One of the things I've never been shy doing is to ask people how they found success. In doing so, I've found many of the same answers greeting me time and time again. After awhile, you begin to see the patterns repeating themselves and realize that many success seekers found what works for them after much trial and error.
They Live Frugally
One of the first financial mentors was my boss who managed the steakhouse I worked at as a dishwasher overnight. Sometimes he'd drive me home in the most beat-up junker car I'd ever seen in my life. I knew he was making good money, and asked him why he didn't upgrade his vehicle to a better model.
The answer was illuminating as he told me that while it may not look new, the car ran just fine. Turns out he was saving his money and living a spartan lifestyle in order to preserve funds for investment. As a teen, it was one of the first lessons I learned about how successful people set themselves up to take advantage of opportunities as they come along.
They're were people I'd known who'd spend hundreds of dollars for a pair of sneakers, but had problems paying their cable bill. Wasting money on frivolous items such as expensive footwear, meant nothing was left to build an investment fund to help secure their future.
They Learn From The Best
I once worked for a season at a temp job at a factory. One day while waiting outside of the office, I overheard one of the managers discussing various assets he held and a business he had started. At the end of the day, I pulled him aside and asked him how he became so successful. He complimented me for showing an interest in how he made it, as opposed to the material things he possessed.
I learned that he did exactly what I was doing when he was my age and approached successful people to ask how they'd done it. These people were only too willing to share the wisdom they'd accumulated in their investing journey. Very few people took the time to learn from them, but for those that did, their was a fount of knowledge available for willing listeners.
So, whenever I had the chance, I was always willing to pick up any little nuggets of information from those who had blazed the trail before me.
They Have A Positive Mindset
Surrounding yourself with like-minded people who are striving towards the same goal can boost the positive mindset necessary to make it. Those willing to wallow in self-pity can have the effect of dragging you down and taking your eyes off the prize.
I've never been jealous of people that found success, instead I was curious to know how they got there. That brings up the danger of being surrounded by insecure people filled with jealousy that you're doing well and they're not. One only has to look at the almost weekly killings of rappers being murdered by rivals envious of their fame.
Such negative people need to be excised from your life, and replaced by those who share your positive mindset and the common goal of learning and growing until you win.
They're Willing To Put The Work In
Yet another habit of successful people is that they're willing to put in the work. They're usually among the first on the job, and regularly willing to burn the midnight oil in order to build their business. 60+ hour weeks are the norm, and very little time is wasted in gaming and other such non-success-building activities.
In short, they're willing to do keep shoveling that coal into the engine of their financial locomotive. Hard work now and dealing with daily privations now, will pay off handsomely in the future. Delayed gratification is a general rule the separates the winners from the losers.
They Invest In Themselves
Something else I noticed was a willingness to invest in themselves. Whether it was learning a foreign language, taking a course, or attending a seminar, they budget the resources needed to stay abreast of the latest information in their industry.
This is something I almost never saw in the majority of people that I crossed paths with. Therefore the ones who kept learning stood out amongst the rest. Sporting a library of self-help and investment books, is a sign of someone refusing to stand still, but instead diving into the fount of knowledge available to all.
They Fail Forward
One thing that really surprised me when talking to successful people is that almost all of them had failed numerous times. Over and over again, they made mistakes which might have dissuaded less motivated people, but which they learned from for the next time.
They'd tweak and adjust their approach and incorporate these lessons into each new project. It reminded me of a boat tacking into the wind to help propel them to their destination. Each mistake was added to their database of knowledge of what to do or not to do next time. They all told me that they learned far more from their failures than their successes.
They Pay It Forward
Last but not least, is they're willing to help others. My mentors all had mentors themselves, who helped them navigate potential landmines in their path. I learned that almost all of them had assistance at crucial moments, without which they might not have made it.
Very few of them were "self-made" and relied on the sage advice given by those who'd been there before them. The general condition for being offered the help, was a promise to "pay it forward" and assist someone else down the line.
Thus a virtuous cycle repeats itself over and over again. This enriches our society and keeps the wheels of prosperity moving. What have you learned about the habits of successful people?
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I think the most important habit is that they jump into projects and are not afraid to fail, but rather learn from them. I wanted to start several projects over and over, but the thought of pulling money from my own pocket and not seeing a return from that simply stopped me from pulling the trigger.
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My boss used to drive me home from work at times, and I still remember one of the things he said. "The more money you make, the more you spend. Spending on material things is like a gas that fills every available space unless controlled."
That really illuminated things for me, and explained why he refused to spend in order to buy a better car. What you mentioned about not being afraid to fail is also what I saw over and over again.
In fact, they viewed people who hadn't failed enough, as not being as seasoned, and worth partnering with, as those who did.
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Thank you for sharing these where we can learn a lot from. You never know who else you might inspire and motivate :) This is already a PIF :)
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Thanks for that. I still remember the person who helped me to learn best practices on what is now Hive. He paid in, and so am I. We can all do our part to help make this the best place on the blockchain!
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That's really nice. Glad to be around here in the Hive blockchain because there is so much to learn.
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One other thing I'll like to add is that they persevere even in the darkest and most difficult times when people are panicking and making crazy mistakes out of fear and uncertainty. I couldn't agree more with you, I think even when people are not rich, it's still not bad that they could emulate rich people.
They do indeed, and "They Never Give Up" was one of a number of other headings cut and that one was shortened and merged into "They Fail Forward" as I often go long with these posts and have to trim back.
I have an almost 3000 word article completed that will have to be slashed or split into two in order for it to be read, and another one to be published today. It's been a productive weekend! :)
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Wow, I guess splitting it into three posts might be good, like having it into a part one, two and three, it's definitely been a productive weekend for you.
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As I'm sure you know, some of them fall like rain, while others have to be painstakingly built paragraph by paragraph. Like you, I do love the craft of creating something where nothing existed before.
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I take my time to craft every word, so they can carefully synch while making sure it's aesthetical and pleasurable to read, but you know sometimes we won't be at our best at all times.
I enjoy reading your stuff (Taskmaster as well), and I do think that overall, in the grand scheme of things, we're able to create at a high level on a relatively consistent basis.
Example: The post that's going up in a few minutes is less than 500 words, which is a shorty to me. It's intened to get some information out, as opposed to the more thought-provoking articles I'm capable of when time is not an issue (today is homework day).
Like a movie director, I almost always shoot more textual "film" when creating, than edit "in post." I love being a content creator. :)
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This is definitely great, doing all it takes to be successful is definitely one way to greater heights in life, honestly you have touched every possible areas in this content
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Some of the lessons were surprising to me as a teen, but they all made complete sense once they were explained to me. They travelled in each others circles and supported each other ventures. No one made it completely on their own, and every one of them paid it forward.
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