Develop the Habits to Create Opportunity Luck, Achieve Consistent Success, and Build Wealth
Becoming a successful entrepreneur is not easy. I spent five years studying 177 self-made millionaires and I have to say, they are among the most courageous, fearless individuals I have ever met. They put everything on the line. They took enormous risks in the pursuit of their dreams. If you want your children to grow up to be entrepreneurs, then there are certain things you can do as a parent to help them learn how to be an entrepreneur. [Read more…]
Things often go wrong in life. How you react to things that go wrong is one of the keys to living a happy and successful life. Those that live a happy and successful life do so by following the following formula:
Think then Evaluate then React
Jails and prisons are filled with individuals who get this formula backwards. They react first and then spend the rest of their lives regretting their knee-jerk reactions.
For most, getting this formula wrong doesn’t put them in jail but it does damage relationships or their business. We want to feel comfortable with the people in our inner circle. When we feel uncomfortable around individuals because they are constantly reacting to their emotions, we eventually kick them out of our circle. We avoid associating with them. No one wants to do business with individuals who fly off the handle, reacting emotionally when things don’t go according to plan.
Since relationships are the currency of the wealthy, those who succeed have developed the habit of adhering to this formula in order to preserve their relationships. We want to work with people who are thoughtful about their actions, especially when things go wrong. Those that do we call leaders. We follow individuals who we trust. And we trust individuals who are thoughtful about their decisions; individuals who do not react first, but last. If you follow this formula, you guarantee that the actions you take will be well thought out. This gives those you deal with confidence in you as a an individual who can be trusted in making thoughtful decisions.
The next time something goes wrong, do not react. Instead think about what went wrong, evaluate why and, only then, take action. Think, Evaluate and React. Your relationships depend on it!
When parenting goes right, children excel in life, are upstanding citizens and add tremendous value to society. According my my Rich Habits research, good parenting is the #1 driver of success. Children who are raised in stable, mentoring and loving households grow up to beat the pants off their peers who were not so fortunate. Behind every successful child is a Mom and Dad who get that their most important role is that of a mentor. What makes a Dad a Super-Dad? Below is a list of characteristics I uncovered in my research that only Super-Dads possess:
Humans have a bad habit of making assumptions. Assumptions are, by definition, the act of accepting a truth without definitive proof. A habit of making assumptions is a bad one because it can lead to unexpected consequences, oftentimes bad ones that cost you not only time but money.
In my five year study of the daily habits of the rich and poor (Rich Habits Study), 56% of the rich and 72% of the poor in my study engaged in the bad habit of making False Assumptions. This one data point initially slipped through the cracks because there didn’t seem, to me, to be enough of a difference between the rich and the poor when it came to making assumptions. But when I drilled deeper, I made an important discovery. Out of the 233 rich people in my study, 177 were self-made millionaires. Forty-one percent came from poor households and the rest from middle-class households. In this self-made group of millionaires, only 43% of the self-made millionaires had this False Assumption habit. Why?
Sixty-seven percent of the self-made millionaires in my study were entrepreneurs, or individuals who were pursuing some dream, purpose, calling or big goal in life. As a result of their past experience in making assumptions, they learned that many of their assumptions were dead wrong. They found out the hard way that making false assumptions leads to mistakes that cost them time and money. Time is one thing, but money is a precious commodity to budding entrepreneurs and they need every dollar. They simply cannot afford to lose too much money. Successful entrepreneurs figure out along their journey that making false assumptions can put them out of business quickly. So, the smart ones, the ones who become self-made millionaires, learn to avoid making false assumptions.
I found in my research that individuals make false assumptions in one of four ways:
There’s a narrative out there that all entrepreneurs go with their gut, or their intuition, when making decisions. Because of this misleading perception, entrepreneurs are viewed by most as bold and daring. That may be true of unsuccessful entrepreneurs, but I discovered it wasn’t true of successful entrepreneurs – the ones who go on to become self-made millionaires.
Self-made millionaires do not make important decisions until they have evaluated all of the feedback they receive from many different sources. Then they weigh that feedback. Feedback from industry experts obviously carries more weight than feedback from non-experts. Seeking feedback from others, prior to making any important decision, is a firewall against making a false assumption.
My Rich Habits study has received international attention in the media. Newspapers, magazines, online sites, TV, radio and podcasts in 27 countries, so far, have shared bits and pieces of my research.
As a result, I have received tens of thousands of emails from around the world, regarding my research and my study methodology.
One of the things I learned from my study on self-made millionaires is that they followed one dream. That one dream then introduced them to another dream and then another dream. You see, there isn’t just one dream that takes you to the promised land of happiness and success. There are many dreams. And each dream leads you down a path that branches off into other directions. These paths reveal to you other dreams to pursue. So, how do you know you’re on the right path in life?
Each path you take, each dream you pursue gives you clues that it is the right path. You know you’re on the right path in life when:
I was 24 when I took my first flight in a plane. Growing up poor didn’t give me much of any opportunity to travel. In fact, it wasn’t until I started my career as a CPA that I realized how much I had missed out on. At Arthur Anderson I flew for the first time to Chicago. Woe. I was dumbstruck. Everything about that first trip I remember. Emotions do that. When stoked, they enable you to remember everything.
My initial dream, out of college, was… well honestly, I didn’t have one. I was a janitor. That’s what I was. That’s how I saw myself back in college. A janitor who happened to be going to college. Dreams? Come on. Who has dreams when you are scratching just to get by? Dreams, I believed back then, were something relegated to the rich. And back then, I hated the rich. They were everything I wasn’t. So, no dreams for me. [Read more…]
As I’ve mentioned often in my writings and interviews, self-awareness is a prerequisite to change. If your life is not what you expected it to be and you don’t know why, self-awareness holds the key. Self-awareness forces you to discover the truth about yourself. Unfortunately, most avoid thinking about why things are as they are. Without self-awareness you will never be able to understand why your life is the way it is. So, I thought I’d put on my muse hat to help you confront the inner demons that are holding you back. I’ve devised 5 questions to ask yourself that will help you better understand why you are where you are in life:
Question #1: Who Are My Mentors?
Mentors put you on the fast track to success. Those who seek out and find mentors to help them learn what to do and what not to do, excel. Those who don’t flounder. Have you ever sought out a mentor? Do you have any mentors right now? Is there any successful people you know who you could ask to be your mentor?
Question #2: Do I Have Toxic Relationships?
Success-minded people lift you up, inspire you, motivate you, encourage you, energize you and help you maintain a positive mental outlook. Successful individuals surround themselves with success-minded individuals. But, more importantly, successful people avoid toxic people like the plague. Toxic people drag you down. They demotivate you, antagonize you, anger you, interrupt your life and add little value to your life. They are typically negative, gossip mongers and naysayers who stop you in your tracks. They distract you from pursuing your dreams and your goals. They consume your limited resources of time and money. The fewer toxic relationships one has in life, the better their life will be. Have you thought about which relationships are toxic? How much time do you spend with those toxic relationships?
Question #3: How Much Self-Study Do I Do Every Day?
Daily self-improvement causes growth. Successful people pursue learning every day in order to grow into the individuals they need to be in order for success to find them. Do you read every day for learning? Do you write down what you learn? Do you have a growth mindset?
Question #4: What Are You Passionate About?
Those who pursue things they are passionate about accumulate the most wealth in life. They are the most successful individuals. What makes your heart sing? Are you pursuing things that you are passionate about? What are your dreams and you stretch goals?
Question #5: How Many Hours Do I Waste Every Day?
The hallmark of successful people is their productive use of time. They devote hours every day to self-study, networking with other success-minded people and pursuing their dreams and the goals behind their dreams. They develop a blueprint for their lives and create habits that function like a GPS, directing them to their destination – the life of their dreams.
Sometimes rich people stop being rich. Things can go wrong. Sometimes those things that go wrong are outside the control of the wealthy (i.e. random bad luck) but more often than not they are things that are completely within their control.
As a CPA, I’ve been advising wealthy individuals in money matters for more than 30 years. Plus I spent five years studying the money habits of the rich and the poor (Rich Habits Study). In my CPA business and from my research, I’ve written books, articles and done many TV and radio interviews about the many blunders wealthy individuals make that cause their wealth to evaporate. You would think they’d know better but they don’t. The wealthy who make these mistakes all seem to be reading from the same script. So, I thought I’d share a few of the most common blunders of the rich that steal their wealth like a thief in the night:
Staying wealthy is not as hard as getting wealthy, but it’s still hard. Any one of these six missteps can act like an anchor dragging you down off your mountain of wealth. Being aware of them is probably the best insurance you can have to preserve your wealth.
Starting a business leads you downs paths you’d otherwise never tread. For most, this uncertainty is way beyond their comfort zone, so they hold on to dear life to employment. But for those few brave souls who venture into the looking glass of entrepreneurship, they are in for the experience of a lifetime.
In the beginning, that experience is fraught with many unknowns. The obstacles and pitfalls force you to change, to grow and to learn very quickly what to do and what not to do. Sometimes the lessons are painful, but only in pain can you appreciate pleasure. Eventually, you will figure things out, get it right, develop processes to prevent further mishaps and experience the wonderland of entrepreneurship – more money, more control over your time and more freedom.
Along your Wonderland adventure you will meet many interesting people. Some will discourage you, others will take advantage of you, a few will talk a great game but fail to deliver on their promises and there will be those you meet who will actively stand in your way, preventing you from moving forward. This downside of entrepreneurship is a learning experience. Eventually, you will be able to see these types of people a mile away and avoid them.
But, along your journey, you will also meet some people who will help you. These individuals will energize and inspire you. They will open doors for you. They will mentor you. They will go out of their way to steer you in the right direction. This is the upside of entrepreneurship. Eventually, you will also be able to see these types of people a mile away and learn to embrace their help.
Fortune favors the brave. Luck visits entrepreneurs in a way that can never be anticipated. Luck favors the bold and the brave. All luck asks is that you take action. There is a Wonderland of opportunities out there but you only have one life to find out what those opportunities are.
