Today We Are Rich: A book review by Bob Morris

A grandmother for all seasons
In this his latest book, Tim Sanders creates a context for several concepts introduced in earlier works. More specifically, the lessons he learned from a grandmother who raised him after the death of his mother. As Sanders explains, his grandmother probably had the greatest influence on his professional as well as personal development. When introducing the first of seven principles of Total Confidence, that fact immediately becomes obvious:

Principle 1: Feed Your Mind Good Stuff
“She avoided “gossip snipes” as if they had an infectious disease. She even dumped negative-minded friends after one too many offenses. When one of the ladies at our church asked her why a Christian woman would quit friends over the words they used, Billye would quote The Power of Positive Thinking: “What comes out of the mind is what you put in the mind. You must feed your mind like you feed your body.”

“You should be as careful about what you put into your mind as about what you put into your mouth. Your mind is a machine. When you ingest a piece of information, your mind goes to work, chewing on it, digesting it, and then converting it into a thought. When good stuff goes into your mind, good thoughts emerge. People who maintain purposeful mind diets of positive stimuli think healthy thoughts.

This extended excerpt offers some indication of how and why Billye’s influence on young Sanders was so significant. With regard to the other six principles, they are:

Principle 2: Move the Conversation Forward
Principle 3: Exercise Your Gratitude Muscle
Principle 4: Give to Be Rich
Principle 5: Prepare Yourself
Principle 6: Balance Your Confidence
Principle 7: Promise Made, Promise Kept

My grandmother arrived from Sweden as a teenaged servant to a wealthy family living in the Hyde Park. Eventually, she married and had four children. After my parents divorced, my mother and I moved in with Edith Johnson in a large house shared with other relatives. My mother worked six days a week (and frequently several evenings) to earn enough to support us and so I was raised by my grandmother. I think she and Billye were kindred spirits.

This is Tim Sanders’ most important book, at least thus far, because he focuses so eloquently on values and behavior that ultimately determine how “rich” or impoverished a person is. For him and for me, and probably for many others, the value of having a grandmother for all seasons is incalculable.