Writer who 'interviewed over 100 millionaires' shares 3 habits that made them highly successful

Jaime Catmull said millionaires like Richard Branson were not afraid of owning their failures. (Image credit: AFP)

As a writer and podcast host, Jaime Catmull has worked with Fortune 500 companies and interviewed more than 100 millionaires. The personal finance expert based in California said that she wanted to help people take more control of their finances and that her goal is to share advice from highly successful people about how they faced challenges and emerged stronger.

"Getting to know these entrepreneurs, executives, and industry leaders, I’ve had a chance to learn about what sets them apart," she told CNBC Make It. "These millionaires are charismatic and commanding, know how to delegate and have razor-like focus. They don’t sit around waiting for anything, certainly not luck, because they make their own."

Catmull shared three habits that made these entrepreneurs highly successful.

1.) Embracing failure

Catmull said Virgin Group founder Richard Branson told her that one of the biggest lessons he has learned over the course of his career is: “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” She added that when Kim Kiyosaki, an entrepreneur and the co-founder of the Rich Dad Company, was fired from her first job, she realised she wasn’t meant to work for someone else and devoted herself to building a career in real estate.

2.) Staying disciplined 

Jaspreet Singh, CEO of Briefs Media and founder of the Minority, told Catmull that he attributed his success and millionaire status to a sense of discipline. “It takes a lot of discipline to get up when you don’t feel like it, get to work before everyone else, stay after everyone else, and keep working when people say you’re working too hard.” Catmull quoted Singh as saying.

3.) Don’t let the past dictate future  

Two self-made millionaires that Catmull interviewed, Derik Fay, the founder of 3F Management, and Lynette Khalfani-Cox, aka The Money Coach, opened up about their experiences overcoming adversity in their youth.

Fay said he endured extreme poverty and abuse. "I discovered that the exact things I thought had destroyed me, once I embraced them, had the power to redefine me," he said. Khalfani-Cox recalled his family struggling financially with five daughters. Now, she helps others gain financial success.