rich habits

According to a recent study by Tom Corley, author of Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals, there are few key habits that separate the rich from the poor.

What was one of the “rich” habits? Reading. While both groups read roughly the same amount, the key difference was what they read. The financially successful people read for self-improvement, while the less-successful primarily read for entertainment.

The study found that 85 percent of rich people read two or more books on education, self-improvement or career advancing a month, compared to only 15 percent for the poor; 94 percent of the rich read news-related publications, compared to 11 percent of the poor; and 11 percent of the rich read for entertainment, compared to 79 percent of the poor.

Becoming rich doesn’t happen overnight. But by constantly improving upon your knowledge, experience and skill set, you acquire the expertise needed to become wealthy and, more importantly, stay that way. This is why many athletes, lottery winners and movie stars declare bankruptcy after initially achieving their riches.

Another key habit is having a mentor — 93 percent of the rich who had mentors stated that their mentors were responsible for their wealth. Their mentor’s hindsight became their foresight, avoiding unnecessary mistakes, opening up doors of opportunity and providing the support needed. For those who didn’t have a mentor, Corley writes that they mentored themselves through books, experience and the school of hard knocks.

With the Internet, technology and many professional organizations out there, anyone can have easy access to the books and mentors people should have and need!

-- David Chang, Midweek, March 11, 2015