Archives for August 2019

The pursuit of wealth is a noble goal. It does not make you evil, greedy or selfish. When you are rich you put yourself in a position of being able to do good by helping others in need.

There are many advantage to being rich.

• The rich can afford to buy in bulk at places like Sam’s Club, Costco, BJ’s and other Warehouse Clubs which offer discounts for those who can afford to buy in bulk.
• The rich can afford to take advantage of one day sales, special sales events, liquidation discounts, etc. They have the money to take advantage of these discounts.
• The rich can afford the finest schools for their children, where their children can build relationships and networks with other wealthy students. The wealthy families of these students can open doors for your child that are closed to everyone else.
• The rich can afford to go on vacations with their family to exotic places. Their children benefit by broadening their understanding of the world, its diverse cultures and gaining a better understanding of geography.
• Because birds of a feather flock together, the rich surround themselves with other rich people. One of the benefits this affords is the ability to enjoy the toys of the rich: boats, planes, yachts, country clubs, golf clubs, vacation homes, etc.
• Having rich friends means having access to unique opportunities to make more money such as being able to participate in little-known investment opportunities available only to the affluent.
• The rich can afford the best CPAs, best financial advisors, best attorneys, best doctors, etc.
• The rich can afford to invest in sustainable energy solutions which require a significant upfront investment but which significantly lower future energy costs. Examples include solar panels on their property, geothermic heating, Tesla’s Powerwall home battery, etc.
• The rich can afford to purchase vacation homes. This enables them to spend more quality time with their immediate family and their friends. Having a vacation home by the beach, lake or ski lodge is like being able to go on a vacation every week,
• The rich are able to remain healthier, longer. They have access to the best medical care, medical procedures to resolve obesity, personal trainers to help them stay fit and they can afford to buy expensive nutritional food.
• The rich fund many community-based non-profits. This helps improve the lives of many and benefits society.
• The rich have more fun because they can afford to spend money on expensive entertainment such as concerts, sporting events (i.e. season tickets), Broadway plays, skiing, beachfront resorts, etc.

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!

In my five-year study of the daily habits of the wealthy and the poor I tracked over 300 activities that separate these two groups. Here is a sampling of some of the differences in their habits:

1. 6% of the rich said they leased their cars. 45% for the poor did the same. The rich, long before they became rich, bought their cars and held on to them for 10 years or until the engine block cracked.
2. 13% of the rich drive a high-end car. 9% of the poor did the same. The big difference here is that the rich owned their luxury cars while the poor leased their cars.
3. 72% of the wealthy knew their credit score vs. 5% of the poor. The rich carefully monitor their credit. They know if they have good credit and they know what their credit score is.
4. 29% of wealthy households had one or more children who made the honor role vs. 4% for the poor. The self-made rich understand the importance of education.
5. 77% of the poor admitted to playing the lottery regularly vs. 6% of the rich. But it’s not just the lottery they gamble their money on…..
6. 52% of the poor admitted that they gamble on sports at least once a week vs. 16% of the wealthy.
7. 43% of the poor admitted to losing their temper at least once in the past month vs. 19% of the wealthy. People like doing business with people who have control over their emotions.
8. 75% of the rich learned good daily success habits from their parents. 94% of the poor admitted that their parents were poor mentors. Children pick up the habits of their parents.
9. 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…
10. 69% of the poor visit fast food restaurants 3 times or more each week. 75% of the wealthy stay away from fast food restaurants. Still more….
11. 57% of the rich counted calories every day vs. 5% of the poor. Wait, not done yet…
12. 69% of the poor eat candy more than once a week vs. 28% of the rich. It gets worse….
13. 70% of the rich ate less than 300 junk food calories each day. 97% of the poor ate more than 300 junk food calories.  Got one more on health…
14. 76% of the rich exercise aerobically every day vs. 23% for the poor.
15. How do the rich and the poor think when it comes to wealth and poverty? 79% of the poor believe wealth is the result of random good luck. 92% of the rich disagree.
16. 90% of the poor believe in fate vs. 10% for the wealthy.
17. 79% of the rich believe they are the cause of their financial condition. 82% of the poor believe they are not responsible for their poverty. It’s someone else’s fault.
18. The poor love watching T.V and, in particular, reality shows. 77% of the poor admitted to watching more than one hour of T.V. each day  and their preference? Reality T.V. wins hands down. 78% of the poor watch reality T.V. shows. The rich, on the other hand are not big on T.V. 67% watch less than an hour each day and it’s not reality T.V. that they tune in to. Only 6% watch reality T.V.

There you have it. It’s not pretty. I only scratched the surface. The rich are rich because they have more Rich Habits than Poor Habits and the poor are poor because they have more Poor Habits than they have Rich Habits. If you want to rise from poverty or the middle-class, you’ve got to change your daily habits.

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!

Everyone has the same 24 hours in every day. In that respect, we are all on equal footing. How that time is used, is what separates high achievers from everybody else.

Many of the rich people in my study, 65% in fact, were managing at least three streams of income. Forty-five percent were managing at least four streams and 29% were managing at least five streams of income.

Yet, despite all of their obligations and responsibilities, somehow they had time to serve on the boards of charities, to write books, to do speaking engagements, to coach kids sports teams, to read 30 minutes or more a day, to exercise daily, to mentor or coach others and to do many other productive things.

How does someone running multiple businesses find the time to do so much?

The answer is very simple – successful people don’t find the time, they make the time.

They prioritize what matters most to them and devote time to those things. Anything that isn’t a priority, doesn’t get their attention – or their time.

Their priorities are always value-driven.

What are values?

Values are major pillars that act like a foundation for the life you live. They are the things that are most important to you. As an example, my values, in their order of importance, would be:

1. Immediate Family
2. Good Health
3. Friendship
4. Learning
5. Financial Success
6. Mentoring/Educating Others
7. Charity
8. Extended Family

Knowing your values is important because your values are drivers – they define how you spend your time. Anything that is not part of your value inventory doesn’t deserve the investment of your time.

The time we all have on earth is limited. Define what matters most to you and focus your time on those things, ignoring everything else.

That’s the most effective time management tool.

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!

The top 5% of households in America reported $197,651 or more in income in 2016, according to the Tax Foundation. This same top 5% controlled 60% of the nation’s wealth, according to the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finance.

This 5% run big companies, run small companies, employ millions, hire and fire employees, invest in new companies, liquidate old companies, increase or decrease wages, and essentially control the lives of the other 95%.

This 5% can, and do, alter our lives, for better or for worse.

So, what do these individuals actually do for a living?

I devoted five years of my life in an effort to answer that question. I then wrote a series of Rich Habits books sharing the data I had gathered.

Here’s a snapshot of that data:

• 18% were Big Company Senior Executives
• 51% were Dreamer-Entrepreneurs
  • 27% of these Dreamer-Entrepreneurs failed at least once in business
• 13% were salesmen/saleswomen
• 28% had some professional designation. Some worked for big companies, others in a small business
• 7% were Virtuosos, or top experts, in their field
• 49% were Saver-Investors – Average individuals with modest incomes, who consistently saved 20% or more of their income and prudently invested their savings over a period of 32 years
• 63% took a personal financial risk in search of wealth
• 41% were “B” students
• 29% were “C” students
• 68% had a college degree
• 25% had a post graduate degree
• 86% worked more than 50 hours per week

If you were to boil it down, the rich become rich by pursuing wealth in one of four ways:

Path #1 – Saver-Investor Path

The Saver-Investor Path is one almost any individual can take. It has only two rules that you must follow:

1. Save 20% or more of your income by living off of 80% or less of your income and
2. Consistently and prudently invest your savings.

According to my Rich Habits Study, this chosen path took 32 years to accumulate an average of $3.3 million.

This path is not for everyone. It requires enormous financial discipline and a long-term commitment.

Path #2 – Big Company Senior Executive Path

Working for a big company and rising up the ladder into senior management is another path to riches. In most cases, the wealth these self-made millionaires accumulate comes from either stock compensation or a partnership share of profits.

This path is also not for everyone. You must devote yourself to one company for a long period of time. And there are risks. The biggest risk is you could be fired.

A secondary risk is profitability. If the company struggles financially, for whatever reason, your time investment in the company may not be rewarded, to the extent you expected.

Path #3 – Virtuoso Path

Virtuosos are individuals who are the best at what they do or possess knowledge which sets them apart from all of the competition.

Becoming a Virtuoso requires an enormous investment in time, and often money.

Skill-based Virtuosos devote themselves to many years of Deliberate Practice and Analytical Practice.

Analytical Practice often requires the services of a coach, mentor or expert who can provide immediate feedback. This feedback, in most cases, costs money.

Knowledge-based Virtuosos must spend many years in continuous study. Oftentimes, this requires formal education, such as advanced degrees (PhD, Medical Degrees, Law Degrees, etc.).

Again, this path is not for everyone. Not everyone has the ability to devote significant hours every day practicing their skill, or the financial resources to pursue advanced degrees.

Path #4 – Dreamer-Entrepreneur Path

The Dreamer-Entrepreneur Path requires the pursuit of a dream. This might be starting a business. It might involve becoming a successful author, musician, actor or artist. It might be the creation of an app, product or some unique service, which provides added value to a significant number of people.

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!

About two years ago, I began intermittent fasting. This requires me to go about 14 hours without eating in order to maintain a ketonic state.

When you are in a ketonic state, this means your body has run out of glucose, or stored glycogen, and must burn fat cells in order to release ketones. These ketones are then used to fuel every cell in the body. This burning of fat, in order to release ketones, forces weight loss.

In the beginning, my hunger pains were particularly acute around 8am. Eating any food that contained glucose would take me out of this ketonic state. Not wanting to disrupt my ketonic state, I searched for food that did not contain any glucose.

I stumbled upon a study about microbiota (bacteria in the gut). This study highlighted the need to feed microbiota. When your microbiota are hungry, you experience hunger pains.

I experimented with various non-glucose foods, and found that celery almost immediately ended my hunger pains. I wanted to know why and thus began my two-year research into microbiota.

The Vagus Nerve runs from the brain stem all the way down into your gut (small and large intestines). It’s branches, known as tendrils, are like fiber-optic cables sending and receiving information between the brain and the gut.

Hunger pains are triggered in two instances:

1. When the body needs glucose and
2. When your microbiota need their food

The body communicates its need for food through to Vagus Nerve. The Vagus Nerve then sends a signal to the brain that the body needs food and the brain releases certain chemicals/neurotransmitters that cause you to crave food.

Living inside your gut are 100 trillion bacteria, or about three pounds of bacteria. Those bacteria, like the cells in your body, require food in order to survive. The food they need is very specific, however. It is often referred to as prebiotic food.

When you eat unhealthy food, that food may satisfy your body’s glucose needs, but it lacks the requisite prebiotics to feed the bacteria in your gut.

So, the Vagus nerve will continue to send hunger signals to the brain in order to get more food to feed the 100 trillion bacteria, screaming for prebiotics, like newborn hatchlings in a nest.

The prebiotic food that does the best job of feeding bacteria is high fiber foods. Spinach, kale, broccoli, Avocado, pears, apples, turnips, celery, artichokes, raw garlic, raw leeks, onions, wheat bran, yogurt, kefir, asparagus, cabbage, legumes, beans, root vegetables (ie. potatoes, carrots) and some others.

Most people who struggle with weight issues have poor eating habits. They eat the wrong food and, because of that, they are constantly bombarded with hunger pains, thanks to the starving microbiota in their gut.

If you want to lose weight, you must shut down those hunger pains. You do this by forging the Rich Habit of eating plenty of prebiotic foods. At least two of your meals a day should include some prebiotics. This will keep those 100 trillion bacteria happy, which keeps the hunger pains away.

It turns out my microbiota just happen to love celery.

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!

Forty-one percent of the 177 self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits research study were raised in poor households. Yet, somehow they managed to break out of their poverty as adults.

How?

In my book, Change Your Habits Change Your Life, I shared the many wealth-building strategies/habits these future millionaires adopted, which was critical to their success and building their wealth.

What follows are the top strategies/habits that had the greatest impact on transforming their lives from poor to rich.

#1 They Reduce Their Risk of Failure

One of the downsides of failure, is that it can put you in the poor house. When you grow up poor, you don’t fear poverty as much, because it is something you are familiar with and something you survived. Therefore, failure does not frighten you as much and, in fact, emboldens you to take risks.

But not just any risk. According to my study, the self-made millionaires took something called Calculated Risk.

Calculated Risk requires doing your homework and planning for every potential outcome, good or bad. When it came to taking risks, my self-made millionaires always had an escape hatch, or Plan B. Knowing all of the potential outcomes and having a Plan B, gives you incredible clarity moving forward and helps eliminate the fear of failure.

#2 Desire to Change is Great

Poverty can either beat you down or make you stronger. For the self-made millionaires in my study, it made them stronger. That’s why they were in my study – poverty motivated them to achieve.

Their desire to become successful and rich drove them to transform themselves. This desire to change motivated them to learn what they needed to know in order to succeed. It also forced them to develop and perfect superior skills in order to earn more than their competition.

#3 Superior Work Ethic

A hard work ethic is a prerequisite to success. Those who are raised in poverty, have no choice but to work hard. When you are able to combine a hard work ethic with your dreams and goals, success is inevitable.

#4 They Remove Rose-Colored Lenses

When you grow up poor you see things through a much different lens. You know life can be very hard when you are poor. Things can and do go wrong. You know that because you experienced that growing up in poverty. The experience of poverty allows you to see things as they really are and not allow yourself to be blinded by unrealistic optimism.

Being anchored in reality, allows you to see potential pitfalls ahead of time, which enables you to navigate and pivot around those pitfalls.

#5 Comfortable With Failure and Setbacks

Those who struggle with poverty become familiar with failure and setbacks. Consequently, when things go wrong, as they often do in the pursuit of wealth, those raised in poverty don’t raise the white flag and surrender. Rather, they see failure and setbacks as normal, which allows them to keep moving forward in the pursuit of their dreams and goals.

#6 Accustomed to Sacrifice

Growing up poor means you are unable to possess the things non-poor people take for granted. Poverty forces you to become accustomed to doing without. This actually is a great advantage. The pursuit of wealth always requires sacrifice. Sometimes for many years. If you’re accustomed to sacrifice, it’s less painful and more tolerable.

#7 Frugality is a Habit

The poor have no choice but to be frugal with their spending. They forge the frugality habit at a very young age. And, as you know, habits are hard to break. This frugality habit, therefore, follows the poor into their wealthy adult lives.

#8 They Know How to Wow Those They Do Business With

Unsuccessful people have a tendency to want to “wow” others, so they make promises that often exceed another person’s expectations. They “wow” them at the beginning. That’s backwards. It sets you up to fail when you do not meet expectations.

Successful people make it a habit of changing the other person’s perception of reality. They reduce expectations at the beginning of the promise stage. By reducing expectations this way, they set themselves up for success, making it easier to exceed expectations by over delivering. This allows them to “wow” them at the end.

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!

Sixteenth century astronomer Galileo Galilei stood on the shoulders of 15th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus when he proved through various experiments that Copernicus’ sun centered theory was correct.

Sir Isaac Newton, considered the father of physics and calculus, stood on the shoulders of Copernicus, Galileo and Rene Descartes.

Albert Einstein stood on the shoulders of Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Descartes and many others when he came up with his famous General and Special Theories of Relativity.

All successful individuals stand on the shoulders of others, who helped motivate and guide them in their journey.

Some of the shoulders we climb up on are found at home – mentoring, supportive parents.

Others are found in school – devoted teachers.

Oftentimes a boss or supervisor can be a mentor, showing us what to do and what not to do.

Books can become our mentors.

Or, you can spend five years interviewing 361 rich and poor people.

If you want to be successful, you have to continuously learn from others, what to do and what not to do.

Success is a team effort. No one succeeds on their own.

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!

According to a 2013 Associated Press survey, 80% of America’s adults were struggling with unemployment, poverty or near poverty. That’s a lot of unhappy people. Unhappy people tend to have unhappy thoughts.

Conversely, happy people tend to have happy thoughts. Cognitive psychologists call this tendency to see the world through either a negative or positive lens, mood congruency.

According to the latest science, negativity inhibits your ability to think clearly. When the lens through which you view the world is negative, you see nothing but problems. You become blind to opportunities. A negative mental outlook causes tunnel vision, limiting creativity.

If you’re one of those 80% struggling in life, a negative mental outlook acts like gasoline, fueling the flames of negativity and perpetuating a life of unemployment, poverty or near poverty.

A positive mental outlook, according to that same science, enhances creativity, problem solving and allows you to see opportunities.

So, if you want to increase your odds for success, you need to flip the switch.

But how do you flip the switch from a negative outlook to a positive outlook?

Gratitude!

Gratitude is the gateway to optimism and a positive mental outlook.

Gratitude forces you to shift your focus from what you lack, scarcity, to what you have, abundance.

The other day, for some reason, my car stalled at a traffic light on my way to work. Ten cars were lined up behind me. In a panic, I immediately re-started my car and everything was fine. The first thought I had was, thank God my car started right up.

How many times do we turn the key every morning to start our car and think nothing of it?

We need to make a daily habit of being grateful for the simple things in life.

My car started today, I was able to feed my family, I have a roof over my head, I’m healthy, I’m alive, I have a loving family, etc.

When you shift your thinking to the good things about your life, you force your brain to shift from negative to positive.

If you practice gratitude every day, eventually a positive, abundance mindset will replace your negative, scarcity mindset.

Gratitude changes the lens through which you view your world, from negative to positive. And when that happens, you’ll begin to see solutions to your problems. Ideas will pop into your head that will help you climb your way out of your unemployment, poverty or near poverty.

Expressing gratitude every day is not some pseudo, new age bunk. Gratitude is the gateway to optimism and a positive mental outlook. It’s the means to transforming your life from one filled with scarcity, problems and limitations to one filled with abundance, solutions and limitless opportunities.

There are numerous ways to achieve financial independence (4 Paths to Becoming a Self-Made Millionaire – http://richhabits.net/4-paths-becoming-self-made-millionaire/).

But no matter which path you take, the starting point is always the same – an optimistic, positive outlook.

If you want to be rich, you must get your head straight. The starting point for success is always the same – Positive Thinking!

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!

I’ve written often about the 4 Paths to Wealth, which I discovered in my Rich Habits research (4 Paths to Becoming a Self-Made Millionaire – http://richhabits.net/4-paths-becoming-self-made-millionaire/)

I’ve never been the type of person who pinches pennies (Saver-Investor Path). Being excessively frugal is just not in my DNA.

After working many years in the corporate headquarters of a large company, I realized that I’m also not the type of person who can tolerate the politics of a corporate career (Big Company Path).

I am the type of person, however, who has the discipline to devote years in developing an expertise (Virtuoso Path).

• Getting my Masters degree in Taxation took three years of night school.
• I became one of the top junior tennis players in the U.S., largely because I had the discipline to practice for many hours every day, during my childhood.

I also learned, thanks to my Rich Habits work, that I have a high risk tolerance – I do not fear the risks (money & time) associated with the pursuit of something I am passionate about – writing and publishing my books (Dreamer-Entrepreneur Path).

It’s not enough to want to be rich. It’s more complicated.

There are several paths to becoming rich. Not every path is right for you.

Are you suited to be a Saver-Investor, a Big Company Executive, a Virtuoso or an Entrepreneur?

Know thyself. Choose the path toward wealth that is right for you! Put your ladder on your wall, not someone else’s wall, and keep climbing.

The path you take must align with your personality (your DNA, if you will).

If you choose the wrong path, you will not succeed. If you choose the right path, you dramatically increase your odds of succeeding.

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!