Estate Planning

A Mindset for Financial Success

By Hull and Hull LLP

Business self-help books are legion.  And books chronicling the characteristics of the very wealthy (and how to be like them) comprise a good chunk of this category in your local bookstore. While our society's obsession with fame and perhaps just simple curiosity accounts for much of these sales, such publications contain useful advice which can inform anyone in business.

According to Joan Kane, a Manhattan psychologist, (as quoted in this article from forbes.com found on ctv.ca) "people who are very successful have an incredible sense of optimism.  They don't have the sense of limitations that most people have. There's no limit to their capacity to achieve and keep going. Age and family commitments don't deter them."

Billionaires "have a confidence bordering on arrogance that checks their fear and doubt--even as the bets grow larger and more complicated. Put another way, they have an uncanny ability to shrug off failure."

Suggested prerequisites for becoming a billionaire include the ability to answer "yes" to the following questions (inspired by Kane and executive psychologist Debra Condren and detailed in the above noted link):

• Can You Tolerate and Manage Ambiguity?
• Are You Willing To Make Tough Decisions For The Growth Of The Company?
• Do You Like Speaking In Public?
• Are You A Consensus Builder?
• Can You Delegate?
• Can You Deal with Isolation?

Have a great weekend!

David M. Smith

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on July 23, 2010 (boomark / email).