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If you want to be the best, you have to learn from the best.

“Successful people look at other successful people as a means to motivate themselves,” writes T. Harv Eker in “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.” “They see other successful people as models to learn from. They say to themselves, ‘If they can do it, I can do it.'”

Business Insider asked several successful people about the smartest thing they ever did with their money.

If you want to start building wealth, take notes on what they had to say:

SEE ALSO: What 11 successful people wish they’d known about money in their 20s

I built up an emergency fund.

Alexa von Tobel, founder and CEO of LearnVest.com, author of “Financially Fearless:”

“I am forever grateful for having built up my emergency savings during my first job out of college, which allowed me to start LearnVest. Without that extra cash set aside, I wouldn’t have had the ability to take that crazy leap (in the heart of the recession) and help make financial advice accessible for Americans across the country.”

I paid myself first.

Tony Robbins, motivational speaker, author of the bestseller “MONEY: Master The Game“

“In a nutshell: Set aside a portion of my income to start to build my critical mass and committed to paying myself first.

“Explained further: One of the best pieces of advice that I received came from Ken Blanchard. I first met Ken when I was 24. At that time I was writing my very first book. It went on to land a spot on the New York Times Best Seller list, and I was gaining momentum and building my business.

“Like most people, I had already heard of George S. Clason’s 1926 classic, ‘The Richest Man In Babylon‘ the day that Ken pulled me aside for a talking-to. I was aware of a central concept in the book, the simple idea of paying yourself first — that is, taking 10% of your income and setting it aside to grow and protect you in the future. But Ken connected with me, and imparted a message at this critical time that I was coming into myself as a young businessman — he taught me something that many business owners don’t realize.

“He said:

Tony, any amount of money that you feed your business, it will eat. So in writing a book, you are doing something here that is outside of the business. You are doing something that is going to support the company hopefully by bringing in new fans of your work, who then maybe engage with your brand, and do business with your company.

Since the company is getting that benefit, make sure you take the profits of your book and set them aside, and never allow them into your company’s account. This is the most important career advice given to me by another man and I want to pass it on to you. Remember Tony: A business is always hungry.

“Decades have gone by since Ken Blanchard spoke those words to me. I now have over 20 companies and I’m actively involved in running a dozen of them. Throughout the years, those words never left me. In fact, they became the basis of financial independence as I know it.”

I invested in real estate.

Farnoosh Torabi, personal finance expert, bestselling author, host of the daily podcast, “So Money:”

“The smartest thing I ever did was purchasing real estate in New York City in 2004 and holding onto the apartment until 2014. The home price had appreciated close to 70%. I had a buyer in less than 24 hours on the market.”

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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