The Rich And The Poor Mindset
The rich and the poor don’t only differ in how much they have in their pocket, but also in how they think. The mindset of the rich is the most decisive reason why “the rich keep getting richer, while the poor get poorer.” For anyone to cross the line of poverty to wealth, you need to have a change of mindset.
How The Rich Thinks Vs. The Poor
The rich view the world from a different perspective compared to the poor. If you want to get rich, then you need to change your mindset and begin to see things from the perspective of the wealthy.
Here are some notable disparities in the line of thought of the rich and the poor.
Money As A Tool Vs. A Result
To the wealthy, money is a tool – a tool to earn more money. While to the poor, money is an end – a result of days of labor which should be enjoyed. Hence while the rich invest their money to make more money, the poor spend their income on food and clothes to feel good. In other words, while the rich works to get richer, the poor spend to look rich.
The wealthy work with budgets and projections. They adhere strictly to financial plans and save from their income to reinvest. The poor, on the other hand, don’t follow budgets. To them, it’s restrictive and wouldn’t allow you to enjoy your money.
Even when they can save part of their income, they still end up spending it all.
It’s essential to start seeing money as a tool to grow wealth.
The Rich Think About Their Money. The Poor Hardly Do
The secret of the wealthy is that they think about their money a lot. A rich man goes to bed thinking about their financial dealings and strategizing to make more money. They realize that thinking about their money improves their decision about it.
The poor, on the other hand, rarely think of their money. They only give it a thought when it’s time to pay bills every month.
To become rich, it’s essential to always think about your money. How you earn and spend it. It will help you identify leakages and opportunities to make more money.
Long-term vs. Short-term
One significant reason why many people aren’t rich isn’t that they don’t earn enough, but because their perception of becoming wealthy is faulty. Human nature is geared towards instant gratification, and it takes a change of mindset to seeing wealth as a long-term project for anyone to become rich.
This is what the rich know that the poor don’t. Bill gates founded Microsoft in 1975 and didn’t become rich and famous until several years later. The same goes for Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.
To become wealthy, you need to realize that wealth is built and not made. Building wealth is like building a house. You have to start from the foundation and grow it till you gain financial independence.
Your Salary Won’t Make Your Rich
What you earn doesn’t determine your financial status in life. Instead, it’s what you do with what you earn. A man earning $5,000 and another earning $20,000 can achieve the same goals. Earning more money will only make you achieve your goals faster.
The rich know this, which is why they focus on making more money. The rich don’t put their money in savings accounts; rather, they invest strategically to earn more.
Opportunities vs. Obstacles
Rich people focus on opportunities. They see an opportunity in every situation and work to explore it. The poor, however, focuses on obstacles; they see the negatives in every situation and how it’s not going to work. Someone with a poor mindset will always blame the government, and of course, the rich for taking all the money.
In business, the rich works to exploit opportunities even when they don’t have the expertise for it. They look for ways to educate themselves to be better prepared for the task.
The poor person, however, is always skeptical even with the right skills. They look at their competitors and say, “oh, how am I going to make it with these guys already here.” So they quit a fantastic idea and return to their dead-end job.
Always try to see the opportunity in every situation because there’s always one.
Facts vs. Feelings
Of a truth, our actions determine the successes we achieve in life. The rich act based on fact. They take time out to create goals, and perimeters to accomplish those goals. They work based on the outcome of a series of analyses and projections. A wealthy person wouldn’t just start a business or investment without analyzing its profitability.
The poor, on the other hand, act based on feelings. They start businesses and make investment decisions because they feel like it, or because someone else is earning from it.
Create and analyze your goals and analyze every opportunity before you invest in it.
Assets or Liability
Assets are things of value that you own. Typically assets include investments in shares, bonds, and other securities. Houses, businesses, and education are also considered assets. Liabilities, on the other hand, are those things that don’t add financial value to you, but instead cost you money. Examples are expensive clothes, shoes, travels, eating in fancy restaurants, and others.
The general perception is that the rich live extravagantly, but that’s not the true reflection of things. A look into the lifestyle of wealthy people like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Warren buffet shows that the rich live a moderate life. They spend their money investing to earn more money.
The poor, on the other hand, spend their money on frivolities. Their goal is to look rich while accumulating huge credit card bills and loans.
It’s essential to determine if an expense item is a necessity.
Is spending money on it necessary, and how will it benefit you? Been able to determine your wants from your needs is an essential step towards financial independence.
The Luck thought
Rich people don’t put all their hope on luck. They don’t go around fantasizing about making money or taking action with the hope that things may go their way. Instead, they analyze every situation and make decisions based on real figures and facts.
The poor, on the other hand, believes so much in luck. To someone with a poor mindset, every outcome is determined by fate. Some even believe everything is predetermined, and there’s nothing that can be done to change specific situations.
You need to realize that luck plays no role in the outcome of your endeavor, be it business, academics, and others. The result is determinant of the actions you take. When you put more effort into acquiring customers for your business, for example, the business will typically grow.
Conclusion
A poor mindset is an obstacle to growth. To attain financial freedom, it’s essential to start to view things from the perspective of the wealthy. I guarantee you that you will notice a definite change in your progression in life.
