What sets the wealthy apart isn’t just the size of their bank accounts—it’s the way they think, act, and approach life.
The difference between financial struggle and prosperity often boils down to mindset and daily habits rather than luck or opportunity.
While many people chase wealth, few truly understand the lessons that guide the rich toward long-term success.
Wealth isn’t merely about money—it’s about perspective.
It’s about seeing opportunities where others see obstacles, taking calculated risks while others cling to comfort, and thinking expansively while others remain confined by limitations.
These life-changing lessons aren’t secrets hidden behind closed doors—they’re principles anyone can adopt to transform their financial future.
Today I am going to summarize one of my favorite books called “SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND” written by Harv Eker.
The most interesting part of the book for me was the part where the author discusses the differences in mindset between rich and poor people.
Difference #1
Rich people think big, poor people think small.
Have you ever been grocery shopping and spent several hours in several stores so that you can find the cheapest groceries to save 50 or 60 cents?
Or
have you been waiting in line for an hour so that you can get a free hamburger? If you have done this, then you have a poor person mentality.
I am sorry to say that, but let me explain.
Of course, it is not a bad thing to save money while you are shopping, but this changes when it comes to how much you will save compared to the time you will spend for that saving.
If you spend 1 hour to find the cheapest oranges so that you can save 60 cents, then the value of your 1 hour is 60 cents.
Compared to this, rich people don’t care about saving 60 cents, they understand the value of their time and constantly think about new things they can do so that the value of their 1 hour is equal to $6,000.
difference #2
Rich people choose to get paid based on results, poor people choose to get paid based on time.
Let me be open with you, No one cares how much effort you put into something; what they care about is the result.
Your customer does not care that you have put hundreds of hours into developing a product.
Do you think they will buy your low-quality product just because you have put a lot of effort into it? Of course not!
What they care about is the result, If it is good, they will buy it even if you have spent a few hours on it.
For example, you don’t care how much effort and time I have put into this article. If the write up is good, you will keep reading; if not, you will just click back to wherever you landed here.
The fact that I have spent over 100 hours coming up with this blog post is irrelevant.
The fact that I made a mistake and because of that, had to spend extra time is irrelevant.
You really don’t care about any of that.
You would never say, “Let me read this low-quality article because 100 hours of work has gone into writing it.” It is about the result, not the effort or time spent.
The author says if you want to know your true value, then work for the result, not the salary.
Rich people believe in their value and in their ability to deliver results. Poor people don’t, and that is why a steady salary is very important for them.
difference #3
Rich people think “both,” poor people think “either/or.”
Poor people feel that there is not enough, and you can’t have everything. Rich people think there is plenty for everybody, and you can have everything you truly want.
Poor people believe in scarcity. Rich people believe in abundance.
Do you want a successful career or a close relationship with your family? How about both?
Do you want to focus on business or have fun and play? How about both?
Do you want a blonde girlfriend or brunette? How about both?
The last one was a joke 🤣, but you got the point.
Rich people always want both; poor people always choose one.
Poor people see the world as a cake and believe that everybody will take a slice and the cake will be over soon.
On the other hand, rich people see the world as an open buffet – once something finishes, the waitress will add more, and you can eat as much as you want.
Poor people believe that they have to choose between money and the other aspects of life.
Do you have to choose between money and happiness? No! Of course not!
Money is important, and happiness is important as well. You can have both!
Many people have negative feelings about being rich. They think that becoming rich makes you evil.
That is why they think that they have to choose between being rich and being a kind person.
So they choose to be kind and stay broke. 🙄
Probably you have heard someone saying, “That person really changed after he became rich,” or “Money changed this person a lot.” I believe that money does not change you.
Money makes you more of what you are already.
If you are a kind person, money makes you a rich kind person. If you like helping other people, money gives you the option to help even more people.
On the other hand, if you are a jerk, money makes you a rich jerk.
If you do evil things after you get rich, it means you were already evil. Having money just made it obvious.
difference #4
Rich people focus on opportunities, poor people focus on obstacles. This is my favorite.
Whenever I come up with a new idea, I share it with people to get some feedback.
It is very rare to see someone who would acknowledge the problems regarding the idea but at the same time focus on the opportunities it can bring.
Almost all the time, I hear tons of people telling me how my idea will fail. And that is how poor people think.
They constantly see obstacles, risks, and always focus on problems, while rich people focus on opportunities.
Poor people make choices based on fear. Their minds are constantly scanning for what is wrong or could go wrong in any situation.
Their primary mindset is “What if it doesn’t work?” or, more often, “It won’t work.”
I’m not saying don’t take care of problems. Of course, handle the problems as they arise, but don’t let the fear and problems stop you.
If you focus on the problems, you will get problems; if you focus on opportunities, you will get opportunities. It is a simple universal law.
difference #5
Rich people associate with positive, successful people. Poor people associate with negative or unsuccessful people.
Simply put, If you want to fly with the eagles, don’t swim with the ducks!
If your goal is to be rich, then study rich people, hang out with rich and successful people, and use them as a model.
Do what they do, read what they read. There is a reason why they are rich.
For example, if you want to create a successful YouTube channel, find the successful channels in your field and study what they do.
Study what type of content they create, how long their videos are, and what kind of style they use.
If you take the exact same actions and have the exact same mindset, chances are you will get very similar results.
When I give this advice, people get very angry, and they say, “So you want me to just copy other people? You want me to be unoriginal? You want me to just steal other people’s work?”
No, I am not saying any of that. For some reason, these days, people want to be Mark Zuckerberg and invent the next Facebook.
If you are an ordinary guy like I am, then you have a better chance of succeeding by modeling successful people, and that does not mean you are unoriginal.
For example, if you decide to create the summary of the exact same book I am summarizing now, use the exact same format that I used, use the exact same images I used, your content will still be unique because you have a unique writing style (where I put comma, you might think it should be a full stop, and you have a unique way of explaining things.
Even if you do the same thing, your content will still be different than mine.
By the way, probably you have noticed that there are already many blog that are doing the exact same thing that I am doing, but despite that, this blog will be growing.
Please don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to brag about myself or say, “Look guys how great my blog is.”
The reason I am talking about myself is that you and I can relate to each other easily.
If I give you an example from the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, it will probably be hard for you to relate to his story, but you and I are two simple guys who are trying to improve ourselves.
Another complaint I hear a lot is that I don’t have rich people around me, so how can I surround myself with rich and successful people?
Look, you don’t have to have them, you can simply find successful people and read their books or watch their videos.
You can’t ask Arnold Schwarzenegger to hang out with you so that you can study him and get in shape, but guess what? He has tons of videos and has written a book.
So why not read his book or watch his videos? I don’t have any rich friends around me. Authors of these types of books are rich friends for me.
I hang out with them by reading their books, watching their videos, and listening to their podcasts.
difference #6
Rich people know what they want, and they are committed to getting it. Poor people just want to be rich.
Imagine you and your friend are hanging around in the city center, and you want to eat a baguette.
Your friend approaches the stand and says, “Hello, I want to buy a baguette. Please give me a baguette.”
Most probably, the seller behind the stand will be confused and ask what kind of baguette your friend wants because there are many types of baguettes.
This is exactly the same approach poor people use when it comes to becoming rich. They just want to be rich, but they don’t know what a rich life looks like for them.
If you don’t know exactly what you want, then the girl who is selling the baguette will just give you any baguette she chooses, and you will walk away.
Now imagine you approach and say, “Hello, I want a tuna baguette with smoked cheese, but I don’t want this type of bread. Give me that dark bread with sunflower seeds. Don’t put onion, put some cucumber, tomato, and toast it.”
Guess what? The girl is going to give you exactly what you asked for.
In the same way, rich people do not send out mixed messages; only poor people do.
The #1 reason most people don’t get what they want is that they don’t know what they want.
You must know what that rich life looks like for you and must have a plan to get there.
For example, for me, a rich life means having the freedom to work when I want, where I want.
When I go to a restaurant, I want to be able to open the menu and choose anything I want without looking at the price column first.
I want to be able to take my parents on a nice vacation twice a year. I want to be able to help people around me when they are having financial difficulties.
I want to be able to wake up at 11 am on Tuesday and go for a walk in the park.
I want to be able to go to the gym in the middle of the day and come back whenever I feel like it.
This is my rich life, and I have a plan on how to get there.
Difference #7
Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their values. Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion.
Let me explain it this way, if you had a cure for some type of disease, would you hide it from a person who was suffering from it? I don’t think so.
In the same way, if you believe that what you have to offer can truly assist people, IT IS YOUR DUTY to promote it. It is your obligation to promote it.
By not promoting, you are actually doing a disservice to people.
Maybe the product you are selling is the product that can change my life, but if you are not promoting it, then I am losing the chance to change my life.
Resenting promotion is one of the greatest obstacles to success.
People who have issues with selling and promotion are usually broke.
How can you create a large income in your business if you aren’t willing to let people know about your product or service?
Whatever work you are doing, you need to be good at selling and promotion. Almost every aspect of our life involves selling.
For example: When you are trying to convince your partner to go to a restaurant instead of shopping, you are selling.
When you are trying to convince your daughter to study, you are selling.
In fact, right at this moment, I am selling. I am selling you my article, and you are paying for it with your time.
You are paying with minutes from your life. And I am not ashamed of selling you my content.
I am not ashamed to promote it because I know that ideas from these types of books can really help you to change your mindset.
Difference #8
Rich people believe, “I create my life.” Poor people believe, “Life happens to me.”
If you want to create wealth, it is important that you believe that you are the one behind the wheel.
Poor people travel through life as passengers. On the other hand, rich people always sit behind the wheel.
Did you ever notice that it’s usually the poor people who spend a lot of money playing the lottery?
They actually have high hopes that someone will simply try picking their name out of a hat and provide them with money and eventually will cause them to become rich.
Eker says poor people also justify their situation. They say things like, “Money is not important; happiness and love are important.”
This kind of comparison is not correct. Let me ask you a question, Is your leg important, or your arm? You are probably saying, “What a dumb question that is,” of course both of them are important.
You are absolutely right, both of them are important in the same way money and happiness are both important.
Money and love are both important. Food and water are both important.
Poor people also blame others. It’s never their fault; it’s always the fault of others. They always act like victims.
I know two people who grew up in the same village, went to the same school, had the same teachers, and both had poor parents.
Today one of them is very successful, and the other one is not. And the most interesting part is that both of them use the same reasons for their current situation.
The poor one blames the bad education system, poor parents, government, and the system for his failure.
On the other hand, the rich cousin used the same reasons to become successful.
He says, “I knew that the school system was bad and my parents were poor, and because of that, I started to educate myself and learn new things.” He does not blame anyone or anything.
Another reason the poor are poor is that they complain.
When people complain, they focus on what’s WRONG with their life. What you focus on expands, so they keep getting MORE of what’s wrong.
Difference #9
Rich people manage their money well, and poor people mismanage their money.
Money is just a tool like your computer or telephone, which requires you to learn how to use it.
We spend many hours learning how to use the computer, but when it comes to money, people ignore this simple fact and don’t want to pick up a book and learn how money functions and how to manage it.
To me, this one is crazy because money is something we sell our life for by working 9 to 5 every week, but when it comes to learning how to manage it, so many people fail.
With the amount of poor people complaining about their financial situations, you would think it would make sense to learn the basics of money, but that is almost never the case.
Rich people are not any smarter than poor people; they just have different and more supportive money habits.
To master money, you must manage money. Saying “I’ll start managing my money as soon as I have money” is like an overweight person saying, “I’ll start exercising and dieting as soon as I lose twenty pounds.”
First, you start properly handling the money you have, then you’ll have more money to handle.
If your son can’t even handle and maintain his bike, would you buy him a car? Of course not!
The same logic applies to the universe and you.
The Universe says: Until you show you can handle what you’ve got, you won’t get any more!
The author says even if you borrow money to live, you still need to learn how to manage that money.
The more important thing is to exercise the “money management muscles” so that it becomes a habit. Building the habit first is very important.
For example: If your goal is to go to the gym every morning so that you can do squats with 100 kilos, you first need to learn how to lift a 1-kilo blanket before lifting a 100-kilo weight.
If you don’t have the habit of lifting the blanket and getting out of bed, then there is no way you would reach your goal.
To manage your money well, the author recommends creating 5 accounts: investment account, play account, education account, give account, and expense account.
You have to put 10% of your after-tax income into your investment account. It is the account that is going to create the Goose that lays golden eggs.
Eker recommends also putting an equal amount (10%) into your play account. Money in the play account must be spent at the end of the month on fun activities.
You should spend this money in a way that helps you feel rich and happy.
If you always keep saving, eventually the part of you that seeks FUN will sabotage your other accounts.
Difference #10
Rich people are bigger than their problems. Poor people are smaller than their problems.
The secret to success is NOT to try to avoid or get rid of your problems; the secret is to grow yourself so that you are BIGGER than any problem.
It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, you’re going to face problems. The size of the problem is never the issue – what matters is the size of YOU.
The bigger the problems you can handle, the bigger the business you can handle; the bigger the responsibility you can handle, the more employees you can handle, the more money you can handle.
The things we call problems are actually only situations. We make them a problem. Respectively, some people make it a problem, others don’t even get affected.
How can it be that the exact same situation is a problem for one but not for another? It depends on the person.
It depends on you! You might get fired and depressed all day and complain, or you can use your free time to create your own business.
Difference #11
Rich people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.
A poor receiver is a person who cannot receive well. And what do we receive? We receive praise, compliments, money, gifts, and many other things.
Many of us have trouble receiving such things. The author says that we are conditioned that way.
We grew up and heard things like, “That’s wrong,” “You’re not making it right,” “What did you do?”
These sentences all strengthen the feeling of not being good enough. And not feeling good enough is one reason why we are poor receivers.
From now on, take everything someone offers to you.
If someone tells you you’re looking good, then say “Thank you” instead of “What? No, I look horrible today.” It’s as simple as that: Just say “Thank you” and receive your compliment.
Eker says: It’s funny, when I was broke and I saw a penny on the ground, I would never bend so low to pick up a penny.
Now that I’m rich, however, I pick up anything that even looks like money 🙂 Then I give it a kiss for good luck and declare out loud, “I am a money magnet. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Difference #12.
Rich people play the money game to win. Poor people play the money game to not lose.
In sports, teams that strictly play defense and no offense have a hard time winning.
Unfortunately, most people play the money game on defense where their primary concern is survival instead of wealth and abundance.
Poor people want to have enough money to pay bills. The intention is a very important thing and when your intention is to have enough money to only pay the bills, guess what? That’s EXACTLY how much you’ll get. Nothing more.
You have to aim high. You must shoot for the stars so that you can at least hit the moon.
The author says if your goal is to be comfortable, chances are you’ll NEVER get rich. But if your goal is to be rich, you’ll end up very comfortable.
Difference #13
Rich people have their money work hard for them. Poor people work hard for their money.
Eker says, “I agree that you do have to work for your money. But, for rich people, this situation is only momentary. For poor people, it’s unending.
Rich people believe that for your money to work hard and take your place, you have to work hard first.
They also know that the more your money works, the less amount of work you will have to do.”
The first objective should be to become “financially free” as soon as possible.
Eker defines financial freedom in a simple way: Financial freedom is the ability to live the lifestyle you desire without having to work or rely on anyone else for money.
And how is that possible?
You need passive income. In short, you become financially free when your passive income exceeds your expenses.
Many people can’t differentiate between ‘being rich’ and being ‘financially free’.
They think that first, you need to be rich to be financially free, but it is not true.
Financial freedom comes first because it is easier and faster to do.
Let me ask you a question: Is it easier to climb a ladder that has only 10 steps or a ladder that has 1000 steps? Of course, the 10-step ladder is easier, right?
By using this analogy, we can say that becoming financially free is like climbing the 10-step ladder, and becoming rich is like climbing the 1000-step ladder.
First, try the easier goal and be financially free. Once you have the passive income coming and you don’t have to work for anyone, then you can use this free time to become rich.
Eker says in his seminar one of the students realized that if she simply rented her flat and moved to a cheaper place, her passive income from the rent would be enough to cover all her expenses, plus she could even save some money.
And that is exactly what she did. She rented her flat, moved to a cheaper and more exotic place, and became financially free.
Only then did she start building her business and becoming rich.
So first focus on the 10-step ladder and creating enough passive income so that you don’t have to work for someone. Once it is done, then you can think about the rest.
There are two primary sources of passive income.
The first is “money working for you.” This includes investment earnings from financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, or other assets that appreciate in value.
The second major source of passive income is “business working for you.” This entails generating ongoing income from businesses where you do not need to be personally involved for that business to operate and bring you income.” The simplest example of this can be real estate.
Difference #14
Rich people focus on their net worth. Poor people focus on their working income.
When it comes to money, the common question that people ask is “How much do you make?”
The question “What is your net worth?” is rarely heard. A small number of people talk this way.
Wealth is measured by net worth and not by working income. It has always been like that and always will be.
To find out your net worth, all you have to do is add up the value of everything you own, along with your cash and investments like stocks, bonds, real estate, the present value of your business if you have one, as well as the value of your residence if it is your own, and then subtract everything you owe.
Net worth is considered the ultimate measure of wealth because, if required, what you own can be turned into cash.
After you calculate your net worth, draw a vertical line on a page. Put ‘0’ at the bottom of the line and at the top of the line write your desired net worth, let us say 1 Million dollars.
Once you have done it, put your current net worth on this line and see how far you are from your desired amount.
From time to time let us say every month or every quarter check this line and update it accordingly.
Even if right now you are at ‘0’ or in minus, I would still recommend doing this exercise because WHAT GETS TRACKED GETS IMPROVED.
Difference #15
Rich people act despite fear. Poor people let fear stop them.
In the book, Eker talks about the Manifestation formula.
According to this formula:
– Thoughts produce feelings -> Feelings then lead to actions -> And actions lead to results
For example, you think about a donut, then it creates a feeling of craving for the donut and then you stand up and go to the shop to buy a donut.
If this process constantly repeats, you gain weight.
Thoughts and feelings are part of your inner world, becoming overweight is part of your outer world.
ACTION is the bridge between the inner world and the outer world. If there is no action then your thoughts and feelings about being rich are useless.
Many people read these types of books to be rich but most of them don’t take action and apply what they learned.
It is not about how many books you read, it is about how many books you apply in real life.
Reading but not taking action is like watching the picture of the girl you like on Facebook all day instead of going and talking to her face to face.
If action plays such an essential role in achieving success, then what is keeping us from taking these actions? Fear!
Fear, doubt, and worry are the most common barriers, not only to success but also to happiness.
One of the biggest differences between rich and poor people is that the rich are still willing to act even if they feel fear, even if they are uncomfortable.
Poor people, on the other hand, allow fear to stop them. They don’t want to feel uncomfortable.
If you are willing to do what is comfortable, life will be uncomfortable. But if you are willing to do what’s uncomfortable, life will be pretty comfortable.
Fear and discomfort should not stop you!
Fear is the product of the mind. Your mind is a FEAR DETECTOR, NOT a success detector.
The moment you start doing something uncomfortable, your mind will show you tens of horrible cases to stop you.
Our mind is the greatest HORROR SCRIPT WRITER.
Training and managing your own mind is the most important skill you could ever own.
If you want to learn how to control your mind, I would recommend starting to meditate and reading a book called “The POWER OF NOW” which I have also summarized on this blog.
There is also a write up about managing your fears which I covered when I was summarizing the book called “The MAGIC OF THINKING BIG” by David Schwartz.
So use the link to navigate to each summary
Difference #16
Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.
Eker says that the most dangerous 3 words are “I KNOW THAT.”
The question is how do you know that you know something? Here is the answer: If you live it, you know it.
Otherwise, you heard about it, you read about it, or you talk about it, but you don’t know it.
Frankly, if you are not rich & happy, there is a good chance that there are still a lot of things you can learn about:
- money
- success
- and life
Consider this, if you’re not as successful as you’d like to be, there’s something you don’t know.
If you are not rich, it means there are a lot of new things that you need to learn and apply.
“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you have always got.”
Difference #17
Rich people admire other rich and successful people, poor people resent rich and successful people.
When I was in high school there was a very rich man and whenever I saw him passing through our neighborhood with his new MERCEDES, I could hear many negative stories about his luxurious life.
Whenever I asked around if they knew what he does for a living, no one was able to give me a precise answer, but almost everyone assumed that he is doing some criminal work and he is evil.
Several years later I had a chance to talk to this person when I was doing my internship and I learned that most of his childhood was spent in poverty, which motivated him to work harder and eventually he became a CEO.
After knowing this person and hearing his life story, I realized that poor people often look at other people’s success with resentment, jealousy, and envy and this blocks them from seeing what is good in those people.
Jealousy does not help anyone. Envy does not help anyone. But being inspired and learning from successful people is very important.
Instead of resenting rich people, we should admire them and learn from them.
Eker says you should bless that which you want. If you see a person with a beautiful house, bless that person and bless that house.
If you see a person with a beautiful car, bless that person and bless that car. And if you see someone with a beautiful family, bless that person and bless that family.
CONCLUSION
I will be stopping here, pls. Put your favorite ideas or lesson from the blog post into the comment section.
If this write up help you just a little bit, please don’t forget to share it with your love ones. It motivate me to summarize more books. Thanks for reading
if you found this article helpful, kindly share it with your loved ones. it encourage me to write more. And before You leave, check out the recommended reading below, am sure you will find something that will interest you. THANKS
