Everyone wants to be rich. Google “how to become wealthy” and you’ll get 7.3 million search results. “Get rich quick” has 9.6 million results.
But as almost any self-made millionaire will tell you, wealth isn’t an accident. They had to develop a mindset and attitudes that shaped their approach to work and life — setting them on the path to success. And they did so when they hadn’t made it yet, building a foundation of habits that led to their eventual wealth.
For example, millionaires ban excuses from their lives. If you’re unwilling to accept accountability for your mistakes and try to shift blame onto others or external factors, you’ll never end up with the results you need.
Hedge fund manager James Altucher compiles 18 more habits of eventual millionaires in the infographic below.
The results you want when you play the long game are made up of the results you create by playing the short game.
your long game
Over the long term, you need to nurture your dream clients, create new opportunities, and win those opportunities.Nurturing your dream clients by feeding them value-creating ideas is a play for your long game. It takes time to be known as a value creator, to generate trust, and to open relationships. You can’t cram thesis outcomes, that’s why you need professional persistence to play the long game.The social channels, or digital you, is a long game play. Most of what you do will take time to create the impact you need. Digital lends itself to campaigns, and campaigns are what you need to play the long game.
your short game
Creating new opportunities is the short game. Your long game can set up your short game. By nurturing and building relationships over time, you may make it easier to create opportunities.That said, you can’t wait to create those opportunities. To generate opportunities now, you are going to have to use an approach that produces better results faster, and that means referrals and the telephone. You can’t wait until your dream client raises their hand and asks for your help. You have to create the opportunities you need now by doing the work that produces those opportunities right now.The sales process is a long game. You should do everything you can to compress the time it takes to win deals because it benefits you, your company, and your dream client, especially when they need results now. But it’s important to remember that fast is slow, and slow is fast.You are selling to create a preference for you, your company, and your solution. If you are trying to play the short game by behaving as if your complex sale is a transaction, your short game will kill your long game. Playing the long game and selling for the lifetime value of the deal for you and your dream client is how you build clients for life.
play both your games together
You can’t play only the long game. You also can’t limit yourself to the short game. You generate the best results playing the long game and short game together with discipline and persistence.
Words can make or break a business deal. They have the potential to convert unaware prospects into repeat buyers. Businesses become brands when they communicate their vision effectively. So, how do you bridge the gap between your company’s vision and your buyer’s need?Writing is the thing that will come to your rescue. It is one of the effective mediums to create more clarity, boost confidence and strengthen your credibility in buyers’ eyes.If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are, you have control over your professional life, but you still have to make many stressful decisions. To minimise the stress of writing, check out the following 61 questions to improve your business-writing skills to win the hearts of your target audience and thereby increase your online sales.
preparation
Thought process: Do you plan in advance to make your writing more direct and efficient?
Idealisation: Do you write your first draft without worrying about perfection?
Communication: Are you clear with the theme of your article? (If you are not clear about your theme, expect the same from your readers)
Feel the pain: Are you putting yourself in your buyers’ shoes?
Action: What are the actionable takeaways from your article?
Headline
Benefit: Are you presenting the benefit to gain your readers’ attention?
Curiosity: Does your headline force readers to click the link for more information?
Convey: Does your headline convey the same benefit as your article’s theme?
Specific: Is your headline specific, not too general, to get an instant reaction?
Study: Do you study headlines of popular business blogs and magazines in your industry?
storytelling
Visualise: Do you help readers visualise the benefits of your product/service?
Aggravate: Do you up the ante of your the story by introducing the villain (the pain points)?
Hero: Do you calm your readers by presenting the hero (solution) of the story?
expectations
Justify: Are you making a true connection between your audience members’ time and their high expectations?
Referral: Do you expect readers to become your brand ambassadors by sharing the content?
Next visit: Do you expect a next visit by the same reader to learn more about your offer?
Over-deliver: Do you surprise your readers by delivering more than was expected?
listening
Intention: Are you listening with the intention of solving your customers’ problems
Capture: Does your listening capture the mood of your target audience?
Action: Does your listening translate into actionable content?
engagement
Drive: Do your subheadings push readers to the body paragraph?
Short: Is your paragraph short enough to retain the engagement level?
Simple: Are your sentences simple, smooth and easy to read?
Connect: Do you maintain the connection when jumping from one sub-topic to another?
Questions: Are you asking the right set of questions to involve your audience?
Bullet: Are you engaging the audience with bullet points to make digestible content?
conenction
Frequency: Are you on the same wavelength with your target audience?
Feel: Do you generate feelings for your readers’ pain points?
Experience: Do you share customer experiences to build a strong connection?
simplicity
Jargon: Are you (incorrectly) using technical terms to confuse your readers?
Passive voice: Do you (incorrectly) use passive voice to make ideas hard to follow?
Adverbs: Are you eliminating useless adverbs to simplify the message?
Transition: Are you using transitional phrases to create smooth jumps? (e.g., “There’s more,” “Here’s the kicker,” “Let me explain”)
Very: Do you use “very” to express dull and unclear phrases? (e.g., use “exhausted” instead of “very tired,” “vibrant” instead of “very colourful”)
Choice: Do you (incorrectly) offer multiple options that may produce decision paralysis for readers?
Cut the fat: Do you remove unnecessary words or sentences?
Originality: Does your buyer yawn over your boring clichés? (Remove phrases like “service-oriented” and “high-quality.” Instead, express the benefits of your product/services.)
clarity
One goal: Are you focusing on one goal to dig deep into a single topic?
One person: Do you please everyone to dilute the reader experience?
Examples: Are you using real-life examples to create more clarity?
Conversational: Is your writing too formal to alienate readers from your offering?
reality check
Vulnerable: Are you showing your “real” side, to build deep connections? (People buy you first, before buying your offer.)
True feelings: Do you share how you feel, to make your content more relatable?
Replicate: Are you sharing those things that matter to you?
Realistic Goals: Are you setting realistic goals for your readers?
credibility
Testimonials: Do you include customer testimonials to build trust and credibility?
Authority: Are you conveying confidence and decisiveness through content?
Data: Do you back your content with industry research or data?
Opinions: Are you taking the opinion of influencers to back your content?
closing
Summarise: Are you summing up the topic by touching on the main points?
Feedback: Do you ask questions to receive suggestions or queries in the comments section?
Specific: Are you making a clear call to action? (Don’t hesitate. If you are not clear, no one will take action.)
before hitting the ‘publish’ button
Read: Do you read your content aloud to avoid typos, missing words and errors?
Perspective: Do you present the ideas from an audience perspective? (Replace “I,” “our company” and “my” with “you” and “your.”)
Capture: Have you captured the hopes, fears, aspirations and desires of your target audience?
Practice: Do you work extensively on your headlines before publishing the post?
after publishing
Feedback: Do you ask your office team for the feedback?
Experiment: Do you experiment with your writing style to strike a perfect chord with readers?
Check: Do you keep a check on social media comments? (You might get an idea for your next article.)
Habit: Do you practice the art of writing on a daily basis?
Numbers: Are you gauging the interest of your readers by analysing the number of likes, shares and comments?
The definition of grit is courage and resolve or strength of character. It can also mean an indomitable and irrepressible spirit that doesn’t back down in the face of failure or obstacles. Experts identify five characteristics of grit. If you have them, you’ll be better equipped to handle the challenges life throws at you. How do you stack up?
1. courage: strength in the face of pain, fear or grief
People often underestimate just how courageous and resilient they can be. Every aspect of life requires a little bit of courage. A child needs the courage to face the first day of school, and a student needs the courage to step out into the world after graduation.Similarly, entrepreneurs and business owners need the courage to take risks with their daily activities, to make investments and introduce new products and services. They have to overcome the fear of failure and find it in themselves to stand up if a failed venture knocks them off their feet.
2. conscientiousness: meticulous, detail-oriented and careful
Conscientiousness requires patience and commitment and is a significant characteristic of grit. People who are conscientious try their best to avoid mistakes and never jump hastily into commitments. While courage is the ability to make mistakes and face failure, conscientiousness is the capacity to work hard to avoid failures and errors in the first place.You’ll notice that people who possess true grit don’t shy away from hard work. Conscientious people are also quite principled and won’t take shortcuts if they have to compromise their values and ethics.
3. resilience: confident, committed and optimistic
It’s easy to dismiss resilient individuals as stubborn. They stay on their path and are determined to succeed despite all odds. They’re confident in their ability to make sacrifices, put in the effort and overcome failures to reach their goals.Entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals need to be resilient to survive in a cutthroat business environment. Resilience can help you withstand the pressure of competition and even enjoy the challenges it presents.
4. excellence: being outstanding or extremely good
People with grit will always strive to achieve excellence rather that focus on perfection. While perfection focuses on the result of your efforts, excellence is more concerned with how you get there. Excellence is a forgiving concept and only asks you to give your all to a particular task.If you fail despite your best efforts, you’ll learn from your mistakes and move on. If you succeed, you’ve achieved the best result possible. Think of excellence as progress vs. perfection. It’s better to start and learn with a bad product, then to have never started at all.
5. endurance: staying put in different situations to achieve long-term goals
You won’t succeed in life if you don’t remain on a path you’ve chosen, regardless of how difficult and challenging the road becomes. Most people find it difficult to keep up the hard work and want quick rewards. Long-term goals require time, patience, sacrifices and effort and you need to have the endurance to stay on the path.All of these characteristics of grit will help you succeed in your personal and professional life. If you don’t yet possess these characteristics, life will happen and you will either develop grit or live a life of helplessness. As John Ortberg explained: “Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness.”