When I first started writing this
blog, my topic was going to be the carbon footprint of the rich vs the
poor. As I started to do my research I
was noticing a lot of different trends and general personality differences
between the rich and poor. It started to
make me think that I should really reflect on how wealth or status affects your
thinking and mindset, which in turn affects your whole life.
Now I know everyone is different,
not everyone falls under the same stereotypes and categories but there are very
common trends for each. I am going to
talk about just a few of the major differences between them. Not only are their differences in their
everyday actions, but also their mindsets.
Mindset
of the Rich and Poor
One of the biggest differences of
rich and poor is how they perceive their life.
Rich people tend to think that they create the life they live while poor
people tend to believe that life happens to them. These two attitudes have a huge impact on how
day to day life will happen. By thinking
you are in control of your life, you can make positive changes to get to where
you wish to be. When you think that you
are powerless and no matter what you do, your situation won’t change then there
is no use to even try. It is easy to get
consumed with the negative thoughts that life will not get better instead of
focusing that energy on changing your life. Just like the expression, the rich
get richer, and the poor get poorer; I can see that to be true just with the
mindset difference between the two classes.
The rich believe they are in control
of their lives and they tend to dream big and focus on opportunities, while the
poor on the other hand do not. This goes
back to the negative mindset. The poor
tend to undervalue themselves. They get
comfortable with their life and accept the cards they were dealt, even though
the dream to be rich is there. The poor
are focused on all the obstacles in their way of possible opportunities. The rich however, are never satisfied; they
crave more and strive to reach their full potential because they are in control
of their destiny. They know that in
order to be successful, they must take chances and jump at different
opportunities.
Another big difference between rich
and poor is who they associate with.
Rich people tend to associate with likeminded people, who are also
successful and positive in their life.
But same goes for poor people, they tend to associate with other
unsuccessful people who view the world in the same negative light. Even though most people tend to befriend or
associate with people who are similar to them, by never knowing different kinds
of people you will never get different incite.
Not only do poor and rich rarely
intermingle, but their views of each other are very different. Poor people have a tendency to resent rich
and successful people while the rich admire other rich and successful people. The poor feel bitter about their life and are
jealous that these people don’t have to struggle like them. In contrast, the rich admire other rich and
successful people. I feel like instead
of using that energy to resent these successful people there is much to be
learned from them. By having a positive
mindset, rich people have probably already discovered that there is much to be
learned from other rich people.
Daily
life of Rich vs. Poor
I read a five year study on the
daily differences between the rich and the poor done by Tom Corely, who is a financial planner and the author
of Rich Habits and the results were
very interesting to me. He studied how
they live, work, sleep, eat, exercise, etc.
Before researching this topic I didn’t realize how different the rich
and the poor really are besides just the number in their bank accounts. But besides their mindset differences, their
daily activities vary immensely as well.
The
things we do on a daily basis affect our mood and health. In the study, Corely found that 76% of
wealthy people exercise aerobically four days a week and only 23% of the poor
do this. Myself being a phycology major
and a health minor, I know how important physical exercise is to not only your
body and health but your mind as well.
Exercise is not only good for strengthening your heart, losing weight,
but also for any depression/ anxiety and negative feelings. I feel like this is part of the reason why
wealthy people are more positive than poor people. Another difference is what they do in their
free time day to day. The study showed
88% of wealthy people read 30 minutes or more each day for education or career
reasons vs 2% of the poor. The study
also showed that 6% of wealthy watch reality TV vs. 78% for the poor. The difference in activities is huge.
The
differences in their daily life could be affecting their mindset or their
mindset could be affecting their daily life.
But either way, maybe the poor or middle class should adopt some of the
daily activities and thoughts of the rich; they appear to be doing something
right. Every single person is in control
of their life and destiny. Some just
don’t believe that or don’t want to change their current situation because they
have grown too comfortable. But dreams
don’t always have to be dreams; they can become reality with changes to daily
life and thinking.
References
I think it is great that after some research you found a topic that actually made you think and consider the topic. I think that when someone takes responsibility for what they are learning, that is when they learn the most. So after reading your post, I found it enlightening because I was able to reflect upon all the people that I have met in my short life. Having a job has been part of me for so long and being in different work environments, I see the difference between the rich and the poor. I really liked how you started out with each personas mentality. That is where it all starts, because if you believe, they will succeed. At my current job I have talked with my co-worker about why he has worked with the company for so long and he responded, “It is from all the mistakes I have made.” I don’t think he believes he can be better then where he is right now which is heart breaking. I try to talk with him and explain that it is never to late to strive for your dreams. I think deep down he believes that he has too many ghosts latched onto him so he cannot reach those goals. As I talk with him, he explains to me that he wish he would be doing something else but because he has done other things, those are hindering him from achieving those dreams. As I try to strive to reach my dreams, I hope that he sees my dedication and attitude and the way I approach life as an example. I want to see him succeed because he has become a good friend of mine so it hurts when he says doesn’t fight for his dreams. Just thinking about the situation and how I should live my life, it drives me to accomplish my dreams and never stop. I think that the most successful people in the world are the people who are not satisfied with being average. In order to be like them, “Don’t be average!”
ReplyDeleteWhile I was reading the blog, I was trying to ask myself if any of these applied to myself. I come from a low-income family, we have an annual income of about $30,000 for a family of six. Which if you think about it is not a lot. I do agree that for the most of the time, when I see an opportunity coming, I focus on the obstacles that could happen and how i will be able to overcome them. As for the exercising, I know people that do it and other that don't. And if they don't its not because their too lazy watching tv, but simply because they do not have time. And if they do, they're too tired, that they simply turn on the tv. For the reading, I know that I do not read as much as I have to, but this is because I was not raised like that. For example, when I was younger I had a friend whom was wealthy, they had a daily schedule. Homework time, reading time, extracurricular activity time and then playing time. I believe that their mindsets can change, but it will take time. I would be interested in seeing a research study being done on poor people who become rich & rich people who become poor. Will there be a change in their mindsets or will they remain the same?
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