Adrian Volenik
Many people think that accumulating wealth is selfish. I don’t see it as such. Being well off in life comes with many outstanding perks and money we can use to help our community and society at large.
However, focusing exclusively on accumulating and expanding your wealth can lead to neglecting other important areas of life, such as relationships, health, personal growth, and leisure.
Nevertheless, if accumulating wealth is one of your goals in life, there are many traits you must have to achieve it ultimately.
1) Have clear goals
First of all, you need to be goal-oriented. In order to amass funds and assets, you need to establish a clear savings goal.
This could include saving a certain amount of money each month or reaching a specific savings milestone within a specified timeframe.
But saving money in a bank account alone won’t help you accumulate wealth in a timely manner. It’s also very inefficient.
You need to think about how to invest and diversify your assets.
But, at the end of the day, a goal-oriented approach helps you stay focused and motivated to accumulate wealth.
2) Think long-term
Building wealth is a long-term journey that requires the consistent application of many traits in your daily life.
One of the main ones is undoubtedly patience. You see, the median age of global billionaires is 67. That’s how old Bill Gates is, who most of us envision when we think of rich people.
Getting rich and accumulating assets isn’t as fast and as easy as people would like you to believe.
Are there rich 20-something kids that didn’t inherit their wealth but are self-made? Certainly. But that’s the exception, not the rule.
So in order to get rich, you need to be patient and not only save money but invest it and do it intelligently.
3) Stay committed and control your impulses
Staying committed and controlling your impulses is another important trait you have to develop if you haven’t already.
Show commitment to delayed gratification by resisting the urge for immediate spending and instead prioritizing long-term financial goals.
Make conscious choices to forgo instant gratification in favor of long-term wealth accumulation.
We all love to splurge on clothes, tech, restaurants, and similar, but you need to know that these things are slowing down your wealth accumulation.
Instead of making impulsive purchases on non-essential items, you can choose to save that money instead.
For instance, cut back on unnecessary subscriptions, pack your lunch for work or school rather than eating out every day, or live below your means in general.
Remember that small sacrifices today can lead to significant rewards in the future.
4) Think like an entrepreneur
Even if you have a job or a career, thinking as an entrepreneur will help you find new opportunities, track your expenses, and take calculated risks, to name just a few.
Think creatively, and come up with new ideas, products, services, or ways of doing things. You should strive to be a problem solver, always looking for better ways to meet the needs of people.
With this mindset, you won’t need someone else to tell you what to do and to motivate you.
Entrepreneurs are also experts at doing more with less. They find ways to make things happen even with very limited resources.
Learn to be adaptable and resourceful, making the most of what you have instead of lamenting what you don’t.
5) Be willing to take calculated risks
Taking risks is a part of life. Or it should be. But it can also help you accumulate and expand your wealth.
You must be willing to take calculated risks to grow your wealth. But it’s also important to always analyze the risk-reward ratio before making any investment decision.
For instance, millions of people invested in cryptocurrencies over the years. It was a popular way of growing your wealth. However, about three-quarters of bitcoin investors have lost money.
That’s a staggering number and one that tells us that not every new shining object is worth pursuing.
Nevertheless, be willing to step out of your comfort zone, try new things, and risk failure, but always with a clear understanding of the potential downsides and a plan for mitigating them.
6) Keep learning
Lifelong commitment to financial education and self-improvement is also a must. Make it a habit to read books, attend seminars, and stay informed about personal finance, investing, and wealth-building strategies.
Dedicate time to learning and expanding your financial knowledge consistently. Learning about accumulating wealth isn’t just cents-ible, it’s downright profitable!
But again, be wary of the shining object syndrome that could knock the money out of your pockets with no future gain.
7) Be adaptable and open to change
Adaptability is another important personality trait for wealth accumulation. If you’re adaptable, you’ll recognize that market conditions and investment landscapes change.
You’ll be able to adjust your investment strategies to capitalize on new opportunities or mitigate risks.
For the same reason, you’ll be open to adopting new technologies and platforms that can improve your financial management and investment capabilities.
Adaptable people understand that career paths and industries evolve over time. Just look at how the arrival of capable A.I. kicked some career paths into sixth gear. Making people rethink their approach to jobs and career choices.
Now, more than ever, acquiring new skills, pursuing additional education, or transitioning to new career paths to stay relevant and capitalize on emerging opportunities is extremely important.
If you don’t proactively adapt your skills and knowledge to match changing job market demands, you could be left behind.
8) Be accountable
There’s no wealth accumulation without accountability and progress monitoring.
Review your financial statements, track your net worth, and assess your investments regularly. Celebrate milestones if you want to, and make adjustments as needed to stay on course.
There are many ways you can stay accountable. Here are a few I recommend:
- Set clear financial goals
- Create a detailed budget
- Track progress and performance
- Seek professional advice
- Reflect on financial decisions
- Own up to financial obligations
- Communicate openly with your partner
There are also accountability groups and masterminds where you sit down with your peers to see what you all did in the past week or month and how and what you can improve upon.
Since I joined two of these groups, I had significant success in sticking to my guns and growing my wealth.
9) Maintain a positive outlook
Optimism can play a meaningful role in maintaining motivation, resilience, and a proactive approach.
Markets swing up and down over the years. If you stay positive and trust the process you laid out for growing your wealth, you won’t be (too) afraid and sell off all your assets at a loss, for example.
You need to start seeing financial setbacks or challenges as temporary hurdles that can be overcome through effort, learning, and perseverance.
This leads us to the next trait you need to have.
10) Be resilient
To accumulate wealth, especially generational wealth, you’ll need to endure decades of ups and downs. Getting to the point where you are wealthy is seldom in a straight line pointing upwards.
You’ll need resilience to navigate financial setbacks, such as unexpected expenses, market downturns, or job loss.
You’ll also need to develop and employ all of the above-mentioned personality traits. Just like Daymond John, one of the sharks on the TV show Shark Tank did.
You see, he experienced several business failures before achieving success. From launching unsuccessful ventures to facing personal and financial struggles, he persevered and used these experiences to learn and grow.
Finally, his resilience paid off when he co-founded the iconic fashion brand FUBU and became a successful entrepreneur and investor.
11) Be humble
And lastly, I think that one should remain humble in their journey to financial independence and wealth.
Everyone’s path to wealth is different, and even the word wealth itself means different things to different people.
There’s no need to show off your wealth to your friends or even on social media, no matter how cool it looks.
The fact that you’re reading Hack Spirit tells me you wouldn’t do that anyway.
We all need to recognize that financial success doesn’t define our worth as a person. We need to stay grounded, learn from others, and maintain a balanced perspective on wealth.
Final thoughts
So there you have it. These 11 personality traits are the most important ones if you want to be wealthy and financially independent one day.
Good luck in your pursuits!
