20 Secret Habits of Self Made Millionaires [Infographic]

What is a self-made millionaire? Many gain their first millions through some self-made success after making a few simple changes to their daily habits. They changed how they viewed themselves and how they interacted with others. Self-improvement for millionaires starts with changing their habits and empowering themselves to take control of their lives.

Self-made millionaires know that it’s not luck that got them where they are, but rather hard work and energy. They created their success and didn’t wait for a lucky break or a good deal to fall in their lap. Self-made success comes from hard work and thinking about the world differently. Check out these 17 everyday habits of the average millionaire that helped improve their lives—and learn how to be a self-made millionaire.

What Are Millionaire Success Habits?

Millionaire habits are more than just checking a box off a to-do list. Fundamentally, they must change the way they think about themselves and the world around them.

1. Trailblaze and Add Value

Million-dollar ideas are rarely found in what has already been made and worked on. For most millionaires, they found something new, something no one else was doing, and then became the master of it. Mark Zuckerberg capitalized on this with Facebook. Not only did he create the social media giant, but he continuously adds value to their product to improve customer satisfaction. Millionaires are trailblazers that push new ideas and solutions by under-promising and over-delivering.

If you’re trying to be a trailblazer, you have to stop worrying about other people’s opinions. There are going to be negative and judgmental people. You can’t let them get to you. You are marching to the beat of your own drum and forging your way. Use your voice to make an impact and don’t hold back on the way you want to live your life.

2. Wake Up Early

Benjamin Franklin wasn’t wrong when he said, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Self-made millionaires wake up early.

How early? At least three hours before their workday begins. Rather than rolling out of bed and feeling late every day, waking up early gives millionaires the time they need to take care of themselves, get ready, and at least start their mornings feeling like they are in control of their day. Jeff Bezos makes sure he gets eight hours of sleep, and gets up early by going to bed early.

Mornings are the perfect quiet time to focus, set intentions for the day, and take action toward achieving your goals.

3. Exercise Every Day

Exercise is not just for your body, but also for your mind. It is a powerful and all-natural way to fight depression, lift your mood, and improve your life. So when you want to change how you think, start by working out your body.

Oprah sets aside time almost every day to exercise. The exercise can be cardio, resistance, or flexibility training, but she always makes time to work out.

Exercise is also a form of meditation and can help you think better. Research shows that when you exercise, blood flow increases throughout your body and your brain. More blood means more energy and oxygen, which helps you think. Not only that, but moving your body requires your brain. The hippocampus, the part of your brain that plays a major role in learning and memory, is active when you exercise. Millionaires know this trick and know that a bit of cardiovascular exercise can help kickstart their brain and help them get past a mental roadblock or see a new solution to a problem.

4. Set Goals

Everyone has dreams about where they’d like to live or what they’d like to do for a living, but millionaires set goals. Goals aren’t just a wishful thought; they are a direct plan of attack on how to make it a reality. Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Ray Dalio all swear by the power of setting goals.

If you’re new to goal setting, try setting daily goals. Think about what you would like to accomplish by the end of the day, and then come up with a plan of how you’re going to make that happen. Stretch yourself and start making goals for longer than a day.

5. Manage Your Time

We all have the same 24 hours each day. With exercising, eating healthy, and sleeping right, you have even fewer hours than that. Millionaires know how to make the most of the time in their day. Instead of wasting time, they use each hour of their day with intention and purpose. They optimize everything they do.

Mark Cuban focuses on “minimizing phone calls and meetings whenever possible,” and limits communication to an email because it’s more efficient. He focuses on the fires he has to put out, and makes sure every minute he spends is with intention.

This does not mean millionaires work around the clock. They know how to take time off and enjoy themselves, but there is a time to work and a time to play, and they know the difference.

6. Create Successful Friendships

You are the company you keep, and millionaires are selective about who they keep as friends. People with similar habits, mental outlooks, and work ethics flock together because they support each other. It’s easy to reach for your dreams when the people in your life are doing the same thing.

While most people make decisions about their friends and company unconsciously, nothing is stopping you from knowingly making choices to surround yourself with people you choose. Keep an eye out for people who are trustworthy, loyal, hard-working, accountable, disciplined, passionate, enthusiastic, and who have a positive outlook on life. Doing so can change how you view the world.

7. Innercise

It doesn’t have to be hours of silent meditation, but millionaires spend an average of 15 minutes every day thinking. This will train your mind to eliminate subconscious negative beliefs and rewire your thoughts to attract wealth. Thoughts lead to feelings. Feelings lead to actions. And actions lead to results.

Kobe Bryant knew that meditating and spending ten to fifteen minutes to clear his mind and think at the start of the day would prepare him for whatever came next.

8. Eat Healthy

The foods you eat play a huge role in your ability to think clearly. Millionaires choose to eat healthy, not only for better health, but also to increase their energy, clarity, and output to achieve their goals.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is passionate about eating healthy. According to her book, her favorite lunch is veggie pizza on whole-wheat bread. Eating more fruit and veggies has been shown to increase productivity, which can give millionaires a needed edge throughout their day.

9. Save & Invest

There are a lot of people who make millions annually who are actually broke. Becoming a millionaire isn’t just about earning money; it’s about learning how to save and invest what you make.

To become wealthy, you need to learn how to make your money work for you. Millionaires get out of debt, and stay out of debt. You can not save money and improve your life when you are under the constant pressure of minimum monthly payments and interest.

10. Be Mindful of Others

While some people have made their millions from being cutthroat and doing anything for a dollar, it’s far more common for millionaires to be polite and to focus on proper etiquette.

Small things like sending thank-you notes, using table manners, and remembering the little details like birthdays, hobbies, interests, and the names of family members are more than social graces. These are the building blocks of strong relationships. A quick birthday call or being grateful for when a friend does you a favor can go a long way in building lasting business relationships.

Celebrity and millionaires. Ryan Gosling is known for being polite and mindful of others. His politeness has helped improve his popularity and provided him with more business opportunities.

11. Find Mentors

You can learn from your mistakes. With every fall, pick yourself up and try again. Or you can learn from someone who already has the experience and can point you in the right direction.

You wouldn’t climb Everest without a guide, and you shouldn’t try to become a millionaire without the help of a mentor. Mentors are there to give you insights and help you avoid the pitfalls they’ve already experienced. Not only are they great people to learn from, but they can also provide you with industry connections and relationships they’ve spent years developing and perfecting. Sometimes it’s not how hard you work, but who you know.

12. Volunteer

Millionaires are financially rich, but they give back to the communities and people who helped them become who they are. Not only does this keep them humble, but it gives them a chance to expand their network of other success-oriented people.

Volunteering a few hours a month can give you a well-needed chance to disengage from the problems you are trying to tackle. Millionaires have abundance and help others with that abundance.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are always finding ways to serve and help people around them by discretely volunteering.

13. Help Others Succeed

Millionaires give back by helping other people reach their goals. Helping other people move forward to achieve their dreams actually helps you succeed.

You don’t need to help everyone you see, that could be far too draining. Instead, focus on helping those who are working towards similar goals as you, and who have positive and uplifting outlooks.

14. Never Give Up

Failure is a part of life. Even with the best goals and plans made, some of the most influential and prominent millionaires and celebrities have failed. Millionaires don’t see failure as the end of their adventure, but rather as something from which they can learn.

If you don’t reach one of your goals, or you have a particularly hard day when things don’t seem to go right, take time to learn from them and become better. If you keep believing the same thoughts you think, you’ll keep getting the same results. Learn how to access your true inner power to tame your mind and master your life.

15. Read to Improve Yourself

One of the best secret habits of millionaires is that they are voracious readers. Millionaires are thirsty for knowledge. They read to improve themselves and understand the world around them.

Some reports say that 85% of self-made millionaires read over two books a month and they focus on biographies, self-help, technical information, and current events.

Steve Jobs was an avid reader who turned to books when he was looking for inspiration or guidance. He didn’t always stick to self-help or technical literature. He enjoyed everything from King Lear by Shakespear to Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda.

If you’re not a natural reader, there’s still help for you. The key is to try reading different topics from a variety of authors, especially in your areas of interest. It’s not uncommon for even the most avid readers to have authors they hate or subjects they find boring. The trick is finding something that speaks to you.

16. Dress for Success

This is more than just a catchy motto; the way you dress can say a lot about who you are and what you’re trying to achieve. Wearing a well put together outfit can help affect the way people perceive you and how you feel about yourself. Dressing like a leader can help manage other people’s first impressions of you, and give you an edge in making the business deals you want.

Dressing smart doesn’t have to be expensive, and expensive clothing doesn’t always mean it’ll be professional. When you shop for your wardrobe, think of getting a few quality staples that will look good in any setting rather than one-time-use outfits.

17. Get Adequate Sleep

Getting at least seven hours of sleep every night is critical to success and is just as important for your survival as eating or drinking. You might be tempted to push yourself and stay up late working into the early morning hours, but your body and mind need a break. Getting enough sleep every night helps you have enough energy to tackle long days.

Sleep deficiency (when you don’t get enough sleep or don’t get the quality of sleep your body needs) can leave you feeling tired and less alert when you wake up. It can interfere with work, driving, and social functioning skills. If it happens often enough, you might even have trouble learning, focusing, reacting, and making decisions. It can make you feel frustrated, cranky, paranoid, and anxious as well.

While the signs of sleep deficiency might show up differently in every person, the answer is always the same: if you want to do your best every day, you need to rest.

18. Have Multiple Sources of Income

If you want to become a millionaire, you need to have income. There’s no shortcut to it. The more money you have coming in, the easier it is to become a millionaire. And the easiest way to increase how much money you’re earning is by having more than just one income stream.

Most self-made millionaires have three streams of income. This can come from real estate, investments, side businesses, or secondary jobs. Kim Kardashian West made her millions from more than one source, with her income coming from cosmetics, fragrance, shapewear, modeling, reality TV, mobile games, and product endorsements.

Millionaires create sources of passive income. These sources of income take some time and money to establish, but once they are up and running, they require very little or no maintenance to keep income coming to you.

19. Stay Positive

Becoming a millionaire is stressful and often full of failed attempts. Not every business deal is going to be a success. When self-made millionaires are faced with these problems, they don’t give up, instead, they have a positive attitude and look towards the future.

J.K Rowling faced a pile of problems while she was trying to get her first book published, including being jobless and getting a stack of rejection letters. Rather than feeling defeated, she stayed positive and pushed forward.

20. Look for Critique and Change

No one is perfect in everything they do, and feedback is a key part of a millionaire’s success. Honest criticism is a crucial element for learning and growth. Self-made millionaires understand the value of feedback and have trusted sources they know will be honest and straightforward with them.

The key to taking criticism is to understand that it’s not personal. If someone you trust gives you feedback, it doesn’t mean they hate you, don’t trust you, or don’t see your dream. Instead, they are only trying to help you grow. Learning how to hear and implement feedback takes time, but it can help you see flaws and get a new set of eyes on a problem.

How to Be a Self-Made Millionaire

Being a self-made millionaire boils down to how you think about the world. It’s about making small, intentional changes to your life. If you change your habits, you change your life. You can work toward your self-made success by making small, intentional changes to your life. If you change your habits, you change your life.

Summary of Millionaire Success Habits

What are millionaire success habits? Most of the changes come down to having control and power in your life. Rather than waiting for other people to tell you what to do and how to do it, empower yourself to change your life and control when and where things happen. You can learn how to become unstoppable and gain control over the different areas in your life with our free web training, Don’t Believe a Thought You Think.

In my course, you’ll learn about the secret to unlocking your true inner power and becoming the master of your life. A lot of people are stuck living in a poor mindset because they don’t know how to think any other way. By changing how you think about you and the world to match other successful self-made millionaires, you can become unstoppable. Don’t Believe a Thought You Think will teach you what causes success, inner peace, and health in your life. Discover “3 Laws of Thought” that can change how you act and help you find success.

For Your Freedom,