Develop Wealthy Habits

"Think and grow rich." How many times have you heard that before?

It's the title of one of the most popular wealth-building books ever written. And it's the idea behind so many success books, courses, and seminars that people think of it as a truism. But is it true? Can you really think yourself to riches?

In The Power of Positive Thinking (Ballantine Books, 1996), Norman Vincent Peale says:
   
Too many people are defeated by the everyday problems of life. They go struggling, perhaps even whining, through their days with a sense of dull resentment at what they consider the "bad breaks" life has given them. In a sense, there may be such a thing as "the breaks" in this life, but there is also a spirit and method by which we can control and even determine those breaks. It is a pity that people should let themselves be defeated by problems, cares, and difficulties of human existence, and it is also quite unnecessary...By learning to cast (obstacles) from your mind, by refusing to become mentally subservient to them, and by channeling spiritual power through your thoughts, you can rise above obstacles which ordinarily might defeat you.

The opening chapter of Napoleon Hill's The Law of Success (Wilshire Book Company, 2000) expresses the same sentiment:

Success is very largely a matter of adjusting one's self to the ever-varying and changing environments of life, in a spirit of harmony and poise. Harmony is based upon an understanding of the forces constituting one's environment. The most successful men and women on earth have had to correct certain weak spots in their personalities before they began to succeed.

As someone who has always been interested in the potential of the mind, I find this sort of idea appealing. If, indeed, I could think myself rich, what else could I do with my mental machinery? Maybe I could think myself cured of this chest cold?  (And, yes, there's a large field of healing based on just such a notion.) If I can use thoughts to get healthier, why not to get smarter, too?

It's Not About Thinking...It's About Doing

But if getting rich and successful were simply a matter of replacing negative thoughts and feeling with positive ones, why are so many of the richest, most successful people miserable, grouchy, and gloomy?

Not all the time. And not in all circumstances. But as a general rule, it seems to me that most of the people out there making the big bucks are more driven than dreamy, more testy than tranquil, and more hard-pushing than easygoing.

Don't you agree?

Think about the really positive, really happy people you know. Are they the industry captains? Are they the million-dollar earners?

I'm not knocking positive thinking. And I'm certainly not saying that having a good mental outlook is detrimental to growing rich. What I'm arguing is that there is no statistical evidence that equates positive thoughts with rising net worth. In fact, the little data that we have on the subject suggests a different story:

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  It is how you act, not what you think, that will determine your success.
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  It is how you think, not what you do, that will determine your happiness.

Here's my point. I don't believe that the secret to becoming wealthy is to fill your head with positive thoughts. Based on personal observations and studies I've read, it's my belief that the secret to growing rich is to follow certain behavior patterns. To do what wealth-builders do - and not waste any time getting your mind fixed before-hand.

In the course of this blog, I'm going to try to put certain ideas into your head, change some others that you might now have, and buttress my own ideas with all sorts of facts, numbers, anecdotes, and data.

But I don't believe you have to adopt or change a single thought to become wealthy. Keep the thoughts you have. No problem. However, if you want to convert the lessons from this blog into a higher level of wealth for yourself, you must follow the specific behaviors I'm recommending.$

[Ed. note: In his latest training series, Ray reveals simple ways to start a business... find a retirement career...make extra money in your spare time... and more. These are the routes to wealth the rich employ. Click here to learn more about them.]