Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
I was reading an article by a researcher by the name of Tom Corley and he found some interesting information when he set out to discover the secrets of self-made millionaires.
He spent an incredible FIVE years interviewing 233 wealthy people with assets of 3.2 million and up. Do you have a guess as to what the major rule they lived by that most "regular" folk don't?
- Save 10% of all income, at least?
- Live a healthy lifestyle, in other words, stay in shape?
- Maintain a healthy diet?
- Read lots of books?
- Super efficient time management?
Uh...no. Those are very important but most of us do those.
No, what he found they all had in common was a fixation, a determination.. with some an obsession...with cultivating friendships with wealthy, successful people. Not only that but they also completely black-listed anyone with a negative attitude.
They all refuse to be around people with a victim mentality, blame shifters, or pessimists.
Hey it's the same for us on steemit, right? If someone has a horrible, complaining attitude you try to encourage them but they ain't exactly on your favorite list and you tend to avoid them.
I thought his discover was very interesting and the first thing I thought of was family. Who among us only has positive, encouraging family? lol.
It would be dang near impossible to cut out all negative or self pitying family members for most of us but apparently that's what they did. And it makes sense. Here's what one millionaire said:
“I limit my exposure to toxic, negative people. Some of them may bring you down and infect you with their negativity, which can undermine your ability to creatively find solutions to problems and overcome obstacles.” Well said.
Successful personality traits
All the millionaires interview had at least several of these, some had all:
Positive mental outlook: They’re upbeat and optimistic.
Gratitude: They are appreciative and focus on what they have, not what others have.
Encouraging attitude: They inspire and motivate others to pursue their dreams.
Hard work ethics: They take action on their goals and never quit.
Health-oriented: They devote time to taking care of their physical and mental health.
Humility: They see egotism as a deficiency. (This one surprised me a little).
Future-oriented: They invest in themselves and for the long-term, instead of seeking instant gratification.
Open to feedback: They accept feedback, and learn from it.
Loyalty: They are trustworthy and reliable.
Authenticity: They don’t pretend to be someone they aren’t, because they like who they are.
Curious: They're always working to improve their knowledge and skills in topics they want to learn more about. Perhaps the library, taking an online class or actively seeking mentors.
Maintaining the connection to the rich
Here are the four main actions the millionaires took to increase closeness to their wealthy friends:
Make happy birthday calls: This says to them that they’re important to you.
Make life event calls: Like when they just had a baby, got married, experienced a death in the family. Those you reach out to won't forget your kind and thoughtful gesture.
- Make hello calls: This is about gathering information while at the same time truly getting to know the other person. Hopefully.
This one sounds a little awkward to me. It seems like you'd have to have a reason to call instead of just trying to chat with a super-busy person.
We built up tremendous contacts in our Real Estate business but the reason for calling was always business. Then if they had any personality at all we would start asking them personal questions and they'd take off talkin for 20 minutes! lol.
At that point we had them because they'd enjoyed themselves in the conversation and would know we cared about them. We'd stick out in their mind like a light in the darkness!
- Network: Participating in nonprofits or trade associations is critical to success. Plus, it’s how you meet influential people who can add to your rich and influential contacts.
There ya have it folks, start cutting off any "poor me" or negative people you know. lol. Easier said than done, I know.
Y'all are alot smarter than me. Let me know if you have any savvy tips to add!
Thanks for reading folks, God bless you all!
-jonboy
Texas
PS- talk about big success, check out this Big Mac vending machine:
I hate to get y'all's hopes up but this is just one machine made for marketing purposes, they say they don't plan on putting these everywhere. People like freshly made burgers! (maybe in the future though).
