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Rich thinking.

4. Don’t quit. Persistence.
5. Being open to new ideas and new ways of doing things.
6. Offer Opinions Backed by Facts.
7. Give First – You get what you give.

In order to get you must give. You must give value to others either in the form of service or through some product.

Giving comes first. It was no surprise that 79% of the rich in the study volunteered for charities or non-profit groups. They made a habit out of giving their time, money and expertise.

Volunteering with other successful people to build a network.

If you look at the data on the rich, 72% of the rich volunteered five hours or more a month.

Volunteering puts you in touch with many successful people. Most of the charities and non-profits are run by successful individuals. What better way to build relationships with successful people than volunteering. Successful people have many contacts with other successful people. They can open doors to help you start a business, find working capital, get your kid into a great college and do many other things to help you and your family.

5. Become an expert at something(in some niche).

The rich in the study were experts in some niche. This expertise was gained through self-education and the school of hard knocks in a specific area. They were by no means a jack of all trades.

6. Be Patient.

Eighty percent of the rich in the study did not become rich until age 50. Fifty-two percent did not become rich until age 56. It takes a long time to create wealth.

7. Save 20% of your income, then invest intelligently.

Ninety-four percent of the rich saved 20% or more of their income. They began saving long before they became rich. They used their savings to make more money by taking certain calculated risks.

8. Live Beyond Their Means.

Most of the self-made millionaires in the study came from poor or middle-class backgrounds. Somehow they were able to overcome adversity in life. One way they did this was they got into the habit of saving money. They were blessed, in a sense, because they had parents who taught them to save 20% of their income when they were very young.

9. Take Calculated Risks – Invest with intelligence. Don’t gamble.

The millionaires took risks with their savings when opportunities came up. Fifty-one percent invested their savings to start or invest in private businesses that they controlled.

Ninety-four percent of the rich don’t gamble because gambling is requires random good luck. The rich rely on a different type of good luck – opportunity luck. This is a type of luck they create through their habits, hard work and by pursuing their dreams and goals.

10. Stay healthy. Good Eating, Do Exercise.

You can’t Get Rich if You’re Unhealthy – “You can’t make money from a hospital bed.” That’s what one millionaire told me during my research.

The rich exercise every day, they moderate their consumption of junk food, they avoid fast food restaurants, they don’t drink alcohol, they floss every day and most don’t smoke cigarettes. Dont use drugs. Consequently, 82% of the rich had no health issues. Zero.

11. Be generous.

Don’t Be Cheap – The rich are generous with their time and money. Because they operate from an abundance mindset they are not afraid to donate their time and money.

12. Be frugal.

There is a difference between being cheap and being frugal. Many of the rich in the study were frugal with their money but were still generous to others.

13. No Excuses. A message to García. Internal locus of control.

The rich believe they are the architects of their lives. They don’t give excuses, they don’t rationalize failures and they don’t blame anyone but themselves for their circumstances in life. They take individual responsibility for their lives.

The rich in the study, on the other hand, blamed themselves for anything that went wrong in their lives. Not Wall Street, not the government, not the politicians. Themselves!

 

14. Don’t Gossip.

Most gossip is negative. It damages relationships and keeps doors closed. The rich make a habit of not saying anything behind the backs of others. If they have a problem with someone they go to that person to remove the problem.

15. They motivate others.

Encourage Others – Rich, successful people are great cheerleaders. They encourage other success-minded people who are pursuing a dream or some purpose in life. Their own success makes them understand that all things are possible in life.

16. Have a Defined Purpose in Life and never, never, never quit.

80% of the self-made millionaires pursued some major purpose in life. This was some dream or vision they were chasing. They built goals around their dreams and never quit. Many said that they would never quit on their dream even if it meant bankruptcy or divorce. 27% percent actually failed at least once in pursuing their dream. But they did not quit. They regrouped, got back up and went at it again. Having a main purpose in life, I discovered, creates persistence. Persistence, I found, eventually results in good luck. Good luck usually pays dividends in the form of wealth.

18. Create Multiple Streams of Income.

65% of the millionaires in the study had at least three streams of income. This creates a hedge against failure and poverty. When one stream suffers, the others come to the rescue.

17. Be Optimistic and Enthusiastic About Life.

71% percent of the self-made millionaires in the study were optimistic about life. They believed in themselves. They enthusiastically pursued their dreams and goals. Their optimism infected everyone around them. They became magnets for other success-minded people.

18. Control Your Thoughts and Emotions.

81% percent of the rich made a habit of controlling their thoughts and emotions. Not every thought needs to come out of your mouth and not every emotion needs to be expressed. Doing so damages relationships; relationships that could otherwise open important doors for you and members of your family.

19. The rich build teams.

You Can’t Succeed on Your Own. They find apostles for their cause – individuals devoted to them and who share their vision and purpose. Their team players benefited financially from their success. You need the cooperation of others to help you succeed in life. The rich are good at forming teams of people who cooperate together, focused on pursuing a singular dream or purpose. No one does it on their own.

20. Be wise and learn from your mistakes.

Mistakes Have Value – Mistakes are the byproduct of taking calculated risks. The rich see mistakes as nothing other than learning experiences. Mistakes teach you what not to do. They learn from their mistakes and they don’t repeat them.

21. Fear Nothing.

The rich have made a habit of overcoming their fears. They are not superstitious and believe they can overcome any obstacle that is put in their way.

Seventy-one percent of the self-made millionaires in the study said yes to this question and that optimism was critical to their success. What a world of difference between these two groups in terms of thinking.

23. Rich people read.
24. Rich people are open minded.
25. Focus, they complete what they start.
26. Can-Do ideology.

Wealth does not just happen. It takes a lot of time to become rich. But you will never have a chance if you don’t change your ideology from a Can’t-Do to a Can-Do ideology. Everyone has unlimited potential. We are all geniuses at some level. That’s the beauty of being human. We all have the capacity for greatness.

 

Poor thinking.

It was sad to see so many poor individuals in the study who had just given up on life. Their mindsets were so polluted by their upbringing that they could not get out of their own way. I uncovered certain attributes that the poor in the study possessed and which were responsible for forging a life of want and unhappiness. Here they are:

1. Can’t-Do Ideology
2. Lack of Purpose.

The poor had nothing they were pursuing in life. No purpose, no dream, no goals. I should qualify that last sentence. They had dreams but they were not taking any action on their dreams. As a result they felt stuck. Only 3% of the poor in the study were pursuing some dream.

3. Live Above Their Means.

The poor in the study were not so lucky. They were never taught by their parents, and never learned in life, the importance of saving money. Ninety-five percent saved less than 10% of their income. Many not only didn’t save, they went into credit card debt just to meet their living expenses. Eighty-eight percent had more than $5,000 in credit card debt.

Another attribute of the poor that really dragged me down was how negative and pessimistic they were. I asked them if they thought optimism was important in life and 78% said no.

5. Negative Emotions Not Controlled.

The poor had no control over their emotions. Anger, sadness, worry, fear, unhappiness and mistrust ran rampant in this poor group. They made a habit of expressing every emotion to whoever was in earshot. Anger is perhaps the most costly emotion. Almost half of the poor in the study admitted to getting angry regularly and I believe this was causing them some relationship problems. Who wants to do business with someone who is always pissed off at something? Who wants to do business with someone who is sad or depressed all the time? Who wants to do business with someone who doesn’t trust you?

6. They Have an Opinion About Everything and Everyone.

The poor are not afraid to express their opinions, I found. The problem is that, because they don’t read (98% don’t read to learn), they are expressing opinions not based on facts. And when they expressed opinions about others, often it was very negative. “Rich people cause poverty.” “Our politicians don’t do enough for the poor.” “My parents were drunks.” “My kids are lazy.” I heard it all. Ironically, they had a lot to say about the government and politicians not doing enough to get them out of poverty. I say ironically because many were on unemployment, welfare, receiving Social Security disability benefits or just plain old Social Security benefits.

7. The poor do not learn from their mistakes.

Repeat Mistakes –They were too closed minded to listen to others or were simply not aware of the bad habits they had that were dragging them down. Mistakes repeated become habits. Habits are hard to change if you’re not aware of them.

8. Closed-Minded.

I think this was perhaps one of the worst attributes of the poor in the study. They just did not want to listen to anyone’s opinion that differed from theirs. As a result there was no way they could learn from others. This keeps you stuck in life. You can’t grow as an individual if you’re closed-minded.

9. Me First.

The poor want things given to them first before they reciprocate. This me first attribute gets you nowhere in life. It’s an entitlement attitude that keeps you down. The rich gave first and did not expect anything in return. What a difference in attitudes.

10. Jack of All Trades.

Being a jack of all trades really comes in handy when you live in the wilderness but gets you nowhere in today’s society. The poor are average at many things because they can’t afford to pay someone to do it for them. But this is mindset that begins in childhood and carries over into adulthood. When it comes to your career, this mindset is destructive. When you and a million others can do something, what value do you really have? The rich focus on becoming experts in one thing, one niche, and as a result they are of more value to society and can command more money.

11. Bright Shiny Object Syndrome.

The poor never complete what they start. I call it bright shiny object syndrome because they are constantly moving from one thing to the next. Ninety-one percent were not focused on any single goal. Ninety-four percent admitted to not setting any goals at all. Unlike the rich, they just don’t stay focused on seeing one thing through to its conclusion. They don’t persist. They move on when the going gets tough. That’s too bad because I found from the study that it is those hurdles and obstacles that force individuals to discover their true genius and creativity. When your back is pushed against the wall, that is when you have breakthroughs and grow as an individual. Desperate times result in discovery. We only uncover our true potential when our backs are against the wall and we are forced to overcome insurmountable obstacles in life.

12. Unsuccessful people quit when the going gets tough.

That’s why they never succeed at anything. At the heart of this syndrome is lack of confidence and belief in yourself.

13. Unhealthy Lifestyle.

I always get into a lot of trouble when I say the poor don’t eat healthy. The enablers of the poor, and there are many out there, always argue that the poor can’t afford healthy food. There are simply too many articles and studies out there that destroy this argument. As an example, here’s just one:http://greatist.com/health/44-healthy-foods-under-1 If you want to eat healthy you can, at least in America. Worse than poor eating is a lack of exercise. Seventy-seven percent of the poor do not engage in regular cardio exercise. Poor eating and lack of exercise is why we have an obesity and type II diabetes epidemic in America. As that rich person said in the study, “you can’t make money from a hospital bed.”

14. Most of the poor in the study were cheap with their time and money.

Cheap. Because of their scarcity mindset they were more interested in what they could get from others than what they could give to others. As a result, when things go wrong in life, as they often do, they’re on their own. The government is their only salvation. If you don’t have money, give your time. But the poor didn’t do this. Only 12% volunteered five or more hours a month. The poor were never taught this Rich Habit by their parents, so they don’t engage in this volunteering activity.

15. Gamble Too Much.

Seventy-seven percent of the poor in the study gambled every week on the lottery. They are relying on random good luck to bail them out in life rather than the opportunity luck that the rich rely on. Gambling involves risk you have no control over. The rich rely on calculated risk. They take risks they have some measure of control over.

16. Gossip About Others.

Seventy-nine percent of the poor gossip about others. Since most gossip is negative, this is a very bad idea. Gossip is talking about others behind their back. What you say almost always gets back to the other person. It damages your relationships, as a result. Many of these relationships could help open doors to you and your family, or bail you out in a time of need. Who wants to help anyone who bad mouth’s them behind their back?

17. Work Hard Not Thinking.

The poor go to great lengths to not think. Seventy-seven percent watch more than an hour of TV a day. Seventy-four percent spend more than an hour a day on the Internet. Ninety-eight percent don’t read every day because their time is occupied with TV, the Internet or other time wasters.

If you want to break free of poverty you have to change the ideology you were raised with. You have to embrace the Can-Do ideology.

 

The circumstances you were raised in have nothing to do with your current poverty. If 177 individuals can go from poor or middle-class to wealthy, so can you!