7 Daily Habits of the Self-Made Rich and How The Rich Are Different
23rd Nov 2015

The rich don’t become rich magically. But those who are part of “the rich” tend to have similar habits that have propelled them into wealth, says Mark Eghrari, who writes “How the Rich are Different” in Forbes. In a report from Spectrum, he found to what the rich attribute their success: 87% hard work, 78% education (formal and informal), 72% smart investing, 63% taking risks and 59% frugality.
Thomas Corley, the author of “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals” based his book on 350 interviews with millionaires. He says the habits of the rich “are like snowflakes — they build up, and then you have an avalanche of success.”
There are many definitions of “the rich” and often “rich” and “wealthy” are used interchangeably. Corley defines “the rich” as having: an annual income of $160,000 or more and a liquid net worth of $3.2 million or more.
The most valuable piece of advice Corley says he can offer, is that there are only two ways to become rich:
- Live below your means (save more than you earn).
- Expand your means (earn more than you spend).
Here are seven personal habits of the rich that we compiled — and how they make themselves different:
- Get up early. Get things other than work done during this quiet time. And don’t check your emails, but so something for yourself like meditate, write in a journal or start a large project.
- Avoid TV. According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, only 23% of the rich watch more than an hour of TV a day, compared with 77% of the poor. In fact, most of the rich spend extra time reading self improvement or career related books.
- Write a daily to-do list. 81% of wealthy maintain a to-do list versus 19% for poor, according to Corley’s study. These folks like to accomplish things – that’s how they got to where they are.
- Be frugal. Don’t feel like you have to keep up with the Joneses and buy that ultra luxury car. Hold on to more of what you make and reduce your tax liability with smart retirement plans.
- Live within your means. Rich people avoid overspending by living within their means, saving 20% of their net income and living on the remaining 80%, according to Success.com.
- Eat healthy. According to Corley’s study,“70% of wealthy eat less than 300 junk food calories per day. 97% of poor people eat more than 300 junk food calories per day.”
- Exercise daily. Corley’s study says that 76% of the wealthy exercise aerobically 4 days a week, while 23% of poor do this. Better start an exercise routine if you want to be rich!
Another thing Corley says is that if you want to adopt good money habits, you need to associate with liked-minded individuals. “One of the hallmarks of the self-made millionaires in my study was the conscious effort they made to associate with like-minded individuals. If a close relationship was a spendthrift, they limited how much time they spent with those individuals.”
“If all of the close associations you make in life share your desire to live below your means, it is highly probable their good money habits will become your good money habits,” says Corley.
What are other daily habits of the rich? What are some things that the rich don’t do?