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Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Let’s talk business.
Jul 21
What Rich People Do That Poor People Don’t
Back in 2004, a single mother on welfare by the name of Candy Adams won a cool $10.5 million from the Ontario lottery & Gaming Corp.
After becoming a millionaire literally over night, she started blowing her money on designer clothes, luxury cars, big houses, crazy parties and expensive vacations.
A decade after winning big, she had spent it all, every last penny… and she was back to living in a rented house and riding the city bus to her part-time job.
Candy’s story teaches us that wealth is not about money, but about mindset.
A rich-minded individual with only $100 to his/her name is much better off than a poor-minded individual with $1 million to his/her name.
If you don’t remember anything else from the rest of this article, please remember this — building wealth has nothing to do with money, and everything to do with your mindset.
1. The Rich are voracious readers.
“Read, read, read. Read everything.”
— William Faulkner
Warren Buffett, arguably the world’s greatest investor of all time (worth approximately $73.8 billion), was once asked about the key to success, he responded by pointing to a stack of books and answering —
“Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”
He is not alone.
Mark Cuban (worth $3.4 billion) dedicates three hours a day to reading.
Bill Gates (worth $90.2 billion) reads 50 books a year, nearly a book a week.
Elon Musk (worth $15.2 billion) is an avid reader that claims he learned to build rockets by reading books.
If you want to become rich, you need to be reading books about how to become rich, not Googling “easy ways to make money”.
You become rich by expanding your knowledge base in areas like business, money, salesmanship and marketing — this can only be accomplished through reading.
2. The Rich are relentlessly resourceful.
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
— Benjamin Franklin
When the founder of Pinterest was first working to build popularity around his app, he was what some might call relentlessly resourceful — persistent in his journey towards success, while having the ability to quickly and cleverly overcome obstacles and difficulties.
At the time, Pinterest wasn’t worth the $5 billion that it is today, nor did it have anywhere close to its massive following of 150 million monthly users.
So, in order to attract new users, Pinterest’s founder would sneak into Apple stores and set Pinterest as the default landing page on their display devices.
When customers would visit Apple to test out a Macbook or the latest iPhone, the first thing they would see after opening the screen was Pinterest.
This is how Pinterest gained users early on.
The majority of people in this position would either make excuses or give up the moment their big idea wasn’t gaining traction — blaming their environment, blaming themselves or blaming others.
Rich people don’t make excuses. Rich people are relentlessly resourceful, they always figure out a way to succeed and make more money, regardless of their circumstances.
When rich people are dealt a bad hand, they don’t blame the dealer, they shut the hell up and still figure out a way to win.
In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
If you want to be rich, face every one of life’s challenges with these words in mind.
3. The Rich don’t save, they invest.
“How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in a savings account? I rest my case.”
— Robert G. Allen
The concept of investing has been a subject of pure obsession for centuries now —a practice many of the world’s wealthiest and wisest swear by.
If you were to save $1,000 a month for the next 50 years… in 50 years you would have $600,000. This is a shit ton of money, certainly nothing to bat your eye at.
But, if you were to invest $1,000 a month for the next 50 years in an index fund that offered you a 7% return, in 50 years you would have nearly $4.9 million.
Like Mr. Robert G. Allen, I rest my case.
Albert Einstein famously stated, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.”
He was right, no other worldly wonder has the ability to make a poor man rich.
4. The Rich believe in positive energy and people
“Recognize the fortunate so that you may choose their company, and the unfortunate so that you may avoid them… do not die of another’s misery.”
— Robert Greene
Rich people recognize that they are the average of the five people they surround themselves with, so they surround themselves with a rich, successful and powerful bunch.
Anyone who wants to argue this may… but there is a reason politicians hang out with politicians, entrepreneurs hang out with entrepreneurs, professional athletes hang out with professional athletes, etc.
Highly rich and successful people surround themselves with individuals that are also highly rich and successful — and in turn, they avoid individuals who are unlucky and unfortunate.
***Please keep in mind, there is a difference between surrounding yourself with misfortunate individuals who have been brought down by events out of their control. I believe these types of individuals deserve all the time, money and attention in the world. A duty of the rich and successful is to help individuals who genuinely need it.
But, many times, individuals who are unhappy, unlucky and experience a lot of misfortune… bring it upon themselves.
Rich people realize they can only help individuals who are ready and willing to help themselves.
Rich people only offer help to butterflies with broken wings, not leeches searching to drain their time and energy without offering anything in return.
5. The Rich live with big expectations, setting clear easily-definable goals
“You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you are going, ’cause you might not get there.”
— Yogi Berra
When the lost Alice happened upon The Cheshire Cat, she asked for directions, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
The Cheshire Cat answered Alice with a big (rather creepy) toothy smile, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
The story of Alice in Wonderland teaches us a valuable lesson — in life you better know where you want to end up, and you better figure out how you’re going to get there.
Let me ask you a few questions… How much money do you want to save this year? How much debt are you wanting to pay off this year? How much money do you want to be worth in 10 years?
Chances are, you haven’t thought about any of these questions. Humans have a bad habit of falling into a day to day routine where we subconsciously begin to go through the motions… and because of this we don’t feel like we are going anywhere.
If you want to be rich, don’t say ‘I want to be rich’.
If you want to be rich, set a specific number that you want to hit, and then map out how you are going to get there.
I could be wrong, but I don’t believe Warren Buffett woke up, decided he wanted to be rich, and then tapped his shoes.
No, I think Warren Buffett had a roadmap.
6. The Rich learn from other people’s mistakes
“After you burn your mouth on hot milk, you blow on your yogurt.”
— Old Turkish Proverb
While the cliche, “Never make the same mistake twice” is annoying, it is repeated so often because people are terrible at following it.
Fools make the same mistake over and over again. Smart people make a mistake only once. Rich people learn from other people’s mistakes.
In the words of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the richest of the Rothschild Banking Dynasty and at onetime the richest man on earth —
“It requires a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution to make a fortune; and when you have got it, it requires ten times as much wit to keep it.”
Quite a few people will say making mistakes is the only way to put yourself in a position to one day succeed, which may be true — just don’t make a costly mistake.
Building wealth is less about risking money for big gains, and more about not losing it to stupid mistakes.
What rich people do that poor people don’t — they realize they are rich before they ever make any money at all, then they work every damn day to create a reality that matches the wealth in their mind.
By Cole Schafer
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Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
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Responses
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Teresa D Long Hawkes
Teresa D Long Hawkes
Jul 24
People are not rich or poor in a vacuum. You portray poor people as stupid and uninterested in improving their lot. As you key example you choose a poor person who got lucky and then frittered that away because she never did anything right. What was her life like before her stroke of luck? What were her parents’ lives like? What advantages was she…
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Teresa —
I appreciate you taking the time to read my article and share your thoughts. I will be sure to check out Pubmed and do some reading on Cognitive Effects of Poverty.
Please keep in mind that the Rich vs. Poor metaphor isn’t referring strictly to the money individuals have in their bank…
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Kevin Joseph McCourt
Kevin Joseph McCourt
Jul 22
In terms of reading, I would go even farther and say reading about business and money is just the beginning. Reading voraciously about technology, healthcare, the food industry, politics, history — everything really — will give you an edge over everyone in the room. You never know what obscure fact will change the whole ballgame.
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Kevin —
I couldn’t agree more. Reading on money and business is valuable, but it is just the beginning.
I would also recommend biographies — currently working through Elon Musk’s.
What one book has had the most dramatic impact on your life?
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Manish M. Shivanandhan
Manish M. Shivanandhan
Jul 22
Cole Schafer I believe you nailed the point in the first part when you said “Being rich is not about money , its a mindset”. Loved it!.
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Manish —
Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to read my work. To me, that is wealth — having a rich mindset.
Best,
Cole
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Thomas Johnson
Thomas Johnson
Jul 23
Here are some more important ways that the rich differ from the non-rich:
The rich are predominantly white and male, with a few exceptions. Unfortunately our society still has subtle racism and sexism. (Or not so subtle, judging from the stories that are starting to come out of Silicon Valley).
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Thomas —
I respect your thoughts on the matter and appreciate you taking the time to read my article.
Please keep in mind that the Rich vs. Poor comparison wasn’t strictly referring to money. I believe everyone can have a rich mind, regardless of what family you are born into.
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of James Crom
James Crom
Jul 24
And the millions of resourceful, positive readers who didn’t become rich?
Rich people got rich through sheer luck and ruthless exploitation of the poor. “Hard work” is not a relevant variable.
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
James —
Please keep in mind that the Rich vs. Poor metaphor isn’t strictly referring to our bank accounts, but also our minds and lives as a whole.
Thanks,
Cole
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Michael Quinn Kaiser
Michael Quinn Kaiser
Jul 24
Very nice article. I think there are many more things that poor peoples do and rich don’t.
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Michael —
I am glad to hear you enjoyed it. I think you are right, perhaps an article for the future.
Best,
Cole
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Cory Emanuel
Cory Emanuel
Jul 22
can only be accomplished through reading.
what about through direct experimentation and expert mentorship?
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Cory —
I am sure these are some great ways to build wealth! I think mentorship is hugely valuable.
And, I might argue that our lives are one giant interweaving web of ongoing experiments.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Best,
Cole
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Brett Blanchard
Brett Blanchard
Jul 24
A good tip Ive also learnt along the way is to read above your level — by doing this, you are constantly questioning what it is your exactly reading (and therefore learning the entire time!) Its worked wonders for me.
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Brett —
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
What is one book you would recommend? Perhaps one that has had a dramatic impact on your life.
Thanks,
Cole
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Asumpta Gathoni
Asumpta Gathoni
Jul 24
This was really well put.
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Asumpta —
Thank you for the love and for taking the time to read.
Best of luck to you as you continue in your journey towards wealth and fulfillment.
Cheers,
Cole
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Luis Martinez
Luis Martinez
Jul 22
Being rich doesn’t always mean having tons of money. But all article is full of golden thoughts.
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Luis —
Thank you! And great point, it is not just your pocket that can be rich — all aspects of your life can be filled with wealth — heart, soul, mind and relationships.
Perhaps that is what it means to be truly rich, having a balanced life.
Thanks,
Cole
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Ryan Griggs
Ryan Griggs
Jul 23
My favorite blog post that you have written by far. Glad you had reading as the first on your list, because it is something that every needs to do. I’d also add as cliche as it is, not fearing failure. You hear it being bounced around a lot, but I truly believe that differentiates the successful from the not so successful. It means having confidence in yourself, which is one of the most important feelings.
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Ryan,
I think we are both big advocates of reading, my friend. I have been trying to read two books a month on a variety of subjects — just started a biography on Elon Musk (I will let you know my thoughts upon completion).
Conversation with Cole Schafer.
Go to the profile of Rod Rohrich, M.D.
Rod Rohrich, M.D.
Jul 24
superb article a must read for everyone !!
Go to the profile of Cole Schafer
Cole Schafer
Jul 24
Dr. Rohrich —
Thank you for the shout out, sir. I am so glad to hear you got something out of it!
Best,
Cole
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