10 Ways Rich People Think Differently

If you ask Thomas Corley, being rich has very little
to do with luck and everything to do with habits.
Corley, who spent five years monitoring and
analyzing the daily activities and habits of people
both wealthy and living in poverty (233 wealthy
and 128 poor, specifically), isolated what he calls
"rich habits" — and many of them are simply
patterns of thought.
"I found in my research that wealthy people are by
and large optimists," he says. "They practice
gratitude and look at happiness like a habit."
Corley, who presents and explains many of his
findings in his book " Rich Habits: The Daily
Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals" and on his
website, defines "rich people" as those with an
annual income of $160,000 or more and a liquid
net worth of $3.2 million or more, and "poor
people" as those with an annual income of $35,000
or less and a liquid net worth of $5,000 or less.
Here are 10 ways Corley found that rich people
think differently, based on statements with which
they identify.
1. Rich people believe their habits have a major
impact on their lives.
"Daily habits are critical to financial success in
life."
Rich people who agree: 52%
Poor people who agree: 3%
Wealthy people think that bad habits create
detrimental luck and that good habits create
"opportunity luck," meaning they create the
opportunities for people to make their own luck.
"When I looked at luck," Corley remembers, "a lot
of rich people said they were lucky and a lot of
poor people said they were unlucky."
2. Rich people believe in the American dream.
"The American dream is no longer possible."
Rich people who agree: 2%
Poor people who agree: 87%
"The American Dream is the idea of unlimited
potential, that you can make it on your own," says
Corley. In his study, the vast majority of rich
people believed that wealth is a big part of the
American dream (94%), and that the dream is still
possible.
3. Rich people value relationships for
professional and personal growth.
"Relationships are critical to financial success."
Rich people who agree: 88%
Poor people who agree: 17%
Not only do rich people feel that their
relationships are critical to their success, but they
put a lot of effort into maintaining them, making a
habit of calling up contacts to congratulate them
on life events, wish them a happy birthday, or
reaching out just to say hello. "When I applied the
hello calls and the life event calls to my own life,"
recalls Corley, "I ended up making another
$60,000 as a result."
4. Rich people love meeting new people.
"I love meeting new people."
Rich people who agree: 68%
Poor people who agree: 11%
Hand in hand with valuing relationships comes
making new ones. Rich people both love meeting
new people and believe that being liked is
important to financial success (in fact, it's a
whopping 95% that believe in the power of
likability, compared to 9% of poor people).
5. Rich people think that saving is hugely
important.
"Saving money is critical to financial success."
Rich people who agree: 88%
Poor people who agree: 52%
"Being wealthy is not just making a lot of money,"
explains Corley. "It's saving a lot, and
accumulating wealth. Many of the people I studied
aren't wealthy because they made a lot, but
because they saved a lot." He's trying to instill
what he calls the 80/20 rule in his own children:
Save 20% of your income while living on 80%.
6. Rich people feel that they determine their
path in life.
"I believe in fate."
Rich people who agree: 10%
Poor people who agree: 90%
Poor people are significantly more likely to believe
that genetics are important to becoming wealthy,
and significantly less likely to believe that they're
the cause of their own financial status in life.
"Most of the wealthy people I talked to were
businesspeople who weren't always wealthy,"
Corley explains, "but they had this attitude that
they could do anything."
7. Rich people value creativity over intelligence.
"Creativity is critical to financial success."
Rich people who agree: 75%
Poor people who agree: 11%
While rich people are more likely to believe that
creativity influences success, poor people are more
likely to think that being "intellectually gifted" is
critical. They're also more likely to believe that
wealth is usually accidental. "If you look at my
stats, you'll find that a lot of wealthy people were
C students," says Corley. "There's more to wealth
than just being smart."
8. Rich people enjoy their jobs.
"I like (or liked) what I do for a living."
Rich people who agree: 85%
Poor people who agree: 2%
"Many of the wealthy in my study loved their job
— it's not an accident," says Corley. In fact, 86% of
the wealthy worked an average of 50 hours or
more per week (compared to 43% of the poor),
and 81% say they do more than their job requires
(versus 17%). Corley says it's related to the idea of
creativity being important to financial success:
"These people found a creative pursuit that could
turn into monetary value. When you engage in a
creative pursuit that can make money, the rewards
are often obscene."
9. Rich people believe that their health
influences their success.
"Good health is critical to financial success."
Rich people who agree: 85%
Poor people who agree: 13%
"One of the individuals in my study told me 'I
can't make money in a hospital bed,'" Corley
remembers. "Wealthy people think that being
healthy means fewer sick days, which translates
into more productivity and more money."
10. Rich people are willing to take risks.
"I've taken a risk in search of wealth."
Rich people who agree: 63%
Poor people who agree: 6%
"A lot of the wealthy people in the study were
business owners who started their own
businesses," Corley explains. "They became
successes because they were master self-educators
who learned from the school of hard knocks." In
fact, 27% of the wealthy people in Corley's study
admit they've failed at least once in life or in
business, compared with 2% of the poor. "Failure
is like scar tissue on the brain," Corley says. "The
lessons last forever."