Seven Secrets of Self-Made Multimillionaires

First, understand that you no longer want to be just a millionaire. You want to become a multimillionaire.

While you may think a million dollars will give you financial security, it will not. Given the volatility in economies, governments and financial markets around the world, it's no longer safe to assume a million dollars will provide you and your family with true security. In fact, a Fidelity Investments' study of millionaires last year found that 42 percent of them don't feel wealthy and they would need $7.5 million of investable assets to start feeling rich.

This isn't a how-to on the accumulation of wealth from a lifetime of saving and pinching pennies. This is about generating multimillion-dollar wealth and enjoying it during the creation process. To get started, consider these seven secrets of multimillionaires.

No. 1: Decide to Be a Multimillionaire -- You first have to decide you want to be a self-made millionaire. I went from nothing—no money, just ideas and a lot of hard work—to create a net worth that probably cannot be destroyed in my lifetime. The first step was making a decision and setting a target. Every day for years, I wrote down this statement: "I am worth over $100,000,000!"

No. 2: Get Rid of Poverty Thinking -- There's no shortage of money on planet Earth, only a shortage of people who think correctly about it. To become a millionaire from scratch, you must end the poverty thinking. I know because I had to. I was raised by a single mother who did everything possible to put three boys through school and make ends meets. Many of the lessons she taught me encouraged a sense of scarcity and fear: "Eat all your food; there are people starving," "Don't waste anything," "Money doesn't grow on trees." Real wealth and abundance aren't created from such thinking. 

No. 3: Treat it Like a Duty -- Self-made multimillionaires are motivated not just by money, but by a need for the marketplace to validate their contributions. While I have always wanted wealth, I was driven more by my need to contribute consistent with my potential. Multimillionaires don't lower their targets when things get tough. Rather, they raise expectations for themselves because they see the difference they can make with their families, company, community and charities. 

No. 4: Surround Yourself with Multimillionaires -- I have been studying wealthy people since I was 10 years old. I read their stories and see what they went through. These are my mentors and teachers who inspire me. You can't learn how to make money from someone who doesn't have much. Who says, "Money won't make you happy"? People without money. Who says, "All rich people are greedy"? People who aren't rich. Wealthy people don't talk like that. You need to know what people are doing to create wealth and follow their example: What do they read? How do they invest? What drives them? How do they stay motivated and excited? 

No. 5: Work Like a Millionaire -- Rich people treat time differently. They buy it, while poor people sell it. The wealthy know time is more valuable than money itself, so they hire people for things they're not good at or aren't a productive use of their time, such as household chores. But don't kid yourself that those who hit it big don't work hard. Financially successful people are consumed by their hunt for success and work to the point that they feel they are winning and not just working. 

No. 6: Shift Focus from Spending to Investing -- The rich don't spend money; they invest. They know the U.S. tax laws favor investing over spending. You buy a house and can't write it off. The rich, in contrast, buy an apartment building that produces cash flow, appreciates and offers write-offs year after year. You buy cars for comfort and style. The rich buy cars for their company that are deductible because they are used to produce revenue.

No. 7: Create Multiple Flows of Income -- The really rich never depend on one flow of income but instead create a number of revenue streams. My first business had been generating a seven-figure income for years when I started investing cash in multifamily real estate. Once my real estate and my consulting business were churning, I went into a third business developing software to help retailers improve the customer experience.

Lastly, you may be surprised to learn that wealthy people wish you were wealthy, too. It's a mystery to them why others don't get rich. They know they aren't special and that wealth is available to anyone who wants to focus and persist. Rich people want others to be rich for two reasons: first, so you can buy their products and services, and second, because they want to hang out with other rich people. Get rich -- it's American.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222718

17 Ways To Motivate Yourself To Do Great Things

Sometimes, no matter how experienced we are or how much we have accomplished, we all can use a little help to keep going, a bit of motivation if you will.

In the face of the inevitable obstacles we are going to encounter, here are ideas that have worked for me, my friends who run both entrepreneurial and micro businesses, and others I talked to.

At the end of this post, I am going to ask you to tell me what motivational techniques have worked for you–just click the “comment button; if I get enough good ideas I will do a subsequent blog crediting you, of course–but first the list.

Some of these will resonate with you.

1. Necessity.  A lot of my friends are incredibly literal. When asked what keeps them going, they point to the mortgage that has to be paid or an elderly parent’s medical bills they are responsible for.  Says one, “John Wayne got it right. ‘A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.’  And that applies to women, too.” (I have to admit I could relate to this response.  At one point, three of my kids were attending private colleges simultaneously. During that period, I took to saying “I can’t afford either writer’s block or sloth.”)

2. Quotes. Inspirational quotes were cited by many, but how they used them were as unique as they are.  Some literally had a wall or white board filled with quotes they had discovered through the years, while others took to putting a particular favorite (such as “just keep swimming,” from the kids’ movieFinding Nemo, taped to their monitor or they used a favorite quote as a screensaver. For a great list of quotes, see my Forbes colleague Kevin Kruse’s recommendations.

3. Employees are relying on you.  This is related to the necessity argument. An extremely high number of entrepreneurs I talked to mentioned all the people who could be potentially out of work, if the entrepreneur did less than their absolute best and their company suffered. Feeling responsible for their employees’ economic future kept them going.

4. Personal pride.  It was hard to get people to admit to this one until they had a second (or third) glass of wine.  But although they rarely talk about it publically, many entrepreneurs are extremely proud of what they had accomplished and take (usually quiet) satisfaction in keep the enterprise going no matter what problems arise.

5.  A mission to change the world. Not everyone was evocative as Steve Jobs (who used to tell Apple employees ”we are going to make insanely great products”) but a significant number of the entrepreneurs and business people I talked to truly believe their offerings will make the world a better place.  It is the deeply help belief in that mission that keeps them going.

6. Support groups. This provides benefits in one of two ways (and it was possible for one group to supply both.) Either the entrepreneur met periodically with other entrepreneurs who could offer words of encouragment and advice when they were stuck, or even if they didn’t ask for advice, simply being associated with other successful people made the entrepreneur work harder. He didn’t want to fall behind his peers.

7.  They have a chip on their shoulder.  More people than I would have thought say they keep going no matter what to prove to all the people “who told me I would never be successful, that they were wrong.” Intriguingly, that chip didn’t go away once they were successful.

8. Consider the alternative.  This one, too, took two forms.  To keep themselves going, some entrepreneurs either thought back to the days before they started their companies and recalled how unhappy they were working for someone else. Or they pictured what it would be like to once again have a boss.  Either image, they said, was enough to keep them plugging away.

9. A legacy.  Knowing that their company may be the only real thing they are remembered for, or hoping that their kids will take over the business someday, keeps many entrepreneurs going, when times get tough or they simply get tired.

10. Create Momentum.  This one was cited by just about everyone I talked to.  Goals like: $1 million in sales within the first year can sound awfully daunting from a standing start, i.e. you are beginning with no revenues.  But, if you say, “let’s get $83,333.33 coming in this month; and $83,333 next month,” the numbers don’t seem as big, and you get a chance to celebrate 12 small wins, as well as the one big one, when you hit $1 million in sales.

11. Get a Diagnosis. Here’s how one entrepreneur described this one for me.  “You know when you are physically feeling lousy and know it is more than a cold or the flu, but you don’t know what it is? Simply not knowing is worrisome. Once you get a diagnosis—even if it something bad like pneumonia—you actually feel better because you know what it is and what you are up against  It is the same for me in my business. If I feel bad but I get a friend—or even a shrink—to tell me what is going on, I feel better once I have a name for it.  That, in and of itself, is enough for me to come up with a battleplan to keep going.”

12. Visualization. This one has never worked for me, although several of the people I talked to swear by it. They say focusing on what success will ultimately look like keeps them going.  I worry that having fixed image of success could keep you from pursuing other opportunities that you could encounter on the way, but I am including this one here because it seems to work for so many.

13.   Exercise. Think. Sometimes being tired, depressed and wrung out is “simply” a matter of over-work or being out of shape (or both.)  Taking a break—at regular points–could be enough to keep you going.  And at the very least, if you get into shape you will have more energy—even if your exercise program doesn’t do a darn thing to improve your company’s  performance.

14.  Learn from your mistakes. Having things go wrong—you don’t get the sale; the client hates your solution to their problem—is enough to get anyone demotivated (if that is a word.)  You are going to feel bad. Accept that.  And give yourself a SHORT period to wallow.  Then learn from what went wrong. That way you will be turning the rejection into something you can benefit from going forward. It sounds simplistic and cliched, of course, and it is extremely difficult to do. But it is true.  And more importantly, it does work.

15. Don’t Get In Your Own Way.  There will be enough circumstances beyond your control which could take the wind out of your sails, as my grandmother used to say. Don’t make your life harder than it has to be.  Simplify everything you can. (Leaving yourself 10 minutes less than you need to get to the airport is never a good idea.) Delegate the stuff you are bad at. And become as organized as humanly possible. Stress is the enemy of creativity. And creating more stress than you have to for yourself is simply dumb.

16.  Keep score. This one is for all the hard charging, Type As out there.  If you are keeping a running tally of the jobs completed, clients landed, sales recorded since you first opened your doors, seeing the numbers increase–and wanting them to increase further–can be a great motivating force. Just looking at the scoreboard, and knowing that you need to get the numbers higher, can keep you fired up.

17. Keep telling yourself the best way to predict the future is to create it. And then go create it.

That’s my list. What’s yours?

What is the one thing–or things–that helps keeps your motivated?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/actiontrumpseverything/2014/03/01/17-ways-to-motivate-yourself-to-do-great-things/

Billionaire Jack Ma teaches you how to be successful in life and business

Billionaire Jack Ma, the founder and ex-CEO of Alibaba Group, as well as one of the most successful Chinese Internet entrepreneurs, shares his wealth of experiences.

Jack Ma: The mistake I regretted the most

In 2001, I made a mistake. I told 18 of my fellow comrades whom embarked on the entrepreneurship journey with me that the highest positions they could go was a managerial role. To fill all our Vice President and Senior Executive positions, we would have to hire from external parties.

Years later, those I hired were gone, but those whom I doubted their abilities became Vice Presidents or Directors.

I believe in two principles: Your attitude is more important than your capabilities. Similarly, your decision is more important than your capabilities!

Jack Ma: You cannot unify everyone’s thoughts, but you can unify everyone through a common goal.

1. Don’t even trust that you are able to unify what everyone is thinking; it is impossible.
2. 30% of all people will never believe you. Do not allow your colleagues and employees to work for you. Instead, let them work for a common goal.
3. It is a lot easier to unite the company under a common goal rather than uniting the company around a particular person.

Jack Ma: What does a leader have that an employee doesn't?

A leader should never compare his technical skills with his employee’s. Your employee should have superior technical skills than you. If he doesn't, it means you have hired the wrong person.

What, then, makes the leader stands out?

1. A leader should be a visionary and have more foresight than an employee.
2. A leader should have higher grit and tenacity, and be able to endure what the employees can’t.
3. A leader should have higher endurance and ability to accept and embrace failure.

The quality of a good leader therefore is his vision, tenacity, and his capability.

Jack Ma: Don’t be involved in politics

1. One should always understand that money and political power can never go hand in hand. Once you are in politics, don’t ever think about money anymore. Once you are running a business, don’t ever think of being involved in politics.
2. When money meets political power, it is similar to a match meeting an explosive- waiting to go off.

Jack Ma: The 4 main questions the young generation must ponder on

1. What is failure: Giving up is the greatest failure.
2. What is resilience: Once you have been through hardships, grievances and disappointments, only then will you understand what is resilience.
3. What your duties are: To be more diligent, hardworking, and ambitious than others.
4. Only fools use their mouth to speak. A smart man uses his brain, and a wise man uses his heart.

Jack Ma: We are born to live and experience life.

I always tell myself that we are born here not to work, but to enjoy life. We are here to make things better for one another, and not to work. If you are spending your whole life working, you will certainly regret it.

No matter how successful you are in your career, you must always remember that we are here to live. If you keep yourself busy working, you will surely regret it.

Jack Ma on competing and competition

1. Those that compete aggressively with one another are the foolish ones.
2. If you view everyone as your enemies, everyone around you will be your enemies.
3. When you are competing with one another, don’t bring hatred along. Hatred will take you down.
4. Competition is similar to playing a board of chess. If you lose, we can always have another round. Both players should never fight.
5. A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understand this, the sky’s the limit.

Jack Ma: Don’t make complaining and whining a habit

If you complain or whine once in a while, it is not a big deal.

However, if it becomes habitual, it will be similar to drinking: the more you drink, the stronger the thirst. On the path to success, you will notice that the successful ones are not whiners, nor do they complain often.

The world will not remember what you say, but it will certainly not forget what you have done.

Jack Ma’s advice to entrepreneurs

1. The opportunities that everyone cannot see are the real opportunities.
2. Always let your employees come to work with a smile.
3. Customers should be number 1, Employees number 2, and then only your Shareholders come at number 3.
4. Adopt and change before any major trends or changes.
5. Forget the money; Forget about earning money.
6. Rather than having small smart tricks to get by, focus on holding on and persevering.
7. Your attitude determines your altitude.

Jack Ma on entrepreneurship

1. A great opportunity is often hard to be explained clearly; things that can be explained clearly are often not the best opportunities.
2. You should find someone who has complementary skills to start a company with. You shouldn’t necessarily look for someone successful. Find the right people, not the best people.
3. The most unreliable thing in this world is human relationships.
4. “Free” is the most expensive word.
5. Today is cruel, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be beautiful.

Jack Ma: The 4 don’ts of entrepreneurship

1. The scariest things about starting up is the inability to see, to be snobbish, to be unable to understand what is going on, as well as to be unable to keep up with pace.
2. If you do not know where your competitor is, or overconfident and snobbish about your competitor, or are unable to comprehend how your competitor became a real threat, you will surely fall behind him. Don’t be the “they” in this idiom: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
3. Even if your competitor is still small in size or weak, you should take him seriously and treat him as a giant. Likewise, even if your competitor is massive in size, you shouldn’t regard yourself as a weakling.

Jack Ma on starting your own company

What starting your company means: you will lose your stable income, your right to apply for a leave of absence, and your right to get a bonus.

However, it also means your income will no longer be limited, you will use your time more effectively, and you will no longer need to beg for favours from people anymore.

If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then be different from your peers.

Jack Ma on opportunities

If there are over 90% of the crowd saying “Yes” to approving a proposal, I will surely dispose the proposal into the bin. The reason is simple: if there are so many people who thinks that the proposal is good, surely there will be many people who would have been working on it, and the opportunity no longer belongs to us.

http://vulcanpost.com/5407/billionaire-jack-ma-teaches-you-how-to-be-successful-in-life-and-business/

Wise Money – 5 Tips From Billionaire Investor Warren Buffett

Want to make investment decisions that lead to wealth in the long term?That’s just what billionaire Warren Buffett has been doing for years. Whether you have $5 or $50 million, Buffett’s wisdom will ring true as you work to make the best choices for your situation.

From the master himself, five tips you can take to the bank:

1. Fear in others is an opportunity for you

It’s been an ideal period for investors: A climate of fear is their best friend. Those who invest only when  commentators are upbeat end up paying a heavy price for meaningless reassurance.

Keep your head about you when others decide with fear and you’ll find value at every turn. From the common market thrashing over quarterly earnings to the small business owner who just wants to get out, learn to smell fear and welcome it as an opportunity.

The irrational fear of the herd is a dear friend to the value-minded investor. When everybody else stampedes, quickly work through your own fear and get back to business.

2. Invest in what you understand

It doesn't matter how good a deal you've found or how cool an investment opportunity seems. If you don’t understand how it works, steer clear. You probably have at least one friend who is always rushing from one “perfect investment opportunity” to the next. Unless you can afford to burn money in a barrel (which you shouldn't), steer clear of investments that you don’t fully understand.

3. Maintain a healthy margin

We pay a steep price to maintain our premier financial strength. The $20 billion-plus of cash equivalent assets that we customarily hold is earning a pittance at present. But we sleep well.

For most individuals, the idea of even $5,000 in the bank seems like a far-fetched dream. Keeping 6 months worth of living expenses in a separate account is good personal finance sense. Holding enough cash to get you through times of uncertainty in your business has the same result of keeping you free of fear-based blunders.

Figure out the number you need to keep safe in order to sleep well at night. Buffett needs his $20 billion, I need enough to pay for my friends’ drinks for a few months. What do you need?

4. Concentrate on long term results

In the end, what counts in investing is what you pay for a business – through the purchase of a small piece of it in the stock market – and what that business earns in the succeeding decade or two.

Once you've put the first 3 tips into practice it’s important to remember that tremendous value is most often gained over the long term. Look at what might happen over the next 15-20 years and invest accordingly.

You've got your cushion so you’re not afraid of dips in the market. You’re working within the bounds of what you understand well. You also have the ability to operate calmly when the rest of the world has gone nuts. Putting some focus on 4 tips should be no big deal for you!

5. Take full responsibility for your investment decisions

If Berkshire ever gets in trouble, it will be my fault. It will not be because of misjudgments made by a Risk Committee or Chief Risk Officer.

Make the success or failure of your investments personal and take responsibility for all your decisions. You might have the smartest consultant of all time but that’s no excuse to shirk your responsibilities. If something goes wrong at Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett takes responsibility for the mishap and works to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

He’s famous for treating the latest recession like a mother of 20 stocking up on groceries for 50% off. You probably won’t be in a position to purchase entire companies any time soon though. In the meantime, Get more of Buffett’s advice by perusing his annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (quotes excerpted from 2009 letter).

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/wise-money-5-tips-from-billionaire-investor-warren-buffett.html