In my company, our advisors work with hundreds of multimillionaires. A few inherited their wealth and are taking a disciplined approach to managing and growing their wealth, but most created their millions through their own ingenuity. When you’ve been doing this work for decades, you begin to notice things…that these highly successful people have certain traits in common. What’s more important, if you adopt their mindset, you too can be a wealth accumulator.
The 5 Traits of Multimillionaires
- They believe they will succeed. First, they believe in themselves. They ‘see’ themselves as successful and have confidence they will win the money game. They see their success as a pre-determined destiny.
- They make a decision to succeed. They not only believe they have the discipline and skillset to succeed, they make a decision that that’s exactly what they are going to do…no matter what it takes. They are willing to make the sacrifices required to succeed.
- They develop and implement an action-plan for success. It’s not enough to believe and decide on success, the accumulators put plans in place. Often, they aren’t sure of their best first move and don’t begin with the best investment strategies, but they take action anyway. They may start with their company 401k or start investing in a mutual fund. It’s what I refer to as ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’. Take action then correct your course along the way as you learn what does not work. As a sidebar, most of these successful accumulators have made investment mistakes, sometimes big ones, but they don’t let their mistakes deter them from their goal. They learn from their mistakes and continue to move forward.
- They work with experts. In some cases that ‘expert’ is them. They have an interest in investing and take the time to learn how to invest successfully. Others, many of them, work with investment professionals. Understand, most highly successful people surround themselves with an elite team of professionals including CPA, attorney, financial advisor, banker and medical professional. These pros typically have decades of experience and are highly competent in their field. They work together to help their client succeed.
- They give back to their community. On the surface, this trait of giving away money and time to their community might seem counterproductive to the accumulation of wealth because they are ‘giving away’ some of what they had accumulated. But successful accumulators are rarely hoarders. They have a natural desire and heart for helping others. Often this trait of generosity is reflected in the Universal Law of Reciprocity. They don’t ‘give’ in order to ‘get’ but that’s the way our world often works.
Do you have what it takes to accumulate substantial wealth? How many of the five traits would you say you have? One thing I’ve noticed is that if someone is missing one or more of the five traits, they are much less likely to achieve a high level of wealth accumulation. So, if you’re missing a trait, commit to adopting that trait and be prepared to watch your success grow!