How to Be a Billionaire: Let’s Learn it From Self-Made Billionaire Naveen Jain

Becoming a millionaire is the dream of most people, but becoming a billionaire is considered far-fetched for many. Everyone believes that they can make a million dollar, only those who dare to dream really big like Naveen Jain dares to dream to become a billionaire, which he did.

Naveen is a billionaire entrepreneur and he founded InfoSpace, one of the largest internet companies in the US before the crash of the dot-com bubble. He also co-founded Moon Express, a company formed by fellow entrepreneurs with the goal of ultimately mining the Moon for natural resources of economic value.

Today, Naveen focuses his energy and time on the mission of mining the Moon and also changing people’s lives. So how did he manage to amass such as large sums of wealth and how did he become a billionaire? This is the essence of this article.

We will discuss how Naveen Jain thinks, what he does, and what he believes are the core factors that made him a billionaire.

Start Your Morning Strong

In a video interview, Naveen says that he used to wake up around between 430am to 5am. Like most of the successful people out there, Naveen believes that you have to work hard in order to achieve your goals. And one easy way to do so is to wake up early. He chooses to wake up earlier than most people because he thinks that this will give him additional hours to do his work and to set his day right.

Other highly successful people like Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Oprah Winfrey, Tim Cook, etc., are early risers. Studies have found that early hours are the most productive hours because there are no distractions so you can focus on your work to achieve more with minimal interruptions. Furthermore, your brain is fresh and fully charged in the morning, hence, you are able to make better decisions and perform at your best during the morning hours.

Waking up early is one thing, doing what truly matters is another. For Naveen Jain, he chooses to maintain his three morning routines. First, he read the news, blogs, and also catches up with emails. And then he will workout and exercise. And third, he will meditate before he gets to work.

Catching on Emails, Read News and Blogs

According to Naveen, this is the very first thing that he will do once he woke up. He will reply some important emails and then read some news and blogs and see what others have to say.

For him, he believes that reading the news and keeping him updated with the latest information is one of the most important factors that contribute to his success. Warren Buffett, the world’s greatest investor adopted the same morning routine of reading six newspapers in the morning.

It is important to keep yourself updated in today’s business world. Things can change so quickly and new technology emerges almost every single day. As for Naveen, he is in the space-mining business and staying update is even more crucial. Plus, he also says that reading the news and information from other people is like exercising his brain.

Workout and Exercise

The second morning routine Naveen will proceed to do is to workout and exercise. In fact, this is considered one of the most important success factors that every great leader owned. You have to start your day strong by mentally and physically preparing yourself for the rest of the day.

Barrack Obama, the ex-President of the US exercises for 45 minutes a day, six days per week. He says that exercise is the first thing that he does in the morning, alternating between lifting weights one day and doing the cardio the next day. Again, Richard Branson says that he wakes up as early as 5am to swim, kite surf, or play tennis during an interview. Others like Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Cuban, Oprah Winfrey, and Tim Cook, also exercise and workout in the morning before they get to their office to work.

Regardless of whether you are lifting weights, running, or swimming, you must exercise each day in order to keep yourself physically healthy and fit. The majority did not exercise because they are too lazy to wake up early in the morning or they are simply too busy. Please remember that highly successful people like Zuckerberg and Tim Cook are extremely busy people, but somehow, they still make time to move their bodies. And if they do this, it simply means that exercise is vital and perhaps, we should do it too.

Meditate

And finally, Naveen will spend some time to meditate before he goes to work. Naveen says that business is like a war unless you are prepared from your mind, body, and soul, you cannot win the battle. This is why he chooses to meditate to prepare his soul for what is coming.

Scientists have proved that there are plenty of benefits one can receive from meditation. For instance, meditation reduces stress, improves your concentration, self-awareness, happiness, and also slows down aging.

You may think that it is common for Indian people like Naveen to meditate because he is from the eastern countries, but you may be wrong. In this modern society, meditation has taken place and influenced many people’s lives including the westerners. Do you know that a lot of famous and highly successful people have made meditation part of their morning routine like Naveen?

Tony Robbins, the world number one success coach says that he meditate about 10 minutes each morning. Arianna Huffington, the founder of Huffington Post says she meditates about 20 to 30 minutes each morning, and Katy Perry, the famous celebrity says, “I start the day with Transcendental Meditation. It puts me in the best mood. I wake up and just prop myself up in bed for 20 minutes. It’s the only time my mind gets absolute rest.”

Hard Work is Compulsory

Naveen strongly believes that anyone who wants to be successful in life must be extremely hard working. He says that he works long hours every day and he makes sure he gives his best in what he does.

Hard work is compulsory and there is no substitution for it. According to Naveen, he says that the only way to win big in life is to be at your best. And to be at your best, you need to put in 100% of yourself into what you do. Most people take things for granted and they never put into their best. As a result, they are living in mediocrity and always dream about what they want rather than taking action and working hard for it.

When you study other successful people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, and other successful entrepreneurs, you will notice that they work extremely long hours and they work hard. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men in the world once says that he never took a day off in his twenties. The same goes for Elon Musk, who has the dream of colonizing Mars and make space travel a reality. Elon says that he used to work 100 hours a week including weekend.

You may say that spending the entire working has no fun, but this is exactly why most people are not successful because they prefer to have fun rather than working on their goals and dreams. For highly successful people like Naveen Jain, their work is their play. They enjoy what they do and they can spend the entire day on their “work”. To these people, their work is fun because they are passionate about it.

So find a way to make your work your passion. When you are passionate about what you do, you will never have to work for another day. Your work then will become your play. Just like what Richard Branson used to say, “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instinct. Some 80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home, why shouldn’t you have fun at work?” And he did not look at work as work and play as play, to Sir Richard Branson, work and play are just part of life.

Solve Big Problems to Make Big Money

Perhaps, the biggest secret to Naveen Jain’s success is solving big problems. Naveen is a strong believer that in order to be successful in life, you must be able to solve problems. If you want to make a million dollar, solve a million dollar problem. And if you want to be a billionaire, learn to solve a billion dollar problem.

Thousands of years ago, the humans who were living in the Stone Age sharpened a stick and made it into a spear. They have no idea how to hunt for food, but somehow, they learned to solve a problem in creating a spear that can be used for hunting. Fast forward into today’s world, businesses are created every single day to solve problems. Why do you think people invented cars and computers? Of course, they want to solve a certain problem. And in the process of solving problems, people are willing to pay for the solution. This is how you can make money from solving problems.

Years ago, Henry Ford found a way to mass-produced automobiles. He was the first one who solved the problem of manufacturing cars in an affordable way and how to do it on a large scale. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX is applying the same principle to his business. Elon is trying to mass produce rockets and finding solutions to build affordable rockets that can benefit the majority.

Naveen is famous for his problem-solving mentality. He often tells his audience that if they want to make a million dollar, they need to learn how to solve a million dollar problem. The thing is that how do you do that?

Problem-solving is one of the most important skills that one can acquire. Regardless of whether you are solving a problem for your client, supporting those who are solving problems, or discovering new problems to solve, there are four fundamental steps to doing it.

1. Defining the Problem

Naveen Jain is also famous for his saying, “Solve the problems, not the symptoms.” And yes, you should deal with the real problem, not the symptom. For example, if you are on a boat and water keeps coming into your boat because there is a small leak at the bottom, the real problem is the leak and the solution is to fix the leak. The symptom is that the water keeps overflowing into your boat causes it to sink. And if you are working on solving the symptom such as putting all your effort into getting the water out of your boat, the problem remains.

Defining the problem can be easier said than done. A lot of people are facing financial problems. No matter whether they are looking for ways to earn more money or to put down their debts, they are dealing with the symptoms and not the real problem.

For instance, getting rich cannot solve your problem; it can only solve the symptoms. If you are earning $10,000 a month and you spend it all, you have nothing less by the end of the month. And if you are earning $1 million and you spend it all, you will be in the same situation and have nothing left after that. Thus, the key is not in making more money, but in changing your spending lifestyle.

Therefore, learn to understand your problem. And then find solutions to the real problem and not the symptoms.

2. Finding the Solutions

At this stage, what you can do is to brainstorm and generate as many solutions as possible. You do not have to fix yourself to just one solution at this point. Just brainstorm and write down whatever solution you can think of.

This is how one of the best-selling books, “Thin Thighs in 30 Days” was published. The author, Wendy Stehling, wanted to start her own business but she needed about $100,000 capital. Thus, she asked, “What’s the quickest way to raise $100,000?” And people told her to sell a book. After she decided to do it, she asked around, “What are the best-selling books in America?” And again, people said weight loss books.

And so she continued to ask, “How can I distinguish myself as an expert?” And people answered, “Ask other women.” And that was what she did. Wendy continued to ask, “If you could lose weight in only one part of your body, what part would you choose?” And almost everyone told her it was their thighs. And so she wrote the book, “Thin Thighs in 30 Days”, which became a best-selling book and Wendy successfully received the $100,000 she needed.

You can read books and learn from other successful people who have successfully solved your problems. Get ideas from them and generate as many alternatives as possible. Study and doing research is one of the best methods for finding solutions. Else, you can also learn from feedback by asking around.

3. Evaluate and Select the Right Solution

After you have brainstormed and came up with solutions, it is time for you to evaluate each one and select the right one as the best solution to the problem. There are many ways how you can solve a problem, but choosing the right one that is easy and less costly may require a little of your creativity.

Just like how Naveen puts it, the solving problem is one of the most important skills you need to become rich, and you have to go for the right one. Meaning to say, you must choose a solution that is easy to implement, and at the same time, will be able to make you the money.

Naveen clearly demonstrates his ability to problem-solving into his business. In one of his interviews, he initially thought that launching a rocket and getting to the Moon may take about $100 million, but soon he discovered that his team may be able to do it at half the cost. This gets Naveen really excited. He believes that if his company can greatly lower the cost to travel to the Moon, he can change the entire humanity, plus, it can also mean an incredible business opportunity. And this is what Naveen is up to right now; finding the right solution to the problem of getting people to the Moon.

4. Implementing the Solutions

And finally, no matter how great your solutions are, you must implement them. Having the solution is just one part of the equation. If you want to be successful and become a billionaire, you must learn to take action by implementing the billion-dollar solution.

You have to understand that knowledge itself is just a form of potential power. Not until the knowledge is implemented, nothing will change. And this is the difference between someone who is highly successful and someone who is not.

Successful people like Naveen Jain is all about taking action and making progress. He knows that the only way to live his dream and accomplish his goal is by taking action. Unfortunately, unsuccessful people think otherwise. Unsuccessful people are all about their dreams. They dream about their dream, they feel good about it, but they never really put in the action to implement the solution.

Never let this happen to you. Learn from Naveen and become someone who makes progress. Learn to be proactive and make things happen rather than being reactive and wait for things to happen.

Money is a Byproduct

Naveen is a father of three. One day, one of his sons told him that someday he will make even more money than his father and become even more successful than him. Being a great father, Naveen was impressed but told his son that he might have got it wrong. Naveen says that being successful is not about making a lot of money. While it is true that money is important and every business needs to make money, the essence of success does not come from making money.

Naveen told his son that success is about improving other people’s lives and money is just a byproduct that comes along from the hard work. This has inspired his son to goes on and found a non-profit network of undergraduate entrepreneurs called Kairos Society.

You see, Naveen believes that money should not be your end goal, but a byproduct of your hard work. He believes that as long as you are changing lives, helping people anywhere from your own community to shaping the world, then money will follow. The moment you solve problems for the needy, money will flow in as the reward of your hard work.

The problem is that most people focus on making money more than helping people and improving lives, and this is why they fail. Think about it, if money is the ultimate goal, highly successful people will not be working once they made their first pot of gold. Think about Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. He is a billionaire and is one of the top ten richest men in the world, but he still continues to work and grow his business. Bezos can choose to stop and retire, but he did do so.

And the same goes for every other successful entrepreneur who has already amassed huge sums of money like Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, and Mark Zuckerberg. These extraordinary people can retire and live their lives as a billionaire, why do they still choose to work each day and go to the office?

The answer is pretty simple; money is just a byproduct to these people. Think about it, if you are working for money, you will never have a lot of it.

First, you are focusing too much on the money; you may neglect the one important factor that determines your business’ success, which is creating value. And second, if you set money as the goal, you will give up way before you make it. Highly successful people are extremely passionate about their work, this is why they are willing to do it even if they are not making a lot of money. As a result, they pour in the extra effort and produce outstanding results from their work. This is why they continue to work even after they become wealthy. They simply love what they do.

On the other hand, if you are working for the sake of earning money, you will give up and quit the moment you fail to make money from your venture. And thus, never focus on making the money. Follow the advice from Naveen and choose to improve people’s lives and learn to bring more values to the people.

Play the Game that You Can Win

Another important key to success according to Naveen Jain is that you must play a game that you can win. There is no point to go into business if you do not want to profit from it, start a non-profit organization instead.

When an interviewer asks Naveen if he is risky, he says no. Naveen says that most entrepreneurs are not risk takers. They venture into a business where they can see the success, not risking it.

You must be able to see yourself as a success and be visionary enough to be able to see the future that you desire. If you have no confidence, no specific goals, and have no idea what you want to accomplish in your business, you will destine to fail. Therefore, do not start a business without knowing what you want. If you want to play the game, make sure that you can win.

Dare to Dream Big

If you have read about Naveen, you will understand that he is someone who believes in thinking big. When people ask Naveen what he does in his business, he answers, “mining the Moon”, and this shocks almost everyone and people will think that Naveen is crazy or out of his mind. However, Naveen did not look at it that way. Instead, Naveen believes in thinking big. He says, “When you tell somebody what you’re doing and they don’t think it’s a crazy idea, then you’re thinking too small.”

It is his thinking big mindset that allows him to go on and achieve extraordinary success in his life. Just like the saying, “Aim for the stars, even if you fail, you will land on the Moon.” And this is exactly what Naveen has been doing.

And this is exactly what has happened to Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate mogul that became the President of the United States. Like him or hate him, Trump has a famous quote that says, “I like thinking big. If you’re to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.” And it was his ability to think big that made him a billionaire. And because he dares to believe big and think big, he eventually won the election and became the President of the United States.

The same goes for Arnold Schwarzenegger. When he was young, he was inspired by the Hollywood actor, Reg Park. And so Arnold trained his body and decided to go into the bodybuilding industry. Many people told him that it is impossible, but because he dared to think big, he won several Mr. Olympia titles. Today, Arnold is considered the most successful bodybuilder in the world.

And after his bodybuilding career, Arnold decided that he wanted to be like Reg Park, to become a successful actor. Some people told him that what he wanted to achieve is crazy and impossible. Some even said that his name is too difficult to pronounce and his body is too bulky to make it in the Hollywood. However, he chose to believe in his dream and continue to dream big. The rest, as they say, is history.

Just like Naveen Jain, you have to think big in order to win big. Naveen even thinks about going to the Moon and mining the natural resources there through his company, Moon Express. The company has won a contract from NASA and is participating in the Google Lunar X-Prize in attempting to put a private lander on the moon.

Success and Wealth Do Not Come from Who You Are

Naveen grew up in the rural area in India. His family was very poor and they were born in a place where there were no chairs, no tables, and no whiteboards, but despite all of these difficulties, Naveen and his siblings still managed to make it to the higher education. Naveen himself studied and earned an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, while his sister went on to do a post-doctorate and his brother had a Ph.D. in computer science and statistics.

Despite all the hardships, Naveen managed to rise as a successful entrepreneur and made himself billions of dollars in wealth. In fact, Naveen believes that it was the hardships and challenges that made him who he is today. He says that it was his humble beginnings that created who he is today. In an interview, he says that it was the experience he had gone through that shaped him and built his values into whom he is.

And if Naveen can shine and become a billionaire growing up in a poor family, anyone can too. While it is true that your background is not going to determine your success, it still requires a lot of hard work and determination to achieve extraordinary success in life. More importantly, you must dare to dream big, learn to solve big problems and always remember that success is about changing lives, not about how much money you are going to make.