I once published this article on my blog and many found it useful so decided to publish it here again for LinkedIn users.
So let’s get cracking right away.
We all tend to believe others are deliberately withholding success secrets from us. Nothing is further from the truth. Most rich Papua New Guineans don’t come out openly to share their success secrets. It is easy to believe that if someone rich comes out public to share his or her success secrets, many of us would take his or her noble approach as being boastful.
In Tok-Pisin we term it as “Apim Neim or apim skin”.
In many cases, such a person is taken down by use of traditional knowledge or physical confrontation and damage of property and even death.
1. They dream big
Most rich Papua New Guineans some of us may have come to know started with nothing but a dream. There is an old saying that goes like “The size of your success is determined by the size of your dream”. This saying holds for people who have become extremely successful in their chosen fields in life and not just in business. After all, if their dreams were small, then that’s all they would have achieved in life. They have big dreams and so achieve big success that we only read or view in media.
2. Start small
Many successful Papua New Guineans in business or just about any area of life started with big dreams but with small steps. Successful PNG-owned businesses whose founders the entrepreneurlink has some association with through our experience in mainstream media didn’t start with a big bang. Instead, they started small with proper planning and effective mobilization and allocation of available resources to carry out their plans. With discipline, they grew to who they are today.
3. Most are self-taught and self-starters
Many of the rich Papua New Guineans we know are self-taught-meaning they picked up skills along the way and built their wealth. Some of the most successful Papua New Guineans we know have never been to colleges. Instead of taking that as an excuse, they turned it into positive motivation. Some university graduates now work for drop-outs who have built successful businesses in Papua New Guinea.
Even college graduates who built successful businesses in Papua New Guinea never fully relied on their university degree. Instead, they used their college degrees as a starting point to build their reputation and that of their business while they taught themselves important life skills they needed to do well in business and life. The results speak for themselves.
Most of these successful Papua New Guineans are self-starters. They never waited for someone to do it for them. They seized opportunities and built successful businesses that we see today.
4. They have unwavering persistence
One of the determining traits of the rich Papua New Guineans is their unwavering persistence. They dream big, start small, and have a never-say-die attitude towards their dream. They learn, try, fail, pick up their pieces, and keep moving on toward their dream. This is what makes them different from most who try once and give up if it doesn’t work.
5. They focus on things that matter
The rich Papua New Guineans knowingly or unknowingly have mastered the Pareto Principle. They focus their time, money, and other resource on things that matter and add value to their lives and the lives of others. The rest of the population blows with the wind and spends like rich and ends up with nothing and keeps blaming others for their financial stress.
6. They save money before they spend
This habit is universal. Almost all financially successful people save and invest before they spend. In that way, they create more income from the money that comes to them. Robert Kiyosaki, a self-made millionaire and author of the book Rich Dad Poor Dad articulated this well in his book. As soon as the rich earn their money, they save and invest in their business or revenue-generating assets like stocks and bonds or real estate. These assets then earn more income for them. Most people, they spend before they save so end up having nothing to invest. The result is they live from paycheck to paycheck and still don’t know the cause of their financial stress.
7. They maintain tough financial discipline
Being disciplined with their finance is what makes them earn more money and one doesn’t require a university degree to understand this. They save and invest before they spend and they stay attentive to their spending habits. Buying on impulse is not a trait of financially successful people. Rather, they weigh pros and cons before they buy and in most cases, they buy on value and not on price as Billionaire Warren Buffet once said.
8. They take calculated risks
The relationship between risk and reward is proportionate and rich Papua New Guineans know and take advantage of it. The higher the risk, the greater the reward is. Unlike the rest, rich Papua New Guineans take calculated risks. Taking calculated risks means doing your due diligence making sound decisions based on facts and figures and not making crucial business decisions on impulse.
9. They are innovative and industrious
Rarely do these wealthy people sit on their asses and expect miracles to happen to them. They don’t expect free government handouts as many of the Papua New Guineans do. They take innovative approaches to solving problems and they work not just hard but smart.
10. Leverage the power of the network to build business
No man is an island and rich Papua New Guineans know better to tap into existing networks and harness the power of networks. Robert Kiyosaki also stated that the more leverage one uses, the more money he makes. The network is just leverage. Other forms of leverage Robert Kiyosaki highlighted are leverage of education, one’s mind, and internet, etc.
11. Re-invest their money in revenue-generating assets
By re-investing proceedings from their invested money, the rich Papua New Guineans boost their wealth using the power of compounding impact. Compounding impact according to Einstein is one of the wonders of the earth. The majority of the people instead eat the seed money and the result is no fruit to harvest.
12. They reach out to the community and indirectly build their reputation
Don’t be surprised to know that most rich Papua New Guineas give a lot back to their communities. This disproves the notion that wealthy people are arrogant and selfish. Most times we fail to distinguish between being arrogant and being self-disciplined. By giving more, rich people become known and respected and they build their reputation and get more valuable contacts that lead to bigger and better business deals that bring them a lot of money.
In closing, we hope this post inspires you to start small where you are and with the resources you have. You see the key is to make a start. Because if you don’t, when will you? Remember always the Chinese proverb that goes like this;
“Journey of a million mile starts with a single step”
Take that step now and never think there is a tomorrow for tomorrow certainly never will come if you take that first step now.
As promised the few strategies we hope will be helpful to you.
The EMSA (R) Strategy
The EMSA Strategy. @2015 LinkPad Technologies & Publishing
Strategy # 1: EXPLORE-Find a problem
As long as the human race exists on Earth, problems are unavoidable. There will always be problems of all sizes, shapes, and forms. In the problems lie solutions that need to be discovered. Be that entrepreneur with an inquisitive mind who discovers a solution to a pressing issue. The bigger the problem you solve, the bigger the monetary gains.
Strategy # 2: MOBILIZE-Find resources to solve the problem
Once you discover the problem, you will know what is needed to solve the problem. We talking about resources. Mobilize the available resources and make a start somewhere. You don’t have to wait until you have all you need. Start small and build it gradually.
Strategy 3: SYSTEMISE- Build a sustainable cash machine
If you want to money-making effort to be sustainable and long-lasting, then you need to build a system. A system in here simply refers to a business. Refer to our post-Digicel PNG Success Secret: Build Your Business Like Digicel PNG.
Strategy 4: AUTOPILOT – Put your system on autopilot
Sounds fancy but it’s very simple. It means investing your money in passive income streams. By investing money generated from your System (Business), you make your money work for you. Someone once noted that by investing your money, you buy off a day in the future you don’t have to work.
