Is there such a thing as a millionaire mindset? Why do some people grow rich and enjoy financial freedom, while others save all their lives but still never have enough money? Can you change the state of your wallet simply by changing the way you think? In this article, we look at the main differences between how the rich and the poor think.
Table of contents
How do rich people think?
Where a poor person sees an obstacle, a rich person sees an opportunity. Many of us are rightly wary of the risk of changing careers or starting our own business. However, fear of failure can also hold us back on our path to success, because we simply give up opportunities that come our way during our lives. If you are planning to launch your own business, you can find inspiration in the article: 7 TOP: What business to start in 2020, and how?
From childhood, we are influenced by the opinions and stereotypes of our parents, relatives, teachers and friends. We adopt their patterns of behaviour and the advice they give us for life. Few of us were brought up in childhood to aim at becoming rich. Instead, our parents tried to give us a good education in the belief that it would help us succeed in life.
There is a common belief that an ordinary person cannot become a millionaire out of nowhere. Many of us think that an ordinary person’s limits lie in finding a good job with a fair salary. This is where most middle-class people get stuck. Thanks to a university education and their skills, they easily find a job in a good company, or master a trade that gives them a guaranteed income on the job market. However, this is usually where their journey towards financial independence ends.
People are afraid to leave their comfort zone
Although most of us feel safe in it, it is sometimes good to step out of your comfort zone. Evolution shaped us so that fear of new and unknown things would protect us. But should we rely on instinct alone even when making decisions about our future? In his bestseller “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, American businessman Robert Kiyosaki says that fear should instead be our motivator.
He advises his readers to focus their attention on analysing and finding solutions to difficult questions instead of wasting their energy thinking about hypothetical failure. His theory is based on the idea that there is always some risk of loss, but our task is to keep losses as small as possible. He even says that he regrets it when something works out for him the first time, because he learns most from the mistakes he has made in his own life.
The millionaire mindset is reflected in how they view time
Time is the most valuable thing we have in life. It is a non-renewable resource that we cannot get back, so we should not waste it. A rich person knows how to organise their time and knows how much every wasted hour will cost them. In everyday life, one example would be a poor person visiting five shops to buy goods at a good price, while a rich person buys everything in one place, because in the time saved they earn twice as much as the poor person saves.
Find what you enjoy and monetise it!
Most successful people do what fulfils them and brings them joy, so they do not need to take a break from work and recharge their batteries elsewhere. The best way to achieve something is to focus on what you enjoy most in life and find someone who is willing to pay you for it. One example is Kylie Jenner, the youngest millionaire and founder of her own cosmetics brand, whose fortune Forbes magazine estimates at 900 million dollars. Read more in our article about young billionaires who made their fortunes online.
A rich person is not ashamed to talk about money
The way rich people think differs from other people in that they are not afraid to talk about money and educate themselves about finances. In society, it is not usual to talk about money, and when the subject does come up, it is only in connection with not having enough of it. Rich people, by contrast, welcome conversations about money with friends. What is more, they surround themselves with people who share their passion!
One way to bring your thinking closer to the millionaire mindset is to adopt their habits. You can surely think of someone around you who has started their own business, or at least has what it takes to become successful in the future. It is exactly these people who will often give you the most valuable practical advice, and you will take something away for your own life too.
And even if, for whatever reason, you have no chance to meet such a person in everyday life, you can find inspiration in people who share their experience in books, online webinars or talks. Today it is very easy to look up information about anyone and find role models you could learn something from.
Learning about money lasts a lifetime
While university studies end after five years, learning about money continues throughout your life. Those who want to multiply their wealth need not only financial literacy but also an understanding of how monetary policy works. The millionaire mindset does not stop at how to earn money, but goes further and focuses on the question: How do you make money work for you?
“The rich don’t work for money, they let money work for them.”
Robert Kiyosaki
How to start investing?
More and more people are moving away from the traditional way of keeping money in bank savings accounts. On the other hand, interest in investing has risen sharply over the last few years, which we can also see in the Czech Republic. Last year, the total value of assets that Czechs held in mutual funds was 557.1 billion CZK (about 26 billion USD), which is 84 billion CZK (about 3.9 billion USD) more than in 2018. The largest mutual fund distributors in the country include the Česká spořitelna group by client assets, ČSOB, Komerční banka, Conseq and Generali Investments.
People interested in investing in assets today have two options. They can put their spare money into an individual investment portfolio put together with an investment adviser, or into a portfolio of funds intended more for smaller investors. In both cases, the portfolio should contain both a conservative and a dynamic component (riskier assets, such as shares), so that you do not suffer significant losses if inflation falls.
USD amounts are approximate, converted at the Czech National Bank rate of 21.75 CZK per USD on 9 October 2026.
