Characteristics of The Rich

Studying the people who have got rich, we find that they are an average lot in all respects, having no greater talents and abilities than other men. It is evident that they do not get rich because they possess talents and abilities that other men have not, but because they happen to do things in a Certain Way.

Getting rich is not the result of saving, or “thrift”; many very penurious people are poor, while free spenders often get rich.

Nor is getting rich due to doing things which others fail to do; for two men in the same business often do almost exactly the same things, and one gets rich while the other remains poor or becomes bankrupt.

From all these things, we must come to the conclusion that getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way.

If getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way, and if like causes always produce like effects, then any man or woman who can do things in that way can become rich, and the whole matter is brought within the domain of exact science.

The question arises here, whether this Certain Way may not be so difficult that only a few may follow it. This cannot be true, as we have seen, so far as natural ability is concerned. Talented people get rich, and blockheads get rich; intellectually brilliant people get rich, and very stupid people get rich; physically strong people get rich, and weak and sickly people get rich.


Exercise

Consider the following list:

  1. Donald Fisher co-founded Gap at 41
  2. Lynda Weinman co-founded Lynda.com at 40
  3. Herbert Boyer co-founded Genentech at 40
  4. Bob Parsons started GoDaddy at 47
  5. Chip Wilson began Lululemon at 42
  6. Charles Ranlett Flint launched IBM at 61
  7. Thomas Siebel co-founded Siebel Systems at 41
  8. Bernie Marcus co-founded Home Depot at 50
  9. Bill Porter started E*Trade at 54
  10. Robert Noyce co-founded Intel at 41

The successful businesses that these entrepreneurs all set up at the age of 40 +combined value of more than £100 billion. All in established fields.

Consider the FACT that there are thousands more examples and you could be one of them. Make your mind up to become one of them.