Middle Class Mentality vs. The Rich
Disclaimer: Before I get hate comments on this post, I want to mention up front that this content is not, in any way, saying that the middle class is lazy or all of the rich are hard workers. There are lots of ways people can get into their positions but I have noticed major differences in the mentality of the middle class vs the hard-working, successful rich.
The image you see above you is bullshit. Everyone that’s been raised in a middle class, status quo household knows that we work only work because we need money to survive and the only fun time we have is on the weekends. Am I right? Hell no!
Why must we inherently think that work is bad and weekends are good? It doesn’t make sense to me. Some people can’t even comprehend that work is leisure to some and they enjoy it? Some of us actually work for fun. Gasp!
No, I’m not an alien or on drugs; I have a different mentality than most people I know. I enjoy what working brings; a satisfaction of accomplishment, helping others, more $$$ and ultimately more freedom.
Middle Class Mentality
Many of us were taught to go to school, get good grades, go to college, get a good job, get a mortgage, a couple car loans and a credit card. We put in our 40 every week, buy things we can’t afford and make interest payments every month. These things may seem like we’re happy but we’re living for the moment; not for the future.
The stuff we’re able to buy on a middle class wage is just enough to satisfy us. We’re happy enough but we’re like boiling a frog. The water is all warm and comfy for awhile but eventually, we’re gonna start to boil!
A middle class mentality is:
- Buying everything on credit and paying interest
- Getting a job and not looking past it
- Being loyal to a single company even if you have more potential to do something better
- Thinking the week is for always working and the weekend always is for playing
- Being OK with living paycheck to paycheck or having a few thousand dollars in the bank
- Not having a plan for the future
- Doing everything yourself and refusing to pay other people
At it’s core, a middle class mentality can be broken down into three major components: living for the moment, getting sucked into a routine and thinking you have to do everything yourself. These three traits are what hold so many people back from achieving more. They are the glue that holds many middle class from taking that next step forward in their careers.
The (Hard-Working) Rich Mentality
Note: Again, not all rich people are hard-working. I want to make that abundantly clear.
Most successful people I know have worked their asses off to get where they are today. People get rich and successful in a multitude of different ways but it seems like they all have a couple common traits that are missing from the middle class mentality.
The rich are:
- extremely hard-working. They don’t treat weekends as play time but more grow time.
- able to blend work and personal life as one instead of doing all that work/life balance stuff.
- patient. They realize that a payoff doesn’t necessarily have to come today or tomorrow. As long as the circumstances are setup for the payoff to happen, that’s all that matters.
- are willing to pay others to do work that isn’t related to their primary goals. Have you ever seen a CEO change his own oil or cut her own grass?
The rich seem to be able to see a bigger picture in life. They’re able to put things together that, in the end, end up turning into bigger opportunities.
Do you have a middle class or a rich mentality? If the former, do you even want to have a rich mentality? Some don’t and that’s OK but I, for one, want to continue to achieve more out of life and see just where this mind and body of mine can take myself and my family in the future.
