Editor’s note: Ken Doghudje continues to educate Naij.com readers on finance-related matters and developing the right thinking patterns that would stimulate wealth-building. After reading this week’s column, you will certainly see there is little difference between you and world’s richest, most powerful individuals. Only your perception of wealth differs.
What makes Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, different from you and I? How is he able to build wealth for himself in this same economy while many of us average people are struggling from paycheck to paycheck?
The truth is that Aliko Dangote is no different from you and I in many respects. The only difference is the way he thinks about money and wealth. Rich people approach building wealth as starting from the mind, conditioning themselves to attract stupendous resources. The good news is that if Dangote can do it, so can you.
Now credit must go to Steve Siebold, the author of How rich people think, who spent twenty-six years interviewing and studying some of the richest people in the world. Siebold discovered that if he wanted to get rich he had to learn to think like a rich person. He ended up gleaning a hundred differences between how the rich and the average person thought.
Here are twelve of them.
The average believe that money is earned through labour. The rich believe it is earned through thought.
Those who are not rich tend to believe that the harder they work the more money they’ll make. If this were so, then laborers, factory workers and their ilk would have been the wealthiest people, but sadly that’s not the case. We are told to go to school, work hard and get a good job as the way to wealth, but no one achieves wealth this way. The rich create the abundance mentality and harness their creative thoughts to make it a reality. According to Steve Forbes, “the real source of wealth in this new era is not material things. It is the mind, the human spirit, the human imagination, and our faith in the future.”
The average worry about money. The rich dream about money.
Worry is the order of the day in the Average league when it comes to money. This is because they constantly fret about where the next inflow is going to come from, thus living their lives on the edge. The rich dream about it, thus laying the groundwork for their thoughts and actions to actualize wealth. They do not have any fears about money, thus giving them the freedom to succeed in creating more wealth.
The average think about spending. The rich think about investing.
The average usually live beyond their means. They usually earn little so they have to spend it all to exist. The rich also spend heavily but they put aside a portion of their income in investment vehicles. Wealth is built by investing, putting money to work for you to produce more. The rich don’t focus on spending and saving; rather, they focus on how to earn more, invest a percentage of it and spend the remainder.
The average equate money with stress. The rich equate money with peace of mind.
The average person sees money as a necessary evil that must be endured as part of life. In short, they see only negative things about it. The rich instead see money as the great liberator through which they can purchase financial peace of mind. Money makes many problems disappear, so the man who lacks it still has many problems he cannot handle which causes him stress.
The average work as little as possible. The rich work as smart as possible.
The most popular strategy among the average to make wealth is by winning the lottery. Sadly they believe that this is the only hope for them. They go to work daily, turn in an average effort and wonder why they are perpetually struggling financially. The rich instead bet on themselves, put in a world-class effort and take steps towards the achievement of their goals. They seek for productive ways to get things done with and through others utilizing the best practices available thus getting mega results.
The average just want to be comfortable. The rich are comfortable being uncomfortable.
Any way you look at it, everyone just wants to be comfortable. But comfort is dangerous because it pushes you into a false sense of security that you’ve reached the pinnacle when there is still more to be done. The rich don’t want to stay in their comfort zones. Instead, they drive themselves until they achieve and exceed their targets. The rich instead of relaxing keep pushing themselves on as there is a price to pay for being wealthy. You will hardly strive if you are comfortable.
The average seek money for power. The rich seek money for control.
The rich know that money is a tool meant to be controlled, for it is a lousy master but a faithful servant. They want to put money under their control, where it is meant to be, and not be carried away by it. The average would like to acquire wealth for the purpose of power it gives them over others. This is why they fail to amass it. Most of the wealthiest people in the world control money and hardly look powerful.
The average would rather be entertained than educated. The rich would rather be educated than entertained.
The average hardly pay the price required to build wealth — which is to continue getting educated. Walk into a wealthy person’s home and one of the first things you will see is an extensive library of books they have used to educate themselves to become more successful. The average would rather read tabloids, novels and watch all forms of entertainment on television, while the rich gather information to make them richer.
The average believe that money will make them happier. The rich know that money has little to do with happiness.
Money won’t make you happier is not a statement the average like to believe. There are many stories of rich people being depressed and committing suicide so it is a fact that money is not the main ingredient for happiness. The rich do not amass a fortune to be happy. Rather they do so for the freedom it brings.
The average believe in financial scarcity. The rich believe in financial abundance.
Those who are average believe the rich have cornered huge chunks of the financial resources thus leaving little or nothing left for them. They believe money is difficult to earn and is scarce, in stark contrast to the rich who believe that resources are abundant if you just know where to look. One sees scarcity thus making it a reality while the other sees abundance and it manifests in reality. You ultimately become what you see.
The average believe money is complicated. The rich believe money is simple.
The average believe making money is a mystery. Money making, rather, is a product of ideas and creating value in the marketplace. Getting rich in a free market economy is simply a matter of trading solutions for money. The rich are not smarter, luckier or more educated than the average person. While the average tends to be over-analytical on the subject of money, the rich approach it like a child who honestly believes he can do anything.
The average focus on pleasurable activities. The rich focus on money-making activities.
The average individual’s appetite for pleasure is substantial and they really focus their attention on being entertained. The rich on the other hand make money making their focus doing things they enjoy. They turn their hobbies and passions into money-making ventures. They derive pleasure doing what they love and getting paid for it.
Dangote “wannabes” are encouraged to digest these differences and make significant adjustments to change their thinking from average mode to rich mode. If you think the way he thinks, you will eventually get the result he gets.
Kenneth Doghudje is currently the managing director of GfK RT Nigeria, the West-African subsidiary of the fourth largest market research agency in the world. He promotes Moneytalk and is the author of Money Lessons: Practical Guide to Wealth and Fortune, a collection of his articles on various aspects of personal finance, saving, investing and wealth-building. Reach out to him on money@moneytalkng.com, via Twitter @moneytalkng or Facebook.
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