Traits of successful investors

 

There are many measures of success  for investors that go beyond simply making money. The best investors get consistent results, keep up with an ever-evolving market and know how to seek out great opportunities, whether with companies, partners or even mentees.

These elements of success come from admirable qualities and strong values, manifesting in true best practices. Here’s what the top investors in the world aspire to perfect in themselves every day.

1. Willingness to Learn

Investors thrive on information. The best opportunities come from solid data and the signs of innovation, so investors need to be open to new ideas, technology and practices, taking full advantage of them. There’s a certain humility in this approach. Rather than always thinking of him or herself as an expert, a successful investor engages with books, periodicals, studies and conferences as a true eternal student.

In short, no one is too good to take notes, nod to the expertise of others, or learn how to do something in a new way.

2. A Knack for Project Lifecycle Planning

A lot of business focuses on just one stage of a project. Some philosophies settle on the power of first impressions and networking; others put a lot of emphasis on the heroic image of the “closer.” In reality, a smart investor looks at every project as a start-to-finish affair, beginning with mindful preliminary research and following through all the way to a review of goals met and missed. This takes patience, a great deal of thought and the ability to juggle big-picture thinking with in-the-moment focus.

3. Surfing Trends, Not Drowning in Them

The market is fickle, difficult to predict and fundamentally fast-paced. An investor who tries to react to every single upswing, downswing and hiccup will just end up overwhelmed. It’s important for investors to look back at the larger movements of the market to identify trends and even stories within the fluctuations. By having a strong sense of history and developing  intuition about how things often go in the long run, investors can make calmer, more strategic decisions about how to react to the beast of the market.

4. Long-Term Thinking

Investments can be like gambling. Of course, not all games are the same. Investors who always aim for short-term gains and quick turnarounds are essentially playing games of chance, caught up in the caprice of the market where control and predictability are at a minimum. Investors with a long-term mindset, however, are playing games of skill. They’re not crossing their fingers at the roulette wheel; they’re calculating the next best move in a hand of poker, because just like in poker, your position is important in investing. Instead of seeing their investments either spike or sink in a matter of minutes, they’re waiting for the right moves to appear in trends and reliable figures.

5. Visualization

A career is, ultimately, a story. Successful investors need to look beyond numbers and prestige to find where they fit as individuals in the field. An investor needs to be happy in his or her position to be truly and sustainably successful, which means being willing to honestly visualize each experience, from simple meetings to major career moves.

Before the meeting the investor should ask questions like, “How do I want Mr. Jones to see me?” and imagine different scenarios. When contemplating that career move, it  should be about the subjective experiences as much as the concrete facts, asking questions like “What’s it like to live in that city?” or “What would a career at that firm be like?”

6. Friends and Colleagues

Regardless of the field, truly great people never achieve greatness alone. Investors may depend on themselves more than anyone to get the job done, but good friends and advisors are invaluable. Shared experiences among colleagues add to the investor’s worldview, mentors show them a life’s worth of experience and mentees force investors to be able to understand what they do well enough to teach someone else.

These are some of the best qualities and habits of truly successful investors. They make for a well-rounded, dedicated and lasting career in a field that can be as overwhelming and surprising as it is rewarding and lucrative.