Wealth Building: Six Keys

By Scott Hove

There are keys to wealth and success that those who have attained them understand.  If you wish to build wealth and achieve success then it’s crucial to implement the keys discussed below.

Here, then, are six things that the successful understand and implement.  As you read them, please understand that you can practice them too!

1. They believe in themselves!

Successful people believe nothing can stop them from reaching their goals – financial and otherwise. They do what is necessary to reach those goals.  That means they even do things they dislike or take on tasks that seem impossible.

You can sense their self-belief and can almost see it when they enter a room.  Successful people exhibit a high level of self-confidence that is contagious.  Most are optimistic and maintain a positive outlook even when life is tough.  Their confidence is not easily shaken by external factors.  They see opportunities in problems!

2. They learn from people who have achieved more than they have!

Successful people know that in order to grow they need to learn from those who have already realized greater success.  They know that when you stop growing you stop living!

They ask questions, study and learn from others.  One man that I interviewed said to me, “No one has asked me questions like this before!”  I wasn’t surprised to hear him say that as I have heard it before.

Who can you ask about their success?  What might you learn?

3. They recognize the tremendous value of time!

Successful people understand time is their most important asset.  They know it is a very scarce resource. They don’t spend much time watching television soap operas, for example.  One of the best investments we made recently was to spend $9.99 a month to get the digital video recording service our local cable provider offers.  While we already watch limited programming, now we record the few shows we normally watch so we can zip through the commercials!  (Sorry, advertisers!)

Wealthy people know the power of the use of leverage to achieve maximum gains with minimum efforts.  When you can leverage time, you can achieve tremendous results!

4. They understand the importance of investing in themselves!

Successful people understand that many expenses are investments. They know that by spending money to acquire an asset or skill (learning) they will realize a future return.  In many cases that return will be a large multiple of their original expenditure.  (A good accountant will help them to see this, too!)

Many successful people spend good amounts of money on educational and motivational resources – CD’s, seminars, books, membership websites and more.  They know that it is an investment that can never diminish in value because it is an investment in themselves.

5. They implement strategic monetary decisions!

Wealthy people place a significant portion of their wealth in some type of investment that gives them a better return than a savings account.

These investments might be real estate, gas and oil, stocks, bonds, or their business.  Recently we learned about an investment opportunity that over the last year (February 2006 – January 2007) returned over 70% compounded.  We learned about it because we are actively looking for things that have the possibility of doing much better than the local bank.

Successful people also know that not putting all your eggs in one basket is critical.  There are far too many stories of people losing everything because everything was riding on one horse that couldn’t make it to the finish line.

6. They understand the power of being generous!

Many wealthy people are also great givers.  They have come to see the importance of giving to something beyond themselves.  They know that as they give to their community, college, church and other organizations they are helping others and that, too, is a great investment!

To be sure there are tax benefits involved, in some cases tremendous tax benefits (i.e., charitable remainder unitrusts), but for most successful people it is a benefit of giving and not the primary motivating factor.

Conclusion

Wealth and success are not measured simply by money in the bank and are rarely attained quickly.  Practice the disciplines above and you too will develop a wealthier life in many ways!

Scott Hove is an expert wealth builder, author, entrepreneur and speaker.