Successful investing requires research, patience, conviction, capital preservation, communication, good listening skills and much more. We will cover all of these attributes and approaches in detail. By the end of this article, you will be a better investor. That said, it's highly recommended that you refer back to this article on a regular basis. This way you will have better odds of retaining more information.

Let's begin with research. In order to be a successful investor, research is an absolute necessity. Many people say that hard work pays off. That's not always the case, but if you want to have any chance at being a successful investor, you must do your research. We'll look at the stock market as an example, which we will often do in this article since it's the most popular form of investing.

If you're going to invest in a stock, you need to put the time in before buying shares. You can't just listen to a friend, family member or someone on TV who is confident that they have a good tip. If a stock interests you for any reason, you need to check that stock's fundamentals. This is a tricky situation because in the short term, stocks are traded on psychology opposed to fundamentals. Therefore, if you're a trader, fundamentals aren't as important. In this case, you want to set stop losses and have an exit strategy for when to take profits. However, the best investors are long-term investors. In this situation, fundamentals are critical. While any stock can drop in price for a short period of time, if it has strong fundamentals, then you know it's only a matter of time before you make a profit.

Two great examples of stocks with strong fundamentals are Proctor & Gamble and Exxon Mobil. They both have tons of cash, very little debt, strong growth and they both pay solid dividends. These are the types of companies you want to own, especially if you're not just looking at your own gains, but future gains for your children. It's highly advised that you only put a small percentage of your money into speculative stocks. They might hit home runs once in a while, but they can also break you, which leads us to our next topic.

Capital preservation is critical. Think of your capital as bullets in a gun while trying to hit a target. If you have a lot of bullets, you're much more likely to hit that target. If you only have one bullet, the odds of hitting that target are slim. The point here is that you need as many bullets as possible in order to grow your wealth. If you take any unnecessary risks, you could be knocked out of the game. You will at least be crippled and this can take years to recover from. A good mindset that many top investors use is that it's better to miss an opportunity than it is to lose money. If you stick with this approach, you should be able to preserve capital and build your empire. Don't have the attitude that small gains won't do enough for you. Small gains compound on themselves. This is how the rich get richer.

Another key attribute to being a successful investor is patience, but let's combine that with conviction. For example, what if you knew the stock market was going to crash in 2008 and you knew it was going to happen one year earlier? You likely would have shorted the stock market. However, what if it was June of 2008 and the market hadn't crashed yet? It's likely that you would have doubted yourself, covered your short position and then watched the market crash only two months later to your disbelief and horror. This has been used as an example because it happened to many top investors. They knew what was coming, but they didn't have the conviction to stick to it. In order to be a top-tier investor, you need to have the attitude that it's better to have conviction and lose money than it is to give up hope and watch a great opportunity pass by. This doesn't mean you need to take big risks; it means you need to invest in what you believe in.

Another key factor when it comes to successful investing is talking to people you trust. You shouldn't listen to everything they say, but you need to figure out what businesses they know best and zero in on them. Ask as many questions as possible. People love to talk about their expertise, which means this can be a huge source of information for you. It's also important that you listen to the views of the best in the business whether it be on TV, the radio or online. That said, be careful. Most of the people on popular finance channels are always bullish and will not give a fair assessment of what it looks like on Main Street. You need to figure out how to read between the lines. If the top oil man in the business is predicting $150 per barrel within one year but he says he's only fear is deflation, this means deflation is likely to occur. It's the little fear statements they throw in-between the positive talk that speaks volumes.

Did you know that most millionaires failed several times before they succeeded? This has a lot to do with trial and error. Just like anything else in life, entrepreneurship requires a lot of figuring out. Experience trumps everything else and it's impossible to be experienced on your first attempt. If you're going to invest in your own business, remember that the best of the best always got back up. The key is to remember when to cut the cord on a certain venture if it has no potential. The best way to figure this out is to continuously cut what's not working and to add new features to the business to help it grow. Once you find successful features to your business, promote them heavily.

If you're into investing, you have likely heard the word "diversification" on many occasions. Being diversified is important 90% of the time. It keeps you out of danger and offers peace of mind. When you're diversified, the odds of going broke are close to zero. On the other hand, there have been many people who believed so much in a startup company, stock or real estate opportunity that they put everything they had into it. While capital preservation is imperative, conviction is of primary importance. If you truly believe in something, you have to go after it. The danger here is lying to yourself that you have a home run when it's really a strikeout. To find out the answer, don't ask friends and family. If it's a startup company, put it up for review so you can get as much unbiased feedback as possible. If it's a real estate opportunity, find the best real estate investor and contact him. If he won't talk to you for free, pay for his time. It will be a worthwhile investment. If it's a stock, you're on your own; you have to trust your research.

Now you have all the necessary information needed to be a great investor. The facts above are important, but always remember that attitude is everything. If you believe you will be rich and you keep at it without ever slowing down, it will eventually happen.