21 Insider Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires

By SaiF on Mar 18, 2008 in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

This is the final installment of the “Secrets of the Self-Made Millionaire Unveiled”. In today’s video we watch a light-hearted interview with Chris Gardner. Before I write about the rest of the secrets, I want to tell you that I believe the true secret is at the beginning of this video:

Did you catch one very subtle trait in the short video? Did you notice that he addressed the news anchors by their first names? I think that one quality alone can get you very far because let’s be honest here, we want to feel important and that we matter even if we don’t really know the person we’re talking to.

16. Unlock Your Inborn Creativity

I’m not sure if you are a creative person, but I never thought I was. I like to think of myself as having this power of imitation. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I really do think that way. As my Uncle rightly pointed out yesterday, I seem to be able to do whatever I want to.

For instance, I never learnt how to kick a ball until I was 13 but by the time I was 14, I excelled at it. I didn’t know how to dance when I was 15, but I was getting standing ovations by 16. I’m not trying to brag but it’s an endless list.

What’s important to note here is this: Every one of those accomplishments was achieved by a burning desire (almost an obsession really) to be able to excel at something. Brian Tracy wrote that in order for you to unlock your inborn creativity, you have to have three things.

1. Intensely Desired Goals

2. Pressing Problems

3. Focused Questions

To sum it up in one sentence: When I desire something so much, I’ll do anything to get it. When I start, I’ll have a lot of pressing problems which will lead me asking focused questions that will direct my mind to find creative solutions to overcome obstacles.

I know you might be thinking,”Where is the creativity in that?”

Brian Tracy writes,”Creativity is just another word for â€œimprovement.â€ Every time you come up with an idea to improve some part of your work, to find newer, better, faster, cheaper or easier ways to accomplish a result, you are functioning at the highest level of creativity.”

17. Get Around The Right People

You’ve probably heard of the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” and I think that’s very true since there’s thousands of unemployed University graduates out there.

Brian Tracy says something even more compelling, “85% of your success in life is going to be determined by the quality of the relationships that you have in your personal and your business activities.”

I think the keywords are “quality relationships”. And if that’s not enough, he even goes on to make the rather bold claim that,”More than 90% of your success will be determined by your reference group.”

The reference group here refers to the people we associate with most of the time. “Birds of a feather flock together.” I’ve heard of this even bolder claim once that your level of income can be estimated by averaging the incomes of the 10 people you most associate with. But I believe it’s true since we are social creatures that adopt and adapt to our environments. We literally “pick up” the attitudes of behaviors we are most close to.

photo credit: jamieradford

But if you’re like me and are not born into an Orange County where everyone are monetarily rich, not to worry. I don’t think many millionaires were either. But they get to know people through networking, like how our 9 year old millionaire Farrah Gray went around with his home-made Business cards with the words “21st Century CEO” proudly written.

However I’m rather weak with Networking and have asked around to find the Magic formula. But it seems like the general consensus is that there is no such thing as a formula for networking. You just have to be genuine because we can sense if someone’s not being sincere from a mile away don’t we?

But in this book, Brian Tracy reminds me of what I’ve learnt earlier this year. We love to hear others talk about us. Period. He says,”… ask them to tell you about their business and especially, to tell you what you would need to know to send a client or a customer to them.”

He also advises to be more of a “go-giver” than a “go-getter” because “the very best way to network and build your relationships is to constantly look for ways to help other people achieve their own goals.” Now that I come to think of it, my closest friends are those who have first helped me with something first. And you know what, I don’t even think it has to be something big. My closest friends are the ones who offered a seat at the school library or canteen.

18. Take Excellent Care Of Your Health

I’ve never thought of this as being something really important until I read my friend Sean Toh’s book. His book emphasises health a lot because you can’t enjoy the wealth you’ve created if you’re sick all the time. I’m not really adept at staying healthy so I won’t expand much on this one. But, Brian Tracy emphasizes on three things:

1. Proper Weight. It’s a really simple formula : “Eat less, exercise more!”

2. Proper Diet. You might want to eat the right proportion of the right food groups here.

3. Proper Exercise. I usually overload on this (which would explain my countless long-term injuries) but a safe estimate is 200 minutes per week or 30 minutes per day.

Why do this? Remember, you can’t enjoy the wealth if you don’t have the health!

19. Be Decisive And Action Oriented

This is one principle I’ve learnt early in life that I credit my successes up till today to. They say that the most common quality of CEO’s is that they make decisions quickly and apply changes just as fast.

Brian Tracy says,”self-made millionaires think carefully and then they make decisions quickly. They move fast and they get quick feedback from their actions. If they find they made a mistake, they quickly self-correct and try something else.”

photo credit: Thiru Murugan

I find that this observation fits Thomas Edison perfectly, don’t you think? I mean this guy was trying all the different ways to be successful with his light bulb, and as one filament candidate is ruled out, he takes one step nearer to the winning one.

He also makes an observation that I’ve personally experienced, and I think is important you know about. When I started taking action every minute of the day, I get excited every time one of my actions yield an amazing result.

“You actually tap into a higher source of energy, enthusiasm and motivation that fills you full of joy and exhilaration which propels you forward even faster toward your goals.”

My online mentor, Mike Litman always reminds me to ask myself this question,”What is one thing that I don’t like to do, but if I did it, it would move my life and/or business forward.”

You know how in life they say the quality of your answer id determined by the quality of your question? Brian Tracy proposes that we ask ourselves this question that I believe is a better quality question:

“What one action, if I did it immediately, could have the greatest positive impact on my results?”

20. Never Consider The Possibility of Failure

A young journalist once asked Thomas J. Watson Sr., the founder of IBM, how he could be more successful faster. Watson replied with these wonderful words, “If you want to be successful faster, you must double your rate of failure. Success lies on the far side of failure.”

Now where have we heard that before? Yes! That Keynote Speech Farrah Gray gave! I think what’s also testament to the fact that Farrah doesn’t even think about failure was what he said on the show “Judge Grey” where he said to the boy,”It’s not over until you win!”

Another thing I want to point out to you is risk. Almost everything is risky when we’re new at something, right? However, what’s important is your attitude towards risk. We must not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by the riskiness of the situation because at the same time, we have a lot to gain.

Brian Tracy points out,“In fact, your attitude toward risk taking is probably the most important indicator of your readiness to become wealthy.”

Now that I’ve completed this whole section, you know what’s funny? It’s not failure that we’re afraid of. That only makes us stronger. It’s the fear of failure. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “Make a habit throughout your life of doing the things you fear. If you do the thing you fear, the death of fear is certain.”

21. Back Everything You Do With The Twin Qualities Of Persistence And Determination.

photo credit: shoothead

Brian Tracy makes an excellent point of saying that at the start of the journey, we have to make the decision and resolve never to give up no matter what happens. Because if we only think about it when we feel like we’re failing, then we most probably will quit because we’re already in a vulnerable position. I’m quite sure, we’ve both been there haven’t we?

There is also a more mature way of seeing this whole quitting and fear of failure thing. I wrote about how you should think of quitting before you start some time back. You might want to read that.

He also makes an excellent point that when difficulties and setbacks come, it’s the time to show others what we’re really made of. It’s the time to respond in a positive and constructive manner. And if we do that everytime we’re hit, we’ll get more immune and eventually we’ll reach a point where we’re unstoppable!

Concluding Point

I belive this brings us to the end of the series. Before we end, I would like to quote Brian Tracy. He says “Success is predictable.” It doesn’t happen by chance, it’s intended. And I’m very sure if we follow these 21 timeless principles, we’ll become self-made millionaires and even if we don’t we’ll become the finest people the world has ever seen.

Remember, if you ever for a second think that you can’t do it because you’re not good enough, in today’s video Chris Gardner said with full conviction that,”Chris Gardner is not doing anything that you cannot do” Remember, nobody’s better than you. Nobody.

“You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves they want to tell you they can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period”

What’s next?