6 qualities from 4 studies on self-made millionaires
You can become a millionaire even if you start from 0, if you have these 6 qualities.
There are 4 broad studies that have happened to identify what are the common traits of people who become super wealthy without any inheritance, all by themselves.
Good Grades wasn’t a factor - There is absolutely no correlation between good grades in school and college and being super wealthy. Getting into good college is just like downside protection that you can get a job that pays well. But would not necessarily make you wealthy. So there is no upside potential by getting good grades.
Sports was a major contributor - A majority of the self-made wealthy played sports at a higher level while growing up, which leads them to handling wins and losses equally well. And they can get up again to compete even if they have been losing matches consistently for a while. And they know that every winning streak does not mean you will continue to win. So it teaches them emotional stability.
Parents were self-employed - Over 60% of such people came from parents who were self-employed in some way, which means their families did not think getting a job is the only metric of success. Growing up in an environment where entrepreneurship or being self employed is promoted leads to one building psychological muscle to take risks with business.
Their biggest skill was in sales - which is not necessarily selling products or services, but the art of convincing others. This could be convincing prospects to date you, or making people wanting to hang out with you, or in a debate be able to convince people of your opinion positively.
Their decision making comes more on gut feel than pure analysis - which means they are comfortable taking decisions even when adequate data is not available. And can perform in uncertain situations and deal with ambiguity on what should you do next, without needing a superior to order you.
They have strong internal locus of control - which means if anything went wrong, they did not sit blaming others or build a victim mindset. But always took responsibility on themselves.
Source: CA Sarthak
When I heard the above, I went down the list to identify which of these qualities I had.
Grades - I had good grades in subjects I found interesting. For the rest, I did just enough to do as well as required.
Sports - has been a central pillar in my life. I played cricket at a professional level as a teenager in England. I continued to compete in my city into my 40s. I have learnt more about positive self-talk, emotional control, winning, losing and teamwork from cricket than anything else. Sports teaches you about yourself and working with others to achieve a common goal.
Self-employed parents - My parents were entrepreneurs. They worked together to earn a living through their ideas and initiatives. They never had a paycheck, so I experienced the ups and downs of not having consistent monthly income. But I also saw their chutzpah to create their own path, which they did successfully. I am also an entrepreneur, even when I work with a company that is not my own. It is the mindset of ownership, responsibility and initiative that makes me one.
I sell - but the way sales is defined here is not just about products and services. It is about selling a shared vision to achieve common goals. Because I believe in what I do, I create the conditions for win-win scenarios. I sell a winner’s mindset. I sell hard choices. I sell financial independence so that you can do more of what you are built to do. I sold my wife on marrying me. I sold the vision of a family. I sell health. I sell my team on achieving greatness. Everything you do is sales.
Gut feel - Intuition is data in the form of pattern recognition. I often feel what the right decision is after a good night’s sleep. I agree with Jeff Bezos, who believes that while data is essential for running an organization, the most important and high-impact decisions in business and life are made using intuition, gut feeling, and heart rather than spreadsheet analysis.
I take responsibility - the world does not owe me shit. My parents have done a great job in educating me; they don’t owe me shit either. I own every failure. And I share every success. What did I do wrong? What can I do better? What now? There is a lot of power in having an internal compass instead of using an external barometer.
I am self-made. So the above 6 qualities seem to have worked for me.
Do you have these 6 qualities too? And if you don’t, what can you do to acquire them?
See you next Sunday.
Harsh
I share my learnings as a business builder, daily on my WhatsApp Community and LinkedIn, and weekly on my Sunday Email.