There are things chronically poor people and the middle class do…
…that the self-made rich seldom if ever do.
These are habits that — if embraced – can guarantee your own mediocrity.
Or, if you choose to change these habits, you’ll find that accumulating wealth becomes easier.
No doubt, you’ll see yourself somewhere in this list. Please don’t take offense.
These are simply to point out places in your own life where you might be able to make adjustments and improvements to better yourself and your chances for success.
1: Fitness
When you exercise, you get a huge range of health benefits that include more energy and better thinking.
Yet most poor people don’t get enough exercise, which might explain why they never have the energy to get out of their situation.
When someone says they don’t have time to exercise, the truth is they don’t have the time NOT to exercise.
Someone who is physically fit can often get more work done — physical or mental work — in far less time than it takes someone who is fatigued and whose brain isn’t working properly.
Make fitness a daily habit and you will save time and get more done with less effort.
2: TV
Poor people watch a lot of television, play video games and so forth.
These activities might be fun and relaxing, but they do nothing to increase your bottom line or make you more successful.
3: Sports
Poor people love their sports, and they spend time, money and emotional energy on ‘their team.’
But what is a professional team? It’s a corporate entity, no different than Coke and General Motors.
Would you scream at the TV to tell Coke to make more sales? Not likely.
Yet the poor have been brainwashed into thinking one particular corporate entity or another is ‘their tribe,’ fighting all the other corporate tribes, and must be watched and rooted for.
Your time might be better spent elsewhere.
4: Fast Food
Poor people eat more processed foods, junk foods and fast foods than the wealthy. You are what you eat, and if you’re eating high calorie junk, then your mind and your body are not operating at their highest level.
When you’re not healthy, all aspects of your life are directly affected.
It’s hard to be successful when you’re tired and suffering from brain fog.
5: Lousy Clothes
Poor people don’t pay as much attention to their wardrobe.
People want to do business with people who already look successful, and a big part of that is how you dress.
It’s better to buy one quality outfit that you look amazing in, than it is to purchase 5 low quality outfits that don’t make you look good at all.
This tip depends on your career and generally doesn’t apply to online marketers, with the exception of networking events and appearing on videos.
In those cases, look your best – even if others are wearing jeans and t-shirts – and you’ll stand out, get noticed and be taken seriously.
6: Help
This one is paradoxical. On the one hand, many poor people believe someone should help them to be successful, and so they wait around for that person to show up.
Of course, they never do.
But to be successful, you do need the help of others. Nothing great is ever achieved alone.
The key is to look for partners, not charity. Make your business plan, figure out what you’re good at, and then outsource the rest.
Or take on a partner who fills the gaps.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Just don’t expect it to come for free.
7: Friends
Poor people tend to hang out with other poor people.
Yes, they might be perfectly nice, but what do they talk about? Not having enough money, which perpetuates your own thinking that you will never have enough money, either.
In tennis it’s recommended that you always strive to play with a partner that is just a little bit better than you, so that your game improves every time you play.
It works the same way with the friends you surround yourself with.
Find friends who are doing better than you, and you’ll find their prosperity thinking and methods rubbing off on you.
8: Early Children
Poor people tend to have more children, and they tend to have them earlier in life.
It’s difficult to finish school, launch a career or start a business venture when you have small children.
But if you do these things before you have children, then you will have more time as well as money for your children, more success for your family, and less stress for you.
9: Poor Hygiene
We don’t know if you’ve thought about this, but studies show that poor people tend to shower less often than the wealthy.
If you think about it, do you want to be around and partner with someone who doesn’t care enough about themselves to even shower?
10: Finish
Everyone gets great ideas now and then, but the poor never follow through on those ideas.
If they did, odds are they wouldn’t be poor.
If you’ve got potential, put it to use. If you start something, finish it.
There is no good that will come from starting a business and abandoning it halfway through.
You decided it’s not the right business for you? Finish it up, get it in profit and sell it.
Then and only then do you move on to the next thing.
11: Wake Up
Poor people tend to sleep in more.
If you’re already rich, you can sleep as late as you like.
But during your wealth building years, it’s best to set a schedule that has you up and working as early as possible.
There is something about accomplishing a lot before 9am that sets the stage for a productive, successful day.
12: Blame Game
Poor people blame other people and circumstances for their misfortunes.
True, sometimes fate is out of your hands. But if a person takes responsibility for their life, then no matter what happens, they work to find a way up and out to be successful.
You are in charge of your life, your relationships, your health and your finances.
Life is not about what happens to us, but rather how we react to what happens to us.
When something bad happens to the rich, they look at it, study it, find out how to protect themselves from it in the future, and even how they can turn it around and profit from it.
13: Money Saved
Poor people tend to not save money.
Then when a crisis hits, they’re devastated.
If you want to be wealthy, the first step is to start spending less and saving more.
Now you have money for emergencies and to invest in things that appreciate; like stocks and your own business.
14: Credit Cards
Poor people use credit cards and loans to purchase things that don’t appreciate.
Here’s the rule: Use credit to buy things that generate more money than the cost of the loan.
For example, getting a loan to purchase real estate that you are confident will appreciate is a good move.
But taking out a loan to purchase a new car that depreciates the moment you drive off the lot is a bad move.
Save up enough money to buy a used car, and you won’t be paying interest or making payments.
15: Timely Maintenance
Poor people tend to put things off like going to the doctor, getting the car maintained, or fixing that old roof.
But by putting these things off, you wind up incurring a higher cost.
The cancer goes undetected longer, threatening your life and racking up huge medical bills.
What would have been a $100 maintenance issue on your car turns into a $1200 repair bill.
And that roof? Now it’s leaking and you’ve got water damage to contend with.
Set aside money for things like this, so you can take care of them on a regular basis rather than waiting until things get bad.
And there you have it — 15 things that might be making you poor. Which one are you going to change, starting today?