Yanwen’s blog

This is my fourth writing on Thomas Corley's Rich Habits book.

The third category of rich folks habits can be grouped under one thing: DISCIPLINE. Let's look at some of the habits of the wealthy:

-- reading at least 30 minutes each day, instead of swiping videos or surfing the internet aimlessly

-- setting goals and focus on it for each day, month, and year, instead of drifting aimlessly

-- having a purpose in life, 

-- persistent, with passion, 

-- save 20%, not over-spending

-- control your emotion

-- listening 5 times more than talking

-- finish tasks for today and every day with “DO IT NOW” mindset

When you look at these habits of the wealthy, you might be thinking: I understand they are good habits. I can do it for a day or two but I don't have the perseverance to keep it up till it becomes part of me.

What we need most is discipline. Discipline means self-control, determination, the will power to keep going until we reach our goal, until we complete the task on hand, until a good habit is formed, until triumph.

At this moment, I can't think of a better proverb than this one, 世上无难事, 只要肯登攀 (Shì-shàng wú nán-shì, zhǐ-yào kěn dēng-pān): No mountain is insurmountable in the world as long as you are willing to climb. In other word, where there's a will, there's a way.

This is my third writing on Thomas Corley's Rich Habits book.

The second category of rich folks habits deals with time management. They know very well that TIME is their biggest asset in life, that they make full use of their time to maximize values at work. Therefore, habitually they don't waste their time on trivial things, like watching TV, surfing on the internet aimlessly, gambling, engage in gossips or small talks.

The message is this: everyone is given the same amount of time each day—no more no less. However, the way people habitually spend their time can make a vast difference in the long run.

It is said that President Richard Nixon studied Mao Zedong's poems before he visited China in 1972. He quoted this in his conversation with Mao, 一万年太久，只争朝夕(Yī wàn nián tài jiǔ, zhǐ zhēng zhāo xī) "Ten thousand years are too long, let us seize the hour," emphasizing the urgency of taking immediate actions instead of waiting for a distance uncertain future.

Mao Zedong, Richard Nixon and the wealthy people share this understanding: they all keenly realize that time is a crucial resource that should be best utilized.

This is my second writing on Thomas Corley's Rich Habits book.

In my last post, I said, rich folks have nothing but abundant spiritual wealth and gradually transforms the spiritual wealth into material wealth. Actually, this is not exact so. To start with, they must have one thing: a strong body, which is the foundation of all.

The first category of rich habits revolves around maintaining healthy body. The wealthy people know the crucial role of good health in generating wealth and enjoying life. They know how to keep themselves energetic and in high spirit each day by taking good care of their bodies. According to Corley, the great majority of the wealthy people do three things habitually to keep them healthy: 

(1) Aerobic exercise at least 4 days each week, like running, swimming, biking, fast walking, etc.

(2) Avoid unhealthy fast food restaurant like fried food. That's why you don't see plenty of obesity among them.

(3) Keep a healthy lifestyle like going to bed early, not burning midnight oil, getting up early, etc.

There is a Chinese saying which also emphasizes the importance of good health: 留得青山在，不怕没柴烧 (liú dé qīng shān zài，bù pà méi chái shāo) As long as we have the green mountains, we don't need to worry about a shortage of firewood. Here the green mountains is a metaphor, referring to good health. Its meaning is, where there is health, there is hope. Without it, there is nothing.

I bumped into this book a few years ago -- Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals by Thomas Corley. It came out in 2010. There are many highlighted sections in the book that I'd like to share. I will come back to it in the next few days.

The central theme of the book is this: while the rich share some habits, the poor share some different ones. These habits widen the social and economic distance between them. The habits of the rich consistently lead them to a life of prosperity. Similarly, those of the poor keep them struggling daily to make ends meet.

First of all, his definition of wealthy people is NOT someone who simply makes or possesses plenty of money, not a lottery winner or an inheritance recipient. He believes real wealth include much more than the material wealth. What we are after is the non-material part in them.

According to the author, the real rich folks are those who started poor, built their wealth from scratch, being self-reliant. They basically from day one, have nothing but abundant spiritual wealth and gradually transforms the spiritual wealth into material wealth.

I think his definition fits perfectly many of us -- the first generation of immigrants who came to this country empty-handed, started from the bottom and worked all the way up the ladder.

Yesterday I wrote about the downfall of Elizabeth Holmes. A friend of mine suggested another Chinese saying, 一失足成千古恨 (Yī shīzú chéng qiāngǔ hèn), A single misstep leads to a lifetime of regret. I think this perfectly describes how Holmes feels now.

A few years ago I read the book about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. The smart Stanford dropout was eventually found guilty of fraud and has to spend part of her life in jail. She was on the Fortune's list for being "The World's 19 Most Disappointing Leaders."

Holmes makes me think of a story that my son told us about an MIT upperclassman, a super smart man. He also clashed with the law for stealing the company's IP, a crime that will follow him in the long years to come.

Both stories are heartfelt when considering the many years they spent in high school working hard, striving to gain admission to prestigious institutions like MIT or Stanford, with a bright future ahead, only to be ruined at their own hands.

At this moment I think of a Chinese saying, which is not a fitting one here. Both involves the ruin and collapse of an achievement: 千里之堤，溃于蚁穴（qiān lǐ zhī dī，kuì yú yǐ xué）An embankment of a thousand-mile long, collapsed because of a tiny ant nest. In other words, A stitch in time saves nine.

The highlight message is this: sometimes something small and insignificant can have potentially disastrous consequence. Even minors can cause major damage! So, don't ignore these minors.