8 Important Millionaire Habits

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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 GoalsHow 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 RegularlyI’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 AdversityYou 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 strategiesdidn’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 ToI’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 TimeYou’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 WrongAnother 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 DreamsI’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