Albert Einstein had it. So did Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and many other historical greats who we now consider geniuses.

Curiosity leads to new discoveries and innovation. Those who practice the Curiosity Rich Habit every day go on to achieve amazing things in life and in the process make themselves very wealthy. 

Curiosity is a Rich Habit because it is the precursor to learning and growth. Those who possess the Curiosity Rich Habit never stop learning and, thus, never stop growing.

When I discovered this common trait among the millionaires in my Rich Habit Study, I adopted it. I developed two processes, two tools, to help me build my Curiosity Rich Habit:

Fact Binder

Every day I add new facts that I uncover in my daily reading. This forces me to become curious about acquiring new knowledge.

I separated these facts into categories, or topics, that allow me to add new facts to the summary sheets for each category. Here are just a few of my categories:

• Current Year Facts – Each year I list certain facts specific to a year, such as the winners of major sporting events, current heads of government, major events that occur (hurricanes, earthquakes, scientific discoveries, etc.).
• Summary Facts – I summarize the most historically significant facts, such as the 10 Amendments, important Supreme Court decisions, athletic firsts, longest rivers, etc.
• History – I document significant historical facts, such as the make up of the U.S. Constitution, the Louisiana Purchase, a list of all of the Presidents of the U.S., etc.
• Studies – I have over 300 studies that I’ve read. I document the most significant ones in this section.
• Wealth/Poverty – I document facts surrounding wealth and poverty.

Problems/Ideas Binder

Here I document everyday problems I observe in daily living. I also document certain ideas that pop into my head: ideas for future books, solutions to everyday problems, business ideas, article ideas, etc.

Curiosity forces awareness and awareness, in turn, feeds your curiosity. Successful, wealthy individuals have these two Rich Habits: Curiosity and Awareness. Both force you to grow and continuous growth is a prerequisite for success.

Confidence and health are joined at the hip. High levels of confidence lead to better health and low levels of confidence impair your health.

Low confidence leads to negative thinking: worry, fear, doubt and pessimism. Sustained negative thinking ultimately gives rise to chronic stress.

When you suffer from chronic stress, there is a domino effect of physiology that takes place inside your body.

With normal, short-term stress, the hypothalamus increases the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones make the heart beat faster and prepare the body for fight or flight.

If the stress lingers, however, a gene on chromosome 10, called CYP17, is activated. This gene goes to work to convert cholesterol to cortisol. One of cortisol’s side effects is that it depresses the immune system by reducing the production of lymphocytes – white blood cells. The gene CYP17 also turns on another gene called TCF, which suppresses the production of a protein called interleukin 2. Interleukin 2’s purpose is to put white blood cells on high alert. White blood cells are your body’s main defense against viruses, diseases, germs and any parasites that infect the body.

Lack confidence leads to negative thinking, which leads to chronic stress and this makes you more susceptible to disease, viruses and infections.

How To Boost Your Confidence

I studied 233 millionaires and 128 people struggling with poverty. I uncovered over 300 daily habits that can help you live a happy, healthy, successful life. Here are a few of the confidence-boosting Rich Habits I discovered in my five-year study:

• Daily Learning – Read to learn every day. This reading should be directly related to your chosen field. The more knowledge you acquire, the more confidence you will become on the job.
• Deliberate Practice – Some professions require daily deliberate practice. Deliberate practice may be both physical – swinging a golf club a certain way, and thinking – reviewing facts and information related to your profession. Deliberate practice boosts your confidence.
• Daily Exercise – Exercising every day will help you lose weight, look trim and health and this helps to boost your confidence.
• Overcome Obstacles – Confronting obstacles are a part of life. If you make a habit of surrendering to obstacles, this will impair your confidence. If you make a habit of overcoming obstacles, this will boost your confidence.
• Attack Fear – Fear holds most back from taking action. If, however, you take on an activity that has you riddled with fear, you will find that your fear was exaggerated. When you engage in activities that frighten you, this will boost your confidence.
• Do Good – When you help improve the lives of those around you, this makes you feel like you are adding value to the lives of others and will boost your confidence. Volunteer at community non-profit groups.
• Find Apostles – Surround your self with upbeat, success-minded people. When you surround yourself with the right people, they will encourage and support you. Their positive influence on you will help boost your confidence.
• Be Responsive – Return phone calls, emails, text messages. Not doing so will cause you to subconsciously worry that you are impairing your relationships. Remove that worry and you will boost your confidence.

Sir Isaac Newton

Newton had an apple tree just outside his kitchen. He would periodically sit under that tree, just thinking. One day, Newton became aware of an apple that fell from the tree and the theory of gravity was born, transforming physics. Awareness made that happen.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was sitting in a coffee shop one afternoon. He noticed many people typing away at his Mac computers. He also noticed that the opened laptops displayed an upside down Apple logo. He finished his coffee, went back to Apple’s headquarters and instructed his designers to turn the Apple logo upside down so that when the Apple computer monitor was in the open position, everyone would see the Apple logo, right side up. Awareness made that happen.

Travis Kalanick

Kalanick had trouble hailing a cab one day. He wondered why hailing a cab was not easier. Uber was born. Awareness made that happen.

Benjamin Franklin

Franklin ran a print shop in Philadelphia. He wondered why the work produced in the morning was inferior to the work produced in the afternoon, which lead to a loss in profits. So he watched his workers in the morning and in the afternoon. It was common, in those days for individuals to drink beer with their breakfast, instead of water. Franklin removed all of the beer from his print shop and replaced it with spring water. Immediately, the quality of the morning print jobs improved, which led to higher profits. Awareness made that happen.

Watch what people around you are doing. Most likely, they will be tapping away at their cell phones, completely unaware of what’s going on all around them.

What a shame.

The first Rich Habit is Awareness. Awareness opens your eyes to the world around you. It allows you to see opportunities. And opportunities are all around you.

Every day a new Uber is waiting to be discovered. But opportunities only visit those who make Awareness a habit. When you are constantly distracted, opportunities remain invisible.

The next time you are in an airport, on a bus, in a train or sitting in a waiting room, stop what you doing and watch. Make Awareness a daily habit. Since most of your competition is spending their time distracted by their cell phones or iPads, Awareness offers you a competitive advantage. Be a part of the 1% – the Newton’s, the Job’s, the Kalanick’s and the Franklin’s – who are aware of their surroundings, looking for those opportunities that transform businesses and lives. 

Self-made millionaires are very particular about who they associate with. Their goal is to develop relationships with other success-minded individuals. Some of the individual characteristics self-made millionaires seek include:

• Individuals who are successful or success-minded.
• Individuals with good habits.
• Individuals who are positive, upbeat and optimistic.
• Individuals who are calm and happy.
• Individuals who are able to get along with others.
• Individuals who do not gossip about others.
• Individuals who inspire and motivate.
• Individuals who are enthusiastic.
• Individuals who take personal responsibility for their lives.

At the same time, self-made millionaires also make an effort to eliminate toxic relationships. Toxic relationships have some of the following individual characteristics:

• Individuals who are always experiencing some type of turmoil.
• Individuals with bad habits.
• Individuals who are negative, perpetually depressed, unhappy or pessimistic.
• Individuals who are constantly putting out fires.
• Individuals who are perpetually fighting with someone.
• Individuals who gossip.
• Individuals who are dream killers.
• Individuals who lack enthusiasm.
• Individuals with a victim mindset.
• Individuals who blame others for their problems.

Self-made millionaires use four relationship building strategies to grow and strengthen their relationships:

1. Hello Call – The Hello Call is used primarily to gather information on each contact.
2. Happy Birthday Call – The Happy Birthday Call keeps your relationships on life support. At least once a year you are forced to reach out to your contacts to wish them a happy birthday. About 5-10% of these contacts will reciprocate and call you on your birthday, taking your relationship off life support.
3. Life Event Call – The Life Event Call is the most powerful strategy because it puts your relationships on steroids. This is a call you make to acknowledge some life event: birth, death, engagement, marriage, health issue, etc. Life Event Calls put your relationships on steroids. They grow the roots to the relationship tree deeper and faster than any other relationship-building strategy.
4. Networking/Volunteering – Networking & Volunteering allows you to meet new people and offers the opportunity to showcase your skills in a safe, friendly and stress-free environment. Developing a networking process is critical to success. When you network the right way, you gain customers, clients, strategic business partners, followers and networking partners and this translates into more money. Self-made millionaires are master networkers. Their networking efforts are intended to grow their association with other successful individuals. There are a number of ways these millionaires go about networking:

• They join networking groups/clubs. BNI International is the most popular, but many self-made millionaires often organized their own unique networking groups.
• They joined advisory boards of community businesses.
• They joined local civic groups such as the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Chambers of Commerce, Knights of Columbus, Optimist Club or local business groups.
• They did speaking engagements. Speaking engagements are probably the most efficient networking tool available. One speaking engagement can mean thirty or more potential clients/customers or new relationships. Many individuals fear public speaking. One of the common traits among these millionaires is their ability to overcome their fears. Public speaking sets you apart from the masses. It is a competitive advantage.
• They join non-profit groups and eventually get on the board or run one or more committees. Non-profit groups are a very valuable resource for referrals. It allows you an opportunity to showcase your skills and develop long-lasting relationships. Referrals come from every direction; fellow members, vendors, donors and beneficiaries of the organization. Most board members on non-profits are very successful, wealthy individuals who have strong, powerful relationships. Joining a non-profit grants you access to this treasure trove of valuable relationships of the other volunteers.

When self-made millionaires find someone special, they devote an enormous amount of their time and energy into building a strong relationship with them. Their goal is to grow each new relationship from a sapling into a redwood. They used the Law of Reciprocity to very rapidly turn their new relationships into redwoods.

Here’s how this law works: each day you dedicate a portion of your day to improving the life of just one of your valued relationships. Spend time each day helping your relationship achieve their goals, improve their careers or grow their business. Fifteen to thirty minutes a day is all it takes. Eventually these valued relationships will become your biggest cheerleaders, best salespeople and best referral source. This strategy also opens doors to new contacts.

“How will this move me forward?”

That is the only question you need to ask. When should you ask yourself this question?

• When You Are Angry
• When You Are Sad
• When You Want Revenge
• When You Feel Like Quitting
• Before You Gamble
• Before You Turn on the TV
• Before You Click on Facebook
• Before You Surf the Internet
• Before You Spend Money
• Before You Take Another Drink
• Before You Cheat on Your Spouse
• Before You Gossip
• Before You Engage in a Bad Habit
• Before You Light That Cigarette
• When You Feel Like Hitting Someone
• When You Feel Like Sleeping Another Hour
• When You Feel Lazy
• When You Feel Jealous

Those who succeed in life focus on their destination. They do not allow anything to distract them or take them off their path. They are only focused on one thing – moving forward. Anything that does not help them move forward, they ignore, shake off or avoid.

Geese fly in a “V” Formation. Why?

By flapping their wings in this “V” formation, geese create increased uplift. This joint effort increases their range by 70%, than if they were flying alone.

“One hundred organized men can always defeat one thousand disorganized ones.” Lenin

One of the common attributes of self-made millionaires is their ability to forge strong relationships with other success-minded individuals. Their objective is to surround themselves with individuals who can help them achieve achieve their dreams and realize the goals behind their dreams.

There is nothing that can’t be accomplished when the right people work together in any worthy cause.

The most successful people are the best team-builders.

Find success-minded individuals, then build a relationship with them.

Not sure where to look? Find a local, community-based non-profit that you believe in and join it. The individuals who run the board and the committees are almost always the most successful people in town.

T. Harv Eker, in his book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, stated that true happiness lies in the intersection of what excites you and what you do for a living.

When what you do for a living excites you, you will devote significantly more time and engage in more deliberate practice in your “work”.

Those who rise to the level of exceptional, put in more hours of practice in what they do then their competition. What fuels them is their desire to do what they do. That desire is not something that can be willed into existence. There must be some underlying why that motivates an individual to devote more time to practicing their craft. In most cases, that why is having a passion for an activity or being excited every time you engage in the activity.

Liking or loving what you do is the key.

In the book, Talent is Overrated, the author found in his extensive research that those who were the most successful in their careers, devoted many more hours to their craft than their competition. These exceptional individuals found something they liked doing and, thus, devoted more time to it. Their why was excitement. They were excited every time they practiced their craft.

So, what excites you? What makes your heart sing? What activity gets you up in the morning?

When you find the answer to that question, you will have found your true calling in life.

Don’t spend your life doing something that bores you. Find what excites you and devote your entire life to it. Happiness and success will follow.

When your values are off, when what’s truly important in life is forgotten or overlooked, it’s easy to become a victim of the influences of your environment.

The phrase “keeping up with the Joneses,” originated with Arthur (Pop) Momand’s Keep Up With The Joneses comic strip in the New York Globe. The strip was first published in 1913 and became popular quite quickly. By September 1915, a cartoon film of the same name was touring US cinemas.

The ‘Joneses’ in the cartoon weren’t based on anyone in particular. It was a very common name and ‘the Joneses’ was merely a generic name for ‘the neighbors’. Keeping up with the Joneses is construed to mean striving to match your neighbours in spending and social standing.

But the Joneses are no longer confined to the neighborhood. They are everywhere – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and TV reality shows.

We see pictures on Facebook of people living in beachfront homes, showing off their new vacation home, driving expensive cars, toting around the latest Burberry or vacationing in some exotic place.

Thanks to the Internet, our perception of the ideal standard of living has moved beyond the neighborhood. The Joneses are now everywhere and it’s far easier to become a victim of super-sizing your lifestyle in an attempt to keep up with those omnipresent Joneses, leading many to incur debt they will never be able to repay.

When your definition of success is what the Kardashian’s or the Housewives of LA are doing or buying, it’s safe to say, you’ve lost your way – and your values. 

Your lifestyle end zone should not be defined by the Joneses. Your ideal life should be defined by what is truly important to living a happy, successful life: family, friends, relationships and having enough wealth to meet your basic needs. 

Mike Francesa is the host of the top sports radio program in America on the WFAN sports radio network, also known as The Fan.

In 1987 Mike Francesa was a behind-the-scenes sports analyst for CBS sports. He wanted to be part of the nation’s new all sports-talk radio talk station, as an on-air host. But he had a problem, in the eyes of Luke Griffin, the executive in charge of picking the new hosts for the sports-talk shows. Francesa’s Long Island accent. Griffin felt it was a huge negative, so he said NO.

But Francesa had an ace in the hole.

At the time, one of Francesa’s best friends was Jim Nantz, the host of CBS’s college football and basketball shows. And Nantz knew Griffin very well. So, Francesa made a phone call to Nantz, asking him to talk to Griffin. Nantz made a phone call on his pal’s behalf and Griffin relented, offering Francesa a weekend host spot on the new sports-talk radio station.

That was thirty years ago.

“They gave me a shot on the weekend. If it hadn’t been for Jim Nantz knowing Luck Griffin, I don’t think I’d ever have gotten a shot,” Francesa said in a recent interview with the New York Post.

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

You’ve no doubt heard that line before. The fact is, both are equally important. What you know and who you know are joined at the hip, when it comes to success – you need both.

What you know makes you an expert. It separates you from the competition. Experts add more value to society. Francesa was considered one of the most knowledgable sports analysts in the country, at the time he was given his shot as a CBS sports radio host.

But, what you know, will only get you so far. 

And as luck would have it, Francesa knew Nantz, and Nantz knew Griffin. 

Who you know opens doors that are otherwise closed. Who you know allows you to take advantage of opportunities. Who you know, creates luck. 

Relationships are the currency of the wealthy and the successful. Successful people associate with other successful people because successful people can make luck happen. This is why so many rich and successful people happen to be the best networkers. They join clubs, groups, companies and non-profits whose memberships includes other successful people. They then build strong, long-lasting relationships with these successful people.

And luck follows them everywhere they go and in everything they do.

Relationships are the currency of the wealthy.

In my Rich Habits Study, I learned that one of the most important traits of self-made millionaires was the habit of forging long-term relationships with other success-minded people.

If you follow me, you know I spend a great deal of time advocating the need to remove toxic people from your social networks. Toxic people drag you down and distract you from the pursuit of your dreams and your goals.

But what does it mean to be toxic? Toxic people live in a world of negativity. They expose their negativity through their words, their social media posts, their emails or their actions:

• Toxic people are demeaning – They belittle those they disagree with.
• Toxic people believe their opinions are superior to your opinions – If your opinions differ from the opinions of a toxic person, they ridicule you and try to make you feel inferior or inadequate.
• Toxic people are ideologues – They have beliefs and ideologies that they wish to impose upon you. They don’t respect your beliefs or ideologies.
• Toxic people are closed-minded – They close their minds to contrary thoughts, ideas, opinions and facts.
• Toxic people are Fault Finders – They seek, and thus find, fault in others.
• Toxic people are perpetually agitated – Their emotional state is one-sided – agitated or angry.
• Toxic people are unfiltered – They say whatever is on their mind, irrespective of the damage that might do to their relationships.
• Toxic people struggle with relationships – Toxic people are constantly damaging or destroying relationships. They have few long-term relationships.
• Toxic people are in constant turmoil – Toxic people struggle financially, struggle with relationships, struggle with their jobs, struggle with their clients or customers.
• Toxic people are problem seekers – They look for problems in everything.
• Toxic people are pessimists – They see the bad in situations and in life.
• Toxic people are Mistake Finders – Toxic people are vigilant in finding and pointing out the mistakes of others.
• Toxic people are sarcastic – They use sarcasm, blanketed inside humor, as a means of putting you down.
• Toxic people are gadflies – They provoke others, behind your back, and cause problems for you with other people.
• Toxic people are selfish – They put themselves first, always.
• Toxic people are judgemental – They believe they are superior and look down on others.
• Toxic people are gossipers – They will talk badly about you behind your back.
• Toxic people lie and are untrustworthy – They struggle with the truth.
• Toxic people are disloyal – Toxic people will turn their back on you in a time of need or unexpectedly stab you in the back.

Having one or two of these toxic habits does make someone toxic. Some very successful, upbeat people in my study had toxic habits. The difference was they did not have many toxic habits or their good habits, by far, outweighed their toxic habits.

The important point is awareness. Have your antenna up. Know what to look for. It takes time for most individuals to reveal their toxic habits. But once they do, disengage with them. Eliminate them from your life. Toxic people have deep-seated problems that become your problems if you allow them to be a part of your life. Toxic people will distract you from your pursuit of success. They will drag you down emotionally. They are wrenches, potholes and obstacles along your path towards success.

When you make a habit of eliminating toxic people from your life, your life will improve. Your mindset will shift from negative to positive. You will have fewer problems and less stress.