Rich People Have Habits You Might Want to Adopt in Life
Common traits of the wealthy that are available to you
If you want to be rich, you need to adopt the habits of the rich. You most likely weren’t gifted to play professional sports or to generate sellout crowds playing music. If you don’t have those gifts, there is one skill you can easily apply.
The next best step is to simply, read.
In the book the Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, rich people (annual income of $160,000 or more and a liquid net worth of $3.2 million-plus) read for education, self-improvement, and success. Poor people (annual income of $35,000 or less and a liquid net worth of 5,000) read primarily to be entertained.
The wealthy don’t spend their time playing games. What you feed yourself changes your life. This does not mean what you physically eat. What you feed yourself mentally changes you as you learn new ideas. Because you finished formal schooling, your education should not end there.
You can stretch yourself and fill your mind with information that can help you in your life. The latest Netflix series probably won’t do that.
Routines of the wealthy
You have 24 hours in a day. How you manage your time is critical. You can either waste your time or spend your time to learn.
Warren Buffett reads five to six hours a day. He reads the Wall Street Journal and other investment reports. Buffett averages 500 pages a day and he used to read 600 to 1,000 pages in his early days of investing.
Bill Gates reads about 50 non-fiction books a year. Gates makes a choice on what he fills his mind with.
Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. Zuckerberg said reading was the key to his success. For someone as busy as Mark Zuckerberg, you should be able to find time to read as well.
Elon Musk grew up reading several books when he was younger. Today Musk is working on Space X because he learned how to build rockets by reading.
Mark Cuban reads four or five hours every day. Cuban subscribes to several news outlets such as Dallas Morning News, The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and six magazines. Following that, he educates himself on the latest information on technology because technology continues to change every minute.
The five people mentioned are all billionaires who started with nothing. They are all self-made billionaires. One common trait can be applied to all of them. They all spend their time reading.
This is not just common among billionaires. Millionaires follow a similar routine.
In a five year study by Thomas Corley, 200 self-made millionaires, 86 percent claimed they read and not for fun. Approximately 63% claimed they listen to audiobooks on their morning commute.
Many wealthy people use the five-hour rule
The five-hour rule is dedicating five hours to learn and think. Michael Simmons founder of Empact said people no matter how busy they were, spent an hour a day or five hours a week learning or practicing. They practice this during their entire career.
The five-hour rule also includes reflecting and thinking. You can reflect on past mistakes, think bout what you can do differently next time. Another way you can reflect is to journal. Journal about what you wanted to do and write down your results.
Schedule reflection time in your schedule. If you don’t have five hours, then you can reduce the time requirement. Start with 20 to 30 minutes of reading or listening to audiobooks. Make this a routine habit.
Actions steps for you
Make time to read whether it’s in the morning, during your lunch break, or before you go to sleep. Make this a new routine if you are not already reading.
If you don’t know what book to read, Mark Zuckerberg shares his reading list.
Bill Gates also shares his reading list.
When you read a book, find one new idea you learned that you were not aware of. Take the new idea and apply it to your life. You could do the same if you listened to an audiobook or watched a video. That one new idea could change your life, forever.
What habit did you like best and possibly how can you implement it for success?
References
Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Oprah all use the 5-hour rule. Here’s how this powerful habit works
Elon Musk’s Reading List Holds the Keys to his Success, but Only if we Look Closely
The 5-Hour Rule Used by Bill Gates, Jack Ma and Elon Musk
