Since 2004, I’ve been immersed in studying what to do and what not to do in order to become wealthy and avoid poverty. Thanks to my Rich Habits Study and my ongoing Rich Habits research, I’ve learned an enormous amount about what it takes to become wealthy.
Here are the most important things I’ve learned about building wealth:
There are 4 Paths to Wealth
- Saver/Investor Path – Save 20% or more of your income and consistently/prudently invest those savings over many years.
- Big Company Climber Path – Working for a big company and climbing the ladder to become a senior executive.
- Virtuoso Path – Devoting an enormous amount of time, and often money, to becoming either a Knowlege-Based Virtuoso or a Skill-Based Virtuoso.
- Dreamer/Entrepreneur Path – Pursuing some dream that can be monetized.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Rich Habits
Rich Habits are specific good, wealth-building habits that help put success on autopilot. Without Rich Habits, or with too many Poor Habits, building wealth is impossible.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Minimizing Your Poor Habits
No one’s perfect, but having too many bad, destructive habits acts like an emergency brake on success. The more Poor Habits you have, the harder it becomes to achieve success and build wealth.
Becoming Wealthy is Really, Really Hard
- Hard Work – Long hours are a prerequisite for all self-made millionaires, other than the Saver/Investor millionaires. The hard work success requires, occupies most of your time and your energy.
- Hard Emotionally – Almost the entire journey is riddled with uncertainty, up until the moment you turn the corner and success starts to happen. Overcoming the seemingly endless parade of obstacles, mistakes and pitfalls, takes a mighty emotional toll.
- Hard on Family – The long work hours mean less family time. It’s a sacrifice every self-made millionaire, other than the Saver/Investor millionaires, makes.
- Hard on Friendships – Because you are devoting so many hours chasing wealth, you simply don’t have enough time to devote to maintaining friendships. Friendship needs attention in order to stay strong. Without that attention, the strings that bind friendships begin to fray.
- Hard Stress – The success journey is a long, hard climb. You have to shoulder enormous stress. For the Corporate Climbers, the stress is not only the pressures placed on you by upper management, it’s also the stress of outmaneuvering other Climbers who are trying to climb over you. For Virtuoso, the stress is in the form of the need to deliver consistent, high quality products or service. For the Dreamer/Entrepreneur, the stress can be any number of things: cash flow, lack of time, obstacles, setbacks, mistakes, a deprived family, loss of investment, and so much more.
Becoming Wealthy Takes a Long Time
- 32 years for Saver/Investor Path
- 21 years for Big Company Climber Path
- 20 Years for Virtuoso Path
- 12 Years for Dreamer/Entrepreneur Path
Becoming Wealthy Requires Good Luck
Except for the Saver/Investor Path, luck is a prerequisite to success and the wealth that success creates. The millionaires in my study created a unique brand of good luck, called Opportunity Luck – through their efforts, drive and persistence, self-made millionaires create the opportunity for good luck to occur.
But Opportunity Luck can be elusive. If it doesn’t visit you, you will not become wealthy and could actually lose everything – your money, time invested, your family.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Forging Relationships With Influencers
No one, except the Saver/Investors, succeeds on their own. It takes a team, or the creation of a big herd of devotees, to become successful. Influencers are individuals who can open the right doors because they know the right people – other Influencers. Without influencers, success is impossible for all millionaires, other than the Saver/Investors.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Having a Life Plan
Having a life plan gives you clarity. It allows you to identify the goals that you must pursue and achieve in order to realize your dreams. Without clarity, you have no guiding light, no idea how to move forward, no GPS and no compass to guide you in the right direction. Dream-Setting is a tool that you can use to help you create a life plan.
Becoming Wealthy, While Married, Requires Having a Spouse Who Shares Your Dreams, Goals, Values and Habits.
One common fallout for those pursuing success and wealth is divorce. You must have a very supportive spouse – someone who shares your drive to succeed and to become rich. If you don’t, eventually your marriage will suffer because building wealth is stressful and takes a long time.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Good Health
You can’t make money sitting in a hospital bed. Daily exercise, both aerobic and anaerobic, must be part of your journey. Eating healthy, nutritious foods must become a daily habit. Because the pursuit of wealth is hard work, stressful and emotionally draining, you must maintain optimal fitness throughout the journey.
Becoming Wealthy Requires 7 – 8 Hours of Sleep Every Night
Sleep is critical to optimal brain performance and good health. Without adequate sleep, you will make bad decisions and your health will deteriorate. Sleep helps re-set the emotional center of the brain back to it’s original baseline, putting the pre-frontal cortex back in charge, which helps in decision-making. Sleep also re-sets your stress baseline, which also helps you make logical decisions.
Becoming Wealthy Requires a Positive Outlook on Life
The wealthy were fanatically optimistic and positive. Positivity is a prerequisite to building wealth because positivity boosts brain performance – specifically the pre-frontal cortex, your brain’s CEO.
Positivity optimizes brain performance and allows you to see solutions and opportunities. Except for the Saver/Investors, it is impossible to become rich with a negative outlook.
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