Develop the Habits to Create Opportunity Luck, Achieve Consistent Success, and Build Wealth
There are smart ways to try and make more money and their are the not so smart ways. Thanks to my five year study on rich people, I was able to uncover some of the best ways to make extra money. Here are six of the best pieces of advice I found from my study on making more money: [Read more…]
When I began my study of the rich and the poor, I wanted to know the answer to one question: why are some people rich and other people poor? Five years later and over 350 interviews later, I finished my research. It wasn’t an easy thing to do. I asked each person 144 questions. It took me five years because this wasn’t a survey I mailed out. I either met with these people or spoke with them over the phone. Surveys have limited value, but actual interviews allow you to dig deeper and uncover much more valuable information. If you do the math, I asked 51,984 questions of the rich and the poor. That’s a lot of questions!
But it was worth it. What I discovered is beginning to catch the attention of the world and I am confident my discoveries will help change the lives of millions living in poverty or stuck in the middle-class. Here’s 20 of the best pieces of advice I can give you about achieving success: [Read more…]
When I began my study of the rich and the poor I wanted to know the answer to one question: why are some people rich and other people poor? Five years later and over 350 interviews later, I finished my research. It wasn’t an easy thing to do. I had grouped 144 questions into 20 categories, and asked over 350 millionaires and poor people these questions. It took me five years because this wasn’t a survey I mailed out. I either met with these people or spoke with them over the phone. If you do the math, I asked 51,984 questions of the rich and the poor. That’s a lot of questions!
But it was worth it. What I discovered is beginning to catch the attention of the world and I am confident my discoveries will help change the lives of millions living in poverty and help those stuck in the middle-class improve their financial lives. I’d like to share two ideologies that I uncovered in my research that separate the rich from the poor and which are responsible for creating wealth or causing poverty. I’d like to share those two ideologies with you. [Read more…]
Everyone, whether they are aware of it or not, embraces certain ideologies. The most obvious ones are religious, political and racial. But there are less obvious ones. In my research I uncovered two ideologies that are responsible for success and failure:
Be careful of the ideology you choose. Some allow you to soar, while others anchor you to failure and mediocrity. Most ideologies we pick up in life come from our parents. They represent certain thinking that becomes a daily habit. Every human being has the potential for unlimited success if life. Unfortunately, the Can’t Do ideology is pervasive and holds most back from taping into their potential. While success is never easy, it is made much easier by virtue of the fact that so few have a Can Do ideology. Be one of those few.
You’re probably sick of hearing about the benefits of exercise. But I don’t care. Here are some of the benefits of exercise that you need to know:
FYI, in my Rich Habits study those who were rich exercised on average 30 minutes a day, four days a week. Those who were poor did not. Because the rich exercised more than others, they had more fuel, aged less, had better memories, were able to learn more, had more brain cells, had more brain cells that talked to one another and were less prone to cancer.
Recently, Darren Hardy asked billionaire Mark Cuban what unique super powers he had that gave him the confidence to pursue so many different start-ups so successfully and Cuban responded – ignorance. He just didn’t know any better about all of the pitfalls, hurdles, and nuances about the businesses he started. His ignorance saved the day.
When Elon Musk started SpaceX he knew nothing about rocketry. He told the press that by early 2004 SpaceX would launch its first rocket, the Falcon 1, into space and that it would be accomplished at a cost of $20 million. In August, 2008, after three failed attempts and a cost of $120,000 million, the Falcon 1 soared into space and attained orbit – the first privately financed rocket in history to do so. Many of the key leaders on the SpaceX team confessed that had they known about all of the many problems they would encounter and how much it would cost to overcome all of those problems, SpaceX would have likely never been born. Their collective ignorance saved the day.
There are countless other stories about successful entrepreneurs who started companies without having any real experience in the endeavor. Most of those start-ups would have never been attempted had the entrepreneurs knew more about the difficulties they would encounter. Ignorance is often an entrepreneur’s greatest asset.
In my Rich Habits study I tracked over 300 data points on the habits of the rich and poor. Out of all of those data points, one stood out as the most important determinant of success – persistence. Those with the most persistence were the most successful in life and accumulated the most wealth. But what does persistence really mean?
I am very close to someone who is a self-made millionaire. We’ve known each other for about thirty years. To this day, every time we get together he picks my brain and asks me questions. I always come away from our get-togethers feeling as if I am smart.
But, in reality, he’s the smart one. He employs this self-learning Rich Habit on a daily basis with virtually everyone he comes into contact with. Asking questions allows this self-made millionaire to learn from others. It helps him grow as an individual by expanding his knowledge base with everyone he meets.
The common misconception is that smart people don’t ask questions, they get asked questions. So, if someone is perpetually asking questions, they must need to because they’re not that smart. In reality, asking questions is just another method for gaining knowledge. You can save a lot of time in learning new information by adopting this Rich Habit. Why read a book when all you have to do is pick the brains of others who do all the reading? Just something to think about.
Does your work inspire you or is it drudgery. If it’s drudgery, you’re in good company, unfortunately. According to a 2012 survey conducted by “Big 4” accounting firm Deloitte, 80% of those surveyed did not like their jobs. In another survey conducted by Gallup in 2013, 63% of the 230,000 employees in the survey said they were unhappy with their jobs.
The vast majority do not like what they do for a living. As a result they feel imprisoned by their jobs. They are what I call salary junkies and wage slaves. You work because you have to. You fantasize about doing something you love. A few brave souls, less than 1%, actually quit their jobs to start a business.
A 2010 Gallup poll reported that there were only 6 million businesses in the United States with one or more employees. Of those, 3.8 million have four or fewer employees — mom and pop shops who were trying to build a new life for themselves and their families.
Is it any wonder why there are so few self-made millionaires? In my Rich Habits study, 76% were self-made millionaires. Most of these were those less than 1% brave souls who eventually quit their jobs to pursue some business they were building up over the years part-time, while still a salary junkie.
If you want to become wealthy you need to create multiple streams of income. Sixty-five percent in my study had three or more streams of income. Start building something on the side today. Passion is the key that unlocks the door to becoming a self-made millionaire. Experiment with different side hobbies or side businesses until you find something that you love and are passionate about. It takes time, but if you find something you are passionate about you will stick to it. Passion creates persistence and persistence eventually creates good luck.
We’ve all heard stories about nasty rich people who treat employees and other subordinates poorly. But make no mistake about it, they are the exception to the rule and they represent a small fraction of the wealthy in the world. The vast majority of the wealthy treat others like gold. In return, they foster a devoted following of individuals who will knock down walls for these wealthy individuals.
Unless you are one of the rare few who possess some unique skill that allows you to get away with bad behavior, you had better make a habit of treating everyone you meet like they are the most important person in the world. Making enemies of people will only hold you back. Doors will slam shut at the sound of your name once you get a reputation of being abrasive and caustic to others. Work hard, work smart, pursue your dreams and make everyone you come into contact with desire to do business with you because nice people do finish rich.
