How to Overcome the Poverty Mindset and Break Through Wealth Barriers: From Rich to Truly Wealthy
The Difference in Mindset Between Poverty and Wealth
🔗In this era where information is easily accessible, many people hope to break through the financial limitations of their families to achieve financial freedom. However, the most difficult barrier to overcome is often not the lack of resources, since acquiring knowledge has become very easy, but rather the wealth mindset inherited from our parents. These concepts are deeply ingrained in our daily behaviors, often making it difficult for us to break free and make a breakthrough.
Inheritance of Wealth Mindset
🔗The wealth mindset of most people is inherited from the generation of their parents. It's not that our parents don't love us, but the wealth mindset they possess has gradually influenced our values and behavior as adults. If one does not inherently possess wisdom, lacks enthusiasm for financial management, and is influenced by the erroneous wealth concepts of their parents, they often become part of the group that prefers to enjoy the present luxuries. This group is essentially doomed to not achieve financial improvement. Even if they acquire a large fortune by luck, or are born into a wealthy second generation, they quickly become mediocre in the latter half of their life, or slowly manifest into the third generation, eventually leading to poverty in the fourth generation.
The erroneous concepts make it difficult for us to engage in breakthrough thinking, thereby making it challenging to achieve financial breakthroughs. To break through these constraints, one either needs the guidance of a mentor or to possess critical thinking, choosing to do what they believe is beneficial rather than blindly following. The following will explain why having critical thinking and not blindly following is the fundamental reason.
Imitation and Deviation of Values
🔗Many middle-class families like to imitate the lifestyle of the upper class, from clothing to diet, from interests to hobbies. These values are actually instilled, and the upper class often wants to escape these imitations or simply does not mind, purely based on life experiences, constantly seeking new lifestyles.
In modern society, the development of industrial productivity has made many expensive hobbies accessible to the masses, such as playing the piano, horse riding, and mountain climbing. White-collar workers only need to save a little money to enjoy these activities. Therefore, modern society easily generates several misconceptions, such as:
Believing that moving from a small village to a big city, driving a luxury car, using an iPhone, has elevated one's class, or the common belief among students and office workers that pursuing trendy fashion and buying luxury brands can enhance their social status.
In reality, these behaviors are just the result of the development of industrial society's productivity and do not substantially elevate our class. Today's white-collar workers in the office, engineers, and female factory workers sewing in factories 30 years ago, actually do not have much difference.
The Difference in Wisdom Between Classes
🔗To escape the imitation of the middle class, or more negatively, to extract more resources from the middle class, the "trend" is accelerating. From changing once every ten years to now changing every year or even every six months. Although trends can be imitated, there is still a huge gap between the middle class and the top class in terms of vision, perseverance, connections, resources, information, and wisdom. There is definitely a problem here, not just simple imitation and being imitated.
The top class understands deeper principles, while the middle class can only imitate, copy, and superficialize. Everyone's knowledge points are different, as are everyone's life span and ability to act. The strength of the top class over the middle class is in knowing the how and the why.
The middle class, however, knows the how but not the why. The top class understands a thing not only in terms of its origins but also its consequences and applicable situations.
For example, France's "French cuisine" is renowned worldwide, with one-third of Michelin restaurants located in France. However, the reason why French "cuisine" enjoys such status is that it was among the first in Western European countries to complete urbanization and industrialization. At that time, British workers were still working seven days a week in coal-smoke-filled mines, eating fried beans mixed with fish bones. In contrast, France had already developed court culture and aristocratic society, hosting countless grand wig balls.
However, four hundred years later, the status of French "cuisine" is no longer what it once was. If today you still pride yourself on eating high-fat, high-cream French dishes, that is quite low-level. The wealthy know the how and can grasp the changes in history, while the mediocre middle class will continue to eat outdated French meals, with today's middle class continuing to learn from and imitate the wealthy. What the wealthy buy, the middle class buys. What the wealthy invest in, the middle class invests in. But history always repeats different asset bubbles.
Times change, mahogany is worthless, diamonds are worthless, Beethoven's manuscripts are worthless, NFTs are worthless.
When the top class abandons a certain taste, the middle class only imitates, and this makes it even further from breaking out of their class.
Breaking Limits, Pursuing Financial Freedom While Living Joyfully
🔗Of course, capitalism and technological development have raised the overall material standard of living. Wealth, if not utilized, is merely wealth on paper. To truly be rich, one must enjoy it. However, for the upper class, the use of wealth is a part of life, while for the middle class, it represents the most important time of their lives, exchanged through labor.
Therefore, to break through classes, one must clearly know what they want, what they need, assess the current situation, and choose what suits them rather than what others pursue. Only then can one live happily and continue to grow their wealth.
Conclusion
🔗Understanding one's current situation, knowing what to keep and what to discard, and understanding how one earned their wealth today are crucial.
Continuously learning and improving one's financial knowledge is key. Do not be bound by traditional values; dare to break through to achieve true financial freedom. Being low-key and focusing on enhancing one's own cognition is the key to success.
Alvin
Software engineer, interested in financial knowledge, health concepts, psychology, independent travel, and system design.
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