How To Think Like The Rich And The Powerful

Steal their mindset, because you can’t steal their wealth.

Ever wonder how the people in the 1% population think and plan? The good news is that they are no different from you in terms of mindset, qualities, and a simple belief system.

It’s a fact that to belong in the 1%, you will need power, influence, and money. However, to achieve those, first, you need to possess a certain set of mindsets, habits, and a system of habits.

These factors are considerably more important and are the necessary requirements to attain the 1% status than anything else.

Not everyone in the 1% was born with a silver spoon in a mansion in Connecticut. Some worked their way through the top from the rock bottom, from 0 to 100. Great news. You can become like one of them, starting from now, simply by following how the rich and powerful think, how the 1% spend their days, and how most importantly, react to events in life.

Let’s start.

1. Ignore the critics

Successful people don’t care what other people think because they are intentional in their journey and they know exactly when they need a second opinion.

They love real results, inspiration, and success. They ignore the little things and put their attention on actions that really make them a big impact.

The rich and powerful people understand the cost of being rich and powerful. What they understand more is that they know exactly that they have to ignore “them”, once they reach a certain high-status.

The people, the critics, and the sheep. Anything and anyone that’ll do nothing, but waste your time.

Ignore “them”, focus on “you”.

2. Don’t Associate Happiness to Luxury

I know what you are thinking. They are rich, shouldn’t they own high-quality possessions like houses, boats, or cars?

Well, it really depends on what kind of rich we’re talking about.

The Rich person #1 could invest some of their money in a strategically located home knowing it will yield a return on investment years later.

While the Rich person #2 will buy just it just because he thinks he deserved it, and then he’ll use it to show it off to everybody.

The rich could buy a Lambo or a Ferrari just to show anyone who has ever doubted him that now it’s all about money and influence. One thing to note here is the difference between the sustainable rich and the unsustainable rich.

The unsustainable rich spend as if they have unlimited money, while the sustainable rich spend as they should feed the next 5 generations of their families.

The truth is most wealthy people that we know today had to seek and find their happiness in other things like, inner peace, being grateful, family, etc., and not material possessions, status, influence, and power.

That doesn’t mean you should not aim for the latter, but my point is that you learn and practice to find happiness in anything, but your desires.

It’s the only way to be genuinely happy.

3. Sleep for more than 6 hours

Statistically, those in the 1% of the population tend to sleep an average of 6 to 8 hours per night. Those who sleep more than 10 hours end up being lazy about their plans, dreams, and just their day.

The reason is that they tend to develop a state of mind where they move around like there is no tomorrow.

Knowing that tomorrow may never come, they take advantage of what they can do today.

Entrepreneurs, for example, tend to be motivated, motivated, and resilient to work almost twice as many hours as a person would work on a normal day. When you find a goal that you really want to achieve, sometimes all you can do is fight your way to the finish line.

This is why it is widely encouraged to work on something that is really close to your heart. This way you have more persistence in what you are doing and it will be difficult for you to give up easily.

So find that beautiful problem you want to solve or the people you want to help and do whatever it takes to achieve that state.

4. Save more than you spend

As the great Warren Buffett once said,

“It’s not how much you earn, but how much you save.”

I couldn’t put this any simpler.

One of the most important reasons why the 1% is in the 1% is not because of how much they earn, but how much they manage to save.

Money can create power and influence. So the more money you have, the more control you have over the company. To become one, you need to learn how to save and invest money. This means saving and investing as much as possible from your sources of income.

5. Don’t sit around and watch TV

Have you ever seen Lamborghini or a commercial for a private jet on TV? Probably not. And you probably know what the reason is. This is because their target customers aren’t sitting on a couch watching TV all day.

It’s very simple if you want to join the 1% someday, you have to adopt the 1% mindset first.

Spend less time on entertainment and fun, and invest more time growing up reading books, meeting people, exchanging ideas, working on a project, meditating, training, and more! Choose how to spend your time every day.

We all get the same 86,400 seconds every day, however, only a few choose to spend them investing in themselves.

6. Love Failures and Mistakes

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google once emphasized,

“Wear your failure as a badge of honour.”

Sundar explained that failures are necessary steps to your predetermined future success. Without it, you will never appreciate the true meaning of success.

Sundar proceeded to talk about startup culture and explained that failure in Silicon Valley is not stigmatized. Pichai also insisted on working with people better than him for growth. People that force him to grow and do things that are out of his comfort zone.

Pick a rich and powerful person you know that has a billion dollars in the bank and a track record in terms of achievements and I’ll tell you, that same person also has hundreds of failures, rejections, and mistakes behind his back.

Suffering and delusions are how we should measure successful people. Plus, failures, mistakes, and hardships in life are what build your character in the long run. So, learn to fall in love with failing and fail often.

7. Work smart more than you work hard

While hard work shows proof of dedication, it doesn’t necessarily show proof of worth. Working hard is like being a cog in a machine. It does all the work and is a necessary part of making everything function. However, you can always be replaced with another cog.

Instead of being a cog, aim to become the machine itself.

Even better, build your own machine. Automate processes.

Create ways to make yourself irreplaceable and increase your value over time. Show everyone that you can think with your feet and think outside the box. This way you are working smart to be on top.

Everyone will admire and look up to you in no time.

8. Learn to ask for help from other people

It precedes the previous point of working smarter, not just harder. Instead of trying to do all the chores yourself, delegate some of them to other people.

Asking for help from people also shows that you are resourceful and willing to risks on other people’s work. As a result, this can gesture good leadership.

In an overall look, outsourcing work to a third party can get all the work done quickly and effectively. As a result, you get to focus more on what you do best.

9. Don’t think the world owes you anything

Responsibility, take charge of your decisions, and accept your consequences.

Know that not everything that happens in your life is personal. If there’s one thing 1% always keep in mind, it’s that life owes them nothing. It doesn’t mean that you work hard and put all of your energy into what you do will give you what you expect or want.

Life often doesn’t work that way. Often all you need is luck and timing. The important thing to consider is to keep your enthusiasm going and keep moving forward. There will come a time when everything will start to fall into place. The world loves the person who continues to walk the desired path without stopping or reversing.

So stand up straight, look ahead, and walk like everyone else loves you.

10. Spend more time discussing ideas and events

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. — a well-known quote

Successful people only have time to work on their work, projects, and businesses.

Why would they have time talking bad about other people?

The upper echelon is smart enough to realize that they are better off criticizing themselves than criticizing others. Criticizing others only show envy towards other people’s journey and successes.

So, think bigger, discuss more ideas and events, and discuss less about people.

Derick is an uprising prominent writer at The Startup (300K+ views), ex-Apple, and world-class designer with work recognized in Paris, Stanford, and Italy.

Hit me up at 👋🏻: https://twitter.com/drckangelo