Since 2004, I’ve been immersed in studying what to do and what not to do in order to become wealthy and avoid poverty. Thanks to my Rich Habits Study and my ongoing Rich Habits research, I’ve learned an enormous amount about what it takes to become wealthy.
Here are the most important things I’ve learned about building wealth:
There are 4 Paths to Wealth
Saver/Investor Path – Save 20% or more of your income and consistently/prudently invest those savings over many years.Big Company Climber Path – Working for a big company and climbing the ladder to become a senior executive.Virtuoso Path – Devoting an enormous amount of time, and often money, to becoming either a Knowlege-Based Virtuoso or a Skill-Based Virtuoso.Dreamer/Entrepreneur Path – Pursuing some dream that can be monetized.
Each path requires a very specific personality profile. For example, Saver/Investors are frugal, risk averse and unwilling to compromise family and friend time for the pursuit of wealth. Dreamer/Entrepreneurs conversely, will spend down every asset they own in the pursuit of wealth, are willing to take enormous risks in the pursuit of wealth and prioritize the pursuit of wealth above time spent with family/friends.
So, in order to become rich, it is absolutely critical that you pursue the wealth path that is in alignment with your personality profile. If you choose a path to wealth that is not in alignment with your personality, you will fail and wealth will be impossible.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Rich Habits
Rich Habits are specific wealth-building habits that help put success on autopilot. Without forging these Rich Habits, building wealth is impossible.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Minimizing Your Poor Habits
No one’s perfect, but having too many bad, destructive habits acts like an emergency brake on success. The more Poor Habits you have, the harder it becomes to achieve success and build wealth.
Becoming Wealthy is Really, Really Hard
Hard Work – Long hours are a prerequisite for all self-made millionaires, other than the Saver/Investor millionaires. The hard work success requires, occupies most of your time and your energy.Hard Emotionally – Almost the entire journey is riddled with uncertainty, up until the moment you turn the corner and success starts to happen. Overcoming the seemingly endless parade of obstacles, mistakes and pitfalls, takes a mighty emotional toll.Hard on Family – The long work hours mean less family time. It’s a sacrifice every self-made millionaire, other than the Saver/Investor millionaires, makes.Hard on Friendships – Because you are devoting so many hours chasing wealth, you simply don’t have enough time to devote to maintaining friendships. Friendship needs attention in order to stay strong. Without that attention, the strings that bind friendships begin to fray.Hard Stress – The success journey is a long, hard climb. You have to shoulder enormous stress. For the Corporate Climbers, the stress is not only the pressures placed on you by upper management, it’s also the stress of outmaneuvering other Climbers who are trying to climb over you. For Virtuoso, the stress is in the form of the need to deliver consistent, high quality products or service. For the Dreamer/Entrepreneur, the stress can be any number of things: cash flow, lack of time, obstacles, setbacks, mistakes, a deprived family, loss of investment, and so much more.
Becoming Wealthy Takes a Long Time
32 years for Saver/Investor Path21 years for Big Company Climber Path20 Years for Virtuoso Path12 Years for Dreamer/Entrepreneur Path
Becoming Wealthy Requires Good Luck
Except for the Saver/Investor Path, luck is a prerequisite to success and the wealth that success creates. The millionaires in my study created a unique brand of good luck, called Opportunity Luck – through their efforts, drive and persistence, self-made millionaired create the opportunity for good luck to occur.
But Opportunity Luck can be elusive. If it doesn’t visit you, you will not become wealthy and could actually lose everything – your money, time invested, your family.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Forging Relationships With Influencers
No one, except the Saver/Investors, succeeds on their own. It takes a team, or the creation of a big herd of devotees, to become successful. Influencers are individuals who can open the right doors because they know the right people – other Influencers. Without influencers, success is impossible for all millionaires, other than the Saver/Investors.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Having a Crystal Clear Vision of The Life You Desire
Having a clear vision of the who or what you desire to be ten, fifteen or twenty years down the road, gives you clarity and acts like a GPS, guiding your relentlessly towards your destination end point. This clear vision helps you identify the goals that you must pursue and achieve, in order to realize your dreams and the life you desire. Without clarity, you have no guiding light, no idea how to move forward, no GPS and no compass to guide you in the right direction.
When you have a clear vision of who or what you want to be, no obstacle is insurmountable, no problem is unsolvable, and no amount of adversity will stop you.
Becoming Wealthy, While Married, Requires Having a Spouse Who Shares Your Dreams, Goals, Values and Habits.
One common killer of wealth-building and success is divorce. You must have a very supportive spouse – someone who shares your drive to succeed and to become rich. If you don’t, eventually your marriage will suffer because building wealth is stressful, requires a long-term commitment and takes a toll on the family.
Becoming Wealthy Requires Good Health
You can’t make money sitting in a hospital bed. Daily exercise, both aerobic and anaerobic, must be part of your journey. Eating healthy, nutritious foods must become a daily habit. Because the pursuit of wealth is hard work, stressful and emotionally draining, you must maintain optimal fitness throughout the journey.
Becoming Wealthy Requires 7 – 8 Hours of Sleep Every Night
Sleep is critical to optimal brain performance and good health. Without adequate sleep, you will make bad decisions, your energy levels will be inadequate to the task and your overall health will deteriorate.
Becoming Wealthy Requires a Positive Outlook on Life
The wealthy were fanatically optimistic and positive. Positivity is a prerequisite to building wealth because positivity boosts brain performance – specifically the Pre-Frontal Cortex, your brain’s CEO and decision-making hub.
Positivity not only optimizes brain performance, it allows you to see solutions that enable you to overcome problems and obstacles and it also helps you identify opportunities. Except for the Saver/Investors, it is impossible to become rich with a negative outlook.
Editors Note: The research findings in this article are based on the Rich Habits study, a comprehensive comparative interview study of the daily activities of high net worth versus poor net worth individuals. For more on this, you can find the rich habits study methodology, here. Article syndicated with permission, July 28th, 2026.
