By Saleem Rana
What makes people wealthy? How have they attained such mastery of their craft? What makes them exhibit such flawless excellence?
Yes, it’s their knowledge and experience, but that is the effect. What is the cause that started them thinking powerfully in the first place?
Simply, it’s the way they think. It’s their mindset.
Today I want to talk about the mindset between the rich and the poor.
You see, the poor work for money. The rich make money work for them. Literally translated, the poor work to gain money in exchange for their services, to pay for bills and all the other expenses. The rich use money to earn money by investing and/or going into business. They employ the services of other people so they do not necessarily have to be physically present to maintain their business. This gives them more free time to engage in other moneymaking ventures. In the case of Internet Marketing, automation replaces labor.
The poor think that the love of money is the root of all evil and that is why they choose to remain poor. The rich think that the lack of money is the root of all evil. They look at the places where crime is rampant, and what they see is a lack of money.
The rich and the poor view the world in diametrically opposite ways!
Say for example, two persons are looking at a yacht, admiring it. The person who chooses to remain poor would say: “I can’t afford to buy a yacht.” The person who chooses to find ways to create wealth would say: “What can I do to own a yacht?” The thinking process of the poor on how to make money is automatically shut down. The rich think about how they can make money, so that they can afford to buy whatever they desire.
The poor advise their children to study hard so that the children can find a good company to work for when schooling is finished. The rich advise their children to study hard so that their children can build a good company or find a good company to buy.
The excuse of the poor is that they are supporting their families, so expenses are high. The motivation of the rich is that they are supporting their families and need to earn more.
A lot of people cringe when it comes to taking risk about money especially the poor. The rich will find ways to control and manage this risk.
On the issue of reaching retirement age, the poor depend on a company or the government taking care of their needs or pension. The rich prefer financial self-reliance.
The poor can afford to save a few dollars. The rich can afford to make investments to increase their wealth.
The poor compose impressive resumes to find good jobs. The rich come up with dynamic business plans to create jobs for others.
The poor say that money does not interest them. The rich find ways to use money to make life more interesting.
We can see that there are lots of differences in thinking attitudes between the poor and the rich. Often times, the directions of thought are opposite each other. How the mind works determines the person. It is unfortunate though that more people choose the easier way to think, which is why the higher percentage of people are in the poor and middle class. But there is always the chance to improve as long as you are willing.
Let me emphasize though that a willing mind to improve oneself, to elevate oneself from being poor to being wealthy, is not enough and will not materialize if it is not coupled with action, the final and most important determinant to turn a poor person into a rich one. Not just any action but intelligent, decisive, fearless action.
Saleem Rana is a psychotherapist in