The book “Rich Habits” was written by Thomas C. Corley. According to the book, the difference between financially successful and unsuccessful individuals is in their daily habits and behaviors. Successful people practice good habits daily, while unsuccessful people practice bad ones.
For example, successful people spend time on self-improvement every day. Usually, their effort is aligned with the needs of their career. For example, an accountant may enroll in a training program to learn using a new accounting software. This may help him to advance his career prospects by finding a better-paying job or getting a promotion.
On the other hand, unsuccessful people use their leisure to read and watch junk on social media, television, magazines, etc.
Successful people set daily, monthly, yearly, and long-term goals. Once they jot down their daily to-do list, they tackle tasks based on priority. The most important tasks get done first, followed by the rest. For each month or year, they break down their goals into smaller, manageable steps/tasks and distribute those tasks over the weeks in a month or the months in a year, respectively.
Unsuccessful people do not plan how they spend their time, and procrastinate on things that need to be done. As a result, they often forget to do certain things, or they try to complete their assignments at the last moment and end up making mistakes. As a result, the quality of their work suffers.
Another good practice of successful people is that they take care of their health. They eat and drink moderately and exercise regularly. This keeps them fit, which contributes to their productivity as they fall sick less often and don’t miss out on work. Unsuccessful people do not exercise regularly or control the amount of food and drink they consume. They resort to crash diets to lose weight. These habits make them sick, which reduces their ability to work.
Relationships are very important to successful people, and they try their best to form and maintain lifelong relationships. They remember to congratulate people on important events like weddings, graduation, etc. and focus on being around like-minded people. They try to avoid people who are always in a state of turbulence as those people drag down the ones near them. Unsuccessful people usually ignore others except when they need help. They don’t return phone calls or messages and only consider how to benefit from others during their interactions.
Moreover, unsuccessful people tend to be emotionally volatile. They get easily upset or angry, which makes it difficult for people to get along with them. On the other hand, successful people have control over their emotions. They don’t get easily excited or angry. That is why others find peace and comfort in their company, which is the foundation of lifelong relationships.
How do successful people control their emotions in stressful situations? They apply the “Think, Evaluate, React” technique. When faced with a difficult situation, they take time to analyze what’s going on and figure out how to respond in a way that will benefit them or prevent harm. Then, they act accordingly.
Financially successful people exercise moderation in their expenses and save a portion of their monthly income before spending anything. They save, invest, and plan for their retirement. They take the help of financial experts to get the highest possible returns on their investments. Unsuccessful people waste money, following every trend and fulfilling their every wish as long as possible. As a result, they have no savings or retirement funds. In short, they have no financial safety net.
Lastly, successful people give themselves positive self-talk and limit their news consumption to avoid negativity. Generally, news outlets focus on adverse incidents, giving people second-hand stress. Unsuccessful people do not limit their consumption of negative news, which affects their mindsets and makes them prone to depression and negative self-talk.
To identify and resolve our bad habits, we should observe our daily routines and pinpoint the patterns we want to change. Then, we should set a goal related to that practice. For example, a person who spends three hours daily on social media may set a goal of spending at most thirty minutes on the same. According to Thomas C. Corley, we should practice new habits for at least 30 days to make those permanent.
