A man observes evergreens growing along the roadside and thinks that they look pretty, covered with snow. Another man sees the same trees and thinks, "These trees would look good in people's living rooms at Christmas. I wonder what they would pay for them?"

The first man has an ordinary mind. The second, the mind of a natural-born moneymaker.

In The Prime Movers, Edwin A. Locke provides some interesting insights into the way moneymakers think:

He argues that an active, inquisitive mind is a hallmark of the successful entrepreneur. The most successful entrepreneurs in history, he says, had this sort of mind.

• Thomas Edison: He was a "virtual thinking machine. Almost until the day he died, his mind poured forth a torrent of ideas, and he might track as many as 60 experiments at a time in his laboratory."

• Steve Jobs: He bombarded people with his ideas – his investors, his board of directors, his customers, his subordinates, and his CEO.

• Henry Ford: "He threw himself into every detail, insisting on getting small things absolutely right... But he never lost sight of the ultimate, overall objection. He had a vision of what his new car (the Model T) should look like. From all the improvisation, hard thought, and hard work came a machine that was at once the simplest and the most sophisticated automobile built to date anywhere in the world."

This is the first of several essays I'll be writing on this point: how to think like a multimillionaire (taken from the concepts I've learned from 2 multimillioinares that are my personal mentors).

And here's the goal: to help you discover exactly how they do what they do by figuring out how they think. If you study this and subsequent essays seriously – and implement the suggestions I'll be making – you may be able to "upgrade" your brain to one that will allow you to have the kind of life they enjoy.

To get started, here are some observations I've made from studying my two multimillionaire mentors and from reading about great wealth builders like Jobs and Edison and Ford.

1. A "normal" person is concerned with protecting his ego. When dealing with a problem he doesn't really understand, he pretends he understands the contributing factors and doesn't try to find out what anyone else thinks. A person with a multimillionaire mind asks questions incessantly. He has no ego when it comes to learning. He knows that knowledge is power.

2. A "normal" person has a consumer mentality. He looks at a hot new product and thinks about how he would like to own one. A person with a multimillionaire mind has an entrepreneurial men-tality. He looks at it and thinks, "How can I produce this or something similar in my own industry?"

3. A "normal" person is wish-focused. He daydreams about making gobs of money. A person with a multimillionaire mind is reality-based. He is always analyzing his own success and the success of others and wondering how he could learn from it.

4. A "normal" person, when confronted with a challenging idea, thinks of all the reasons why it might not work. A person with a multimillionaire mind sees the potential in it and disregards the problems until he has a clear vision of how it might succeed.

5. A "normal" person resists change. A person with a multimillionaire mind embraces it.

6. A "normal" person accepts the status quo. A person with a multimillionaire mind is always looking to make things – even good things – better.

7. A "normal" person reacts. A person with a multimillionaire mind is proactive.

8. A "normal" person looks at a successful business owner and thinks, "That guy's lucky." Or "That guy's a shyster." A person with a multimillionaire mind thinks, "What's his secret?" And, "How can I do that?"

Most importantly, a person with a multimillionaire's mind likes living like a multimillionaire. He doesn't shortchange himself when it comes to comfort and luxury. Rather than believing always that pain leads to gain, he thinks, "If I'm smart I can have my cake and eat it too.

You can start your mental transformation by studying this list and assessing your own impulses. Be honest. Identify the habits you don't have and try to develop them. Rather than think of this process as work, think of it as fun.

You best life now begins with a decision . . .