The 1 Single Biggest Difference Between the Wealthy and the Rest

Tl;dr: wealthy people see the world in terms of the value they can produce for others. The poor look at the world for what they can consume. 

When I was a teenager, my high school suddenly started selling delicious waffles during break time.

They cost 1 euro.

I wasn’t working at the time and the money I had on my bank account had been earned through birthdays and summer jobs.

I had never felt the need to eat during break time, but the waffles were so delicious that I couldn’t resist buying them.

Quickly, I started buying one waffle per day, which amounted to about 20 euros a month in waffle expenses.

That annoyed me.

I liked having money, and I liked having more money over time. In my mind, each month that passed should have seen my net worth grow. Not decline.

So I started looking for ways to cut expenses to afford my daily waffle.

There was one problem though. I had no other expenses.

I was stuck.

I was thinking like a poor person.

I was thinking from a consumption-based perspective.

Consumption VS Production

It took me around 9 months to understand the difference between the rich way of thinking and the poor way of thinking and to subsequently shift my mindset about it.

The truth is that it is fairly easy to understand. However, if you have been educated in a poor-mindset environment, shifting your mindset will take time. Ultimately though, it may reconstruct your entire identity and the way you see the world (it did for me).

The difference between the wealthy and the rest is a mindset difference. The rich see and understand the world differently than the poor do. As a result, they take different actions when faced with similar issues.

It’s Not About the Money

The most basic problem everyone has to face in our society is the need for money. Faced with this dilemma, 99% of people on the planet look for a job thanks to which they will earn a salary.

Poor people organize themselves during the month so as not to spend more money than what they earn.

If they desire something outside of their financial means, the poor take a spreadsheet and compute ways to afford whatever they desire.

To do so, they whether sacrifice current spending or borrow money to refund it later.

It’s terrible thinking.

The wealthy don’t think that way.

The wealthy don’t think about their lives in terms of money, spending, salary, and consumption.

They think about it in terms of production.

They know the money they get is equal to the value they produce. They understand that the more they produce, the more money they will get.

They don’t focus on money because money is not a cause. It is a consequence. 

As a result, they focus on the cause of money instead: value.

The wealthy understand that the value of the service or good they deliver is equal to the magnitude of the problem they solve.

The bigger the problem, the bigger the financial compensation.

As such, when the wealthy desire to acquire something they can’t afford, they don’t look at it from a consumption perspective. They look at it from a production perspective.

The wealthy don’t ask “what expenses do I have to cut so that I can afford that”? They ask “how can I increase my production capacity so that I can afford that”?

Seeing the World the Way the Wealthy See It

To be fair, the wealthy rarely wonder “how can I afford that” because they are not interested in consumption.

What the wealthy want is to produce.

They don’t think “what do I want?” They think “what do people want?”

They don’t think “how can I make as much money as possible?” They think “how can I provide as much value as possible”?

They don’t look at advertisements thinking “would I buy that product?” They look at it thinking “what marketing technique is being used?”

They don’t avoid problems as much as they can. They look for solutions to problems as much as they can.

They don’t say “it’s not possible to do it”. They ask “how can we make it happen?”

They don’t look at how many pieces of cakes they can have. They look at how many cakes they can sell.

The Rich Are Selfless

The rich understand the world is not about them. They understand the world is about others. They know that it is through serving others that they will become rich.

As such, the wealthy are very little preoccupied with their own problems and focus on solving others’ problems instead.

Doing so, others (aka poor people) are happy to pay to see their own problems solved.

Ultimately, the single difference between the rich and the poor is this:

The rich look at the world and think about what they can produce. The poor look at the world and think about what they can consume. 

If you want to be rich, you need to stop thinking about becoming rich and rather look for ways to serve others. As you develop your skills and abilities to provide value and solve others’ problems, you develop your potential for earning money.

Stop wondering about what you want.

Ask others what they desire.

And produce it for them.

Picture credits: Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay