Developing The Right Habits Could Make You A Millionaire

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Could becoming a millionaire be just a matter of developing some good habits?

That's what new research points to, and some millionaires say the secret of their success are the rules of the rich.

It takes Dan Nainan just thirty seconds, but he said making his bed each morning is a critical part of his daily routine.

"It's a way of starting the day fresh and organized and neat as a pin," he said.

It could be one of the reasons the comedian and motivational speaker is a millionaire.

Researcher Randall Bell studied the habits of the rich and found that if you make your bed each morning, you are 206 percent more likely to become a millionaire.

"It changes your frame of reference that carries out throughout the day, that when there's a job to be done you're going to get it done," he said.

He also found that the rich read thirty or more minutes a day, and wake up three hours before their work day officially begins.

"Habits are what form our lives," he explained.

That's one of the rich habits that real estate entrepreneur Ari Rastegar adopted.

"It's a time when there' no noise of the outside world. You have a moment to review your checklist, see what worked the day before, strategize what the next day is going to look like," Rastegar said.

Other habits include writing to-do lists, controlling emotions, and smiling at neighbors.

"They're friendly people," Thomas Corley said.

Millionaire researcher Corley learned a lot about his neighbors.

"If you're a jerk, and you're upsetting everybody, nobody's going to want to work with you, and you're never going to be a millionaire," he said.

They also talk less, and listen more. Which makes sense to Nainan.

"They say, why do we have two ears and one mouth; so was can listen and not talk as much," he said.

Bell said the habits may not seem like much, but there is a cumulative effect.

"When you do these little tiny things, they ripple out and they create a big impact," he said.

Rastigar said it does take hard work.

"When people say in five easy steps you can develop these new habits, that's just not the case," Rastigar said, "It takes effort."

It's sticking to that, researchers say, pays off in the end.

"These things are not magical fairy dust, these things are going to transform your life, not overnight, but it's going to happen," Corley said.

Among the thing that millionaires don't do is gossip on the job.

Experts said that if you adopt the rules of the rich, start slow with one or two rules at a time.