While almost everyone the interview had carried out said luck and timing played a role in their success, this had some similarities in the responses. Most of the truly rich, perhaps surprisingly, are not that different from you and me. They have the fears about their health and their children's future and the same basic desires as you and me have.
However, some differences.
The first secret of the truly rich is that they are never afraid to fail. Most said that at one point they had had a choice to either stick to an easy, secure route or take a calculated risk. To reach the truly heights of wealth, some extreme risk is needed. If you look for security in a job or are scared to try something different, you won't get far in the pursuit of super wealth.
Even when they had failed--and every single one of them had at least once--the truly rich said they had used those experiences to learn from their mistakes and get back in some time later. They had avoided letting failure destroy their optimism and their passion.
An Internet executive said his net worth had surpassed $1 billion during the dot-com bubble. He had partied with famous rock singer and jetted around the world on in his own jet plane. His net worth collapsed when the bubble burst. Instead of letting failure and financial difficulty stop him, he went out and tried again. He learned from his mistakes and created another tech company that actually had a business model and didn't rely merely on eyeball hits and being cool. The result? He just sold his last company for several hundred million dollars. He has that jet back, but he isn't resting on his laurels at the beach. Instead, he has started yet another company.
The second secret of the truly rich is that they look creatively at problems to find new income sources. Often they looked at problems from different angles and liked to go against the grain. They recognized that everyone else believing or doing something didn't make it right. But being a contrarian for the sake of being contrary was no solution either. They knew they always had to think critically when analyzing any problems
An oil executive said decades ago he had wanted to make better use of gas stations. They were profitable, but he felt they wasted space. People would drive up, fill up and then drive off again from the expensive real estate. His solution? Put in convenience stores, so people could buy gas and snacks at the same time. At first, he got a lot of ridicule for the idea. Who would buy petroleum and coffee together?
Well, today you'd be hard pressed to find a gas station without a convenience store. That executive is among the truly rich because he looked creatively at a problem and didn't let a little criticism discourage him.
The third secret of the truly rich is that they marry well. Not that they find a rich heir or heiress to wed, though that might not hurt. Rather, most of the truly rich, especially the self-made ones, said that having a good spouse had been critical to their success. Starting a company or running a conglomerate takes a lot of sacrifices. The stress can be a killer. Having a good spouse to support you and, most important, believe in you as you struggle to the top is critical. [ Obviously the Woods having a good wife did not follow this advice and gone astray and now trying hard to find back his club not just his broken tooth ?? ]
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