The Writer’s Coin

I ran across this article on Yahoo! Finance the other day and it got me thinking about how I “grade” on each of these qualities. So lets run down the ten of them and see how well (or badly) I fare:

1. Patience: I love reading articles about retirement, so this is a good indicator that I’m pretty good at this. I could blab all day long about how I handle my Roth IRA or my employer-sponsored 401(k). Oh and by the way, I’m 26 years old. But don’t put me on the sidewalk behind someone that doesn’t know how to walk—I will push him/her into the bushes—I have no patience for that.
2. Satisfaction: We all have our wants and desires, and I’m no different (I got a Wii, after all). But I’m very happy in my life right now: I’m getting married in May, I have a new job I enjoy, and I’m in good health. Plus I have time to run a blog about something I’m passionate about, time to read, and time to see my friends (of which there are not that many, but that’s a different subject). Having a short-term goal of saving $10,000 for a down payment keeps the spending urges in check.
3. Organization: This could really use a boost. I’m OK at organizing myself to write for this blog and keep track of my ideas (more on my system here), but otherwise I’m too scatterbrained and my memory is too horrible for me not to do more. In terms of paying bills and monthly tasks that have to do with money I’m good, but other stuff just seems to get lost in the shuffle.
4. Discipline: My favorite quality out there. I think discipline can help you achieve almost anything in life (along with a little persistence), so I try to be as disciplined as possible. With my finances I have the occasional slip up, but I’m very controlled. With goals like exercising and not buying gifts for others I tend to bend a little. I should try to discipline myself more because I know how powerful it can be.
5. Reflectiveness: I like to evaluate myself and analyze what I did so that I can do it better the next time. I’m OK with making mistakes (like when I set my freelance rates) because I know it’ll probably be the last time I’ll make it. Plus I’m stubborn so I want to learn from my own mistakes, I don’t take advice very well. The first time I invested in stocks is a perfect example.
6. Creativity: It’s tough because lately I feel like I’ve been trying to do too much, but one of my goals when I sit down to write is to write something different that sticks out. Sometimes it works and sometimes it feels like I’m way off, but that’s the intention every time. Creativity is one of those things others have to judge you on, I can’t really say. Financially I’ve come up with some cool tricks to make my budget work, so that’s a plus.
7. Curiosity: I like getting into new things, especially when someone I know or talk to shows a lot of passion for it. If X is psycho about collecting empty Tabasco bottles and he talks with a passion about it, I’ll usually look into it to try to understand it. Usually these are dead ends, but sometimes you end up finding things you are also passionate about.
8. Risk Taking: I’m very conservative and like to be safe with my money. I talk about allocating 5% of your portfolio to “speculative interests:” money to play around with and try to make more money while satisfying those gambling urges. But I’m all talk—rarely do I come through. I am a boring, long-term, “safe” investor. Sorry.
9. Goal Oriented: I have goals and lately I’ve been keeping them, but it’s hard. When I set a goal I go at it hard, but sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t. Regardless, I think it’s important to be optimistic and continue to set and try to reach those goals, no matter what.
10. Hard- and Smart-Working: I am a huge fan of being efficient (which is smart-working), it came after a trip to a sugar-cane mill that used every single byproduct of the whole process and put it to good use, which impressed the hell out of me.

Personally, I think the most important traits to becoming wealthy are #1, #4, and #10. The rest are icing on the cake but without those three I think it’s impossible. Which traits do you and don’t you have? Which are the most important ones?

Tags: , traits that make you rich