Eighteenth century French philosopher, Denis Diderot, became rich after writing Encyclopedie, one of the most comprehensive encyclopedia’s at the time.

His wealth enabled him to satisfy a want he had – to buy a very expensive robe. Soon after buying the robe, he decided to replace all of his clothing in order to match the beauty of the robe. This escalated into a series of purchases that included art for the walls of his home and other accessories.

Diderot, realizing his folly, wrote about this Spiral of Consumption in an essay titled, “Regrets on Parting with My Old Dressing Gown.”

Diderot explains how new consumption often leads to a Spiral of Consumption that can enslave you and rob you of your wealth.

This psychological tendency is known as Want Spending and Lifestyle Creep. We see it at work with celebrities such as Johnny Depp and Connor McGregor, whose reckless spending has eroded their wealth.

The only way to stop this Spiral of Consumption, known as Want Spending, in its tracks is to replace envy or greed with gratitude or gratefulness.

Gratitude shifts your thinking from negative (envy/greed) to positive (gratitude/gratefulness). It is like a stop sign that prevents this Spiral of Consumption from addicting you to Want Spending, and bleeding you of the hard-earned money you’ve accumulated.

Decisions are significant players in determining the financial circumstances of your life.

One bad decision can cost you significant money and put you behind the eight ball for many years.

Bad decisions are like dominos – they lead to more bad decisions.

When a bad decision costs you significant money, it puts you in a position of weakness.

When you are in a position of weakness, all future decisions you make are made out of necessity – to solve some immediate short-term immediate need, which is usually a financial one.

This immediate financial need, a need you created by making a bad decision in the first place, then forces you to take shortcuts that an individual in a position of strength would never take:

• Out of desperation, you fail to do your due diligence (homework) before making an investment;
• Out of desperation, you partner with someone whose background you really don’t know enough about;
• Out of desperation, you ignore facts or details that a non-desperate person would never ignore.

One bad decision can put you in a position of weakness and cause a cascade of poor decisions that act like an anchor, dragging you further down into a financial abyss.

Here’s the rule when it comes to major decisions:

Never make a major decision when you are in a position of weakness. Only make major decisions from a position of strength.

Position of Strength Decisions are almost always sound decisions.

Position of Weakness Decisions are almost always poor decisions.

Fear is the stop sign along the path towards success.

Fear of failure, fear of mistakes, fear of risk, fear of embarrassment, fear of inadequacy, fear of how others perceive you, fear of being wrong, fear of losing what you have, fear of poverty, fear of bankruptcy, fear of destroying a relationship – there are so many things to be afraid of.

What you should be afraid of is dying without any legacy that says you lived.

The courageous have fears, just like everyone else.

Dreamers who take action on their dreams have fears, just like everyone else.

Entrepreneurs have fears, just like everyone else.

Fear never goes away. It follows you every step of the way on your march towards success.

The key is to get comfortable being afraid, as you take action.

Those who pursue dreams, goals or step outside the herd to take a risk, are never fully prepared.

The truth is, you only need to be 80% prepared. You only need to know 80% of what must be known. You’ll figure things out but only if you take action. The remaining 20% will reveal itself during the pursuit of success.

Don’t let the fear of that missing 20% stop you from taking action.

What if should not be your legacy.

I tried should be your legacy.

Wealth comes in many shapes and sizes. In my Rich Habits research, I identified three levels of wealth.

LEVEL 1 RICH – THE SAVERS

Just less than 22% of the rich people in my Rich Habits study fell into this category. Level 1 Rich means you have zero debt and the passive income generated by your wealth is enough to meet or exceed your standard of living.

The Level 1 Rich have five things in common:

1. They have a low standard of living and
2. They typically make a modest income and
3. Their modest income exceeds their low standard of living and
4. They save 20% or more of their income for many years and
5. They invest their savings prudently for many years.

It took Level 1 Rich people in my Rich Habits study about 32 years to accumulate an average of $3.2 million.

LEVEL 2 RICH – THE VIRTUOSOS

Approximately 27% of the rich people in my study were the Level 2 Rich. Level 2 Rich were virtuosos in their career, industry or profession. They were among the best at what they did.

These individuals either worked for large, publicly-held corporations, in which a significant portion of their compensation was stock-based compensation or they ran small businesses that were highly profitable.

It took Level 2 Rich people in my Rich Habits study about 20 years to accumulate an average of $4 million.

LEVEL 3 RICH – THE DREAMERS

This is the uber-rich. Approximately 51% of the rich people in my study were individuals who pursued some big dream and were able to turn that dream into a reality. Their dream eventually provided them with an enormous amount of income, profit or gain.

According to my Rich Habits study, the Level 3 Rich accumulated the most wealth ($7.4 million) in the shortest period of time – 12 years.

The point in all this is that there is more than one way to skin a cat. If you’re risk averse, it does not disqualify you from becoming rich. If you have no dream or you’re not interested in saving your way to wealth, become a virtuoso in what you do for a living. If you are not a saver or a virtuoso, pursue some dream that makes your heart sing.

If you want to be rich, the only important thing is to pick one path and stick with it for many years. The one common denominator all levels of wealth share is time – it takes many years to become rich.

I am the living, breathing embodiment that success is totally within your control.

I never felt I was good enough.

I never had much, if any, confidence in myself.

I never thought I was smart.

I still struggle with being lazy, or thinking I’m lazy.

And worst of all, I spent most of my life thinking success was all about luck. Luck I believed I sorely lacked.

But that all changed.

It changed the moment I decided to pursue a dream.

That dream was to become JC Jobs, the world’s #1 self-help expert.

JC Jobs is the main character in many of my books. He is the embodiment of success. And he helps millions believe in themselves, realize their dreams and transform their lives.

I do not know if I will ever become JC Jobs. But here’s what I do know.

My dream revealed my potential. Potential I never knew I had.

It was there all along.

Now, every day I wake up and try. I read to learn. I write. I rack my brain trying to inspire others to believe in themselves, through my writing. I respond to every comment, every email, every text message and I try to mentor others who have a dream and who are struggling to realize their dream.

I believe that’s what JC Jobs would do. So, I’m doing it.

And one day I believe I will become JC Jobs. Do you know why?

Because I am good enough. I am smart enough. I am a hard worker.

All of those things I wasn’t, I became, all because I decided to follow my heart and pursue my dream.

Every great, amazing thing you want to be in life is hidden away inside your dreams.

Dreams are flowers that reveal your inner magnificence and inner beauty.

Let them bloom.

How many of you have lied to yourself or others about the real reason you failed a test?

How many of you have lied to yourself or others about the real reason you got fired from your job?

How many of you have lied to yourself or others about the real reason you had to file for bankruptcy?

How many of you have lied to yourself or others about the real reason you got divorced?

Everyone has an ego. Unsuccessful people, however, allow their egos to get in the way of the truth.

They offer up excuses as to why something went wrong in their lives. They give into their precious egos.

And, sadly, they are never able to learn and grow from the mistakes they’ve made.

Successful people, on the other hand, forge the habit of being brutally honest about their failings in life. As a consequence, they are able to learn and grow from their mistakes.

Successful people check their egos at the doorway to success.

When it comes to success, mistakes matter.

While it is very true that success is often built on top of a mountain of mistakes, the fact is, mistakes cost you a significant amount of time and money.

This is why I am such a big advocate of mentors.

Mentors, good ones, ones who have years of experience, can teach you what to do and, more importantly, what not to do.

Entrepreneurs who are able to survive their mistakes often become very successful. However, the key word here is SURVIVE. You generally only hear the stories about the entrepreneurs who were able to survive because those survivors go on to become self-made millionaires and that’s more newsworthy than say a story about an entrepreneur who failed.

Here’s the brutal truth – you can only survive mistakes if you have the money to weather those mistakes.

The #1 reason entrepreneurs and small business owners fail is – they do not have enough money to survive their mistakes. Experts call this under-capitalization.

This is precisely why my Rich Habits Study incorporated the habits of poor people. Poor people are poor because they are doing things wrong. Knowing what they are doing wrong empowers you. It is another tool in your tool belt.

Here’s another brutal truth – those who know what not to do, make fewer mistakes, saving them time and money, which improves their chances of surviving.

This is the main problem I have with pundits who only focus on the traits, habits, behaviors, thinking, etc. of successful people.

They are only telling half the story when it comes to success.

Focusing only on what to do will only get you half way down the field. When you know what not to do, that takes you the rest of the way down the field and across the goal line.

Everyone wants a better life. But what if you’re stuck in a boring, dead-end job that only serves to pay the bills and keep you stuck in life?

With many businesses shifting to outsourced part-time or temporary workers in order to fill a need, opportunities to make more money are expanding for those stuck in boring, dead-end jobs.

Welcome to the Gig Economy.

Uber is a perfect example of this gig economy at work. Investing in real estate on the side, is another example. Social media marketing is yet another example.

But my favorite is helping entrepreneurs or small businesses looking to expand.

Why? They offer unique opportunities, can help you develop valuable skills and they put you in touch with success-minded high achievers, which as you know, is a Rich Habit.

My friend John, a seasoned entrepreneur, hires part-time and weekend operators for his sports recovery business. Training is minimal and their only requirement is that they own a pick-up truck and are willing to learn. The payoff can be $50,000- $100,000 in additional income every year and a shot at becoming a revenue center in his rapidly expanding business.

But John is just one example that I know of. There are tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and business owners out there trying to grow their businesses just like John, and looking for good part-time people to help them do it.

Finding a part-time gig is a good idea for a number of reasons:

• More Money – You can make more money.
• Develop New Skills – Part-time gigs can help you develop new skills. New skills make you more marketable and enable you to add more value in the service of others.
• Expose an Innate Talent or Passion – Part-time gigs might expose some latent talent or hidden passion, you didn’t even know you had.
• Safety Net – If you lose your full-time job, you can amp up your already existing part-time gig to help you make ends meet until you find another job. Here, your part-time gig buys you time to find a job you want, rather than one you need.
• New Business – If you’re able to grow your part-time gig, you might eventually be able to leave your full-time job. For those with boring jobs or jobs they don’t particularly enjoy, this is their light at the end of a tunnel.
• New Relationships – Relationships are the currency of the wealthy. A part-time gig introduces you to new people. If any of those new relationships are high achievers, they can help lift you up in life through mentoring or by opening doors for you.
• Unmask Your Inner Entrepreneur – Part-time gigs can fuel a latent entrepreneurial fire or expose a hidden entrepreneurial side you didn’t know you had.
• Future Partner – You might just find your future partner in a part-time gig; someone who can help guide and mentor you to become rich and successful.

The gig economy is a good thing. It’s a low-risk path towards developing new skills or finding a passion or talent you didn’t know you had.

And here’s the best part – if you don’t like your new gig, you can quit and move on to the next one. Eventually, through experimentation, you may find a gig that will completely change the trajectory of your life.

Getting to the next level in your career or business requires many things. Foremost among them is forging specific new habits that help make you better at what you do.

But, what habits take you to the next level?

Level Up Habits.

These are habits possessed by those who are at the level you desire to be.

As an example, let’s say you’re a real estate agent making $50,000 a year. But your goal is $100,000. How do you get there?

Find two or more real estate agents making $100,000 a year and take them out to breakfast, lunch or dinner. Then ask them what daily activities they repetitively engage in every day in their real estate business. Write them down and identify those daily activities that are different from your own.

Pretty simple, right?

You can do this for any career or business. Just identify two or more people who are where you want to be and find out what they do on a daily basis, that you are not doing.

Then spend the next three months incorporating their new habits into your daily routine. This is the next best thing to having a mentor to help guide you along.

Level Up Habits, like all new habits, take time to deliver their benefits. The benefits are cumulative. But, eventually, the cumulative beneficial effects of those new habits will begin to show up in the form of increased productivity, increased knowledge, improved skills and higher income, taking you to the next level.

Want Spenders spend more money than they make on their wants. They surrender to instant gratification, eschewing saving in order to buy things they want now: 60 inch TVs, nice vacations, expensive cars, bigger homes and jewelry. Want Spenders routinely gamble away part of their income. They also spend too much money at bars and restaurants. Worse, they incur debt in order to finance their standard of living.

Want Spenders create their own poverty.

Want Spending is a Poor Habit fueled by envy.

When you are envious, you want what others have, even if you can’t afford it. The non-rich want what the rich have. So, they engage in Want Spending in order to satisfy their envy. This is one of the main reasons credit card debt has exploded among the non-rich.

What shuts off Want Spending’s fuel, is gratitude. Gratitude is the gateway to a positive mental outlook and the salve which cures the Poor Habit of Want Spending.

When you are grateful for what you have, you no longer envy what others have.

But, gratitude, like envy, is a mental habit that must first be forged before it does its magic. Once you forge that habit, gratitude stops Want Spending in its tracks.

If you want to live below your means and save money, you must shift your thinking habit from envy to gratitude.

How?

Every morning express gratitude for three things that went right in your life the day before:

• My car started, and I am grateful.
• My air conditioner worked, I am grateful.
• Someone said something nice to me, and I am grateful.

This morning routine helps reprogram your thinking from negative (envy) to positive (gratitude). Within a few weeks you will start to see things differently. Positivity will replace negativity. Your glass will begin to be seen as half-filled, not half-empty.