We’re Self-Made Millionaires: Here Are Our 5 Best Wealth-Building Lessons
Written by
Nicole Spector
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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Who wants to be a millionaire? All of us — if we don’t want to be billionaires, of course. And the fact is, today, the overwhelming majority of millionaires in the U.S. are self-made, so while great wealth can feel like a pipe dream, it can become a reality if you put the work in and are ready for a journey that is anything but easy.
GOBankingRates asked self-made millionaires to share the best wealth-building lessons they learned along the way to amassing their fortunes.
You May Need To Tough It Out for a While
Unless someone is funding your wealth-building journey or entrepreneurial enterprise, you’re going to need to contribute your own money into your own vision. And this may mean living leanly in a way that you aren’t used to.
“In my circumstance, this meant buying a second-hand truck off Craigslist, printing and hand-cutting stencils at home to spray paint a business name and phone number on the side, borrowing ladders from a friend, and fiercely protecting cash-flow by purchasing the minimum inventory needed to begin,” said Anne McGinty, host of the podcast “How I Built My Small Business.”
Get Comfortable Doing Things That Make You Uncomfortable
Hina Khan, peak performance mindset coach at Hina Khan Worldwide Inc., is a self-made millionaire who helps executives get or stay on track to financial success. She learned a critical business lesson when discovering that she had to get comfortable with — and good at — selling.
“I was caught in a space of wanting to create revenue, but also rejecting selling to people,” Khan said. “Things changed when I took the business part seriously, including sales. I realized if I couldn’t sell, I couldn’t help people. I understood that selling is something you do for someone, not to someone. With that understanding, I fell in love with selling. I began to learn the other aspects of the business as well (which I would eventually delegate).”
It’s Not About the Aha Moment — It’s About the Daily Grind
An aha moment may have led you to the decision to start a wealth-building venture, but don’t count on epiphanies happening on a regular basis — or saving you when challenges arise. Whether you sink or swim will be a result of none other than the daily grind.
“Our success wasn’t because of one brilliant decision, but because we just kept moving, making small, painful adjustments day after day after day — until they started to compound,” said Jason Wingate, CEO at Emerald Ocean Ltd.
Success Is All About How Well You Fail
Failure is a lesson in itself, but how you fail matters more.
“Wealth is not a reward for hustle — it results from focused failure,” said Steve Taplin, CEO, Sonatafy Technology.
“Failing fast, owning your mistakes and building on them is the only shortcut I’ve found. I wish I had known sooner that resilience and reinvestment beat ‘get rich quick’ every time.”
Don’t Wait Until You Feel ‘Ready’ To Start Your Wealth-Building Journey
Most people who make millions on their own have to take a leap of some kind that requires not only expertise, but self trust. Your gut may be telling you to wait, wait, wait. Giving up the wait is an important lesson.
“Don’t wait until you feel ready, until the economy shifts, until your debts are paid off,” said Kathleen Cameron, chief wealth creator at Diamond Academy Coaching. “Start embodying wealth now. The sooner you align with that version of you, the faster your reality transforms.”
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