Why the decisions you make, make the difference between rich and poor

We all long for the freedom to choose. This is why throughout history people have fought for, and given their lives to, the cause of freedom. This is why families will leave everything to emigrate from an oppressive country to a free one. This is why we celebrate great men like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi.
But like most freedoms, choice is a double-edged sword. When we're free to choose, we're free to make decisions that are good but also decisions that are bad. Often, what separates the successful from the unsuccessful, the rich from the poor, is the choices that we make.
Financially, with every dollar we have, we have the power to choose our future: to be rich, poor, or middle class. Our spending habits reflect who we are and what we value. Poor people have poor spending habits. Rich people have rich spending habits.
If you want to be rich, it's important that you understand the power of choice and know how to make good financial choices.
Choose to be rich every day.
Choose As a boy, I had the benefit of a rich dad who taught me to think like the rich think. He taught me the difference between an asset and a liability. A long time ago, as a little boy, I chose to be rich. I knew all I had to do was learn to acquire assets.
Most people choose not to be rich. It's too much of a hassle. They'll say things like, "I'm not interested in money," "I don't have to worry because I'm still young," "I'll never be rich," and "My spouse handles all the finances."
This way of thinking robs you of two important things: Time and learning, your most important assets.
If you want to be rich, you must stop having excuses and start having a new mindset. You must make the choice to every day invest your time into learning about money and how it works. You must choose to find great deals and assets. You must choose to be rich. It does not happen by accident.
I choose to be rich, and I make that choice every day.
Welcome new ideas.
Many people choose to follow the same old line of thinking when it comes to money: go to school, get a good job, buy a house, save money, and invest in a balanced portfolio of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. The problem is that those are the old rules of money. They are no longer valid. Not only that, following them will make you poor.
If you want to be rich, you must choose to be open-minded. This means not following the conventional wisdom about money, and instead, thinking for yourself. There are many intelligent people who argue and defend when a new idea clashes with the way they think. Their intelligence is really arrogance. A truly intelligent person welcomes new ideas.
The rich choose to listen and learn when presented with new ideas. This is why the rich are some of the most humble people I know.
Increase your financial education.
A friend of mine had her apartment burglarized. The thieves took her TV and left all the books. The funny thing is that most people would make the same choice. Most people would rather have a TV than books. But it's those who choose to invest in education rather than distract themselves with entertainments who are successful in life.
If you want to be rich, you must choose to invest in your financial education. Personally, I love seminars. I like them to be at least two-days long so I can immerse myself in the subject. In 1973, I spent $385 on a real estate seminar that has made me millions of dollars since. I also love audio books. I can listen and learn wherever I'm at, and I like the ability to easily review what I've heard. Finally, I love to learn from others. I make friends with people who think differently than me and who are smarter than me. They teach me valuable lessons every day.
The result of all this is that I add new ways of thinking to my old ways of thinking. This gives me multiple angles to approach a problem or situation. Choosing to increase my financial education by always being humble and willing to learn has allowed me to have a sophisticated financial intelligence that has in turn, made me very rich.
How about you? What choices are you making to be rich? How have your choices kept you from being successful?
Today, I encourage you to take a look at the choices you make. At the end of the day, our choices are one of the few things in life we can totally control. Choose to be rich.