Billionaire Mindset: 12 Traits From Mark Cuban, Warren Buffett and More
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Caitlyn Moorhead
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Looking to become a huge success? Take a note from successful wealth growers and think like a billionaire. Hacking through the jungle of life can leave you bruised and battered by the time you finally reach your destination, so why not walk down a known path toward riches?
Walking in the footsteps of those who succeeded before you makes for an easier journey all around. The world’s highest net-worth individuals credit some key traits for getting them to where they are today. Absorb their lessons, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll click into the billionaire mindset and far exceed your financial goals.
Mark Cuban: Charm and Disarm
You’ve got to be a people person if you want to build an empire. Mark Cuban, who has an estimated net worth of $5.7 billion, knows the importance of winning hearts and minds — and possibly even killing them with kindness.
“People hate dealing with people who are jerks,” Cuban once wrote. “It’s always easier to be nice than to be a jerk. Don’t be a jerk.”
Warren Buffett: Patience Is a Virtue
Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, built his estimated $161.9 billion net worth by simply taking his time. Not a fan of trendy stocks or knee-jerk reactions to market fluctuations, Buffett has a “set it and forget it” philosophy that requires patience and determination — while avoiding investing myths and trends.
Buffett has said that trying to get rich quickly is one of the biggest money mistakes people can make. “It’s pretty easy to get well-to-do slowly,” he said. “But it’s not easy to get rich quick.”
Bill Gates: A Little Humility Goes a Long Way
The richest man in the world is among the most charitable — and knows how to stay humble. Bill Gates has devoted a good chunk of money and time to improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. However, despite his generous donations, Gates recognizes that others are making contributions that he says are more meaningful.
“I’m not giving up food, or vacation, or a trip to the movies to give charitably,” Gates said. “I essentially sacrifice nothing that I want, and there are people who are out in the field and they’re giving more… they’re the biggest philanthropists.”
Larry Ellison: Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions
Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle Corp., says his inquisitive nature is responsible for his success. You should follow his example as Ellison currently has a net worth of approximately $162.2 billion.
“The most important aspect of my personality, as far as determining my success goes, has been my questioning conventional wisdom, doubting experts and questioning authority,” Ellison once said. “While that can be very painful in your relationships with your parents and teachers, it’s enormously useful in life.”
Jeff Bezos: Don’t Be Afraid To Fail
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and current second-richest man in the world, once said his willingness to fail makes him a successful innovator, which is a brave admission from the founder of one of the world’s most forward-thinking companies. If you want to succeed, you must be willing to fail, and Bezos failed his way to an estimated net worth of $190.9 billion.
“Without a willingness to fail, you cannot innovate because most innovations won’t work,” said Bezos, “But for the big innovation, you have to be willing to fail. Every startup company faces that.”
Mark Zuckerberg: Stay Consistently Persistent
Meta (formerly Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg was asked the most important secret to success. His answer was simple: “Don’t give up.”
Thanks to his determination and persistence, Zuckerberg built a superior product with Facebook, which continues to reign and push boundaries in the social media space. Today, Zuckerberg has a personal net worth of $172.5 billion. Truly, persistence is one of the key billionaire traits, as this billionaire is currently ranked the third richest person on the planet.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page: Don’t Wait To Innovate
Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page met when they were students at Stanford University in 1995.
“[Larry and I] experimented with a variety of things,” said Brin in a video posted by Stanford. “We had some shared interests. Larry had this crazy idea that he was going to download all the links on the web and then do something with them; it wasn’t entirely clear what. We did find that there were great applications. And one of them was search, which eventually became Google.”
Brin and Page’s flair for innovation paid off. Today, Brin is worth $121.6 billion and Page is worth $126.8 billion.
President Donald Trump: Passion Is a Platform
If you want to achieve billionaire status, you’d better be passionate about your goals, like President Donald Trump.
“Without passion, you don’t have energy, and without energy, you have nothing!” said Trump. “Just one more of my totally brilliant quotes — use it well.”
Steve Ballmer: The Devil Is in the Details
According to one of Steve Ballmer’s former co-workers, who wrote about Ballmer in an article posted on LinkedIn, Ballmer “is a master of precision questioning to analyze and get to the root issues of any problem, whether it is business or technology related.”
This kind of detail-oriented critical thinking and problem solving helped Ballmer break down flawed conclusions and build up one of the greatest software companies in the world: Microsoft, where he once served as CEO. His current net worth is approximately $112.4 billion.
Michael Dell: Confidence Is King
Dell CEO and founder Michael Dell became the youngest-ever CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 1992. He founded the company in 1984 when he was only 19, and with only $1,000.
“You don’t have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful,” Dell has been quoted as saying, demonstrating his confidence. “You just need a framework and a dream.”
Richard Branson: Creativity Is the Birth of Entrepreneurship
Billionaire Richard Branson, currently estimated to be worth around $2.8 billion, gushed about his love for creating things in an interview with Entrepreneur.
“Most entrepreneurs are not doing it for financial motives in the first place,” he said. “They’re just people who love creating. From the time that I created my first magazine or first record company, I just wanted to create things that I could be proud of. Money was just an evil byproduct to pay the bills at the end of the year.”
Oprah Winfrey: Maintain the Attitude of Gratitude
The former queen of daytime television doesn’t let her $3 billion net worth go to her head. Despite her abundant success, Winfrey remains grateful. In fact, Winfrey has kept a gratitude journal for many years.
“I know for sure that appreciating whatever shows up for you in life changes your personal vibration,” Winfrey wrote. “You radiate and generate more goodness for yourself when you’re aware of all you have and not focusing on your have-nots.”
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