1. You control your life, your life does not control you
This is the most important mindset anybody who wishes to make money needs to have. If you believe that you control your life you will take action to achieve the outcome that you want. If you believe that there is nothing you can do and you must rely on others, then you will do nothing to take action and probably nothing will happen. The signs of this attitude are that you blame others for your situation, you justify it by saying that don't want to be successful anyway and you criticize those who have achieved success.
2. Admire other successful people don't resent them
You have probably heard that successful people are greedy. This creates a negative view of success and is called the "scarcity mindset". In this mindset you think there is a limited amount of wealth in the world and the wealthy have taken more than they should have. Viewing these people as inherently bad you will never truly want to be successful. Whenever you find yourself resenting successful people you are showing the scarcity mindset. The opposite is the "abundance mindset": In this view you think that value can be created and situations can be win-win. In this scenario you look at successful people and think that they have delivered a great value to the world and so have been rewarded for their contribution. With this view you admire successful people and you want to achieve their success.
3. Be committed to being successful
Everybody wants to be successful: ask anybody and they will say yes. But the people who become successful are the ones who remain committed to their views and goals for the long term. People who fail generally give up after a short period where they don't see instant return for their efforts. Those who succeed understand that they are investing for a longer period and are willing to continue and adjust their efforts as required until they realize their goals.
4. Value and monitor net worth
To be a successful investor you must appreciate the idea of net worth. This will help shape your decisions to help you make successful choices. Take for example two people who each win €10,000. One takes his money and buys a brand new car to replace his old one, the other invests his in a 5 year guaranteed 10% return investment. After 5 years the person who bought the car sells his car for €2,000. The person who made the investment has €11,000. Though they both started off with €10,000 but now one has €2,000 while the other has €11,000. This €11,000 can be reinvested and the cycle repeats itself. Here is the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, but the rich make smart investment decisions that increase their net worth, the poor make poor investment decisions that decrease their net worth. Consider net worth before spending your money.
5. See the opportunities not the obstacles
Successful people see opportunities and obstacles but ask: "How can I overcome them?". Unsuccessful people see the obstacles and give up. Many people see the same opportunities but have the courage to chase them. This is not to say that you make reckless decisions. You have to assess the risks and rewards, and if that makes a good investment to you, have the courage to follow the opportunity.
6. Be comfortable with managing money
Have you ever seen somebody who is uncomfortable with having money? It's common for somebody who wins a large amount of money to simply spend it all straight away and return immediately to their old way of life. This is because people are uncomfortable with making decisions about their money. The easiest way to change this is to start managing your finances when they are small. Make small calculated saving and investment decisions. Some will be successful and some will fail, but you will become more comfortable with making investment decisions
7. Make your money work for you
One of the greatest ways to lose money is to allow your money to sit. For example, assume you have €10,000 cash in your hand. You have enough money to buy a car for €10,000. Every year inflation causes everything to increase in value, assuming the economy increased at a rate of 2% inflation. Now you still have €10,000 cash, but the car is now selling for €10,200 and you can no longer afford it. The lesson here is that you must invest your money in some form just to prevent it from losing value.
8. Constantly learn and grow
Unsuccessful people claim to know all the answers. This is an attempt to not seem stupid. Successful people accept that they don't know everything. They view each thing they do not know as an opportunity to learn and increase the value that they can provide. As in point 2, they view this as a way to provide value to more people and so a way to increase their capacity to be successful.
This post is my interpretation of a book I read called Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth. I have modified it to be based on my views and highlighted the items that I felt were the most applicable and agreed with my views of life and investing.
