What's the difference between a rich mindset and a poor mindset?
The difference can be shockingly simple — though the way it manifests in our lives takes on many forms. Basically, it's the same as the difference between an abundance mindset versus a scarcity mindset.
Those with a rich mindset believe in abundance and therefore act as though plenty of resources will always be available.
Those with a poor mindset operate as though scarcity is the name of the game and always will be. The size of the pie is fixed.
Now, it's important to note that we're not talking about the difference between rich people and poor people. We're only talking about the differences between a rich and a poor mindset.
A rich person can have a poor mindset which can keep them from ever achieving their full potential of wealth; and a poor person can have a rich mindset which is a key component to building a path towards upward mobility and wealth.
Which mindset do you have? You might think you know — but some of the details about the differences between these two mindsets could surprise you.
Getting Deep Into the Rich Mindset
Here's how these differences might play out in your life. As you'll soon see, the comparisons go far beyond just money. And it bears repeating, this is the difference between rich mindset and poor mindset — not rich people versus poor people:
The rich mindset is resourceful. It's all about using money to do things that can lead you to making more money, whether that be education, starting a business, or even building for the next generation of a family.
The rich mindset does what it can to build momentum. Spending time and resources on investments and activities that will pay off over the long haul. The poor mindset, on the other hand, is more focused on the now and trades hours for dollars and believing using limited resources for the future is pointless.
The rich mindset believes in investments. And that doesn't mean just stocks. Whether it's investing in ways to grow money or grow intelligence and opportunities, the rich mindset puts time and money to work. The poor mindset isn't willing to put time or money into something that doesn't clearly net immediate gains.
The rich mindset believes in building relationships and growing others. The poor mindset, again focused on immediate returns, trades favors and can be competitive towards those who reach more success more quickly.
The rich mindset views money logically as a tool. And focuses on how to use that tool. The poor mindset views money emotionally as evil or unfair.
The rich mindset believes that there's always more to learn, embraces competition, and knows when to quit strategically. The poor mindset believes it already knows all there is to know, is discouraged by competition, and quits as a reaction to frustration.
It's in the numbers
Among wealthy people, 88 percent read 30 minutes or more every day
Wealthy people avoid overspending and save 20 percent of their net income.
Every year, 70 percent of the wealthy set and pursue at least one major goal.
The 5-to-1 ratio is right: You should listen to others five minutes for every one minute that you speak.
Another Way to Consider These Mindsets
For anyone who knows the work of psychologist and Stanford professor Carol Dweck, the difference between a rich and poor, or scarcity and abundance, mindset looks like another popular mindset comparison:
That of the fixed versus growth mindset.
Brainpickings shares Dweck's chart showing the difference between these two mindsets:
Notice a theme here?
Compare money to intelligence as something that's limited or growable, and you'll see that the fixed mindset is nearly the same as scarcity, while the growth mindset is nearly the same as abundance.
For the fixed mindset, or the scarcity mindset, money is finite.
If you manage to get it, you have to do whatever you can to hold onto it. But that can prevent you from taking on challenges or opportunities to grow, as they could be deemed to risky. The idea of losing whatever money you have isn't worth taking chances to grow it.
On the flip side, the growth mindset, or the abundance mindset, thinks there's plenty to go around and welcomes challenges with the understanding that they can rebuild anything they lost.
When you get a minute...
The Most Important Thing to Know About the Rich vs. Poor Mindset
Are you ready for this? Your mindset can be changed.
If you find yourself stuck in a poor mindset, you don't have to be stuck there forever. But you can't change anything until you free yourself from the emotional chains this mindset has put you in.
An article in the New York Times delves into controversial comments on poverty made in the past Ben Carson when he said poverty is a state of mind. In this article, the author quotes behavioral scientist Eldar Shafir on one of the most profound problems with sentiments like this one:
"… the mental toll of poverty can be worse in America than in other wealthy countries precisely because of views endorsed by leaders like Mr. Carson: 'That's part of the mind-set: When I'm poor here, I'm not just poor, I also failed somehow,' Mr. Shafir said."
Feelings of failure can quickly lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, just as a scarcity mindset does. If we feel that we've failed, we might struggle to find motivation to achieve success, because we assume we'll just fail again. And then we do — simply because we didn't try not to.
Want to break free from these chains? Practice believing that you can — keep saying to yourself until you mean it. Keep taking steps towards a higher goal even before you believe you'll get there. It will be hard. It will probably take longer than you want. And it might be a fake it until you make it feeling.
But you're much more likely to make it if you open that door. Otherwise, the scarcity mindset will slam the door to your dreams shut.
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