We all desire success and prosperity along with the ability to sustain or maintain our achievements.
Yet few are able to actually realize their ultimate goals in the process.
Learning from mistakes, both personal and observed, provides valuable insight into the obstacles to avoid along the path to achievement.
To be successful and become one of the few who has weathered the storms of failure, harnessed the power of resilience, and embraced the spirit of continuous improvement, identifying these obstacles creates a roadmap to success.
The 28 ways to stay poor serve as a reverse guide, highlighting common behaviors and mindsets that can block progress, limit potential, and perpetuate (or create) a cycle of poverty.
They are also a guide for what not to do to maintain success and prosperity.
Each point encapsulates a critical mistake to be avoided, a mindset to be shifted, or a behavior to be corrected.
Understanding and internalizing these points allows us to steer clear of self-sabotage, progress towards growth and success, and ultimately build a foundation for lasting prosperity.
1. Start Tomorrow: Delaying action on your goals leads to missed opportunities and perpetual stagnation. Procrastination creates a cycle where tomorrow never comes, resulting in unfulfilled dreams and regrets.
2. Read Books. Do Nothing: While reading is valuable, knowledge without application is futile. Taking no action based on what you learn prevents growth and improvement in your life and endeavors.
3. Take advice from poor people on how to be rich: Seeking financial guidance from those who haven’t achieved success in that area leads you astray, as their advice may not be based on experience or expertise.
4. Be in a relationship that makes you feel guilty about working: A partner who discourages your ambitions or makes you feel bad about pursuing your goals hinders your progress and limit your success.
5. Fail once, quit forever: Viewing failure as a permanent setback rather than a learning opportunity prevents you from trying again and ultimately achieving success.
6. Think the world is fair: Expecting fairness in all aspects of life leads to a sense of entitlement and disillusionment when things don’t go your way, hindering your ability to adapt and overcome challenges.
7. Blame your circumstances: Constantly attributing your lack of progress or success to external factors removes your sense of agency and control over your life, preventing personal growth and improvement.
8. Complain: Focusing on problems without actively seeking solutions wastes time and energy that would be better spent on productive actions towards your goals.
9. Expect the government to save you: Relying solely on external sources, such as government assistance, for financial security limits your independence and personal responsibility in building wealth and stability.
10. Value the opinion of others over your own: Prioritizing external validation and approval over your own beliefs and instincts leads to poor decision-making and a lack of confidence in your own abilities.
11. Avoid Discomfort: Shying away from discomfort and challenges prevents personal growth and development. Growth often occurs outside of your comfort zone, so avoiding discomfort restrains your progress.
12. Tolerate Mediocrity: Settling for average or mediocre results instead of striving for excellence limits your potential and prevent you from standing out in your field.
13. Make promises. Break promises: Being inconsistent and unreliable in keeping your commitments damages trust and relationships, hindering your ability to succeed in various aspects of life.
14. Wait for perfect conditions: Waiting for ideal circumstances before taking action leads to missed opportunities and perpetual inaction, as perfect conditions rarely exist.
15. Prioritize looking rich over being rich: Focusing on appearances and material possessions rather than building genuine wealth and financial stability leads to a cycle of debt and insecurity.
16. Avoid working on what matters most: Engaging in tasks that don’t align with your long-term goals and priorities lead to wasted time and energy on activities that don’t contribute to your success.
17. Say you’re going to do something. Don’t do it: Failing to follow through on your intentions and commitments can damage your credibility and trustworthiness, reducing your relationships and opportunities for growth.
18. Do what everyone else is doing: Following the crowd without critical thinking or independent decision-making leads to mediocrity and missed opportunities for innovation and success.
19. Do “your best” not what it takes: Settling for subpar effort and performance, rather than pushing yourself to excel and go above and beyond, limits your achievements and potential for success.
20. Talk more. Do less: Engaging in empty conversations without taking meaningful action leads to a lack of progress and results in your endeavors.
21. Start something new today. Start something new tomorrow. Repeat: Lack of consistency and focus in pursuing your goals perpetuates scattered efforts and a lack of progress towards achieving success.
22. Believe what other people think of you, more than what you think of you: Prioritizing external opinions and judgments over your own self-awareness and self-belief creates self-doubt and a lack of confidence in your abilities.
23. Make mistake. Repeat mistake: Failing to learn from your mistakes and repeating them extinguishes growth and improvement, leading to recurring setbacks and obstacles in your journey.
24. Be replaceable: Failing to invest in developing unique skills and qualities that set you apart makes you easily replaceable in various aspects of your life, limiting your value and opportunities for success.
25. Find something that works. Stop doing it: Abandoning successful strategies and methods prematurely diverts your progress and prevents you from maximizing your potential and achievements.
26. Hang around dumb people: Surrounding yourself with individuals who don’t challenge or inspire you impedes your personal and professional growth, hindering your ability to innovate and succeed.
27. Assume you’re always right: Failing to consider feedback, alternative perspectives, and opportunities for growth stimulates arrogance and closed-mindedness, blocking your ability to learn and improve.
28. Make money. Spend more than what you made: Living beyond your means and failing to save or invest wisely creates a state of financial instability and a cycle of debt, preventing long-term wealth accumulation and security.
I’ve found these insights personally invaluable.
Alex Hormozi, the author of these 28 points, has faced and overcome each point on his personal path to success.
Want to learn more? Watch Alex personally explain each point here in under 22 minutes:
