It's not just bank account balances that separate the rich from the middle class. The wealthiest, most successful people tend to think differently.
"Getting rich
begins with the way you think and what you believe about making money,"
writes self-made millionaire Steve Siebold in "
How Rich People Think," which he wrote after studying millionaires for over 25 years.
After hundreds of
interviews, Siebold discovered that "it wasn't the lack of desire that
held the masses back from getting wealthy, but the lack of belief in
their own ability to make it happen."
Here are six mental tricks that rich people use to get ahead.
They tell themselves there's no shortage of money, even when they don't have enough.
Rich people aren't afraid to fund their future from other people's pockets.
If they come up with a great idea
they're unable to finance, they "proceed to use other people's money to
make it happen," Siebold writes.
"Rich people know not being solvent enough to personally afford something is not relevant. The
real question is, 'Is this worth buying, investing in, or pursuing?' If
so, the wealthy know money is always available because rich people are
always looking for great investments and superior performers to make
those investments profitable."
They set their expectations unreasonably high.
While the middle class sets their
financial expectations low so they're never disappointed, the rich set
their expectations exceptionally high — they're up for any challenge, Siebold says.
"No one would ever
strike it rich and live their dreams without huge expectations," he
writes. "Ancient wisdom says you get what you expect, yet many people
decide to limit their lives to middle-class mediocrity in an effort to
protect themselves from failure."
Once they set
ambitious goals, they immediately start looking for ways to tackle them:
"Champions don't wait for things to happen, they make things happen."
They think of making money as a game.
Rich people think of business, life, and earning as a game — and "it's a game they love to win," writes Siebold.
"This is
the reason millionaires still go to work every day chasing their next
success. Money to these people is no more than a gauge that tells them
when they have achieved their latest target."
Plus, the excitement of "playing the game" pushes them to continually raise their level of expectation, Siebold explains. "The more excited they get, the harder they work and the more they succeed."
They personify money and see it as a friend.
Rich people consider money "one of their greatest allies and friends," writes Siebold.
"It is a friend that has the power to end sleepless nights of worry, physical pain, and can even save their life."
While wealthy people believe money can solve problems and purchase
peace of mind, the middle class "sees money as a never-ending necessary
evil that must be endured as part of life," he says.
"The great ones are operating at a
level of consciousness where fear doesn't exist," Siebold explains. "At
this level of thought, anything seems possible. Every dream that seems
crazy to the masses looks surprisingly doable."
To operate
at this level, you have to be willing to leave your comfort zone, which
is exactly what the richest people do, Siebold says. "World class
thinkers learn early on that becoming a millionaire isn't easy and the
need for comfort can be devastating. They learn to be comfortable while
operating in a state of ongoing uncertainty."
They tell themselves that getting rich is natural.
The rich believe that "success,
fulfillment and happiness are the natural order of existence," Siebold
writes. "This single belief drives the great ones to behave in ways that
virtually guarantee their success."
On the flip side, the middle class struggles because they
expect to,
the self-made millionaire explains. "The masses think they aren't
worthy of great wealth. Who am I, they ask themselves, to become a
millionaire?"
Try asking,
Why not me? After all, that's what the wealthiest people do.
