According to a 2013 study by The Pew Charitable Trusts, only 4% of poor Americans are able to become wealthy, 9% can move into the upper-middle class, 17% can become part of the middle class, while the remaining 70% are still stuck in the lower and impoverished classes.
Author of the bestselling book “Rich Habits – The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals,” Tom Corley, wrote in an article on the Property Update website that if you listen to the “experts,” they will tell you that poverty is a very complex social issue involving many interconnected factors such as exploitation by the wealthy, unfair taxation, financial institution exploitation, low levels of education, crony capitalism, discrimination, and lack of opportunities.
However, Corley argues that these factors do not actually address the root cause of poverty, which is that poor individuals learn how to be poor from their parents.
Children growing up in poverty learn certain bad habits from their parents that lead to poverty, such as watching too much TV, spending time on YouTube and social media, not reading daily to gain knowledge, living beyond their means, and accumulating debts.
These children also pick up negative thinking and attitudes from their parents, which are the root causes of poverty, like pessimism, anxiety, negativity, hopelessness, anger, and a victim mentality. Their parents instill in them various limiting and negative beliefs that contribute to their poverty, such as that escaping poverty is impossible, that rich people are evil and greedy, that rich people are lucky while poor people have bad luck, and that money is the root of all evil.
The first, or perhaps only, mentors to teach these beliefs are usually the parents. Lack of knowledge is what children lack, and what parents lack, and what teachers lack.
So, what exactly don’t they know? They don’t know which habits, ways of thinking, and beliefs can make you wealthy, and which ones will keep you poor.
Corley’s five-year research found over 300 habits, thoughts, and beliefs that differentiate between the wealthy and the poor. He discovered that habits, thoughts, and beliefs are the fundamental reasons that determine whether you become wealthy, poor, or middle class.
The good news is that habits, thoughts, and beliefs can be changed. With knowledge, it is possible to break free from the shackles of poverty.
According to Forbes, Corley’s research indicates that affluent individuals cultivate certain habits and pass them down to their children:
Corley found that 88% of the wealthy individuals he studied spend at least 30 minutes or more reading each day, covering a wide range of topics including money, how to succeed in their respective industries, self-improvement, biographies of successful individuals, and history.
He stated, “Wealthy people read a variety of books to help them understand how to achieve greater success in life. Poor people, on the other hand, do not.”
Before rushing to the conclusion that poor people don’t have time to read due to work, childcare, or other reasons, research found that poor people spend more time watching TV than wealthy people. Even those who have succeeded despite uneducated parents had been encouraged to read.
Corley suggested, “Associate with people who are generally cheerful, optimistic, enthusiastic, and positive. If your social circle does not meet these standards, volunteering at a non-profit organization in the community is a good way to meet these kinds of people. They are usually successful individuals in the community who can open many doors of opportunity for others.”
He revealed that he had simultaneously worked in four different non-profit organizations, eventually rising to a board member of one organization. He gained numerous business opportunities and helped others find jobs through these non-profit organizations. He also mentioned that in this era of Facebook likes, making timely phone calls to express birthday wishes, condolences, congratulations on graduation or promotion, or simply checking in can be valuable. “Nowadays, by forming the habit of making these calls, you can stand out and be different in the competition with just one phone call.”
Corley expressed his surprise at finding that so many wealthy individuals have one common habit — exercising regularly, but upon further investigation, he understood why. Because exercise increases oxygen supply, promotes neuronal health, and enhances brain performance, those who exercise regularly have sharper thinking and better memory, making them more competitive in the workplace.
Feeling anger and frustration is normal, but how you express those emotions will determine your success. Corley stated, “I found in my research that anger is one of the most costly emotions. No matter how many good habits you have, if you cannot control your emotions, you will actually waste all your good deeds because you will damage relationships with people who intended to help you.”
Through his research, he found that successful people are very careful in their choice of words.
When children are young, they engage in many activities such as arts, music, drama, and sports. However, as they grow older, they tend to focus only on one or two. Corley said, “This is a big mistake because unless you expose children to a variety of activities, how can you discover where their inner talents lie? I believe parents must understand that they need to expose their children to a variety of activities within a year and then continuously adjust these activities.”
A child’s brain is predisposed to mimic their parents from the start. We absorb our parents’ habits, behaviors, ways of thinking, and emotions subconsciously, including bad habits like drug use, alcoholism, television addiction, gambling, social media addiction, etc. As one of eight children, Corley experienced the fluctuations in his family from wealth to bankruptcy.
Corley said, “So I’ve always believed since I was young that having money is bad and pursuing wealth is also bad. If you teach children in this way, you are discouraging their drive towards success.”
“This is one of the most critical practices of the wealthy. Setting dreams is a process, essentially imagining what your ideal perfect life would look like.” Corley explained.
The self-made wealthy individuals he studied plan out a blueprint of their dreams at least 10 years in advance, and then set goals around those dreams to make them a reality. However, many people make mistakes in goal setting because “although they set goals, these goals are not necessarily built around dreams, so it’s not a system, just random, scattered goals, like most goals set on January 1st each year. You really need to build a framework, a blueprint for your life. How to do that? It is to write a life script, describe in words what your ideal perfect life would look like, list out each dream in the script, and then, like climbing the steps of a ladder, conquer each dream one by one.”