I don’t know about you but when I was younger I had a whole different image of what billionaires looked like. They all owned the nicest sports cars, had pools, tennis courts in their houses. It was all very Daddy Warbucks from Annie in my mind. Now, I suppose there are billionaires like that but the ones I’m going to focus on today are the ones we should be looking up to. After digging around and doing some research on Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zukerberg I started to see a lot of common tips that they all shared. If you are striving to have more money in your life, retire comfortably or just need a little financial boost these tips are for you. In fact, I think they are for everyone. Even if you don’t plan on reaching billionaire status in your lifetime, these are the top 10 ways you can act like a billionaire.

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10. Learn from your mistakes

Learn from your mistakes. A great lesson for anyone rich or poor. That means when you screw up (and you will) don’t use it as an excuse to quit. You won’t get anywhere financially, in business or in life if you allow setbacks to stop you in your tracks.

Instead of quitting, take time to reassess the situation. Figure out what you could have done differently. Facing setbacks or struggling with decisions will be a part of life. Learning to handle these setbacks is the only way to succeed.

“Your ability to stand up to pressure will help you stay on course and never steer away from your vision and goals.” -Mark Zuckerberg

Don’t let setbacks keep you from focusing on your main goal. Whether that is when you’re paying off debt, building a business or managing investments.

9. Avoid debt

No surprise that this tip is constantly said by the master of money, Warren Buffett. Buffett started working with money when he was just a kid and to this day is a firm believer in the fact that you don’t have to have debt to build massive wealth. In fact, he clearly states that it should be avoided at all costs.

The best debt posts:

• The Benefits of Living on One Income During Debt Payoff
• 10 Steps to Stop Using Credit Cards and Finally Get Out of Debt
• How to Stay Motivated When Your Debt Payoff Gets Hard
• How We Paid Off Over $1,200 of Debt in One Week: the Side Hustles That Helped Us Out

8. Start young

Starting young might not be an option for a lot of people. So let’s change this a little too, “Start as soon as possible.” No matter what your dreams or goals are, get started on them right away. It can be so easy to think about how much harder it will be because of your age, but it’s better than not starting at all.

Warren Buffett began investing as a kid, Bill Gates started working with computers at 13 and Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook when he was only 19! These three men all started young with their passions or finances.

What about Jeff Bezos? The wealthiest man in the world? He did not quit his job to start Amazon until he was 30. To be fair, he quit a job on Wall Street, so he was already doing pretty well. But he could have easily used that as an excuse to stay comfortable where he was instead of taking a chance on a dream.

7. Prioritize

If you have major goals that you are trying to reach it is so crucial not to waste your time on the small things. Put your focus on the tasks that matter the most.

They say if you hope to write a best-selling book you could spend your time looking up editors, researching how to get published and telling everyone about your book. Those are all things you can do and will need to do, for sure. But what is the one thing you have to do? Write the book.

Don’t get caught up in the details, keep your priorities straight and do the most important things first.

6. Be committed

When it comes to your work and how you make money, Bill Gates says be committed and be passionate. If you have a passion for what you do, your success will appear so easy because you love what you are doing. Mark Zuckerberg loved what he was doing so much and believed in it so strongly that he turned down Yahoo!’s 1 billion dollar offer to buy Facebook from him in the early stages.

If you are working right now at paying off debt. Be committed. Make paying off debt your top priority.

These tips don’t have to focus only on building a business or building wealth. They can work to help you with any single goal that you might be working toward right now in your life.

5. Life is your best teacher

Don’t think that if you haven’t gotten a degree yet that you can’t make it to where you want to be. In the same sense, don’t think that just because you did well in school you stand a chance at succeeding at your work.

You have got to have real-life knowledge.

“If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.” – Bill Gates

This same thing holds true for entrepreneurs. Jeff Bezos based his entire Amazon strategy off things he knew to be true. Amazon’s main focus is what the customer wants. You can know marketing, you can know computers and analytics but you have also got to know people. You have to know how to work with people. That’s part of the reason why everyone at Amazon will work in the call centers. Because it’s important for everyone to be able to relate to their customers.

4. Buy less, save more

It seems pretty simple that if you want money, you need to stop spending it. When it comes to running your own business, this might be an entirely different matter altogether.

Warren Buffet reminds people that you are your best investment. That means you should consider putting money into savings a crucial part of taking care of your future self.

Top posts for savings:

• Save Over $10,000 per Year by Making These 7 Simple Changes
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• How to Start a Successful College Fund for Your Child on a Small Budget

3. Good things take time

You cannot expect to make a billion dollars in a short amount of time. For the most part, you can’t expect to make any large sum of money in a short time. You have got to work to make it happen.

This could easily go hand in hand with learning from your mistakes and not giving up. Remember that you will not get everything right the first time. Success requires a lot of patience and persistence.

2. Work with others

Just like Jeff Bezo’s main focus is the customer’s needs, Bill Gates strongly believes in partnerships with others. If there is someone out there who is doing better than you, how can you partner with them?

Take the time to learn from others. Whether you want to work with them or you want to work for them, chances are they have something to teach you. Amazon works for its customers and Bill Gate’s worked his way to the top by learning through those who went before him. Both strategies are smart for growing personally and financially.

1. Give back

Now if you plan on making a ton of money in life, then it’s crucial that you remember to give back. Warren Buffett states the importance of remembering the other 99%. Being in the top 1% of the wealthiest people in America has not let him forget everyone else.

Keep in mind, you don’t have to be a billionaire to give back. Check out my post on why we started giving during debt payoff.

With his billions, Bill Gates and his family started their own charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation designed to help people in severe poverty.

In fact, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett believe in giving so much, that they created The Giving Pledge. It is a commitment by the world’s wealthiest individuals to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back. You can see everyone who has signed the list here.

During a fight to the top (no matter what the top looks like for you), it’s so important to remember our fellow human beings and to continue showing love and kindness toward everyone.’

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