Are You Filthy Rich?

Here’s a fun article from TheStreet.com’s Jeffrey Strain.  Feel free to read the original article to see how you stack up.  Meanwhile, I’m going to put my own personal spin on the ten traits described.

1. Patience – This trait holds true beyond saving money.  It also extends into investing or even starting / building your own business.
2. Satisfaction – Another way to look at this trait is attitude.  Are you a positive person?  Or, do you always look at the glass as half empty and focus on the negative? 
3. Organization – If you’re not good at organizing, find someone who is and hire them to develop a system for you.  Have you ever noticed that the wealthy have personal assistants and an “organization” to run their companies and/or investments?  Having a good system in place will allow one to scale and accomplish more than one could do individually.
4. Discipline – Another way to state this one is to focus on what’s important to you personally and financially.  Don’t get distracted.  This one compliments another trait below–setting goals.
5. Reflectiveness – The key description here is to learn from your mistakes.  Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and don’t keep repeating the same mistakes.
6. Creativity - This is just another way of encouraging one to “think outside the box”.  What’s popular is not always right and what’s right is not always popular.  
7. Curiosity - This trait is just another way of advocating continuous learning and education.   Learn from those who are already where you want to be.  If you want to become a better invester, study those who are already successful.  If you want to become wealthy, learn how others achieved their wealth.
8. Risk-Taking - I’m a big believer in this one.  I also agree this doesn’t mean throw caution to the wind.  Take calculated, measured risks to get to the “next level” personally and financially.
9. Goal-Oriented - This one is huge in my opinion and based on my personal + professional experience.  Any person that has been successful in life has set some sort of goal.  
10. Hard and Smart Working – My interpretation to this one is to work hard to earn money that pays the bills.  They work smarter by educating yourself and learning how to get your money to work for you.

Of all these traits, the ones I consider the most important are goal-orientation, discipline, education (curiosity), attitude, and hard/smart working.