Almost every day I take the same route to work at the same time. And, every day, for the most part, I see the same cars.

Most are your run of the mill average-priced non-luxury cars. But, a good percentage of them are luxury cars. Probably north of 10% of the cars I see during my commute are luxury cars.

There’s this one luxury car, a Mercedes Benz GLE SUV, that I see frequently. The price range on this car is between $50,000 – $70,000. A pretty expensive car.

About six months ago, I noticed the driver had used clear boxing tape in order to keep the rear left light section from falling off. I see this makeshift tape repair job almost every day during my commute to work.

I have a few auto repair and auto body clients in my CPA business. So, I asked them what it might cost to repair something like this. The repair bill is not over the top – something in the range of $250 for the run of the mill car. However, because it’s a Mercedes, the repair bill would be somewhat higher, probably around $350.

So, why doesn’t the driver just bring it to the repair shop and get it fixed? I mean, if you’re driving such a beautiful high-end luxury car, wouldn’t you want to keep it looking beautiful?

According to my auto repair and auto body clients, the #1 reason people put off repairs is because they cannot afford it.

There are posers out there – people just getting by, posing as a rich people. They want others to perceive them as rich and successful, so they buy expensive watches, expensive clothes, expensive shoes, expensive houses and expensive cars.

Many of the wealthy in my Rich Habits Study did not own luxury cars, or luxury homes, own luxury watches, etc. The uber-rich in my study did, but they are a different breed of wealthy. The uber-rich buy their luxury items with the passive income generated from the assets they own.

There are very few uber-rich out there. Less than 1% of the population is uber-rich.

There are, however, far more luxury cars on the streets then there are uber-rich people who can afford them.

Clearly, people who are not uber-rich are the ones buying many of these luxury cars.

Posers are people pretending to be rich. They live paycheck to paycheck. They struggle financially. They are deep in debt. Their lives are a financial mess.

So, the next time you see someone driving an expensive car, don’t automatically envy them. In all likelihood, they are posers.

They should not be envied. They should be pitied.

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When you give 100%, you are seeking to meet the expectations of others.

When you consistently meet expectations, you keep those you do business with or interact with satisfied. They will be unlikely to leave you for someone else.

When you give 110%, you are exceeding the expectations of others.

Example: Your old newspaper delivery boy/girl dropped your newspaper off on your driveway. But your new delivery boy/girl drops your newspaper off at your front door.

How do you think you would you feel?

When you consistently exceed the expectations of others, you Wow them. Not only will they continue to do business or interact with you, they will tell others about you.

When you give 110%, you become a story that must be told.

The key to giving 110% is to establish an expectations baseline at the beginning of every interaction. This baseline represents the most likely, realistic, agreed-upon outcome – one everyone is satisfied with.

By creating an expectations baseline at the beginning, you shrewdly tee yourself up to Wow others when you exceed those expectations.

Consistently exceeding expectations, boosts trust and confidence others have in you.

This is why giving 110% is a Rich Habit.

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I get many emails on the role spouses play in achieving success. This is a difficult topic to cover, but I feel, nonetheless, it’s a topic that must be addressed.

In my research, 88% of my self-made millionaires said that they were happy in their marriage. Conversely, 53% of the poor indicated that they were unhappy in their marriage.

One of the more critical success variables in my study was finding a spouse who was truly a partner in the pursuit of a successful life.

Spouses who are true partners in the pursuit of success, will share many things in common:

• Similar Beliefs
• Similar Attitude Towards Family
• Similar Dreams or Aspirations
• Similar Desires or Wants
• Common Clarity or Vision of Your Future Life
• Similar Positive Mental Outlook
• Common Hard Work Ethic
• Shared Expectations for Your Future Life
• Similar Attitude Towards Honesty or Integrity
• Humility
• Similar Attitude About the Importance of Education
• Similar Attitude About Trust and Fidelity
• Shared Passion for Recreational Activities
• Shared Interests
• Common Morals
• Shared Financial Goals
• Shared Family Goals
• Shared Lifestyle/Standard of Living Goals
• Similar Risk Tolerance

Success, wealth, good health and happiness are virtually impossible when the values, habits, mindset, temperament and beliefs are not in complete alignment within a marriage. Finding a spouse who shares these important fundamentals, is, therefore critical to creating a dream life.

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Over the past 40 years the costs of sending a child to college have increased 212%. Student loan debt, in response to these escalating costs, has ballooned to $1.56 trillion.

The average college graduate is saddled with $30,000 in student loan debt. The average monthly payment on that debt is approximately $400, which takes about 12 years to pay off.

But, that is only part of the story.

When you send your child off to college, their inner circle shifts from Mom, Dad, family and childhood friends, to fellow college students.

If your college student’s new inner circle has beliefs, thinking, ideologies and habits that are different from the ones they were raised in, they will become infected with them.

For too many college students, the “college experience” is much more than an education. Temptations are everywhere. Almost every weekend there is some party or fun activity going on.

Parties and fun activities cost money.

That’s not a problem, if those parties and activities are funded by part-time college jobs.

Unfortunately, that’s not the norm.

Many college students apply for credit cards to help them fund their social activities, without their parents being aware. Credit card companies no longer require parent approval on credit card applications.

That average college student carries $2,573 in credit card debt.  This is not average spend, which is obviously significantly higher. This is the balance due on the credit card, after paying off some of that spend.

Since most people have Poor Money Habits, the odds are, your college student will be exposed to those habits.

If you raised your child to be frugal and responsible with money, you need to be very diligent and stay on top of their college spending, in order to prevent them from becoming infected by the bad habits of other college students who happen to infiltrate your college student’s inner circle.

College students who become infected with Poor Money Habits during college, spend years recovering from that infection.

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Habits are stored throughout the brain and controlled by a section of the limbic system called the Basal Ganglia.

This golf ball size mass of tissue smack in the center of the brain, saves the brain work. There is very little processing power involved with respect to habits. When a habit is formed, those habit brain cells kick in without any need for motivation, discipline, enthusiasm, or prodding.

Here’s the shocking statistic –  40 – 45% of all of our daily activities are habits. This means that 40 – 45% of the time we are all on auto pilot. We are thinking and doing things without the rest of the brain even being aware of the activity. We don’t truly understand how significant habits are in our daily lives.

Any mental thought, often repeated, becomes a habit. Poor people are poor and rich people are rich because of the way they habitually think. Habitual thinking comes first and habitual activities follow.

If you habitually think in a certain way, you will habitually act in a certain way.

Greatness requires great thoughts – to become rich, you have to think great thoughts.

To avoid poverty, you have to avoid Poverty Thinking.

How Poor People Think:

• 87% of poor people think you must be intellectually gifted in order to become wealthy
• 90% of poor people think fate determines your wealth or poverty in life
• 87% of poor people do not believe they will be anything but poor
• 80% of the poor believe the rich have superior genes, or DNA
• 82% of the poor think they are not the cause of their poverty – someone else is to blame
• 77% of the poor believe the rich lie in order to become wealthy
• 90% of the poor think rich people are rich because their parents were rich and they inherited most of their money
• 78% of poor people are not optimistic
• 95% of poor people believe rich people are bad, greedy, lazy and dishonest
• 52% of poor people believe wealth is accidental – a matter of dumb luck

How Rich People Think:

• 90% of rich people believe IQ has little to do with success
• 90% of rich people do not believe in fate
• 43% of rich people believed they were going to be rich
• 94% of the rich believe genes are irrelevant to success
• 79% of the rich believe they are the cause of their financial success
• 85% of the rich believe honesty is a prerequisite to success
• 95% of the rich believe most millionaires are self-made
• 54% of rich people think optimism is important to success
• 78% of rich people think that rich people are good, hardworking and honest
• Only 4% of rich people believe wealth is accidental – a matter of dumb luck

If you want to become wealthy you need to stop thinking like a poor person and start thinking like a rich person.

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In my Rich Habits Study, I tracked over 300 activities/habits that separated the rich from the poor.

Individually, most Poor Habits do not have a significant impact on your financial circumstance. However, some Poor Habits do have a more profound impact on your life. Below are a few of the most destructive Poor Habits:

• Poor people like to gamble: 77% of the poor admitted to playing the lottery regularly vs. 6% of the rich. 57% of the poor admitted to betting on sports weekly vs. 16% for the rich. Gambling is a tax on the poor. There’s a reason the poor gamble – random luck. Gambling levels the playing field, in the mind of the poor. The odds of winning are the same, whether you are rich or poor.
• The rich do a better job keeping the pounds off: 21% of the wealthy admitted to being overweight by 30 pounds or more vs. 66% of the poor. But there’s more to this story… 97% of the poor ate more than 300 junk food calories a day while 70% of the rich ate less than 300 junk food calories a day. You can’t make money sitting in a hospital bed. If you neglect your health, eventually your rain barrel will overflow. That overflow results in cancer, heart disease, Type II Diabetes and other diseases.
• Poor people love watching T.V.: 77% admitted to watching more than 1 hour of TV a day vs. only 23% for the rich. And their favorite TV shows? Reality TV 78% of the poor who watch more than an hour of T.V. each day are watching reality TV. Watching TV is a time-wasting or Do-Nothing Poor Habit. If you were to just reduce your TV watching by 30 minutes a day and re-deploy that time by reading to learn, exercising, or pursuing some goal or a dream, the cumulative beneficial effect could be the thing that lifts you out of poverty or poor health.
• It seems the poor cannot control their negative emotions: 43% of the poor admitted to losing their temper at least once in the past month vs. 19% of the wealthy. Those who do not make a habit of controlling negative emotions are unable to build strong, powerful, life-long relationships with others. One outburst can destroy a long-term relationship in a matter of minutes.
• Poor people like to gossip: 79% of the poor admit to gossiping while only 6% of the rich have this Poverty Habit. Gossiping almost always involves negative criticism of others. Gossiping damages relationships because people will not trust you once they find out you are a gossiper. Those you gossip about eventually figure out who is doing the gossiping. Gossip destroys relationships.

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Wealthy, successful individuals are fanatics when it comes to daily career-related, self-improvement.

The reason?

Successful people understand that knowledge creates opportunities and opportunities lead to good luck.

I uncovered four career-related, self-improvement strategies that the uber-successful use on a daily basis in order to make themselves UN-FIREABLE:

Strategy #1 Reading 

In my five-year research study on the daily habits of 361 rich and poor individuals, I made many profoundly important discoveries.

For example, 88% of the wealthy individuals in my research read self-help books/articles and industry-related books/articles. The wealthy are fanatics when it comes to daily career-related, reading. By increasing their knowledge base they are able to gain knowledge, which helps them see more opportunities. And these opportunities translate into more money. The wealthy devote a minimum of 30 minutes a day to self-education reading.

They do this day in and day out, like brushing their teeth. They understand that educational reading helps set themselves apart from their competition.

Daily educational reading helps make you more valuable to your employer, customers or clients.

Comparatively speaking, only 2% of the poor in my study engaged in this daily Rich Habit.

Strategy #2 Writing

Thirty-eight percent of the wealthy in my study engaged in some form of career-related writing, with 18% devoting time to writing for industry-related magazines/blogs.

Writing is a form of communication. Because you are writing on a specific topic, you must gain a more comprehensive understanding of that topic than reading alone can provide. Successful individuals engage in writing in a number of ways including: company newsletters, industry newsletters, newspaper articles, industry publication articles, Internet articles and customer/client letters and blogs.

Writing helps you get noticed in your industry and fosters the perception of you as an expert.

The knowledge you gain from writing, increases your value to your employer, customers or clients

None of the poor in my study engaged in career-related writing.

Strategy #3 Speaking

Twenty-three percent of the wealthy engaged in career-related speaking, with 12% speaking at trade group/industry functions.

Speaking, like writing, is a form of communication. It requires a greater understanding of a subject matter.

In a speaking engagement you may be asked questions and this forces you to a higher level of topic comprehension – when you are “the expert” on a speaking topic, you must fully comprehend that topic inside and out, in order to be prepared to accurately respond accurately to many questions.

Speaking requires a more detailed study that reading and writing, together, cannot provide. Speaking forces you to dig deeper and expand your knowledge base. Speaking elevates your perceived expertise in the eyes of your audience, who may be fellow supervisors, customers, clients, or senior executives at competing companies.

None of the poor in my study engaged in career-related speaking.

Strategy #4 Practice

True experts say that it takes 1,000 correct repetitions to develop muscle memory. These same experts also say that each incorrect repetition requires ten more just to wash away that one mistake from your brain’s muscle memory.

Repetition, in the form of Deliberate and Analytical Practice, will transform you into a Virtuoso in your your field. Practice allows you to improve and perfect your skill-sets.

Deliberate Practice requires many hours a day of Targeted Practice. Targeted Practice involves practicing specific sub-elements of each aspect of your skill.

Analytical Practice takes you to the top level, beyond excellent, and into the rarefied category known as Virtuoso status. When you reach Virtuoso status, you are among the very best at what you do in your field.

The bedrock of Analytical Practice is something called The Feedback Loop. All Virtuoso’s have one thing in common – some means by which they receive immediate feedback after practicing a skill.

This feedback is typically provided by a coach. A coach will analyze how the budding Virtuoso engages in their Deliberate Practice and will brainstorm ways to improve each element of that skill set.

The most successful of individuals employ all four career-related self-improvement strategies. But you can achieve incredible success by dedicating yourself, every day, to just one of these four strategies.

Utilizing one or more of the career-related, self-improvement strategies will make you more valuable within your industry and indispensable to your employer, customers or clients.

When you are perceived as indispensable.

You become UN-FIREABLE.

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Your beliefs about yourself can propel you to success and wealth or anchor you to failure and poverty.

“I’m not smart”, “I have bad luck”, “I was born poor and poor people don’t get rich”, “I can’t (fill in the blank nonsense)” will anchor you in failure.

If you want to re-tune your brain for success you need to start by wiping out those negative beliefs and replace them with positive beliefs.

Below are 12 strategies that will jump start your positive thinking:

1. Make a list of all of your wishes and dreams.
2. Write a future letter to yourself. This letter sets forth the incredible, ideal life you have five years from now. You write it as if it were the present. Don’t hold back. Describe the house you live in, the car you drive, the ideal job you have etc.
3. Write your obituary. Describe the incredibly successful life you lived. List all of your accomplishments and successes. Paint a picture of the perfect life you left behind.
4. Set one big goal that will help you realize the ideal life you described in the future letter and obituary.
5. Create a vision board. This is a picture of all of the things you have in your future life. The house by the beach, the RV, the boat, plane, Rolex watch etc.
6. Create daily affirmations that are tied to your new big goal and the future you. Affirmations act like computer software programming on the brain. They need to be in the present tense and represent a future state. Example: “I am a successful podcaster”, “I love living in my Jersey shore house”, “I enjoy traveling to Hawaii for speaking engagements”.
7. Meditate every day. Start out by meditating for just 60 seconds upon waking up in the morning or right before bedtime. This will soon become a daily habit. Try to build up to 2-3 minutes twice a day. When you meditate, visualize your ideal life and all of your goals and wishes coming true.
8. Practice gratitude every day. Being thankful for what you have sends a message to your brain that you like getting things. Your brain will then go to work seeking out more things for you to be grateful for.
9. Practice optimism. Start looking at the positive aspects of your life and stop focusing on the negative. Negative thinking programs your mind into believing you will fail. Practiced optimism reprograms your brain. Your brain will now go to work seeking out more things to be positive and optimistic about. It opens your eyes to opportunities that will make you more successful.
10. Learn to live in the present and don’t allow worries to intrude. If you allow worries to occupy your mind while on vacation, at the beach, at a family party etc.,  you will have lost that happiness event forever.
11. Maintain a victory log. This is a log in which you list any success, big or small. Keep it close to you. Get in the habit of success thinking. You do this by focusing on your successes and not your failures. The victory log will help you become success conscious.
12. Reward yourself each time after logging in a success on your victory log. The brain likes the feeling of being rewarded. It likes it so much it will re-tune your RAS into seeking more victories in life.

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Habits are repetitive behaviors, choices, emotions and thinking that occur below the level of consciousness, meaning you are unaware of them.

According to a 2006 Duke study, these involuntary acts represent 40% or more of an individual’s daily activities. This means 40% or more of the time, each day, we are all doing things, making choices and thinking a certain way, without even being aware of it.

After I completed my Rich Habits Study interviews, it dawned on me that neither the rich or poor fully comprehended the importance of their habits vis-a-vis, their wealth or poverty.

Neither group had any inkling that their financial success or failure was the result of their habits. Most were on autopilot, just doing the same things their parents did, or taught them to do, without realizing it.

This presented a big problem in my mind because, since millions of people in America were poor, this meant many families would be forever stuck in a generational cycle of poverty and have no idea why. It also represented an opportunity – if I could expose the Poor Habits that were the cause of poverty, I could help put an end to this generational cycle of poverty.

I found in my research that the only way families were able to break out of poverty or the lower middle class was when parents became obsessed with mentoring their children to succeed by indoctrinating in them Rich Habits.

I discovered in my research that awareness of our habits was the key to changing them. When we mentor our children with good daily success habits and put up a stop sign anytime we see a bad habit running amok, we tee our children up for success.

I wrote Rich Kids (http://richhabits.net/rich-habits-books/) in order to help give parents the tools they needed in order to become success mentors to their kids.

Parents are often the only shot kids have at having a mentor in their lives. Parents raise children but parents who are success-mentors raise successful children.

My mission is to share my unique research in order to help others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. If you find value in these articles, please share them with your inner circle and encourage them to Subscribe. Thank You!