Wealthy people do things very differently from poor people.That's what Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner Tom Corley concluded after conducting a five-year study of the rich. He put his findings in story form, into his book, Wealthy Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.
Corley began his quest to understand the rich about eight years ago when a client came into his office whose business was in deep financial trouble. The client, who owned a car dealership, didn't know how he got into such a desperate situation. Neither did Corley, who wanted to help the man find a way to save his business. He broke down in Corley's office. Eventually, the car dealer had to declare bankruptcy. Deeply affected by the man's plight, Corley wanted to be able to help other clients, and the general public, to create wealth, so he developed a list of questions that he asked of both wealthy people and poor ones.
"I wanted to know how wealthy people put their shoes on in the morning, if they did it differently than poor people," Corley said. "I really wanted to help people, not just sell books. I wanted to understand what made people rich. I discovered it was their daily habits."
Here are some of his conclusions:
Wealthy people embark upon lifelong self-improvement programs. They spend 30 – 45 minutes per day reading information related to their careers, trying to grow their knowledge, to set them selves apart from their peers. They pass this discipline on to their kids, making them read at least two books per month that have nothing to do with school but are education related.
Poor people have a completely different idea of what a goal is than rich people do. "When a wealthy person sets a goal they associate it with some physical activity," Corley said. One of his clients was a successful insurance agent, who set a goal of making an additional $150,000 in life insurance sales commissions, but always fell way short. "We determined that the actual goal was not to make the commissions, but instead to make 10 more marketing calls per day," Corley said. "It took him six months to do it, but he blew past $150,000 to $300,000. The stuff wealthy people told me about goal setting really works."
Poor people never learn the importance of living healthy lives, according to Corley. "There is a direct correlation between obesity and poverty," he said. "Poor people eat more junk food than rich people. They eat more than 300 calories of it a day. Sixty-eight percent of rich people eat less than 300 calories of junk food per day."
Wealthy people exercise at least three to four times per week. Wealthy people count calories, poor people don't
Poor people do not learn from their parents to not procrastinate. According to Corley, 92 percent of poor people procrastinate, as opposed to only 25 percent of the wealthy people. Wealthy people teach their children to not procrastinate.
Seventy-three percent of wealthy people network or do volunteer work five or more hours per month.
Wealthy people treat relationships like gold. "It is the currency of the wealthy," Corley said. One of the ways to enhance a relationship is to call someone on their birthday to wish them a happy day. This keeps the relationship on "life support," according to Corley. "About 20 – 25 percent of the time, you'll get a Happy Birthday call back on your birthday," Corley said. "Now you're talking at least twice a year."
In between times, you can call to say hello, which can also be a reconnaissance call. "You're gathering information on such things as the kids and family," Corley said. "The more you can explore, the more chances to make money down the road will pop up." Corley shares an example from his own life. He wanted to land a certain executive as a financial planning client. But whenever Corley called, he could not get through to him. This went on for several months. One day, Corley saw a newspaper story about a free throw contest the exec's son was in. Corley sent him the news clipping. The next time Corley called, the exec called back, eager to talk. "I couldn't get him off the phone," Corley said. The two arranged a meeting. Corley helped the man with his 401k and made a $60,000 commission. He credits that sale, and much of his current success, to following the habits of the wealthy.
"I would never have known about these habits if I had not decided to write this book," Corley said.
Learn more about Tom Corley's book, his services and The Rich Habits Institute at his site.
