Are there certain rules and habits that lead to wealth?
The answer is a definite yes. Wealth creation is a combination of rules and habits. Here's the number one rule, if you want to be wealthy, its not how much money you earn, its not how many cars you drive, it is how much you can save and invest and that's the key.
Here's a personal example I learned from my dad on saving.
My dad's an extremely frugal person. Although he is really wealthy he is someone when he goes to a supermarket to but an item such as toothpaste, he will search the entire store for every toothpaste available. He will calculate the grams to know which toothpaste gave him the most amount of toothpaste for that dollar he spent.
I used to think that this was crazy but he taught me those lessons. So because of that, I learned the first habit which is to pay myself first. In fact, even today, I would say that I save about 50% of what I earned.
Now, when people hear that, they say that the reason I can save so much is because I earn so much money.
To which I retort. If you can't save 50% when you are earning a thousand dollars, you can't save 50% when you are earning a million dollars. And that's been my habit so far. In fact, ever since I was really young, even when I made some money selling stationery, I would never spend it and I would just save that 50% allowing me to compound my wealth.
Here's the second habit I learnt, people who fall within the poor and middle class category tend to spend more than invest. Spending is when you spend 1 dollar, you get back 0 dollars. There's no return when you buy a TV set, CD player, or hand phone, that's spending money.
Rich people think twice, three or even four times before they spend but they never think twice when they invest. Investment is when you put in a dollar. You get back a dollar 20 cents. And to me the best investment in the world are in your own intellectual assets.
Here's another of my personal examples, when I go to the shops and I see a hand phone costing 500 bucks, I would look at it and say my god, its 500 bucks. I would think about it for 2 months before I buy it.
My friends would be saying, "But Adam, you make so much money. What is 500 bucks? Why are you so stingy?" But I can't bear to spend that 500 bucks because it would be gone.
But on the other hand, when I go to the bookshop, I think nothing of spending the same 500 dollars on books. The reason is, by spending that 500 dollars on the books, reading these books, and applying what I've learnt, I am going to make 50 times or 500 times more
The last habit is what I call delayed gratification. To be wealthy, you must learn delayed gratification. You must learn to delay and to invest. But most people want instant luxuries now and they spend. So you must have that investment mindset compared to the spending mindset. Most people, they spend more than invest.
So these are the rules and habits that I've learnt and applied leading me to the wealth I have created today.
