These sensational stories are good for a temporary morale boost to one’s confidence but do not necessarily act as the driving force behind success. The article lists a few skills and traits one needs to develop in order to be on the right track to successfully achieve such a goal in today’s financial, social, and economic environments.

Self-discipline

The ultimate key to success, this advice is oft-repeated but seldom inculcated. Building self-discipline requires brutal honesty with yourself along with taking up constructive criticism from others on board and committing yourself to consciously giving up habits and characteristics that are not serving you and inculcating those that aid you in your goals. The answer to this will be unique and ever-changing for everyone. The only thing in common that remains is the focused energy everyone needs in order to push themselves to be the best version of themselves that they can be.

Emotional Intelligence

Once again, this factor does not just require one to learn to deal with personal problems, stresses, and setbacks in a mentally healthy manner, but also engage with others in a rational and appropriate way. ‘Self-made’ may be the trending buzzword these days but no long term success and peace of mind (a mammoth success in and of itself) is achieved unless you have cooperative and loyal people around you. The ability to be empathetic, kind, and tactful while also being realistic, headstrong, and strong-willed keeps the right people by your side.

Marketing Yourself

However you look at it, the current era of inevitable social media exposure makes it extremely important for individuals to maintain an overall decent image of themselves online and offline. For those in business and finance fields, this also extends to how inspiring, disciplined, and humble you come across as to others. Your social media presence is, in a way, your brand. Whether you want it or not, not only is this brand being constantly marketed to others exposed to your online persona, it also determines how your business is perceived by others. Personal branding and your company’s marketing are therefore complementary aspects of your entrepreneurial life.

Communication

As mentioned above, nurture yourself to be a compassionate but headstrong person. Ask the difficult questions, talk about money when need be, say no, say yes, make that request, call, and email a lot. In short, do not hold yourself back from appropriately communicating with others, it benefits no one and wastes your time in futile overthinking.

Ask for help when you need it. Take opinions from those you trust and respect.

This point also brings up the importance of networking. Build relationships with trustworthy and supportive people. This also allows you to have access to a useful array of skills and knowledge that could prove to be useful if you’re going through uncertain times.

Understand money

Finally, if making a certain amount of money is your goal, you need to develop an understanding of it in a way consistent with how it exists in the world (you can’t go around forcing e.g. a socialist view of money everywhere when the markets, economy, and society you live among are all capitalists). You may want to take a few courses that enhance your knowledge on this subject, or you might want to spend an extensive amount of time among your peers and seniors, absorbing all the knowledge and knowhow such environments have to offer. Being responsible with money might require you to work with professional, hired help. Do not make the mistake of trying to do it all yourself only to end up making a string of poor money decisions.