I have read quite a number of books on money and finance. One of them which I liked was Jean Chatzky’s The Difference. It was a wonderful book and it was based on a study which was called the 2008 Merrill Lynch New Retirement Study. The thing I liked about this book is it gave hard core data on how the rich operate and think. There were twenty things identified which was done by the wealthy. Some of them are they felt stocks were worth the risk, they of course devote to personal savings, they save regularly for emergencies, they made it a goal to make a million, they are confident and happy. Of course those are just some of the factors that the wealthy practice. The other section which I want to expand on is the 7 traits that the wealthy people share. Here are the seven traits of a wealthy personality with my take on each. Of course wealth is not everything but knowing what it takes to be one increases our awareness and can help us on our journey towards whatever success we are looking for.
Optimism– If you want to be successful you must believe it is possible for you to achieve what you want. I believe optimism starts with setting goals that you believe you can achieve. Optimism is looking at the world from a prism of abundance. Most of the people who accumulated a lot of wealth generally come from a place where they believe they can earn the money needed to achieve what they want. Here is my take on optimism. 10 Commandments of Optimism
Resilience – If we do set some big goals it goes without saying we will encounter obstacles along the way. Resilience is the process of getting back up as quickly as we can when we do encounter failure. Having a strong mission statement will enable us to bounce back faster. As Napoleon Hill said, “Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent benefit.” Look at all your setbacks and see what can be learned from that. Here are 10 tips to develop resilience. 10 Ways to Stay Resilient in 2019
Connectedness– This is all about a strong network of connections. With all the social media platforms we all can develop a strong healthy network. The wealthy people were found to have a strong rolodex.
Drive- Of course, even the aim to be wealthy is a sign of high drive. All the folks who are successful have a drive to achieve something. This can be also called a strong burning desire or ambition. My article A to Z of Success might interest you. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/z-success-shyam-ramanathan-pmp-cssgb-ains-au/
Curiosity – This is all about being a constant learner. Always be on the look out to learn new things and keep up to date on industry trends. Find the experts in your field, connect with them, write to them, read their blogs, read their books, listen to their podcasts, document what you learn and share what you learn. Always have a teachable mindset.
Intuition – This is hard to define but it is all about listening to your inner voice. Sometimes you know when you should invest in something and when you shouldn’t. Always listen to your inner voice and what your gut says.
Confidence – This is the game changer in my opinion. Confidence helps in all parts of our lives. Self-confidence is wonderful quality strongly correlated with success. A lot of times we see people who are highly successful, and it is a direct result of their self-confidence. It is not something that you just have when you are born but rather it is something internalized after years of challenging work and proving your competence in your area of expertise. I have done a deep dive into self-confidence and you can check it here. 15 Keys to be Self-Confident
Finally, there are four habits of the wealthy identified. First is hard work of course this is obvious. Second it is save habitually. Third is invest soundly. Finally give back to the world through tithing or contribution.
There you have it the seven traits of wealthy people and if we incorporate some of these we will be more successful in the long run.
The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization.