You Must Grow Your Way Out of Poverty

A Fish Rots From the Head Down.

What this means to me is that poverty begins and ends in the mind.

According to my Rich Habits Study, most of the rich (76%) are born into either poverty or the middle-class. According to the 2016 Wealth X Census, 75% of the rich are born into either poverty or the middle-class.

It’s what happens after you are born that determines whether or not you will become rich and successful. And the path towards wealth always begins in the same place – the mind.

Those who rise up from poverty or the middle-class have one thing in common – they change their thinking. They do this a number of ways:

• Associate with other, success-minded people who infect them with their upbeat, positive, success-thinking.
• Find success mentors in life, who infect them with their upbeat, positive, success-thinking.
• Read books of other successful people who rose from poverty or the middle-class.
• Read books, articles, blogs or listen to TEDx talks or podcasts that inspire them or help them grow in knowledge and wisdom.
• Surround themselves with experts who wisely council them.
• Find partners who share their dreams and goals and who help them pull the same cart.
• Avoid or disassociate themselves from negative, toxic people.

Success is a process. That process always starts in the same place – the mind.

If you want to succeed in life, you must change the way you think. You must become upbeat, positive and optimistic about life. You also must increase your knowledge.

These things require an investment – an investment in yourself. You invest in yourself through growth -growth in knowledge and/or skills, growing your relationships with other success-minded people, growth by finding success-mentors and growth by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone by pursuing dreams and goals.

Make Growth a daily habit.

Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner and author of “Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life”, “Effort-Less Wealth”, “Change Your Habits Change Your Life”, “Rich Habits Poor Habits” and “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.”