7 secrets of Elon Musk’s success

From being an ordinary boy, born by Maye Musk on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa, to becoming a billionaire and one of the world’s most respected entrepreneurs, Elon Musk definitely has some secrets that made him hugely successful. But wait! Why are some people very successful in life when most other people fail? It must be because successful people know, think and do certain things which other people don’t. 

Secret No. 1, Readers Rule the World 

During his childhood, Musk was an avid reader. At age 10, he developed an interest in computing with the Commodore VIC-20. He taught himself computer programming at the age of 12, sold the code of a BASIC-based video game he created called Blastar, to a magazine called PC and Office Technology, for approximately $500. Musk’s childhood reading included Isaac Asimov's Foundation series from which he drew the lesson that "you should try to take the set of actions that are likely to prolong civilization, minimize the probability of a dark age and reduce the length of a dark age if there is one” Curiousity is the name of the road that leads to success. The more curios you are, the more successful you can become. Anthony Robins calls this “Hunger”. Just as hungry people look for food, people who are hungry for knowledge read good books which others don’t. Because these people search for knowledge, they are able to know what most other people in the world don’t. If you know what most people don’t, you can achieve what they can’t. 

Secret No. 2 Dream Big for Dreams Come True 

If there’s anything, the name of Elon Musk is synonymous with crazy dreams. In 2001, Musk conceptualized "Mars Oasis", a project to land a miniature experimental greenhouse on Mars, containing food crops growing on Martian regolith, in an attempt to regain public interest in space exploration. Musk has envisioned a high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop, and has proposed a vertical take-off and landing supersonic jet electric aircraft with electric fan propulsion, known as the Musk electric jet. Musk has stated that the goals of SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity revolve around his vision to change the world and humanity. His goals include reducing global warming through sustainable energy production and consumption and reducing the "risk of human extinction" by establishing a human colony on Mars. For most people in our world today, their dream is to eat, drink, have some cars and homes. To be successful in life, you have to dream unusually big. As Steve Job said, “People who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are those who do”.

Secret No. 3 Entrepreneurship is a journey, know when to Move on 

Compaq acquired Zip2 for US$307 million in cash and US$34 million in stock options in February 1999. Musk received US$22 million for his 7 percent share from the sale In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company, with US$10 million from the sale of Zip2. One year later, the company merged with Confinity, which had a money-transfer service called PayPal. In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for US$1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk received US$165 million. Before its sale, Musk, who was the company's largest shareholder, owned 11.7% of PayPal's shares. If you’re an entrepreneur, you must know when to move on. Life of an entrepreneur is more or less like an experiment and adventures. Looking, searching, selling and moving on to the next big thing is part of the journey. Don’t be emotionally attached to your business. It’s a game after all.

Secret No. 4 Give Back, Make the World a Better Place 

Musk is chairman of the Musk Foundation, which focuses its philanthropic efforts on providing solar-power energy systems in disaster areas. In 2010, the Musk Foundation collaborated with SolarCity to donate a 25-kW solar power system to the South Bay Community Alliance's hurricane response center in Coden, Alabama. In July 2011, the Musk Foundation donated US$250,000 towards a solar power project in Sōma, Japan, a city that had been recently devastated by a tsunami. Making money can make you happy at the beginning of your wealth creation process. However, after you have more than enough, giving is the only thing that makes you happy. Aside this, giving is the secret of having. A part of you believes you’re rich, if you give. Even if you’re not rich yet, giving makes your mind believe that you are and then look for ways to be rich. 

Secret No. 5 Don’t Play Your Game Like Everyone 

In 2014, Musk announced that Tesla would allow its technology patents to be used by anyone in good faith in a bid to entice automobile manufacturers to speed up development of electric cars. "The unfortunate reality is electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn't burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales," Musk said Musk has favored building a sub-US$30,000 compact Tesla model and building and selling electric vehicle powertrain components so that other automakers can produce electric vehicles at affordable prices without having to develop the products in-house; this led to the Model 3 that is planned to have a base price of US$35,000. Several mainstream publications have compared him with Henry Ford for his work on advanced vehicle powertrains. Elon Musk’s unusual generosity could be liken to that of Henry Ford, the man who changed the existing industrial games by changing the world and making life better for his employees, unlike the earlier industrialists. 

Secret No. 6 Take Responsibility for the world’s problems. 

Elon Musk's goal is to reduce the cost of human spaceflight by a factor of 10. In a 2011 interview, Musk said he hopes to send humans to Mars' surface within 10–20 years. In Ashlee Vance's biography, Musk stated that he wants to establish a Mars colony by 2040, with a population of 80,000. Musk stated that, since Mars' atmosphere lacks oxygen, all transportation would have to be electric (electric cars, electric trains, Hyperloop, electric aircraft). Musk stated in June 2016 that the first unmanned flight of the larger Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT) spacecraft is aimed for departure to the red planet in 2022, to be followed by the first manned MCT Mars flight departing in 2024. People who take responsibilities are those who become successful. Your life’s mission should be to take responsibility for the betterment of the world around you. If you don’t do it, who will? 

Secret No. 7. Nobody will believe in you, until you do. 

Musk initially found it impossible to get funding for SpaceX, which investors saw as a pipe dream. Musk channeled all his own money into the company to make SpaceX a reality (going against every piece of business advice ever written). We’ve seen a lot of people trying to get other people to believe in their dreams, even though they themselves have not taken any significant risk to prove that they believe in themselves. Sorry, no one will believe in you, until you do. You want to start a business, an organization or a movement? Nobody will believe in you. Nobody will support your vision. Nobody will see what you’re seeing, until you can take the initial risks.