There’s a reason you’re not a millionaire .
It’s not that you aren’t smart, or that you don’t have the right connections.
I’m a millionaire and I’m not that smart, and only around 20% of all the
millionaires in the U.S. inherited their wealth.
The real reason you haven’t achieved your dreams of building wealth is that
you’re doing the same things over and over, and expecting different results.
Let me put that a different way… You’ve worked a 9-to-5 job for ten years.
You’re working your way up the corporate ladder, but the small increases in
pay you’ve received haven’t seemed to make a dent in your financial
situation. Maybe your expenses have increased because you have kids, or
maybe it’s that your lifestyle has improved alongside your pay.
What do you think is going to happen if you work another ten years doing
the same thing?
I’ll give you a hint – more of the same.
You’re never going to magically make enough to give you the lifestyle you
dream of. You’re going to keep going to work day after day, and you’re going
to keep falling further and further behind your finances – that is, unless
you’re willing to do something different.
Millionaires may be common in the U.S., but the actions they take are
anything but. If you want to join their ranks , you need to copy the things
they do – starting with these eight habits:
Millionaires Set Daily Goals
How of you spend each day working towards a set of clearly defined goals
that are aligned with your overall vision for your life?
It’s not something that most people do, but it’s something millionaires
make a habit of. Millionaires know where they’re going, and they know what
it’ll take to get there.
Take author and founder Rod Friedman, for example. Even though he’s
already a millionaire several times over, he still sits down at his desk each
night and asks : “The day is over and I’m leaving with a tremendous sense of
accomplishment. What have I achieved?”
If you aren’t making it a habit to review your daily activities or to set goals
ensuring that you end each day satisfied with the progress you’ve made, it’s
an easy step you can take today to get closer to your goal of making
millions.
Millionaires Exercise Regularly
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not always great at following this piece of
advice. I’m totally guilty of letting my health slide when I’m facing a big
deadline or a big week of trading.
But for plenty of millionaires, being physically active gives them the energy
they need to perform at a high level, and prevents them from missing work
due to illness. It’s a huge part of being successful, whether your goal is to
get rich as a penny stock trader or to become a widely-read author like P.G.
Wodehouse, who began every day with exercise.
Millionaires Overcome Adversity
You know what’s embarrassing? Failing. You know what’s even more
embarrassing? Failing on a national level (like I did when my successful
penny stock trading strategies didn’t translate well to the world of hedge
funds).
The good thing is that I’m not alone when it comes to facing – and
overcoming – this kind of adversity. Take Tim Allen, who spent more than
two years in federal prison for cocaine possession before going on to become
a great comedian and TV star.
We’re both millionaires now, and it’s thanks to our ability to treat challenges
like learning opportunities, rather than indications that we’re failures. Learn
to do the same with the mistakes you make in your own life.
Millionaires Do What They Have To
I’m incredibly fortunate to have started my trading career with a small chunk
of change from my bar mitzvah. But plenty of my students start with far
less. They might take on extra hours at work – or even second jobs – to put
together a few thousand dollars for their first brokerage accounts.
They work hard, and they do it because they know that, ultimately, the
rewards will be worth it. It turns out, they’re in good company. Take
Harrison Ford, who supported himself as a carpenter before landing his
iconic role in Star Wars.
It wasn’t glamorous, but he did what he had to do to achieve his dreams,
and if it’s good enough for him, it should be good enough for you too.
Millionaires Rarely Get It Right The First Time
You’d think that millionaires got to be that way because they’re smarter or
better than you in some way. But the reality is, the average millionaire has
declared bankruptcy 3.5 times – and even superstar money gurus aren’t
immune.
Before she became known for her trademark haircut and catchphrases, Suze
Orman attempted to open a restaurant and wound up having to declare
bankruptcy. She didn’t get it right the first time, but instead of giving up and
quitting, she used her failure as an opportunity to learn.
Without that mistake, I’m sure she wouldn’t be where she is today, just like
I’m sure I wouldn’t be the teacher and trader I am today without the losses
I’ve had in my past.
Millionaires Don’t Give In When Things Go Wrong
Another millionaire superstar who’s faced adversity is Anna Wintour. You
might know her as the chilly editor of Vogue (or as the inspiration for Meryl
Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada), but back in 1975, she was a
young worker who was fired from her job after nine months.
Here’s what she had to say about it:
“Everyone should be sacked at least once in their career because
perfection doesn’t exist. It’s important to have setbacks, because
that’s the reality of life.”
Failures are a necessary part of life. Millionaires know that, and they use the
issues they encounter as opportunities for growth. Take a page out of their
books and start embracing the lessons you’ve learned through failure.
Millionaires Make Sacrifices
Sacrifice isn’t a popular thing these days. People don’t want to hear about
how you slaved away for years before becoming successful. They want to
know about the day you IPO’d, the day you earned your first million or the
day you sold your company.
But the cold, hard reality is that, unless you were born into your wealth, you
simply aren’t going to become a millionaire if you aren’t willing to sacrifice.
Take mega-star Sylvester Stallone. After he finished writing Rocky, he was
so poor he had to sell his dog for $50 to make ends meet before selling the
script a week later.
(Fun fact – it cost him $3,000 and a small part in the eventual movie to get
his dog back.)
You might not be willing to part with a family pet to pursue your dreams of
riches, but would you give up a few hours of watching TV at night to study
stock charts? Would you trade drinks with friends to fund your brokerage
account? If you’re serious about becoming a millionaire, the answer will be
clear.
Millionaires Get Emotional About Their Dreams
I’ve said it before, but if you really want to achieve your dreams, they can’t
be abstract. “Earning a million dollars” is just as vague as “walking on the
moon” or “losing 100 pounds.” When things get really tough, the goal simply
isn’t real enough that you’ll make the hard choices you need to in pursuit of
your goals.
You have to make things real.
You aren’t just “making a million dollars.” You’re changing your life, so get
really detailed about what that means to you. Does having a million dollars
mean you’ll be able to quit your day job? If so, how will you spend your
days instead? What will you do that’s so much more fulfilling than the life
you’re living now?
Maybe earning a million dollars means being able to get out of debt once
and for all. How different will you feel at the end of each month when you
aren’t stressed about which bills you’ll pay and which ones you can afford to
delay? How will it feel to be able to walk into a store and buy whatever you
want, without the guilt and shame of putting it on credit?
That’s what I mean when I say “get emotional.” Find the parts of your goal
that really resonate with you, and hang onto those emotional reasons
whenever the day-to-day grind of pursuing your dreams gets too rough.
I’m not telling you all of this to make you think that becoming a millionaire
is impossible. That’s simply not the case. Two of my students have already
done it with my teachings , and several others are on their way.
Instead, what I want you to think about is the fact that doing the same thing
over and over again is going to get you the same results again and again. If
your current life isn’t getting you where you want to go, it’s time to make
changes.
If you want to be a millionaire, do what millionaires do. Learn from the
example of other millionaires, and use their regular habits to help get you
closer to your own goal of building real, generational wealth.
This entry was posted in Millionaire Habits and tagged lessons, millionaire
facts, Millionaire Habits, Millionaire Lifestyle, millionaires, mistakes,
opportunities, sacrifice on October 21, 2015 by Timothy Sykes.
No comments:
Post a Comment