Habits that Will Make You a Millionaire – Part II of 3

A few days ago I shared the first three habits that will make you a millionaire. Today it’s time for three more.

4. Know Thyself.

“Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves–their strengths, their values, and how they best perform.” — Peter F. Drucker

This is crucial and so often overlooked by people who don’t understand the nature of success. If you think that success comes from a strike of dumb luck, there is no sense in getting to know your talents.

If you are convinced that success comes only to those especially gifted and you compare yourself to them, you don’t look for your unique abilities but for spectacular talents: singing like an angel, playing football like a pro, making investments like a fortuneteller or having the wit of a stage comedian.

And, of course, you don’t have them, so you deem yourself unfit for success. But every single human being is equipped with their own skills, history and talents, and this mishmash makes you unique in the scale of the universe.

Leverage this uniqueness and you can become the best in the world in what you are doing (and be adequately compensated for that). But first you need to get to know yourself.

Meditate, think on paper, brainstorm, draw mind maps or journal every day. Getting to know yourself is a journey that lasts a lifetime.

5. Personal Development.

“Income seldom exceeds personal development.” — Jim Rohn

The most common form of personal development among millionaires is reading books. I’m biased as an author and a lifelong reader, but I think it’s because it is the most efficient form of personal development.

Of course, there are other tools that provide enormous ROI: attending live events, masterminds, and coaching can change your game completely. But reading is the activity that you can do every day and only by yourself. You don’t need to coordinate schedules and agendas of other people to leverage books.

There are very few millionaires who admit that they don’t read personal development material of any kind. One of them is Gary Vaynerchuk. However, this guy is a freak who can draw self-knowledge from personal interactions. His ability to listen to others is legendary, and he built his own development around this skill.

But if you don’t feel you are close to ‘legendary,’ you’d better read books.

6. Maintaining Health.

Like every other habit on this list, health, per se, is not necessary to succeed. It is “only” highly desirable. It’s much easier to become a millionaire when you are full of energy, sleep well, eat well, exercise regularly, do health checkups regularly, etc.

In fact, all the above are very rare together. I know people who sleep well, others who eat healthy and others who regularly visit their doctor. But meeting an individual who does everything from this list? It’s as rare as a unicorn.

Sometimes a health struggle is what makes you successful. My friend Rebecca is dying much faster than most of us. She has a genetic disease, and doctors give her only 5 more years of life. Out of her desperation a drive to success begot, and she became a bestselling self-published author to provide for her family.

Nonetheless, such stories are exceptions, not the rule. Usually, the stronger you are, the more you can accomplish.

In a few days I’ll share another 3 “millionaire habits.”