Another new study shows that the rich are getting richer while everyone else remains stuck where they are spinning their wheels. According to Oxfam, the richest 62 people are as wealthy as half the world's population. The report shows that the wealth of the richest 62 has increased by more than half a trillion dollars to $1.76tr, while the wealth of the poorest half of the world's population has fallen by a trillion dollars since 2010, a drop of 41 percent.
Oxfam has made many recommendations to narrow the gap in inequality such as action against tax havens, moving minimum wage rates towards a living wage and tackling the pay gap between men and women. But at the same time, the one thing that is often overlooked is self-responsibility. The question: what are you doing to make more money?
While there's no denying the growing gap in inequality, the self-made wealthy have a much different approach to making money than most people. In fact, when you speak to a self-made millionaire and compare their approach to making money with that of the average person, it's like they're living on a different plant. The rich see the world very differently than everyone else.
After interviewing more than 1,200 of the self-made wealthy for the last 30 years, here are 15 of the biggest differences I found between them and the middle class.
1. Middle class believes the road to riches is paved with formal education. The wealthy believe the road to riches is paved with specific knowledge.
2. Middle class believes money is earned through labor. The wealthy believe money is earned through thought.
3. Middle class believes in working for money. The wealthy believe in working for fulfillment.
4. Middle class believes money is complicated. The wealthy believe money is simple.
5. Middle class believes money is negative. The wealthy believe money is positive.
6. Middle class has a lottery mentality. The wealthy have an action mentality.
7. Middle class believes jobs are the safest way to earn money. The wealthy believe outstanding performance is the safest way to earn money.
8. Middle class believes the rich should support the poor. The wealthy believe in self-reliance.
9. Middle class only focuses on money when they need it. The wealthy focuses on money all the time.
10. Middle class teaches their kids how to survive. The wealthy teach their kids how to get rich.
11.Middle class believes it's wrong for a small group of people to possess most of the money. The wealthy welcome the masses to join them.
12. Middle class believes ambition for wealth is a sin. The wealthy believe it's a virtue.
13. Middle class is timid and scared. The wealthy are aggressive and bold.
14. Middle class believes they aren't worthy of great wealth. The wealthy believe they deserve to be rich.
15. Middle class believes it's shrewd to be cynical. The wealthy believe it's shrewd to be optimistic.
If you want to be rich, study how rich people think about money and follow their lead. Associate with the rich because consciousness is contagious. Exposure to their level of thinking about money will permeate your consciousness.
Create a written vision for your life five years down the road. If you could do anything you wanted to do and live any way you wanted to live, what would that look like?
Learn to let go of the middle-class thinking of the masses, while simultaneously learning to embrace how rich people think. In a matter of months your entire perspective will begin to shift, and you'll begin seeing the world through the eyes of millionaires.
When it comes to money, it's not intelligence or education that holds back the average person from getting rich. It's the middle-class beliefs about money that keeps them struggling to survive in a world of abundance.
If you're rich, keep thinking the way you are thinking. If not, maybe it's time to change the way you think about money.