RULE 17
Know how the wealthy think
There is a simple test to determine whether someone will end up wealthy – or if they already are. All you have to do is watch someone read their favourite newspaper, especially if it’s one of the big Sundays:
- Notice which paper they choose.
- Notice which sections they choose to read.
- Notice which sections they discard.
- Notice in which order they read their chosen sections
This is a test for you too. Have a look at the above and make a mental note of what you do. The wealthy – those who have deliberately chosen to be wealthy rather than those who have won the lottery or inherited (God’s lottery as I think of it) or married into it – invariably:
- choose the more serious papers
- choose the more serious sections
- discard the ‘frivolous’ sections
- read the money/business sections first
If you are serious about being wealthy, you will have to learn how the wealthy think. This means studying the ‘opposition’ – although very shortly you will be a part of them. You need to know the lingo and the language, where they eat and live, how they work and relax, how they invest and save. In short, you need to study money if you are to increase your prosperity. Try to get to talk to wealthy people. Ask questions. Develop a thirst for understanding and knowledge. Read about wealthy people – interviews and autobiographies can be full of insight.
You may also benefit from a few well-chosen business and finance books. I’m not going to recommend any to you as I don’t know your reading style – find ones that suit you. Also, why not log on to the FT site or the finance pages of other online papers to keep up with the latest developments in the money market? Get informed.
But what if this all feels a bit too heavy? If, like me, you like the gossip columns as well as financial pages then you, like me, will probably never be extremely, mind-bogglingly over-the-top wealthy. We can still be wealthy – and we might have more fun too. Prosperous and fun – sounds good to me. I think we have to be really passionate about money if we want lots. We have to live and breathe and sleep (yes, bearing in mind Rule 13) money. We have to study hard at the University of Wealth if we want to graduate.