It’s just as important to follow the money as follow your passion.  And, contrary to popular belief, you’re better off doing only a very few things that you do exceptionally well – and finding others to do the rest.

So said Lewis Schiff, author of “Business Brilliant: Surprising Lessons from the Greatest Self-made Business Icons ” to a sold out crowd at our Growth Strategies breakfast a few weeks ago.  Definitely one of our most popular speakers to date, Lewis shared four of the seven Habits of the super-wealthy.  Business Brilliant “habits” that aren’t necessarily common sense OR common practice to the middle class but are the practices of high net worth individuals, individuals who didn’t come from money.  Real self-made billionaires like the high school educated circus clown who founded Cirque du Soliel and Suze Orman who built her personal wealth by ignoring her own gospel of frugality.

Not that Lewis’ best practices (based on substantial research that he and his team conducted in 2008 and 2009) are guarantees.  As he shared, these are simply the practices that most likely will lead to the desired result – but his research is pretty damn persuasive.

So what are the crucial principles that you need to apply that will lead to personal wealth?  It starts with a LEAP.

 1)      Learn what you do best. 

Do you know what you’re exceptionally good at doing that will make you money?  Take a few minutes and make a list.  If your list is longer than 2 or 3 items, you’ve got too many.  Doing something well is much more important than working to get better at tasks that you’re not exceptionally good at.  Lewis’ recommendation: Spend some time thinking about the successes you’ve had and what you’ve specifically done to get them.  Get clear on what these exceptional skills are and “double down”.

2)      Earn money by doing that. 

The self-made super wealthy focus not just on those things which they’re extremely good at but also those which will make them money. And they’re typically owners, not players.  They create scalable models and don’t just settle for a salary.  Lewis’ recommendation: Think about how you make money and how you can work your way up the “ladder” from player to project to percent to proprietor pricing. Even one move up on the ladder – from project to percentage for instance – can help get you going in the right direction.

3)      Find Assistance with everything else.

Develop your network but do so strategically.  What matters most is how many people you know in your network who don’t know each other.  Find the “luck” in your network by functioning as a bridge between people who need to know each other but don’t and connect them. What Lewis calls “nodal” networking.  Lewis’ recommendation: Understand the motivations of your critical business associates and what their goals are so that you can better act as a connector and financial success will more likely follow.

4)      Be willing to Persist in the face of failure.

What did the most wealthy whom Lewis surveyed do after their most significant career setback?  They tried again in the same field. Failures allow you to roll your experiences forward and teach you what you’re exceptionally good at. Lewis’ recommendation: Share and study your failures with others. Use the opportunity to figure out a new way and persist.

Curious to learn Lewis’ other three ingredients?  Learn more about Lewis’ recipe. Check out his website here. 

And for more on our upcoming events – it’s never too late to start planning for success – click here. 

 

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