You’re likely reading this article because you’re interested in the differences between the way poor vs rich people think and act. You’d probably like to apply the habits of the rich in your own life, right? Well, one thing stands out – it starts with a rich mindset.

If you’re serious about becoming successful, then you need to understand the difference between rich and poor mentality. As you study the lives of wealthy people, you’ll notice one consistent theme: a growth mindset.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Dale Carnegie. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”

Having a rich mindset is ultimately about self-growth and persevering until you reach your desired outcome. The best place to begin? Understanding the rich vs poor mindset.

Ready to learn what sets apart the rich mindset vs poor mindset? Let’s dive in!

The difference between rich and poor mentality

If you’ve spent any time on social media such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, you’ve no doubt seen people posting content about their incredibly lavish lifestyles. For some, the images are real. But for others, behind the scenes, there’s a lot of debt, poor credit, and zero savings.

In the extremely popular and captivating book The Millionaire Next Door, authors Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko studied millionaires over several decades. Do you know what they found? Most millionaires aren’t living out in Hollywood. 

Most millionaires are right in front of you – living in your neighborhood, driving that second-hand Toyota, and sporting the iPhone from 5 years ago.

There are so many lessons to learn from everyday millionaires. They’re business owners who’ve built their empires from the ground up, women and men who’ve maintained their old lifestyles while building real assets and using a rich mindset.

It’s important to realize that the truly rich often won’t flaunt it.

Additionally, it’s partly why they continue to increase in wealth. They’re not giving into consumption by buying the latest gadgets or the most expensive items. Instead, they’re building assets.

This is a key differentiator between rich vs poor people. Living in luxury can be one of the habits of the poor mindset.

But becoming rich is possible with the right mindset, and there are many more wealthy people out there than you might imagine. These are people who have built wealth quietly using a stealth wealth approach.

What is a poor mindset?

On the other end of the spectrum, you have a significant number of people stuck in a poverty mindset. Poverty and being poor are complex. The environment, exposure, and life experiences can keep someone trapped in this poverty mentality.

It can be difficult to overcome this.

However, you can carve your way out by deciding to adjust your thinking with the power of mindset. So, what are the thought patterns that can hold you back from becoming wealthy?

A poor mindset believes things will not change

Poor mindset convinces people that their circumstances are fixed and that living paycheck to paycheck is the best they can do. They have a lot of negativity and think that there’s not much they can do to improve their circumstances. It’s a big difference between rich and poor mentality.

An attitude of poverty believes overcoming challenges is impossible

Someone using habits of the poor mindset believes that what life has thrown them has never been seen before and their challenges are impossible to overcome. This way of thinking may also cause them to feel judgment towards those that are rich.

What this person fails to realize is that everyone goes through rough patches. Oprah didn’t rise to where she is without facing major personal and professional challenges.

Instead, she has a wealth mentality. Below, we’ll walk through certain habits that wealthy people have that set them apart from the rest.

13 Rich mindset habits to start emulating now

Now that you know the difference between the rich vs poor mindset, let’s get into specific rich mindset habits that you can start working on today.

1. Rich people always have a vision

Before you hit the ground running, ask yourself this: what is your vision? Jonathan Swift said it right when he said, “Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”

Do you have hopes and dreams you’re constantly thinking of achieving? Is your vision big beyond what you think you are capable of today? Will what you see for yourself change your life, the life of your family, or your community in the future?

If all you see is where you are today, challenge yourself to build a vision. Once you do, realize it’s not a one-and-done affair.

Instead, it’s an everyday process where your mind dreams further of what’s possible, and then you follow your dreams. The rich are persistent and keep working towards their vision and goals; a huge difference between the rich mindset vs poor mindset.

2. Rich people have productive routines

Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok have been dominating the entertainment scene of late. Millions of hours are viewed each day. While it’s great for them, it does little for you – and the wealthy know this. Most rich people are more productive with their time.

People with money are intentional. They have routines. And they understand that you don’t just wake up as a diligent individual out of nowhere.

When we talk about routines, we don’t just mean waking up at 5 am every day. That’s only a tiny part of it.

Instead, we’re referring to the overall environment the wealthy put themselves in.

Rich people are intentional about the friends they keep. They pay attention to what they feed their minds. And they put themselves in environments where success is most likely.

Routines consist of all these components – time, environment, and habits.

For example, when you need to work from home, do you stay in bed? You probably end up getting much less done. Having a designated workspace will get you much further ahead.

Basically, create a life that makes success inevitable and eliminates obstacles that could stop you from achieving your goals. The reliability of a routine can help you succeed. The wealthy know this and are intentional about having a consistent billion dollar morning routine.

3. A rich mindset is results-driven

Rich people focus on outcomes. They take full responsibility by setting goals and achieving them.

In addition, they aren’t building routines for bragging rights. No one is waking up at 5 am, so they can post about it on Instagram.

No. People with money are focused on the results and will commit to doing what it takes to achieve them.

Routines alone will improve your quality of life. But they won’t do anything for your bank account. Routines coupled with focused action will yield results.

So, what’s the best way to achieve results? Know what you want. When you have a clear idea of what the end goal is, it will be so much easier to work back and figure out what it takes to get there!

4. Rich people admit when they don’t know

Guess what makes you a smart person? Admitting what you don’t know and knowing how to ask meaningful questions.

The rich know this and are on a constant search for knowledge as part of their rich mindset. So, if you’re learning from a mentor, ask smart questions for informational purposes.

Learn in regards to the challenges they are facing, understand what they are trying to achieve, how they are planning to achieve their goals, and what they’ve learned from past experiences.

Listening always pays off. Gather intel on best practices, new opportunities, and potential challenges and solutions. Use this skill when learning, negotiating, exploring, or networking – basically every human interaction you have!

5. People with a rich mindset don’t work for money

You heard that right. The wealthy work to learn. Poor people often work for their next paycheck.

Reasons for working is a huge difference in the rich vs poor mindset.

You see it all around you. Poor people end up working from paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet. Rich people, in the meantime, grow their skills and abilities and continually rise up the ranks.

6. Rich people have mentors

Life is all about relationships. You’ve heard the saying before, “Your network is your net worth.” It’s true.

But that doesn’t mean you should go out there and dump your friends. Instead, it means you should broaden your circle.

Once you make money the end goal, you’ll be stuck working for it without growing in your talents and abilities to boost your income.

However, if you work to learn, you’ll be well on your way to success.

You see, those with wealth connect with other people. They identify stars in their field, study them, and through a leap of faith, make that connection.

It all goes back to your vision.

Who inspires you? What do you admire about them? What do you hope to learn from them?

And it doesn’t just stop there. A rich mindset asks how you’ll make a connection with that person. To connect with anyone you’d like in the world, you have to serve them first.

Understand their world and figure out how you can add value to them. They’ll be much more receptive to mentoring you once you’ve built a relationship.

7. Rich people always look out for opportunities

Shark Tank is a fascinating show. Every week, handfuls of entrepreneurs stand before the sharks and pitch a new idea. Some of them are wild.

Would you ever imagine a sponge in the shape of a smiley face making millions of dollars? Or a toilet stool that makes bowel movements easier, revamping how people handle their business? Scrub Daddy and Squatty Potty did just that.

Their founders were visionaries who saw opportunities in the mundane day-to-day activities of life.

Not seeking to improve things is one of the habits of the poor mindset. But not someone with a rich mindset.

A rich person always seeks to improve upon what’s out there – and there’s always room for improvement. Both in good economies and bad.

Past recessions birthed companies like Airbnb, Venmo, and Uber. Recessions and times of economic uncertainty create some of the greatest comeback stories you can ever imagine. It’s times like these where differences between people with rich vs poor mindsets stand out.

8. Rich people believe in abundance

In the rich vs poor mindset, there’s often one core belief that holds poor people back. It’s a belief that resources are limited, also called a scarcity mindset. It’s a belief that if my neighbor Jane succeeds, then there’s less room for me to succeed.

It can often lead to resentment and an assumption that rich people only look out for their own interests. To a person with a poor mindset, resources are always scarce.

People with money, on the other hand, believe in abundance.

You’ve succeeded? Great! Who else can, too?

Wealthy people know there’s plenty to go around. They do not engage in an “us vs. them” mentality. They focus on providing as much value as they can to as many people as they can. That’s their formula for success.

Zig Ziglar summarized it well when he said, “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want.”

9. A person with a rich mindset learns how to manage their finances

No one is born knowing how to manage their money. Sure, some people are born into families where good money habits are modeled well for them. But for the majority of us, that’s not the case.

Rich people know this and are proactive in managing their finances. A rich person has a budget.

A wealthy person has learned how to invest in the stock market. A successful person made it a priority to get out of debt.

Beyond that, the rich understand how to use money to their advantage. Instead of racking up thousands of dollars in consumer debt, rich people will leverage it to start a business if they need to. They use debt to build, and they pay it off responsibly.

10. Rich people are not afraid to fail

Rich people are not afraid to fail because they know failure leads to success. They’re not afraid of trying something new. They see a problem, and they are quick to think of solutions to it.

No one has 100% accuracy with finance and investments. Sometimes, you just have to take a calculated risk.

Failure and setbacks don’t worry them because they have not failed as long as there are life lessons to learn. They are willing to go out on a limb sometimes, at their own risk, because they want to improve and try to be more successful.

You’ve certainly achieved wins in the past, but you’ve probably also had things not go according to plan before those wins. Look back at each of them, and you’ll notice the lessons you learned in order for you to get to the point of success.

11. Rich people focus on the long-term

There are two different perspectives in life: those who focus on what’s in front of them and those who think about the big picture.

People with a rich mindset don’t just think about what’s going to happen tomorrow or even over the next year. They think about what is going to happen in the next 20 or 30 years. The rich realize that things take time, including building generational wealth.

For example, a rich person knows that forgoing the latest smartphone model and instead investing that money in a retirement account will be better for them in the long run. Sure, that money might be off-limits until they hit 59-and-a-half. But they know that even if it’s not accessible right now, it’s helping them build long-term wealth.

And thanks to earning compound interest, the longer they wait, the more money they’ll have in the end.

12. The rich take care of their health

People with a rich mindset have a different way of thinking when it comes to things like health and taking care of themselves. They know that while working hard will pay off in the end, it won’t if it’s at the cost of their health.

That’s why rich people make sure to prioritize living a healthy lifestyle. That means eating healthy, exercising, and regularly going to the doctor. But it also means focusing on mental health.

If you have a negative mindset and are struggling with your psychological health, it can be difficult to focus on other things like making money and building money habits. So, focusing on a positive way of thinking and mental health can help you succeed.

13. Rich people understand the value of investing

Another one of the differences is that rich people understand the value of investing. Putting aside money into an IRA or some sort of retirement savings every year might not seem like the most exciting use of your money, but it can be one of the keys to building wealth.

How? When you invest money, whether it’s in the stock market, real estate, or another type of investment account, you’re making a long-term bet that your money will grow in value over time.

People with a wealthy mindset understand that investing can pay off, especially if you start investing at a young age. That’s because the longer you invest, the more time your money has to compound and earn you even more cash.

Expert tip: You can change your perspective

If you want to start building wealth, you need to develop a rich mindset. By focusing on how you approach and think about things, you can turn your perspective around from being negative to positive.

Instead of thinking about what you can’t do or why you can’t increase your savings, think about the things you can do today. Use the resources you have available to you and start building the right habits and your mind will change.

How do you go from a poor mindset to a rich mindset?

If you want to go from a poor mindset to a rich mindset, focus on improving yourself and how you think about things.

For example, practice gratitude with a daily gratitude list, meditate, and surround yourself with people who are positive. Make sure to set clear goals and gain as much knowledge as possible.

What is the difference between a broke mentality and a poor mentality?

A poor mentality is a mindset where you believe that opportunities are limited and that money should never be spent. In addition, you believe you shouldn’t take risks, and if you do have success, it’s temporary.

A broke mindset is when you don’t know what’s important to focus on when it comes to money. You might spend your paycheck on the consumption of things you don’t need, then complain that you are not able to save or invest.

Both of these mindsets can be changed, and you can begin to think positively about your life and finances.

How do you know if you have a rich mindset?

If you think that being wealthy is possible and are focused on building value over the long term, then you may have a rich mindset.

Likewise, if you find yourself already practicing investing, managing your money, and recognizing opportunities, then you likely are on the path to having the right mindset to build wealth.

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Develop your rich mindset to become wealthy!

Now you know the difference between rich and poor mentality. Becoming rich is not hard, but it does take time and effort.

You just need to start cultivating habits that will get you there and understand a rich mindset vs poor mindset. Practice habits that will make you wealthy, not habits of the poor mindset.

Like many before you, you too can become a millionaire. It won’t happen overnight, but with consistent and diligent effort and a good mindset, you’ll be well on your way to achieving wealth.

So, I’ll leave you with these questions: What is your vision? Where are you going? Who do you want to be? 

Today is a great time to start developing your rich mindset and working towards your goals.

To learn new things about habits and finance, listen to our podcast, Clever Girls Know. Or check out these financial books for even more information about money.