At the end of the day, even billionaires are just like the rest of us. Sure, they have a bit of extra money in the bank, a mansion or two and maybe a luxurious yacht to sail away on, but they’re still human. Despite their enormous wealth, there are little things they do that may surprise you.
Luckily, these are the kinds of habits and attitudes you can copy.
Aside from winning a big jackpot (like tonight's impressive $280 Million Mega Millions jackpot), these could be your ticket to joining the ranks of the super-rich.
1. Don’t skip your workout
Giorgio Armani may better known for his fashion than his physique—although this 81-year-old still cuts a dashing figure—but he still believes in the power of looking good. According to him, it makes for a great calling card. And many studies have proved that good-looking people earn more money, are considered more intelligent and generally tend to be more successful in life.
That doesn’t mean you have to do under the knife to achieve perfection. Just taking care of yourself and keeping fit is enough to make you attractive to other people. And Armani believes that the benefits extend beyond the superficial. Because it requires discipline and dedication, he sees it as an antidote to laziness. Sometimes that’s all we need to make it to the top.
2. Find ways to save time and money
Mark Zuckerburg, the face behind Facebook, is the perfect example of this. Even with $35.7 billion in his bank account, Zuckerburg still drives a manual Volkswagen Golf GTI. It’s clearly working for him as he doesn’t see the need to waste his money on a flashy sports car.
And his jeans and t-shirt uniform is not a sign of laziness of a lack of fashion sense. It simply saves him time in the morning. Steve Jobs adopted a similar attitude to his daily attire. Not only does wearing the same thing every day make it quicker to get ready in the morning, it eliminates one more decision you have to make every day. That way, you can concentrate on the more important decisions.
3. See the world
Evan Spiegel is the founder of Snapchat and the world’s youngest billionaire. At just 25 he already has an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion. Could it have something to do with that he loves to travel? He’s already visited some pretty exotic locations such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Russia.
Even if your bank balance doesn’t support that kind of travel, the lesson here is to open yourself up to new experiences. Never stop exploring, even if it’s just your own backyard, because you never know what you might find.
4. Get your money to work for you
We’ve all heard about passive income streams and how essential they are to building your wealth. Just because you’re a billionaire, it doesn’t mean that you can’t find ways to make your money work for you.
Look at Richard Branson. He owns a small island in the Caribbean that he uses as a holiday retreat. But when he’s not staying there himself, he rents it out for an eye-watering $14 500 a day. So even when he’s not enjoying a pina colada and watching the palm trees sway in a tropical breeze, it’s still adding to his bottom line.
5. Take the bus to work
The founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, still uses public transport to get to the office—and so can you. That’s not because it saves him money, but because he sees it as market research. Being able to directly observe how people interact with social media gave him a unique insight into social media platforms.
This odd lifestyle habit may hold the greatest lesson for business people. If you really want to know how people feel about your product or service, you need to get your hands dirty. Sitting in an office poring over complicated marketing reports are just not as effective as seeing how people behave in real life.
6. Give back
Although you could argue that Sara Blakely has already given millions of women their confidence back, thanks to her ingenious range of undergarments known as Spanx, she a philanthropist too. In 2013 she signed the Giving Back Pledge and promised to donate at least half of her wealth to charity.
But best of all, she believes that giving away money is really a part of making money. Now if you’re cynical you might think that this is just something billionaires do to get more publicity. But sometimes giving back makes you more determined to succeed because then you can donate even more to the causes you care about.
As you can see, many of the super-rich have developed habits that you can apply to your own life. It’s the kind of solid, sensible stuff that could help you succeed in making your own dreams come true. Of course, winning the lottery wouldn’t hurt, but it could mean the difference between a millionaire or being a billionaire. Which would you prefer?
