9 Big Differences Between Rich Mindset vs Poor Mindset (With Checklist)

What Are The Main Differences Between The Rich And Poor Mindset?

There are many differences between having a rich mindset and a poor mindset. A rich mindset is focused on taking advantage of opportunities, while a poor mindset is focused on avoiding opportunities.

The difference in the mindset matters because having a rich mindset leads to success while having a poor mindset leads to failure.

“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.”

Robert Kiyosaki

1. Rich People Take On Challenge, Poor People Don’t

Rich mindset understands that there is no such thing as “done” or “I’ve made it”. They believe that life is defined by constant challenges and learning new things. Look at people like Warren Buffett the legendary investor and Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon. Constant challenges and striving to be the best are the mindset of the rich.

Poor mindset believes that one day they’ll be able to “rest”, lie around and do nothing. They work because they have to and will not challenge themselves to reach for higher heights. Ironically this is the kind of mindset that kills the dream, and by not challenging themselves they will continue as a dreamer.

Your Challenge: If you did not have to go to work for the rest of your life, what will you do today? What are your hobby and your passion? It can be something you can focus on and cultivate.

People build their business from their passion and many small businesses started as a challenge that eventually grew into something extraordinary.

“I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.”

Elon Musk

2. Rich People Embrace Competition, Poor People Don’t

Rich mindset embraces competition and knows that iron sharpens iron. When you see competition in the field you are working on your dreams, it means the path you have chosen is good. Only good stuff invites competition.

Poor mindset is discouraged by competition. People with a poor mindset always find excuses. They love to complain that “someone already got there first” or “it is too hard, I might as well quit now.” These people will not act on opportunity and will always tend to stay in their comfort zone.

Your Challenge: Do something that is out of your comfort zone. Learn a skill such as cooking or coding. 

Legends existed before the new legend that is born. New champions arise in every competition and one doesn’t hamper the success of the other. It is not easy to be a champion, but the first step is to show up in the arena.

“For a lot of companies, it’s useful for them to feel like they have an obvious competitor and to rally around that. I personally believe it’s better to shoot higher. You don’t want to be looking at your competitors. You want to be looking at what’s possible and how to make the world better.”

Larry Page

4. Rich People Are Humble, Poor People Don’t

Rich mindset understands that you can never know everything. There is always something to learn from everyone. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Only by acknowledging our weaknesses, we can do something about them. This is what people with a rich mindset do.

Poor mindset believing that they know about everything. Opposing perspectives are wrong before even hearing them. They close off from the ideas and perspectives of others. They are the know-it-all and do not seek help from others. Most importantly, no one loves to be with a know-it-all.

Your Challenge: Learn about things from a different perspective and read about them. Think and understand their reasoning before you make your conclusion. If you are for gun control, go read some well-thought-out arguments against gun control.

Train and allow yourself to build a broad perspective of life and allow yourself to understand their reasoning. The most successful people in history are unafraid of changing their opinions based on new information. They are humble to learn.

“Humility will open more doors than arrogance ever will.”

Zig Ziglar

5. Rich People Celebrate Success Of Others, Poor People Don’t

Rich mindset celebrates successes reached by others. They are the people that embrace the competition and often welcome it with open arms. Because it is an opportunity to learn and to improve yourself. In success, you will only be given two simple choices, scorn at others’ success, or be inspired by the example and perform better. Those with Rich Mindset choose the latter.

Poor mindset feels jealousy and bitterness about the success of others. They look at others’ success as an insult to themselves. They will do things to harm or create fake news to hurt their competitors. They are the people we should stay away from. Because they are the people without ethics and are those that backstab their partners, or friends when required. To them, everything is a zero-sum game.

Your Challenge: Look around and you will see many people who have accomplished more and most likely done it better than you. Approach them with a humble heart and ask them to be your mentor. Celebrate the success of others and success will come to find you.

“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”

Albert Einstein

6. Rich People Focus on Opportunity, Poor People Don’t

Rich mindset knows that the world owes you nothing. The world isn’t always fair and the universe is indifferent to your existence. But people with a rich mindset are able to be prepared for the day of opportunity and deal with reality swiftly, humbly, and practically. Opportunity is for those who are prepared and blind to those who are not. All success starts from the ability to appreciate the opportunity.

Poor mindset is consumed by the hundred and one unfairness of the world. These people love to complain about the government, their colleagues, their neighbors, and their friends. They feel that the world owes them something. Instead of doing something to change the situation they are in, they waste their time complaining. They are the whiners of the community.

Your Challenge: Write down your top 3 goals. List them down from the most important to the least. Draw out a plan on how should you achieve the goal. Prepare yourself so that when the opportunity comes, you can see it and can act on it.

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

Henry Ford

7. Rich People Understand Reputation, Poor People Don’t

Rich mindset understands that no one wants to work with a crook. Your reputation is everything, it is priceless and should always be protected. Trust and respect are earned slowly through many hardships. Both trust and respect can be lost in an instant if you ruin your reputation. 

Poor mindset believes that anyone can get away with compromising their reputation to make a quick buck. Lying and cheating can be justified if enough money is involved. They may have gotten away with some luck, but their actions will soon haunt them. They are always those who suspect those around them. Many suffer sleepless nights because they fear people around them will somehow harm them like how they harm others.

Your Challenge: Before you do anything, imagine this, ‘what you do will be known by the public and will be seen by your sons and daughters, will you still do it?’ This is the media test created by Warren Buffett, he tells his employees to ask themselves if they will be proud to let their loved ones know what they did today. If not, don’t do it.

“I want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper to be read by their spouses, children and friends with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.”Warren Buffett

8. Rich People Build Relationships, Poor People Don’t

Rich mindset seeks to build relationships with people who always seek ways to improve their lives as well as the lives of others around them. They find people who shared common values of mutual respect. These people with a rich mindset think about ways to help others and cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with the people around them with no expectation of anything in return. Just pure true friendship.

Poor mindset are more self-centered and mostly think of a relationship as a tool where the relationship is built on getting something in return. These people will not be able to find people whom they trust and are always suspicious about the people around them. “I scratch your back, you scratch mine”.

Your Challenge: According to research, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. If you find you are with people with a poor mindset, start making new friends who have a rich mindset, people whom you can trust. It is better with people who are less self-centered, you will be both happier and have the peace of mind that they will always be there for you when you needed them. 

“Talent win games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships”

Michael Jordan

9. Rich People Invest In Resource, Poor People Don’t

Rich mindset knows the secret of wealth is to gain a surplus of resources. Then, use that resource to get assets which in return are able to get more resources. If they want something, they work hard to get the asset to help them achieve it. Because they understand the power of compounding.

Poor mindset whenever they see a surplus of resource as an opportunity for consumption and in some other cases an inflate lifestyle. These people instead of getting more assets, get liabilities which force them to work even harder to pay off their liabilities.

Your Challenge: If you want to buy something, stop! Decided if the things you want to buy is a need or a want. If it is a want. Don’t buy it yet. Use the money for the investment of an asset instead, and let the asset buy it for you. Try it, it will be worth the wait.

“It’s not how much you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.”

Robert Kiyosaki

Why Rich People Think Differently?

A rich mindset creates our foundational beliefs, which positively guide our attitude and actions when processing the information and experience around us.

With a rich mindset, we formulate a winning perspective on past experience and achieve long-term success.

The mindset is the main reason why some people are successful in creating wealth, while others are not.

“Rich mindset habits makes you richer. Poor mindset habits makes you poorer.”

The Right Mindset Make Your Become Truly Rich!

A person who wins the lottery can become poor and bankrupt. While a person who started with nothing can become a self-made multimillionaire.

Rich can become poor if you have a poor mindset, while the poor can become rich with a rich mindset. 

Developing your rich mindset will be your first step on your journey of wealth and success, together with the understanding of the success formula, anyone can become truly rich.

Understanding The Rich vs Poor Mindset

A rich mindset is a set of beliefs, habits, and behaviors that motivates you to grow and nurture your talents to become self-sufficient and celebrates the success of others.

A poor mindset is a set of beliefs, habits, and behaviors that sabotage your innate talents, leaving everything to luck and fate, not thinking or making any effort to learn and grow to make changes in your life.

If you want to become more successful, try challenging yourself to build multiple streams of income since most millionaires have more than one stream of income.

Just reading about the mindset of the rich will not make you wealthy, you will have to follow through and act. Thus, below we’ve create a simple checklist for you to see if you have the mindset of the rich or poor.

Assessment Checklist For Rich Mindset vs Poor Mindset

Let’s use this simple checklist to see if you have the habits of the poor mindset or the habits of the rich. By doing this simple assessment, you can have an idea of where you stand, and what actions need to be done to develop a rich mindset.

How to use this checklist?

To help you better know yourself and see what you can do to improve.

With a simple grading system of R for ‘Rich Mindset’ and P for ‘Poor Mindset’, each mindset listed helps you to assess what is the mindset you need to improve.

Using this approach, when it is a ‘P’ Poor Mindset, write down the following:

1. What can be changed?
2. What is your action item to make the change?

Using this approach, when it is an ‘R’ Rich Mindset, write down the following:

1. What can be improved?
2. What is your action item to make the improvement?

Even with a perfect score on each category ‘R’, you need to think about ways to improve, only by continuous improvement you can get to greater heights.

Print and do the exercise while going through each mindset.

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