To achieve success like him, he advised young people to save money.
What does it take to be successful? This is a question many people grapple with and the best answers might probably come from people who are highly successful. Recently billionaire and philanthropist Bill Cummings shared some lifetime habits for success and also revealed the qualities he seeks in a job applicant, New York Post reported.
Mr. Cummings released a book in 2020 called Starting Small and Making It Big: Hands-on Lessons in Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy, which includes thoughtful reflections on the lessons he has learned about business, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy.
To achieve success like him, he advised young people to save money. ''Work hard and save your money. Don't spend it. Many young people are not taught to save,'' he told the Post. He added that he and his wife still clip coupons and fly coach, all because they get a kick out of saving money.
Talking about tips critical to getting a job, Mr Cummings said that as an employer, he always looks for people who have a sense of drive and determination. ''Nothing is as important as hard work, desire, persistence, and dedication. What idle pleasures are we willing to give up to achieve what we really want?'' he said.
He also likes to hire people who have integrity and show respect to people around them. ''All people have differing skills and abilities, just as we all have our unique flaws and shortcomings. Work regularly at developing a system of strong values, even though we may regularly fall short of those values in our daily lives.''
Further, an ''ability to write well'', ''infinite curiosity about how things work'', and ''identifying problems and dealing with them'' are the other traits of a successful person, according to him.
"If somebody can express him or herself if they can put their thoughts down on paper, they're probably smart enough to do a lot of other things, too," Mr Cummings said.
Lastly, he thinks that a person should find joy in their work and seize opportunities as they come. ''I loved what I was doing — opportunistically creating value and jobs — more than any financial return. The secret of entrepreneurship is doing something you look forward to when you wake up in the morning. If you're not going to really enjoy it, you're doomed before you even start,'' he noted.
Notably, Mr Cummings graduated from Tufts University in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and started his own real estate property in 1970, which later made him a billionaire. The 86-year-old philanthropist has reportedly never borrowed any money, growing his business solely off his own back.
From one building, he grew his business to ''11 million square feet of commercial real estate in 11 cities and towns north of Boston'', according to Cummings Properties website.