5 Ways to Break-free from the Poverty Mindset

Is poverty really a mindset? This is a debatable topic. But what is a poverty mindset? It is like we have so much today, hence it is unlikely we will achieve more tomorrow. Because we think making more than what we today is difficult or might not be even possible. So we try to become defensive in our approach. Restrictive in our thoughts. Moreso restrain our aspirations. Many times, fear and self-doubt creeps in. We concentrate all our energy on how to save money versus thinking about how to make more money. By doing so, we handcuff our dreams and limit developing our capabilities. As a result, we never break-free from the vicious cycle of the poverty mindset and realize our full potential. Does this sound familiar? In this post, let’s explore 5 ways to break-free from the poverty mindset.

“One of the worst enemies that sets the platform for developing a poverty mindset is your background. Where you come from, the mindset of the people you deal with, what you know, and your experiences can set the tone that can cause you to believe that you are born to be poor. You can only get out of that dungeon of a mindset by revolutionizing the way you think.”
― Oscar Bimpong

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What is Poverty Mindset?

The antithesis of the wealth mindset is the poverty mindset. Now the question on the table might be is wealth mindset good? Should you yearn to become wealthy when there are so many people living in abject poverty in this world? The 2022 global wealth report by Credit Suisse shows that in 2021 globally there are 62.5 million US dollar millionaires that is 1.2% of the world adults. Although the data is a gross representation of economic inequality but it warrants the question: is it immoral to yearn to become a millionaire when we have so much poverty around? What is it the millionaires have that most people don’t have? So is being wealthy a taboo, or should it be?

Is Wealth a Taboo?

Then let’s deep dive more into whether it is okay to have a wealth mindset. Moreso, we should also try to understand what is the wealth mindset and why only a tiny percentage of people in the world are wealthy and what makes the majority not wealthy. What can we understand about the wealth mindset that makes them wealthy? So let’s see some more data around wealth distribution in the world.

Global Wealth Distribution

Again, according to 2022 global wealth report by Credit Suisse, USD 1,146,685 was required to be a member of the top 1% of global wealth holders. North America primarily dominates this segment, followed by Europe, Asia Pacific and China. But the wealth data here is based on nominal US dollar and doesn’t reflect the purchasing power parity of currencies in other countries. Meaning the purchasing power of 1 USD globally is not the same. Say for the US, 1 USD can buy a candy but it can buy a decent meal in lower-cost countries. Thus, the data here is not a true a reflection of the wealth across the globe, especially for developing countries compared to developed countries like the US.

What does it mean to be a US dollar millionaire to you? Did you know there are about 24.5 million US adults that is about 9% of the adult population in America? Are you one of them? Many of the 1 million dollar net worth Americans are like everyday millionaires. Which means they live simple, average lives. Nothing flashy. They have full-time regular jobs, work hard and save a lot of money. They live far below their means. To generate wealth, it is imperative we live below our means. Then only we can save the money to invest and grow wealth. The wealth provides the financial security that not only gives the peace of mind but also the choice to choose our work.

Which Country Has the Highest US Dollar Millionaire

Diving deeper, the US has 39% of the world’s US dollar millionaires. Begging the question again, what makes people wealthy? Can people having a poverty mindset become wealthy? The simple answer is yes. The poverty mindset prevents us from thinking big and prevents us from believing in ourselves that we can also become wealthy if we really want to. Now just by yearning for something doesn’t get you that. Then comes the industriousness and persistence needed to make it happen. Nothing comes into the world without hard work. But if one will put in the effort, it is very much possible.

Why Break-free from the Poverty Mindset?

So then the question you make ask is why do we need to break-free from the poverty mindset? What is the problem of having a poverty mindset? The fundamental question here is: do you want to achieve your full potential? Because we all are born with inherent strengths, but there are many skills that we develop with time only because we choose to do so.

Sharpening our inherent strengths is a choice for us. So it depends on us what we want to do our lives. Enhance it toward self actualization or live poor to mediocre lives. Further, almost always the strive towards self realization is not without hurdles, sweat and toil. It takes a lot of determination, hard work and perseverance to achieve our fullest potential or even exceed it. Since most of the time, it is easier to choose not to embark on this less traveled path. Because it is tough.

The other reason we should break-free from the poverty mindsets is to achieve financial freedom. When we don’t need to trade hours for money. Be free to do the work that gives us happiness and makes us feel fulfilled. That can help us get out of the rat race. No doubt it will take a lot of extra efforts and hard work but then it will be an investment for the future. A future which can pave the path for realizing our full potential by pursuing the calling from our hearts versus our minds.

5 Ways to Break-free from the Poverty Mindset

Follow Your Heart

It might sound clique but it’s true. We need to follow our hearts in what we choose to do for a living. To break free from our poverty mindset and embark on the abundance mindset, we need to love our work. That boosts our self-esteem. Which results in we loving ourselves. In time, this increases our confidence having taste success in small steps. Finally, we excel in what we do and become experts. Then our value or market worth increase because we really do well what we do.

Become Lifelong Learner

Learning is a sign of life. If we want to stay alive, we need to continue learning. For example, one who says I don’t want to learn anymore since I am close to retirement should probably retire. What it also means that the fire of learning keeps us living. Otherwise, we are probably dead, if not physically yet. Did we ever hear knowledge is wealth? Because in other digitally connected world there are ample ways to monetize our knowledge. Since what it takes is only the willingness to learn new skills to connect with others who might benefit from our knowledge. When we are gaining new knowledge and skills, we are actually becoming wealthy. Even that inner feeling of learning something new breaks us free from our poverty mindset.

Help Others

This brings us to the next topic of helping others. The person who helps others selflessly is probably the wealthiest person. The question you might have is how? Because when we help others, we break-free our inhibitions and self doubt. Gradually, we gain confidence of being able to do much more than what we thought we could we. To make a difference in the world for the good of others. In this journey, we build influence and the ability to change others’ lives. Whether and how we monetize that capability is up to us, but that is a lot of wealth. For sure, then we have broken free from our poverty mindset and destitute.

Have a Dream

This is probably the most misunderstood topic of having a dream. Is dreaming good? First, absolutely it is good to have a dream. Moreso we need one or several. Because we need a dream to live. Again, just as learning when we stop to dream, we might as well say we are done and ready to die. But the bigger question is dreaming only enough? Absolutely not. Dreaming is only the first step. Then we need to make a plan and work towards accomplishing it. Of course, it needs a lot of hard work and perseverance. Then the question is, are you ready to put in that hard work?

Walk the Extra Mile

That brings us the last step of walking that extra mile to make your dreams come true. Are you ready for it? Walking that extra mile is never easy. It is always easy to spend the time enjoying your time off from work or during the weekends. Absolutely, we need to recharge ourselves. But if you have a dream and want to make it come true someday, you need to spend those leisure time doing what you believe in your doing. But do something that your heart always wanted to do, not necessarily your mind.

Burning that midnight oil is time spent beyond our working hours of make a living. Because those midnight hours of work can become your investment, which can deliver dividends to you in the future. Our hearts give us the direction but the mind usually makes the plan, but we need our heart to motivate us to execute it. Say, for example, this is a weekend for me and I can for sure spend my time in leisure, but I write my blogs. If you are reading this post now for sure, my time invested in this post has paid off. Guess you could have some takeaway from the 5 ways to break-free from the poverty mindset.

Conclusion on 5 Ways to Break-free from the Poverty Mindset

This brings us to conclude this post on 5 ways to break-free from the poverty mindset. You may have born poor, but it is on you to decide whether you want to die poor. Poverty is usually a choice provided you have some social support that can help you break-free from its vicious cycle. But the poverty mindset is absolutely your choice. Wealth is not always your net worth. It is the value you bring on to the table. But most of the time, the net worth you generate is a lagging indicator of the value you bring in. So the question is, what value you can add to the world? What are your passion and skills that you can leverage to make a difference in the lives of others? Because I think we all bring in our unique skills and perspectives to make a difference.

The primary question is do we understand what is a poverty mindset. If so, whether we really want to break-free from it and will walk that extra mile. It’s for us to think.