Do millionaires know something the rest of us don’t? A lot of people believe they do, and there are hundreds of books, videos and online courses promising to reveal the secret tricks millionaires use to become rich.

Unfortunately, there are no secrets to becoming a millionaire. If there were, everyone would know about them and have a million dollars in their bank account. However, studies have shown that millionaires share some common traits that have been proven to increase the odds of getting rich.

Millionaires are Ambitious

Everyone dreams big at least once in their life, whether it’s writing a best-selling novel or starting your own business. Millionaires, though, actually take their dreams and turn them into actionable goals. While they may realize that achieving their goals might be difficult, they don’t let that difficulty hold them back.

This is a pretty easy trait to develop. If you have a big dream, instead of thinking that it would be nice to achieve it, make it into an actionable goal by turning it into a S.M.A.R.T. goal—a goal that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. This format works extremely well for financial goals, but you can use it as a roadmap to achieve any other goal.

Millionaires Have Mentors

Millionaires know that they don’t have all the skills they might need to achieve their dream. Instead of letting that stop them, however, they search for teachers and guides who can help them.

While finding an expert to help you isn’t difficult, it’s always hard to admit you need someone’s help. It can be even harder to proactively seek someone out and ask them to give you a hand. Having said that, most people are happy to share their expertise, and if you ask them to help you the odds are they’re going to say yes.

Millionaires Aren’t Afraid to Fail

These days, Steve Jobs is best remembered for his incredible string of successes. He turned Apple around when the company was failing by introducing the colorful iMac, then introduced the wildly successful iPod. Oh, and he also completely transformed society by introducing the iPhone, cementing Apple’s status as a top-tier company and ensuring that all future Apple CEOs would live in his shadow.

What most people don’t talk about is how many times Steve Jobs failed. They don’t talk about the trouble he had learning in elementary school, how he dropped out of college and how he was essentially forced out of Apple in 1985 before founding the less-than-successful company NeXT.

Unfortunately, you’re not going to succeed at everything you try. What’s important, though, is what you do when you fail. A lot of people give up and sink into despair, but millionaires tend to get up and try again. They might focus on a different goal, or they might take a different approach to achieving their original goal.

This is easily one of the hardest traits to develop, but it’s well worth the effort. The next time you fail, instead of feeling hopeless, instead take some time and think about what went wrong and what you learned. Then decide if you want to try to achieve your goal again, or if you’d rather try something different.

Millionaires Understand Their Time is Valuable

While millionaires may want to become financially successful, they also know that their time is even more valuable than money, and they try to make the time they have count. Millionaires always have some project that they’re working on, and you’ll very rarely find a millionaire who is bored.

If you’d like to try to be a millionaire, you’ll need to think about how you’re spending your time. When you’re not working, think about what goals you’d like to achieve and the best way to achieve them instead of watching YouTube videos or trying to find a binge-worthy Netflix series. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have any time to relax, but you should prioritize the goals you’ve set for yourself above watching television.

Achieve Financial Success With First Alliance Credit Union

Millionaires aren’t superhumans or people who have discovered the cheat code to life. However, they are ambitious, hard-working and unafraid to ask for help when they need it. Those are all good practices to adopt, and by incorporating them into your life the odds are good you’re going to have a lot more financial success.

You can also get help achieving financial success when you become a member of First Alliance Credit Union. You can use the guides to budgeting and saving in our resource center to help you achieve your financial goals and track your financial progress with our online banking platform and mobile app.

Want to learn more about positive traits that will help you achieve your financial goals? Listen to episode 49 of our Good Money Moves podcast, which talks about creating a positive money mindset.