Self-made billionaires built their fortunes on a handful of hard decisions: to treat work as freedom, to hold on to an audacious dream, to start low, to walk through every open door and to never stand still. The video opens with a count: 2,640 billionaires in the world that it knows of, and about 65 to 70% of them built their fortunes through their own efforts. At each fork in the road they had to decide, and those choices could make their success while costing them public goodwill.
These are 15 of those decisions, plus a bonus. The takeaway running through them is that the money came as a result of the decisions, not the other way round.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 decisions at a glance
- See the ability to work as freedom, not imprisonment (0:37)
- Become obsessed with a dream others thought was delusional (1:37)
- Let the past propel you, not hold you back (2:31)
- Set moves and goals like ladder rungs (3:38)
- Decide that when a door opens, you walk straight in (4:56)
- Tie your identity to success (7:15)
- Choose a moment to sacrifice relationships (8:16)
- Be proud, not ashamed, of wanting more (9:17)
- First they were obsessed with winning, then money, then power (10:17)
- Drive with tunnel vision and ignore the noise (11:17)
- Risk it all because mediocrity is worse than failure (12:03)
- Lean into the madness, but behind closed doors with close people (12:52)
- Always deliver more than anyone expected (13:44)
- Find the right allies, and hold on for dear life (14:49)
- Whatever you do, do not stay still, ever (15:52)
1. See the ability to work as freedom, not imprisonment
Many self-made billionaires started working the moment they were allowed to, and some earlier. Jeff Bezos worked the breakfast shift at McDonald’s at 16 and spent childhood doing manual labour on his grandparents’ ranch for spare change. Mark Cuban was barely a teenager when he started buying and reselling baseball cards and stamps.
The decision is to see work as a blessing that gives you choice. Some of the prison view may be true, but if it is the only one you hold, you will see yourself as a prisoner chained to a desk, unable to quit and start your story from scratch.
2. Become obsessed with a dream others thought was delusional
Picture the 1980s and a teenager who says his dream is to make intergalactic space travel accessible to everyone. Or the 1930s, when animated cartoons ran under five minutes, and a man who wants to make a fully animated feature film. You would scoff.
Richard Branson and Walt Disney are the video’s examples of audacious dreams creating ambitious people. Holding on to those dreams while others laughed, doubted and questioned them was a decision they had to make.
3. Let the past propel you, not hold you back
Plenty of famous billionaires came from more than modest backgrounds. Tyler Perry, who owns one of the world’s largest film studios, ran away from home as a young man. Steve Jobs was given up for adoption. Mark Cuban’s parents were immigrants from Russia who started over in a new country with next to nothing.
Your childhood shapes what you do next, but ruminating over what you missed and how unfair life is drains the mental, emotional and physical energy you need to build. At some point you decide to let the past push you forward, however hard it was.
4. Set moves and goals like ladder rungs
Despite one big, daring dream, they set their moves like ladder rungs: deliberate, sequential steps, each one a foundation for the next. Starting at the bottom was no issue for them.
Dreams of space travel began with writing for a magazine, teaching or selling. Oprah started as a broadcaster, Jack Ma as a teacher, and Rihanna selling clothes with her father at a stall in Barbados. No position is too low or too far from the goal, and the first aim was not to be a billionaire but to be the best at the job.
Whatever you do at the start becomes the first rung of your ladder.
5. Decide that when a door opens, you walk straight in
Treat every opportunity as meant for you. Billionaires did not stop to ask whether they should be there. Even when people made them feel unwelcome, they acted like they belonged, and even when they were pushed out, they came back. Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple and went on to found NeXT, which eventually became macOS. Whitney Wolfe Herd, a Tinder co-founder, lost her position and went on to found Bumble.
Some rooms are kept for an elite group, and plenty of people assume venture capital, offshore banking, commercial real estate or fine art are reserved for the rich. The video’s point is that you can start accessing these areas before you get rich. The door is open, and the choice is to walk in or wait on the sidelines while others go ahead.
6. Tie your identity to success
Look at billionaires’ lives now and everything revolves around work, money and success: their friends, dinners, vacations and conversations. It is always about the next move, however old or young they are.
They never thought in work-life balance, because work was the balance. Most people compartmentalise into work, family, vacations and nights out. You cannot do that if you want to be a billionaire, since everything ties back to the drive. And, the video says, they love it.
7. Choose a moment to sacrifice relationships
Building a fortune leaves little room for anything else, family included. You hope the people who love you will stick around while you are not there.
These billionaires accepted they would miss birthdays, concerts and sports days while travelling, working and negotiating million-dollar deals. Missing out came first, then getting past feeling bad, both deliberate decisions. They saw success as the main plot, with friends and family in a side story. It often changes with age, when they speak about valuing family and time, but there was no space for it while still building.
8. Be proud, not ashamed, of wanting more
More recognition, more victories, more money, more people and power. The world looks down on those who say it out loud, so you may try to hide how hungry you are.
Billionaires do not hide it, even under criticism, and they are not afraid to fail in front of everyone and try again. Decide to drop any shame around it. When people ask whether life is about feeling that what you have is not enough, you should be able to say yes, proudly.
9. First they were obsessed with winning, then money, then power
For many, the early goal was not to become a billionaire. They wanted to be the best at whatever they did, and to be great at their first jobs. Winning came first: they wanted to beat everyone else.
A taste of victory made them want more, and money followed. Once you start making money, it gets easier to make more and keep winning, and as it piles up you begin to enjoy the power it brings. It does not start with wanting power. It starts with wanting to win, and you build from there.
10. Drive with tunnel vision and ignore the noise
This is where multi-millionaires and billionaires part ways. At meteoric success there is a lot of noise, including people who dislike them simply because they have so much more and will not give it away.
They faced hard calls about who to let go and how to pay the people who work for them. If they felt bad about every decision or questioned each one, they could not keep moving. They decided to shut out the people who did not support them.
11. Risk it all because mediocrity is worse than failure
At some point they chose to leave their old life: dropping out of college, quitting a good job, selling a business to build another, or putting every bit of savings into the dream.
Sometimes they failed and started over. Sometimes progress was slow and they were broke and stressed for years. Sometimes they soared. They had no idea which way it would go, but they knew staying put meant being average, and they would sooner fail a thousand times than remain where they started.
12. Lean into the madness, but behind closed doors with close people
Rising to the billionaire level means embracing ideas, strategies and dreams that look mad to others, and the line between genius and madness blurs. If they behaved like everyone else, they would work for someone else.
The bold moves work best when shared with the closest allies. In public they show a clever, kind and enthusiastic entrepreneur, which the video calls PR spin. The glimpses of what it takes come from a few louder, more prominent personalities who like attention.
13. Always deliver more than anyone expected
Whatever the job, janitor or bartender, they delivered beyond expectations. Jan Koum, who founded WhatsApp, once worked as a janitor in a grocery store, and says the work humbled him and gave him work ethic and resilience. Howard Schultz, who played a key role at Starbucks without founding it, tended bar in college and credits it for people skills, multitasking and hitting every mark fast.
Ask yourself whether you are delivering more than anyone expects. If you are happy coasting, that is fine. If you want more, start by giving more to others.
14. Find the right allies, and hold on for dear life
Billionaires do not get there alone. Usually one person sticks with them through it all, holds them accountable, pulls them back when needed and pushes them out of their comfort zone. That person is as smart, maybe smarter but slightly more sane, and as ambitious and focused.
The examples given are Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, and Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King. You can be betrayed by anyone else, but you cannot betray each other. You need a partner in crime.
15. Whatever you do, do not stay still, ever
They learned young that the greatest failure is standing still and getting complacent. There is no ultimate decision. The excitement lies in constant motion, because everything can be improved: your money can grow, you can have a better time, and you can make a deal better than your best.
Age does not excuse stillness. The video cites 93-year-old Warren Buffett, who still handles billions of other people’s dollars, and George Joseph, the 103-year-old founder of Mercury General, who remains chairman emeritus. You do not stop at the goal. You set another.
Bonus: complaining is for those without control
Complaining signals powerlessness and gives up control instead of taking decisive action. To succeed, the video says, you must believe you have control over everything, starting with yourself. A plunging market, a failed launch or a lost venture will not change because you complain, and complaining tells others you are not in control. They need to believe in you fully, so you keep complaints to yourself until the habit disappears and the only thought left is how to make it better.
These decisions are not only about financial moves. The money follows from them. They are tough to make and tougher to follow through on, so the closing question is simple: what will you decide?
FAQ
What decisions do self-made billionaires make early on?
They decide to see work as freedom, to hold on to an audacious dream, to start at the bottom like the first rung of a ladder and to let their past push them forward.
How many billionaires built their fortunes themselves?
The video says about 65 to 70% of the 2,640 billionaires it knows of built their fortune through their own efforts.
Why do billionaires need allies?
The video argues one loyal, equally driven partner holds you accountable, pulls you back when needed and pushes you out of comfort. Examples include Buffett and Munger, and Jobs and Wozniak.
What is the ladder rung approach to goals?
Set deliberate, sequential steps, starting as low as needed. The first aim is to be the best at the job, with each rung becoming the foundation for the next.
Why does the video say not to complain?
Complaining signals powerlessness. The video says successful people keep control by focusing on how to make things better instead.
Keep reading
- 15 Life-Changing Biographies of Successful People
- These 15 Self-Made Billionaires were Once Poor
- 15 of the Worst Life Decisions Anyone Can Make
