Have you ever wondered what separates successful investors from the rest? I certainly did when I first started investing.
After years of learning from my own experiences and studying the habits of top investors, there are characteristics that many of them share. The great thing is that these habits are teachable and can be used by anyone.
Everyone has the urge to reinvent the wheel when it comes to wealth building, but that is usually unnecessary. If your number one goal is to build wealth, learn from others who have done it before.
The 5 Habits of Highly Successful Investors
One. Having a plan
The number one habit that successful investors have is consistency. They have a plan put into place and consistently make decisions that align with their strategy.
They are not second-guessing themselves and trying multiple different strategies. They have a plan put in place that they are confident with, and they ignore any outside noise.
A solid investment plan generally includes:
Specific, measurable, and achievable financial goals.
A clear understanding of your risk tolerance and investment timeline.
Regular reviews and adjustments to accommodate changing circumstances.
Before creating your plan, ask yourself: What are my financial goals, and how can a well-defined plan help me achieve them?
No matter what plan you choose, you must have your "why" in mind from the outset.
Two. Being patient
I have gotten better at being patient when it comes to investing, but it was extremely difficult at first. Seeing people on the news who became millionaires in a year because they went all in on a crazy business venture makes you wonder.
However, these headlines are showcasing a very small minority of the population. The majority of people who try to take shortcuts to build wealth end up in financial ruin.
Creating true wealth requires patience. Highly successful investors have found this out.
This does not mean you have to work for 40 years before you can retire, but it will generally take at least 20 years to generate enough F-U money to step away from the workforce.
If you trust the process and combine habit one with patience, you will be surprised how quickly your money will grow after doing this for 10 years.
If you want to build this habit, consistently do these 3 things starting today:
Remind yourself of your long-term financial goals.
Resist the urge to make impulsive decisions based on short-term market changes.
Practice mindfulness and stress management techniques to help stay calm during turbulent times.
How patient are you with your investments?
Three. Diversifying your portfolio
Any highly successful investor will never have all their eggs in one basket. That is a recipe for disaster.
For a portfolio to be able to weather any type of storm, it must contain different types of assets. Personally, my favorites are low-cost index funds that follow the S&P 500 or the Total U.S. Stock Market and rental properties.
Index funds focus on generating future income and rental properties help with cash flow in the present. Both are necessary when building wealth for the long term.
Diversification accomplishes two major goals: it minimizes your risks and maximizes your return.
Four. Staying disciplined
Even if you create the most foolproof strategy that can withstand any type of market, if you are not disciplined in your daily life, it will not matter.
If you take away just one thing from this post, let this be it: Always spend less than you make and save/invest the difference.
If you can stay disciplined enough to accomplish that one thing, you will put yourself in a great position to succeed in life financially.
Once you get the habit down of spending less than you make, you should establish a consistent investing routine (such as dollar-cost-averaging), avoid making financial decisions based on fear or greed, and make sure you always know "why" you are investing.
Five. Continuously learning
Even highly successful investors realize they do not know everything. If you want to be successful, you have to be humble enough to admit you do not know it all.
Blogs and books are great learning tools for all levels of investors.
Final Thoughts
Habits are teachable and learnable. If someone else is successful, it can most likely be traced back to their habits and not back to a moment of pure luck.
Learn habits from more successful people and implement them in your life. If you focus on creating solid foundational habits, you may not recognize yourself in 10 years.
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