What unique qualities and habits have made Elon Musk – the richest man in the world and a man passionate about innovation – what he is today?

Elon Reeve Musk (born June 28, 1971) is a global businessman and investor. He is the founder, chairman, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, angel investor, CEO, product architect and former chairman of Tesla, Inc, owner, chairman and CTO of X Corp, who founder of Boring Company and xAI, co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI and chairman of the Musk Foundation.

According to the 2023 Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk is the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $232 billion and $254 billion according to Forbes.

Passionate about reading and learning

Elon Musk at 3 years old.

Musk is known by many as a bookworm, similar to Warren Buffett – who reads 500 pages a day. Musk’s love for books is crazy.

Ever since he was in elementary school, Musk has been immersed in books every day, reading for 10 hours at a time. At that time, he was like a sponge eager to absorb knowledge, eager to read the Encyclopedia Britannica and various books in the library.

Musk’s passion for knowledge and learning is so strong that he can complete a basic language course in just 3 days, while it takes others 6 months to be able to read a book written in another language.

Own thoughts and paths

Never following the crowd, Musk always pursues what he truly loves. He can devote himself to his studies without external motivation. This spirit of self-control makes him a true study addict.

As early as the age of 12, Musk used his programming skills to develop the video game Blastar and successfully sold it to Office Technology, making his first big bucks.

However, Musk was never satisfied with what he had and continued to expand his field of knowledge, pursuing majors in physics and economics. Later, after completing college, Musk interned and worked at many companies in many different fields, accumulating rich practical experience.

Elon Musk is successful thanks to his own way of thinking.

Elon Musk has always emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary learning and believes that only by integrating knowledge from different fields can true innovation and invention be created.

Therefore, he encourages young people to have the courage to try new things, not be limited by major or field, and cultivate basic knowledge in as many different fields as possible. More importantly, boldly think of ways to combine this knowledge to create something unique and valuable.

Optimistic

Optimism and enthusiasm are among Musk’s sources of creativity. Even though he experienced domestic violence as a child, he never gave up his love of life and vision for the future.

“As long as you wake up in the morning and feel like things will get better in the future, then that day is worth looking forward to and making efforts for,” Musk said.

Elon Musk is always optimistic and wants to try new things.

For Musk, every project he undertakes is not only for commercial benefit but also to realize his dreams and future pursuits. He truly believes that what he is doing is deeply meaningful and is making a positive impact on the world. Therefore, he is always confident to devote himself to every project, hoping they will achieve better results.

In the SpaceX office, Musk even hung two giant posters to show his vision and expectations for future settlement on Mars. This spirit of optimism and enthusiasm not only inspires him to keep moving forward but also spreads to those around him.

Don’t be afraid of failure

Musk has a unique perspective: Failure actually depends on how you choose. Many people have said his ideas are simply “illusory and doomed to fail”. Musk doesn’t care about these doubts, just focusing on doing what he thinks is right.

Of course, he wasn’t always successful. But it must be said that he won many times, each time impressing everyone, investors and customers alike.

Musk feels failure is not so terrible. He said: “If you don’t stumble a few times, your creativity is definitely not that good.”

Most people hide when possible and don’t dare to take risks. But Musk knows that opportunities for innovation often come with risks. Therefore, he is not afraid of failure and dares to try every time.

Concentrate

Elon Musk always pursues his own interests and has very clear goals

Musk always knows what he wants, so he dares to give up what people consider dreams to pursue his dream. At the time he was accepted into the doctoral program at Stanford University, Musk dropped out after only two days of class because he felt that what was taught in school was not what he really wanted.

If ordinary people were lucky enough to be accepted into Stanford University’s PhD program, they would probably be very happy. But Musk knows what his goal is. When he realized he had mastered the course knowledge, he felt he should use this knowledge to innovate instead of continuing to waste time in school.

Musk always pursues his own interests and has very clear goals. Furthermore, he also has strong curiosity, always optimistic spirit and never afraid of failure. These qualities contribute to the Musk we see today.