Thursday 1 August 2013

The Daily Productive Habits of the Wealthy



Rich people made it through luck, right? 

If that is your idea then you may have to revise it according to the findings of a study carried out by financial planner Tom Corley of more than 350 “rich” and “poor” people over a period of five years. 

Since wealth may mean different things to different people, Tom classified the “wealthy” as individuals getting at least $160,000 annually and holding a minimum of $3.2 million in assets and the “poor” as those earning less than $30,000 a year and having under $5,000 in assets. 

Observing how the two groups live, work and even sleep, he came to the conclusion in his book, “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals” that becoming rich has more to do with how people manage their day, beginning right from the wee hours of the morning and right after dusk. “I realized, it’s not so much what’s going on in business,” he said, “it’s the daily habits, the activities, that are the reason for your wealth or your poverty.”

Now, what concretely are the daily productive habits of the wealthy?

Early Birds

Rich folks crawl out of bed early. Corley found 44% of them wake up three hours before their 9-to-5 jobs. They use those wee morning hours to concentrate on self improvement, go through educational material, like trade journals or industry blogs and do a workout, which, according to Corley, works towards achieving a more productive day at work. To summarize, haven’t we learnt that the early bird catches the worm?

Have a Running List of Things to do

We find the wealthy to be busy people but the truth is that they don’t waste time, especially when in their offices. They have a daily to-do list of tasks and check 70% of them off each day. While the wealthy set themselves short-term goals, Corley found 70% of them also have long-term goals too.  

No Grapevine for them

Say, is it a question of the devil finding work for the idle hand? I don’t know but Corley found that while 79% of low-income people say they do gossip, only 6% of wealthy individuals admit they take to spreading the latest workplace rumors.
No Dragging Lunches

Dawdling over lunch isn’t for the rich. Even between bites, 55% of them still network, wheel and deal. 
 
Calorie Watching

Rich people watch what they eat in order to limit calorie intake. Hence they cut down on the amount of alcohol they drink and consume just 300 calories of junk food per day. Corley claims the rich don’t do these things primarily to remain skinny but rather to be healthy. Says he: “ … being healthy is about making more money … [having] fewer sick days, … [having] more energy, … [working] longer careers.” Makes sense, doesn't it?

No Interminable Internet

And how do the rich and the poor spend their after-work day? While Corley learnt a majority of the rich unwind by networking, volunteering and socializing, a great percentage of the poor however often head to the bar, veg out in front of the TV, and spent more than an hour on recreational Internet use, and even were twice more interested in hopping on Facebook every day.

And you, do you know of other financially productive daily habits of the rich and unproductive ones of the poor? Leave your comments right here to enrich the debate.

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