Many people think that life is very unfair. Here you are working hard, and yet your income is not even enough to buy you an ice cream. On the other side of the coin, you know someone who does not even shed a drop of sweat and yet lies in luxury. If you think that life has been so rude to you and you were only born to suffer your destiny, then you think as a poor man would think. But if you think that you are the master of your destiny and you are in total control of your life, then you have a rich man’s mentality.
Knowing the well-kept secrets of millionaires is the key to unlocking the door to success. In most cases, wealthy people will tell you that there is no exact formula to become well off in life. The secret lies in the attitude that facilitates the flow of wealth. The approach is about the psychological aspect of rich people.
In our present society, the gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider every day. The rich become richer while the poor become poorer. To help us understand the satirical situation, we need to go into the mentality of the rich and blessed people and compare it with the way of thinking of the poor and underprivileged people. Here are the ten distinct differences in the money mentality of the rich versus poor people. While reading the differences, try to assess your mindset and see where yours mostly belong.
But remember that by defining ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ I am not referring to an individual’s current bank account size, net worth, assets, and so on. But rather, I am referring to the state of mind. A human mind is so powerful it can create assets or even liabilities. If you have a mind conditioned to be poor, no matter what wealth you have today you can lose it all sooner or later. On the other hand, if you have the mind of a rich person, you can create your wealth from scratch or get it all back faster than it took you the first time, even if you lose it all today.
1. Rich People Believe that They Create their Destiny while Poor People Believe that they are Predestined
Destiny refers to the predetermined course of events in one’s life. The idea of destiny has a deep history, and divine intervention is the most popular belief. People trust that their lives depend on the will of a supernatural being. All of the actions are in vain if it does not coincide with the will of the divine.
✓ Destiny versus Action
Rich People
Rich people create an amazing life because they do not believe in predetermined fate. Instead, they believe that life is what they make it. If you repose all day and wait for the big fruit to fall into your mouth, nothing will move. Everything will stay in its place unless you move it. Like Newton’s Law of Motion, “Unless acted upon by a net external force, a body at rest remains at rest, and a body in motion remains in motion.” This scientific example is true even in real life, and rich people apply this theory in their lives. For rich people, they believe they are responsible for their own life. They create their destiny and not the economy, luck, or knowledge.
Poor People
Poor people, on the other hand, believe that they are the slaves of their destiny. Whatever they do, adversaries come no matter how they elude them.
✓ In-Control versus Out-of-Control
Poor People
Poor people believe they live an unruly life. Their existence is very uncontrollable. When they act, the results are always unmanageable. When they fail in their endeavors, they blame the economy, the boss, their family, and others who did not go accordingly.
Rich People
Rich people think otherwise. Life is a series of plans. With the right planning and appropriate actions, the results are favorable. They take full accountability for all their actions.
Conclusion:
When you keep on thinking that life only happens to you, you will eventually lose the power to change things and control your life. A rich man takes responsibility for the circumstances he created while a poor man feels like a victim of the world. If you want to attain financial abundance, think as a rich man would do. Believe that you create your future and not other people or events.
2. Rich people focus on opportunities while poor people focus on problems
Opportunities come in both direct and indirect ways. Problems mask the changes that come. When you look at things superficially, you only see the façade and fail to appreciate the blessing under.
✓ Opportunities versus Obstacles
Poor People
The difference between rich people and poor people is the attitude towards a problem. When faced with a problem, a poor man sees it as an obstacle to his easy life. He detests difficulties and sees them as a hindrance to his laid-back life. The more problems he faces, the more he views his life as complicated.
Rich People
Rich people see the problem as a door for new opportunities. They focus on the solution rather than dawdle in despair. With every obstacle,
they treat things positively and look beyond what is obvious. Rich people concentrate on finding solutions to their crises. They elucidate things to see things from a better perspective.
✓ Action versus Complain
Poor People
Poor people keep on complaining about the obstacles. They squander time whining about the circumstances in their life. At the end of the day, their grumble intensifies since they have not done anything to solve the issue.
Rich People
Rich people act on their problems. They may moan a little, but they work to unravel the misery. The more problems they solve, the better their feeling.
Conclusion
Problems and failures are part of your molding process to become tough and be a better person. With problems, you learn from your mistakes and do better when the next one comes. When you face an opportunity, you come up with creative solutions. Avoid the poor man’s action of sitting down and staying cranky about it.
3. Rich people have big dreams while poor people dream small
Dreaming is the motivation for success. When a person dreams, he exerts effort to attain his dreams — both rich and poor people dream. The difference is the size of their dream. When you have small dreams, you work less whereas big dreamers work harder to achieve their vision.
✓ Big versus Small
Poor People
Poor people have little dreams. They often dream to eat three times a day, having a small house to live in, and getting a job with good pay. These are all the dreams of a poor man. Because any casual employee can easily achieve these, many poor people feel they do not need to exert any more effort. Anyway, why work harder? They have achieved their dream after all.
Rich People
For rich people, to achieve big things, you have to dream big. Wealthy men stick to this principle. They do not dream to eat three times a day; they dream to eat more than that in luxury. They do not dream of a small house; they dream of a comfortable house for their family plus a rest house during their vacations. They do not dream
of a job with good pay. Instead, they create jobs.
✓ Aspirant versus Contentment
Poor People
Poor people get contented with what they have. They do not aspire for more. They believe that the desire for more things means to complicate your life. When poor people achieve their small dreams, they start to live shoddy life.
Rich People
Rich people aspire for more. They believe that their abilities can bring them to places. Because they have big dreams, they work hard to turn aspirations into reality.
Conclusion
You cannot achieve bigger things if you only have small dreams. When you dream, dream big, anyway, there is nothing to lose in dreaming.
4. Rich people commit to their dreams while poor people sleep dreaming their dreams
It is a fact that dreams are the initial step to success. But it does not end there. For dreams to come true, you have to work for them.
✓ Commitment versus Dreaming
Poor People
Poor people love to dream even when the sun is all up. They stay in a dreamy mood even when it is time to work. They keep on dreaming that things will just happen in a snap. They keep on thinking how good it is to live in opulence but never do anything to experience it.
Rich People
Rich people work hard on their dreams. They commit each day of their lives to reach their goals. They pile up their efforts to assemble their dream life.
Conclusion
Dreaming big does not make you rich. You need to work hard when you set your goals. Small steps every day are better than just waiting for time to pass without action. At the end of the day, the small deeds can accumulate and lead you to the stairs of success.
5. Rich people play to win while poor people play only not to lose money
The big mindset difference is the purpose of playing the game. Life is a gamble. Every decision is a risk. There is no certainty in this world.
✓ Risk-taker versus Playing Safe
Poor People
Poor people play the game of life only just to prevent losing. They are too careful to invest and make sure that things turn out the way they want. When in doubt, they never make a decision. They always stay on the safe side. They stay attached to the stigma of failure and are too afraid of making mistakes.
Rich People
For rich people, life is about taking risks. Because they exactly know what they want, they invest to win. For them losing is never an option, they study and analyze how things work and invest once they get to know the flow of things.
Conclusion
Only those who are willing to take the risk to achieve financial stability and abundance. The bigger the risk that you take, the bigger is your reward. However, even rich people do not jump to risks without preparation. When you are to take a risk, be sure that your preparation is enough to ensure winning. Be armed when you gamble with life.
6. Rich people network with the rich and successful people while the poor people network with poor people.
The people around you have an indirect effect on our ways of thinking. Try to associate with pessimist people, and you will be a pessimist eventually. However, when you go to a company of jovial individuals, you absorb their cheerfulness.
✓ Receptivity versus hostility
Poor people
Poor people are hostile to rich people. They think that their lifestyle is not tolerable. Instead, they associate with people with the same income as theirs. They spend time wondering how rich people become richer and envy the luck they have.
Rich People
Rich people are receptive to new ideas and new people. They spend time with people who can help them achieve their dreams. They join people earning six digits or more. They analyze how these wealthy people become richer and imbibe their ways and thinking.
Conclusion
Poor people think that your wealth depends on your family origin. You are rich if only you belong to a family of rich. Rich people think otherwise. They go with people who can help them. They talk to financially successful people taking notes of their secrets to prosperity. With the right associations, you can become rich even when you come from a poor family.
7. Rich people are good learners while poor people think they know everything.
Life is about learning. When you declare that, you know everything, learning stops. However, when you admit you still need more knowledge, you will yearn to learn more.
✓ Open-mindedness versus Close-mindedness
Poor People
Poor people believe that they know everything. They know how life works and how to live well. Their beliefs make them close their minds to new ideas. If you are not willing to learn, you will never know why rich people become richer and why remain poor despite all your efforts.
Rich People
Rich people admit that they still need to learn. When you give room for improvement and new ideas, you open your mind to possibilities. One of the easiest ways to financial abundance is to learn from people who achieved the status.
Conclusion:
The key to financial success is to accept your shortcomings and learn from people. To be the best, you need to learn from the best and learn to be the best. Only when you open up for learning can you live a life of abundance.
8. Rich People are Leaders while People are Followers
Most financially successful people lead the way. Being a leader, you are in front of the actions. Because of the courage needed to be a leader, only those with strong personalities become managers.
✓ Leaders versus Followers
Poor People
Poor people have a herd mentality. They like to follow where the water flows. Instead of taking the lead, they are happy to let others think. They do not want to take responsibility for their decisions. When somebody asks for their opinion, they pass it to others so as not to take the blame for failures later on.
Rich People
Rich people take the initiative. They decide for themselves and take full responsibility for their decisions. They can work independently.
Conclusion
Rich people are leaders and leaders are rich people. This idea comes because of the independent attitude of leaders and rich people. Even in an ordinary office setting, the leaders are often responsible for the whole group. They may have bigger responsibilities, but they get higher pays too.
9. Rich people focus on saving while poor people concentrate on spending.
No matter how small or big your earning is, saving is a crucial part of becoming rich. If you try to save even ten dollars a day, that means 3,650 dollars a year and 36, 500 in ten years. Well, that is even less the interest you get from the bank. Even if you earn 100,000 dollars a month, but you also spend the whole amount, you will never get rich until your death.
✓ Saving versus Spending
Poor People
Poor people usually spend more than what they earn. They do not believe in the value of savings. They earn 100 dollars and spend 110 dollars. In time, the excess expenditure piles up, and before they know it, they are drowning in debt. Rich People Rich people stay on a monthly and even daily budget. They spend only within their declared budget. They save a portion of their earnings in the bank to earn further interest.
✓ Debit Card versus Credit Card
Poor People
Poor people rely on credit cards. They cannot live without them. They dine out, shop, and indulge in vacations using their plastic cards. Because they do not see the expenses and their cash remains intact, they feel that they are in complete control of their finances. Only to find out later on that everything is getting out of control.
Rich People
Rich people do not purchase with credit cards. If they do not have cash, they use debit cards. They believe in the saying, “if you cannot afford it cash, you really cannot afford it.”
✓ Cautious versus Impulsive
Poor People
Poor people are impulsive buyers. They buy anything on sale and anything discounted. Even if they do not need the items, they keep on buying thinking that they can save from the discounts.
Rich People
Rich people think about the product many times before purchasing. They consider the affordability, quality, and usefulness of the item. When the item fails one of the criteria, they think about it repeatedly before finally deciding.
Conclusion
Earning money is hard. Because of the difficulty earning it, think twice or even thrice before you let go of your hard-earned income. No one knows the future; it is, therefore, important to save to ensure that you have something in case of drought.
10. Rich people have their money work hard for them while poor people work hard for their money.
Everybody works hard. The way to let your money work for you is to know where to invest it. If you know where to put your investments, then you will make your money work hard for you.
✓ Successful Investment versus Futile Investment
Poor People
Poor people keep on looking for money to come along. They keep on working and working to earn. They spend beyond their means and resort to loans that accumulate interest.
Rich People
Rich people know where to invest their money. Instead of the banks charging them for credit card interest, they collect the interest of their savings. They experience a restful life while their money is working for them.
Conclusion
To stop working hard for your money as poor people do, live within your means, and save up. Let your money do the work and enjoy life.
Summary
You cannot blame anyone born in a poor family. Maybe you can call that destiny. But to die still as poor as the rats, you blame only yourself. On average, a man lives for 70 years. The approximately 25,550 days of your life is enough to make you rich. If you waste your days, destiny should not be the reason why you remained poor for the rest of your life.
The secret of millionaires is easy. They take each day as a new beginning to face the challenges that will help them achieve their big dreams. Complaining is a total waste of time. Instead of comparing yourself with others, they work on their own lives. They take the initiative rather than merely following. They are confident of their knowledge and skills and do not fear to take risks.
Despite the destitute situation around us, money is in abundance. You can see money everywhere. It is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. To take advantage of prosperity, be at the right place at the right time. Act. Find the opportunities to become rich.
Where can you classify yourself? Do you possess the mentality to become rich or do negativities dominate your mind? Getting rich is very simple. All you need is the right attitude, mentality, and action. With these characteristics, embarking on the long and winding road to wealth is only a step away. Adapt the mentality of the rich and be rich; and otherwise, stay poor with the habits and mindset of the poor.
Yes, sure, but one bad lawsuit will bankrupt you.