The gulf between Rich Habits and Poverty Habits is staggering.
If you’re well off already, chances are you already adhere to most of these Rich Habits.
Integrating the ones you’ve neglected will push you further.
But be assured: If you’re doing fine now without minding these principles, it’ll catch up to you.
Some of the differences between rich and poor are obvious, while others are a little more surprising.
Here are the most important Rich Habits you can take up to reach and maintain your wealth potential.
1. Avoid toxic people
We are only as successful as the people we spend the most time with.
Of wealthy, successful people, 86 percent associate with other successful people.
But 96 percent of those struggling financially stick with others struggling financially.1
If you want to end your financial struggles, you need to evaluate each of your relationships and determine if they are a Rich Relationship (with someone who can help you up) or a Poverty Relationship (with someone holding you back).
Start spending more and more time on your Rich Relationships and less on your Poverty Relationships.
Rich Relationships can help you find a better job, refer new business to you or open doors of opportunity.
2. Don’t give up
Those who are successful in life have three things in common: focus, persistence and patience.
They simply do not quit chasing their big goals.
Those who struggle financially stop short.
3. Set aside the self-limiting beliefs holding you back 
If you’re hurting financially, you’ve probably told yourself some of these untruths before: Poor people can’t become rich. Rich people have good luck and poor people have bad luck. I’m not smart. I can’t do anything right. I fail at everything I try.
Each one of these self-limiting beliefs alters your behavior in a negative way.
Almost four out of five wealthy people attribute their success in life to their beliefs.
Change your negative beliefs into positive affirmations by reading lessons from the greats of personal development, like Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and Jim Rohn.
4. Get a mentor
Among the wealthy, 93 percent who had a mentor attributed their success to that person.
Mentors regularly and actively participate in your growth by teaching you what to do and what not to do.
Finding such a teacher is one of the best and least painful ways to become rich.
If you know your goals, find someone who has already achieved them.
You’ll be amazed by how many people want to lend a helping hand.
5. Eliminate “bad luck” from your vocabulary
Those struggling financially in life have a way of creating bad luck for themselves.
It’s a byproduct of their habits.
Poverty Habits, repeated over and over are like snowflakes on a mountainside.
In time, these snowflakes build up until the inevitable avalanche—a preventable medical problem, a lost job, a failed marriage, a broken business relationship or a bankruptcy.
Conversely, successful people create their own unique type of good luck.
Their positive habits lead to opportunities such as promotions, bonuses, new business and good health.
6. Know your main purpose
It’s the last Rich Habit, but it might be the most important. 
Those people who pursue a dream or a main purpose in life are by far the wealthiest and happiest among us.
Because they love what they do for a living, they are happy to devote more hours each day driving toward their purpose.
Odds are, if you are not making sufficient income at your job, it is because you are doing something you do not particularly like.
When you can earn a sufficient income doing something you enjoy, you have found your main purpose.
Believe it or not, finding this purpose is easy.
Here’s the process:
- Make a list of everything you can remember that made you happy.
- Highlight those items on your list that involve a skill, and identify that skill.
- Rank the top 10 highlighted items in the order of joy they bring to you. Whatever makes you happiest of all gets 10 big points.
- Now rank the top 10 highlighted items in terms of their income potential. The most lucrative skill of all is worth 10 points.
- Total the two ranked columns. The highest score represents a potential main purpose in your life. Presto!
As you can see, the differences between rich and poor are simple—sometimes intuitive—but not insignificant.
Aim to take up all 16 of these habits, and you’re almost guaranteed to become better off.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN READING:
RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 50 | RICH HABITS PART 2
RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 49 | RICH HABITS PART 1
RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 48 | BEING RICH IS REALLY ABOUT TWO THINGS PART 2
RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 47 | BEING RICH IS REALLY ABOUT TWO THINGS PART 1
About Thomas C. Corley
Tom, thanks for sharing. I am struggling to find safe, common ground with what you guys teach and what Jesus teaches. I know you’re on board with helping others (a success principle), but you don’t want to associate with toxic people. And it says that in Proverbs not to associate with toxic people. See passage from Luke below and here is my struggle between avoiding and helping…giving and receiving…sowing and reaping. I want to be successful, but I also want to be responsible to God with my resources. I’m struggling to find the right ratio. Certainly, wise time and money management is essential here, but I’m not sure I have it right. Shane
Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’18And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods19 and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’21Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” Luke 12:16-21
Find an local charity that is doing good in your community and become a part of it. You will find that most of the people who run these organizations are upbeat, enthusiastic people with a positive mental outlook. While the individuals they serve may have bad habits and may be toxic, the individuals who run the organization, typically do not and, thus, they act as a buffer between you and the toxic people who need help.