My Aunt Peg was famous for speaking her mind. She told you exactly how she felt. You knew exactly where you stood with my Aunt Peg because she let you know. And, she was very proud of this character trait.
Now, many reading this might be shaking their heads in agreement. In fact, you might believe that speaking your mind is an admirable trait.
The problem is, it isn’t. In fact it’s a Poor Habit.
When my Aunt Peg died, I noticed there were only a handful of non-family members at the funeral. That made me sad because I loved my Aunt Peg.
The sad truth is that my Aunt Peg’s habit had alienated many people over the years.
Building friendships and relationships is a hard thing to do period. But speaking your mind makes it virtually impossible.
According to my five-year study on the daily habits of the rich and poor, 69% of the poor acknowledged that they “spoke their mind”.
Conversely, 94% of the wealthy forged the habit of choosing their words very carefully – they did not speak their mind.
Why such a disparity?
Becoming a self-made millionaire requires building strong and powerful relationships with others. It can take years of careful, deliberate effort to cultivate important relationships. Those who are able to rise from poverty or the middle-class to become very wealthy do so, in large part, because of the relationships they’ve built over many years.
As I’ve often said, relationships are the currency of the wealthy.
One thoughtless word, however, can undermine all of those years of relationship-building. Millionaires, therefore, forge the Rich Habit of carefully choosing the words they use with others. This way they avoid insulting or angering others.
Saying what’s on your mind will negatively affect relationships, your business and ultimately cost you money. If you want to be successful in life, you need to choose, very carefully, the words that come out of your mouth.
Not every thought needs to come out of your mouth. Not every thought needs to be spoken.
About Thomas C. Corley
Interesting topic. We know people who say they are all about being truthful, which generally means telling you what is wrong with you. That belief doesn’t seem to go the other way.
And millionaires may be careful, but I’ve been around a couple of billionaires who don’t seem to care.