10 Habits of Wealthy and Successful People that we all Know

During the Christmas week we visited Savannah, GA for a short tour. We dined one night at Paula Deen’s restaurant “The Lady and Sons”. Thanks to SMB I am now familiar with her rags-to-riches story. She was left with few hundred dollars to feed two young children. She is now nations one of the top chefs earning in millions.

What she did to become such a rich individual? She did what she loved to do, she excelled in it and she did market her skills well.

Going from rags to riches is not hard, and really there is no secret to success. Being financially independent involves the combination of skills that you will discover you once had or you just didn’t think much of them before.  The wealthiest people in the world have some habits that have separated them from the rest of humanity.

Well, I am not wealthy and successful yet. I read books on people like Warren buffet, Bill Gates, Rockefeller, India’s own Dhirubhai Ambani and Steve Jobs. This is my own analysis about the common traits. This article lists only 10 traits or habits that can be sufficient for us to make it big, if followed in true sense.

1. Streets smarts: No one really thinks about streets smarts until you actually realize that some of the world’s richest people did not go to Ivy League schools-some of them did not even go past basic education. They are not intellectually gifted and would not have made much of themselves academically if they went to school. Being intellectually gifted isn’t to be despised, just that it needs some level of streets smarts at the same time. In fact, most of the time you need to be street smart; Identify  an opportunity and go for it, forget about the fact that you never went to school
2. Be proactive: Make things happen, don’t wait for things to happen-too often they never do. Be known as the person who did this and that, don’t just wait for life to happen to you. opportunities are always there, even when the economy is not booming
3. Exceed expectations: If you are an employee, work more than you are expected to. This is a choice that everyone has, whether or not you went to school or not. Rich people worked hard for their money. If you have clients, be at their beck and call, always be there to satisfy all their needs and make a brand for yourself.
4. Do what you love: You will never have to work a day in your life-Steve Jobs. Most people who have succeeded in life worked in the areas they were passionate about. You are naturally focused and committed on something you love.
5. Integrity: adhering to high moral standards will take you places. People will trust you. taking shortcuts will only give you temporary richness, but never satisfaction
6. Learn from failures: You will fail at one point or the other, but what makes the different between a winner and a loser is sitting and wailing in the mud or standing up and going right ahead to achieve what you want.
7. Commitment: You have to be 100% committed to a goal to excel in it. Many self-made millionaires staked all they had to achieve all they wanted…and they did. Most of them did not have another choice but to succeed
8. Self discipline: When you realistically decide that within a certain timeline I will have achieved a certain goal, go ahead and achieve it
9. Attitude: A positive attitude sets apart those who make it and those who fall and never stand up to try again.
10. Believe in oneself: Many people dream, but believe that it could never happen to them. Having a high self-esteem and belief in one’s abilities will take you places.

Becoming rich is perhaps the most celebrated theme in this blog. For more articles on making it rich you can refer to the category becoming rich. Remember to have your goal set before you practice these habits. All good habits without a goal can not get you anywhere.

On a second thought, even if you do not have a goal in mind, still, you can practice these habits to become self-aware and disciplined. You may feel fulfilled from your inner-self  Good practices never go in vain.