For over a week I’ve been listening to The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley while commuting in my car. He interviewed 1000 millionaires since 1980 and taken very meticulous surveys of their responses.

　　Not only have I gained dozens of GEMS about what it takes to becoming a Millionaire from this program, but I learned to think different. I learned to think the way millionaire’s think, or so I hope!

　　One of the interesting survey questions is what all of those millionaires contributes their success to. So without further ado, here is a list of their top 13, from most important to least (but still really important). With my commentary.

　　Success Factors

　　1. Being honest with all people. The great thing about this factor is that it is accessible to anyone and you can start right away. Just be honest. It sounds simple, but it requires a bit of courage at some points. So do it- it’s the top success factor.

　　2. Having a supportive spouse. While being attracted to someone is really important, perhaps even necessary, it’s not the criteria by which one should go spouse-shopping. I would personally say, and the millionaires would agree, that having a kind, supportive spouse, who has similar goals, and is responsible is more important.

　　3. Getting along with people. I can’t thing of having any job, business, or career that has zero involvement with people and has monetary value. You can see how this would be in the top 3, right?

　　4. Loving career or business. The passion and love for your career will make work not work anymore. Sure it might be really hard at times. When you combine the passion with your discipline you will be propelled to new heights.

　　5. Being physically fit. I stress this in many posts- exercise. If you aren’t taking care of your health, than your mind and body are not working optimally.

　　6. Having strong leadership qualities. When it comes down to it you will want to delegate as much as you can and concentrate on more important issues. There is only one of you. having this skill is a top priority.

　　7. Making wise investments.You can make high 6 figure incomes, but if the money doesn’t grow, or if you put it into losing investments than you aren’t optimizing your assets. You’re basically spinning your wheels and wasting your time. You want to reach a point where you could live off of the interest of your investments!

　　8. Seeing business opportunities. The truth is if you’re in a niche market that is over saturated you’re going to have too much competition to make a real difference. Sure you might rise to the top, but that’s like the chance of you becoming a rock star- slim. If money is what you’re after, not the dream of being number 1 in ‘that’ field, than find an unoccupied niche.

　　9. Being willing to take financial risk given the right return. One of the ways that I look at this is the financial risk of working for yourself instead of a big company. Yes, you’re risking you X-figure a year job, but the return that you could possibly get is way greater than this. Combined with #8 (seeing opportunities), and doing market research, the risk is much less than you think.

　　10. Having good mentors. Learning amazing qualities from highly successful people is easier than learning the road on your own. Once your mentality is in the right place, actions are performed, and success follows.

　　11. Investing in my own business. You have much more control over your own business than you do in the stock market. You can expand, make higher end products, or do whatever it takes to increase your own income.

　　12. Living below your means. If your expenses are raising as fast as your income you’re never going to save a good amount- no matter what you’re income. When you live before your means and your income raises, do not increase your expenses. This gap will keep getting bigger and bigger and so will your net worth.

　　13. Having excellent investment advisers. The truth is unless you’re an investment expert you don’t know the best place to put your money. The best people to execute your investments are financial advisers, but according to real millionaires the best people to give financial advice are knowledgeable CPAs and Lawyers.

　　All that’s left now is the hack your life by implementing these 13 success secrets and you’re on your way!

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