criminals who might want to rob me (as if I had anything to take) might think twice doing it at a church”
One night it was pouring rain, so he decided to take a bar of soap and try bathing in the rain. He says “if you’ve ever showed in the rain, you’ve learned as I did that even when it’s raining really hard, it takes a long time to shower because there’s no concentration of water like there is from a shower head. I said to myself, this is going to take all night! Then my second stroke of genius hit me. Looking over at the church, which had no gutters, there was a huge concentration of runoff from the roof pouring down onto the asphalt. I walked myself under the runoff and had my shower! After getting back in my car and drying off, I did some serious soul-searching. I was 21 years old, homeless, sleeping in my car, lonely, over $30,000 in debt, and bathing in gas station bathrooms – I even showered naked in a public church parking lot because I stunk so bad. That was my wake-up call. I committed that night, even though I had no idea how, that I was going to turn my life around and become a huge success.”
The ONE and ONLY Formula for Success
(Your success is equal to your level of skill multiplied by your level of effort.)
Core Success Principles
Limiting Beliefs
I’m here to tell you that whatever limiting beliefs you’ve created for yourself are absolute and total crap and are nothing more than a story you’ve made up about yourself.
Embrace Failure
The most successful people in the world actually have more failures than the rest. Tom Watson, the founder of IBM, once said that if you want to greatly increase your chance of success, double your rate of failure.
Mindset Matters
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, for it will become your destiny.” – Frank Outlaw
The Key Characteristics for Achieving Any Goal
- You must have a specific goal.
- You must have a specific time frame to achieve your goal.
- You must write your goal down.
- You must determine a compelling purpose why you must achieve your goal.
- You must develop an action plan to reach your goal.
- You must think about and look at your goal every day.
Simple Goal-Setting Sheet
- Goal and Deadline
- Purpose for Achieving Goal
- Action Plan for Achieving Goal
Leadership Laws
#1 – The Dream
The leader always has a dream larger than those he or she leads.
#2 – The Vision
The leader always conveys an inspiring vision.
#3 – The Attitude
The leader always has a superior attitude than those he or she leads.
#4 – The Bar
The leader sets the bar high.
“Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.”
— Margaret Bonnano
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
— Albert Schweitzer
Stephanie says:
Wow! This looks like a great book! I’m going to have to get it. I especially like where he warns about getting caught in the cycle of mediocrity. So often, it’s easy to get caught up in things being “good enough”. One of my major pet peeves is when people tell me I should just be happy I HAVE a job. End of story. That has never sat well with me. It’s true we need to be grateful for what we have (and I am!) But, I don’t see anything wrong with wanting something more – or different. It’s how we grow. If we don’t WANT for more, we’ll never DO what it it takes to BE more and be Great!
Anyway, thanks for sharing this great recap! I’m going to track this book down this week!
Matt says:
Hey Jeremy, saw your Twitter message. Thanks for the post about the book – great notes!
All the best,
Matt Morris
Jaca Collins says:
These are my sentiments exactly! I think this message needs to be heard on a massive scale. Too many people are not taking advantage of all of the opportunities that are prevalent in America today. Why do people stand in unemployment lines? It is unneccessary. That is industrial age thinking. THere are over 600 network marketing companies that offer unprecedented opportunity. There are internet businesses galore that offer income. I know at least 25 people in my personal circle of influence that are earning 100,000k to 4 million a year FROM HOME. Matt exemplifies a small but growing breed of entrepreneurs that are saying, “I am the master of my fate”. Not the stock market, not the employer, not the credit system. This is hte information AGE hooray!! And i choose to live in it, personally grow in it, and profit from it. Thank you for your review. This book is a keeper! If you haven’t read it. Read Beach Money by my friend Jordan Adler. Matt and Jordan’s book should get everyone fired up to pursue their dreams. Thanks again. I am going to buy the book today and then write my own!!!
Antonietta Furblur says:
Howdy, your site is on air in the radio! Good job mate. Your posts are truly great and bookmarked. Regards
Terrilyn Scalzo says:
I am normally not the kind of person to submit my opinion on people’s articles, but for this post I simply needed to do it. I have been searching through your site a lot nowadays and I’m super impressed, I think you might really emerge as a main opinions for your niche. Not sure what your workload is like in life, but if you started commiting more time to writing here, I would bet you would begin receiving a mass of traffic eventually. With advertisements, it could emerge as a nice passive revenue source. Just a concept to ponder. Good luck!
Clarentino says:
Stumbled on your website while looking for more info about Unemployed Millionaire. thanks for the awesome review.
Alex says:
Amazing,where can i get this book in Nairobi,Kenya and how can i learn more about Morris business
Shane says:
Enjoyed the review on Matt’s book. He is a great leader and mentor in our company!! If anyone is wanting more information on the successful company we are apart of, you can email me @ smew@att.net
Leo Boon says:
What a magnificent summary of this book!
I was seeking more info on this book…and came across this superb write up.
Thanks a million.
HLeo Boon.
SURJIT SINGH WARAICH says:
Great book for every business. Must own & read.
pius says:
motivation book indeed,must own and read…thanks for the winner’s attitude!!!
Bernard says:
Thanks alot,i must own this book.
Phillipa says:
I meet Matt over 5 years ago, he is my mentor and friend I have a signed copy of his book love it, I am so please to see how he has grown over the years.
Myxi says:
Wow….it is amazing
Thanks Jeremy for sharing and Matt…. for what is posted here I decide to go these weekend in Bucharest to see you face to face at the Official Beginning in Romania of the business which we are part of….
Unbelievable words
Ahmed Ali abdi says:
What a great recap! I really enjoyed it and would like to have more or whatever it takes, i must get such a great book and share it’s summary with people the way you did it. Anyway thanks for sharing with us this tremendous recap!.