In Rich Habits Study, Tom Corley interviewed 233 wealthy individuals (177 of whom were self- made millionaires) with at least $160,000 in annual gross income and $3.2 million in net assets.

He found that becoming and staying rich tends to come from two actions:

1. Accumulating wealth  

2. Keeping the wealth you’ve accumulated

The first step, getting rich, requires that you forge certain specific habits that make getting rich possible.

In his book “Change Your Habits Change Your Life,” he shares some of the stories about how these self-made millionaires accumulated their wealth, but some of the most important Rich Habits for accumulating wealth.

This includes:

Pursuing daily growth. 

Daily self-improvement is a hallmark of self-made millionaires.  

They read at least 30 minutes a day to gain knowledge.

They also devote significant time every day to practicing and perfecting their skills.

Dream-setting.

The rich build goals around each of their dreams.

This makes it possible to realize those dreams.

Think of every dream as a rung on your own ladder.

Your ideal, perfect life is realized when you reach the top of the ladder.

Eighty percent of the self-made millionaires in my study built goals around their dreams.

Saving.

Ninety-four percent of the rich saved 20% or more of their income for many years prior to becoming rich.

They then put their savings to use by taking calculated risks.

Taking calculated risks.

Fifty-one percent of the self-made millionaires in my study took a calculated risk in time and money.

Calculated risk is a unique type of risk that requires you to do your homework.

Being optimistic.

Seventy-one percent of the self-made millionaires in my study were optimistic about life.

Their optimism infected everyone around them.

They became magnets for other success-minded people. 

Being open-minded. 

Being open to new ideas, new ways of doing things and the opinions of others is critical to learning and growth.

Growth is the parent of success.

You must grow into the person you need to be in order for success to visit you.

Finishing what you start.

The rich don’t quit.

They stick to something until they succeed, go bankrupt, or die.

Eighty-percent were focused on achieving some goal and 55% spent one year or more on one singular goal.

But accumulating wealth is only one part of the equation.

In my book “Rich Habits Poor Habits,” I share another equally important part of being rich: holding on to the wealth you’ve accumulated.

You may also be interested in reading:

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 46 | 4 HABITS THAT WILL KEEP YOU FROM GETTING RICH

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 45 | WILL YOUR CHILD BE RICH OR POOR? 15 POVERTY HABITS PARENTS TEACH THEIR CHILDREN

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 44 | BEING SELFISH GETS A BAD RAP

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 43 | NEVER CLIMB A “MOUNTAIN” WITHOUT A GUIDE

When Tom Corley  travels the country speaking to high school and college students about exactly what they need to do to become financially successful in life he always begins his presentation by asking three questions… 

“How many want to be financially successful in life?”

“How many think they will be financially successful in life?”

Almost every time I ask the first two questions every hand rises in the air.

Then he asks the magic third question:

“How many have taken a course in school on how to be financially successful in life?”

Not one hand rises in the air, ever.

Clearly every student wants to be successful and thinks they will be successful but none have been taught by their parents or their school system how to be financially successful in life.

Not only are there no courses on basic financial success principles but there are no structured courses teaching basic financial literacy.

We are raising our children to be financially illiterate and to fail in life.

Is it any wonder that most Americans live paycheck to paycheck? 

That most Americans accumulate more debt than assets?

That many Americans lose their homes when they lose their job?

Is it any wonder that most Americans cannot afford college for their children and that student loan debt is now the largest type of consumer debt?

What’s worse is what our children are being taught by their parents, the school system, politicians and the national media.

They are teaching our children that the wealthy are corrupt, greedy, have too much wealth and that this wealth needs to be redistributed.

What kind of a message do you think that sends to America’s future generation?

It is teaching them that seeking financial success is a bad and evil thing.

Here are some statistics from his five-year study on the daily habits that separate the wealthy from the poor?

1. 72% of the wealthy know their credit score vs. 5% of the poor.
   
2. 6% of the wealthy play the lottery vs. 77% of the poor.
3. 80% of the wealthy are focused on at least one goal vs. 12% of the poor.
4. 62% of the wealthy floss their teeth every day vs. 16% of the poor.
5. 21% of the wealthy are overweight by 30 pounds or more vs. 66% of the poor.
6. 63% of the wealthy spend less than 1 hour per day on recreational Internet use. 74% of the poor spend more than an hour a day in the Internet.
7. 83% of the wealthy attend back to school night for their kids vs. 13% of the poor.
8. 29% of the wealthy had one or more children who made the honor roll vs. 4% of the poor.
9. 63% of wealthy listen to audio books during their commute vs. 5% of the poor.
10. 67% of the wealthy watch less than 1 hour of TV per day vs 23% of the poor.
11. 9% of the wealthy watch reality TV shows vs. 78% of the poor.
12. 73% of the wealthy were taught the 80/20 rule vs. 5% of the poor (live off 80% save 20%).
13. 79% of the wealthy network 5 hours or more per month vs. 16% of the poor.
14. 8% of the wealthy believe wealth comes from random good luck vs. 79% of the poor.
15. 79% of the wealthy believe they are responsible for their financial circumstances. 82% of the poor believe they are victims and not responsible for their poverty.

The fact is the poor are poor because they have too many Poverty Habits and too few Rich Habits.

The best parents teach their children good habits that lead to success and the worst parents teach their kids bad habits that lead to poverty.

We don’t have a wealth gap in this country we have a parent gap.

We don’t have income inequality, we have parent inequality.

Parents and our schools need to work together to instill good daily success habits.

They need to be teaching children specific Rich Habits that lead to success.

Here are some examples:

• Limit TV, social media, video games and cell phone use to no more than one hour a day.
• Require that children read one non-fiction book a week and write a one page summary of what they learned for their parents to review. 
• Require children to aerobically exercise 20 – 30 minutes a day.
• Limit junk food to no more than 300 calories a day.
• Teach children to dream and to pursue their dreams. Have them write a script of their ideal, future life.
• Require that children set monthly, annual and long-term goals.
• Require working age children to work or volunteer at least ten hours a week.
• Require that children save at least 25% of their earnings or the monetary gifts they receive.
• Teach children the importance of calling family, friends, teachers, coaches, etc, on their birthday
• Teach children the importance of calling family, friends, teachers, coaches, etc. when anything good or bad happens in their lives. Examples include births, deaths, awards, illnesses, etc.
• Teach children to send thank you cards to individuals who helped them in any way. 
• Reassure children that mistakes are good and not bad. Children need to understand that the very foundation of success is built upon the lessons we learn from our mistakes.
• Discipline children when they lose their temper so they understand the consequence of not controlling this very costly emotion. Anger is the most costly emotion. It gets people fired, divorced and destroys relationships.
• Teach children that the pursuit of financial success is a good thing.
• Children need to learn how to manage money. Open up a checking account or savings account for children and force them to use their savings to buy the things they want. This teaches children that they are not entitled to anything. It teaches them that they have to work for the things they want in life, like cell phones, computers, fashionable clothes, video games, etc. 
• Require children to participate in at least one non-sports-related extracurricular group at school or outside of school.
• Parents and children need to set aside at least an hour a day to talk to one another. Not on Facebook, not on the cell phone, but face to face. The only quality time is quantity time.
• Teach children how to manage their time. Teach them how to create a daily “to do” list. They can put their “to-do” list on their bedroom door so parents can check it each day.

Obviously, it is not possible to follow every Rich Habit recommendation I listed above.

From my research, I learned that all it takes is one or two Rich Habits to completely transform a life.

The reading habit, on its own, can set your children up for career success.

The savings habit, on its own, can set your children up to be financially independent. The exercise habit, on its own, can set your children up for a long, healthy life.

The happy birthday or life event calls, on their own, can set your children up to forge strong relationships. Pick just two habits to teach you kids and stay on top of them for six months. After six months the habits should stick.

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN VIEWING:

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 44 | BEING SELFISH GETS A BAD RAP

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 43 | NEVER CLIMB A “MOUNTAIN” WITHOUT A GUIDE

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 42 | ADMIRE OTHER RICH AND FINANCIALLY FREE PEOPLE

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 41 | DON’T WORRY – EVERYONE IS HARDWIRED TO BE MISERABLE

What if I told you that being selfish is a success trait?

It might piss you off to hear a comment like that, right?

But what if I reworded it and said something like this: The path towards success requires the pursuit of dreams and goals that add value to the lives of other. 

Now that doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

It almost sounds selfless, instead of selfish, doesn’t it?

Tom Corley’s research on the habits and traits of successful people is pretty clear.

You need to be selfish in the pursuit of your dreams and goals.

Pursuing your dreams and goals is a selfish act.

It puts you first and others second because pursuing your dreams and goals comes at a cost – time spent with family and friends takes a back seat.

But here’s the rub.

Your dreams and goals must in some way benefit others, otherwise you will fail in realizing them. 

No one will care about your dreams and goals if they benefit only you.

But if your dreams and goals add value to the lives of others, they will happily reach into their pocketbook or wallet, whip out their ATM card and reward you for improving their lives.

You see, selfishness is hard-wired into every human being.

It’s a biological imperative to be selfish.

Survival demands selfishness.

Everyone you come into contact with is focused on one thing – themselves.

The trick is to pursue dreams and goals that appeal to the selfishness genes that drive our very existence.

Pursuing your dreams and goals is a selfish act by its very nature.

But when those dreams and goals help improve the lives of others, your selfishness morphs into selflessness.

When you selfishly pursue dreams and goals that benefits humanity in some way, you have found the magic blue pill that not only changes your life for the better but also improves the lives of others.

Being selfish is a good thing but only when that selfishness benefits society.

Something to think about.

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN VIEWING:

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 43 | NEVER CLIMB A “MOUNTAIN” WITHOUT A GUIDE

RICH HABITS POOR HABIT EPISODE 42 | ADMIRE OTHER RICH AND FINANCIALLY FREE PEOPLE

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 41 | DON’T WORRY – EVERYONE IS HARDWIRED TO BE MISERABLE

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 40 | HOW MUCH DOES LUCK HAVE TO DO WITH SUCCESS?

I want to share with you a philosophy that changed Tom Corley’s life.

It comes from Huna, an ancient Hawaiian philosophy of life: “Bless that which you want.”

If you see a beautiful car, bless that car and the owner of that car…  

If you see a beautiful house, bless that house and the person who owns the house…

If you see somebody with a wonderful, amazing business, bless that business and that person…

Why?

Because anything that you negate, you can never have. 

It doesn’t mean don’t be uncritical of the principles of the rich and successful folks you admire, but even then, there’s no room for jealousy.

The more you can learn to admire their achievements, the more you will spiritually be open to learning how they did it.

So when you find a teacher, a coach, or a person in a field of area doing really well that you relate to:

1. Learn and model from them
2. Admire them
3. Follow their lead and don’t veer from it until you’ve made it to the top

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN VIEWING:

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 41 | DON’T WORRY – EVERYONE IS HARDWIRED TO BE MISERABLE

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 40 | HOW MUCH DOES LUCK HAVE TO DO WITH SUCCESS?

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 39 | 19 TRAITS OF NEGATIVE PEOPLE PART 3

RICH HABITS EPISODE 38 | 19 TRAITS OF NEGATIVE PEOPLE PART 2

RICH HABITS EPISODE 37 | 19 TRAITS OF NEGATIVE PEOPLE PART 1