The Richest Man In Babylon – Book Review

Short Review: The Richest Man in Babylon is an excellent book.

I first heard about this book about 5 years ago when I was working as a web designer for a Newspaper. At that time, I was just getting into Internet Marketing and looking to start my own web design business (which was a bad move as it was not passive and some customers think because they have paid you for a website that you will do unlimited alterations to it for free for the rest of time).

A blog I had started reading (I think it was internetbusinessmastery.com) mentioned how the author made and lost a fortune but came back and made another fortune and gave credit to the principles in The Richest Man in Babylon for helping him accomplish that feat.
I read the introduction to The Richest Man in Babylon in a Waterstones book shop on my lunch break that day and I hated it! I thought it was stupid, like feel good stuff that has no substance. I seemed so ridiculous.
A few months ago a friend lent me the book. So I read it in about 3 days and skim read it twice more so the principles were embedded into my conscious and subconscious mind.
Now, the the principles are habits for me. My wealth is escalating at a quicker rate than ever before. I’m no longer wasting money on pointless shit that I don’t need. I’m now investing at least the first 10% of my income in my own business before I do anything else (even pay bills). This will help me grow my business even more.

The Richest Man in Babylon has 7 basic principles:

1. Start thy purse to fattening – Save/Invest to make more wealth.
2. Control thy expenditures – Watch out for get rich quick schemes.
3. Make thy gold multiply – Use powerful investments.
4. Guard thy treasures from loss – Watch out for brokers with their hot tips.
5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment – Rental properties, your own home (but stay within your means).
6. Insure a future income – Do work that you love to do. Become excellent at it.
7. Increase thy ability to earn – Business education never ends. Keep reading good books like this one, The Millionaire Next Door, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Four Hour Work Week, Cashflow Quadrant and so on.

Although it is only 145 pages, it is packed with powerful information that can be life changing. It has helped some people like Jim Rohn and others become millionaires.

George Samuel Clason was born in Louisiana, Missouri, on November 7, 1874. He attended the University of Nebraska and served in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War. Beginning a long career in publishing, he founded the Clason Map Company of Denver, Colorado and published the first road atlas of the United States and Canada. In 1926, he issued the first in a series of pamphlets on thrift and financial success, using parables set in ancient Babylon to make each of his points.

These were distributed in large quantities by banks and insurance companies and became familiar to millions, the most famous being “The Richest Man in Babylon,” the parable which has impacted the lives of millions of people. These “Babylonian Parables” have become a modern inspirational classic.

The Richest Man in Babylon is must reading for anyone who wants to achieve maximum financial success. I Highly recommend it to anyone who wants to run their own business either online or offline. It can even help those of you who just want to get out of debt. You can pick up the kindle version from Amazon for about $0.99 (£0.99). You can thank me later.