GetRich 101: What is the key element a poor man miss to become r

Some of you may already knew the right answer. Many of you probablywould give me the wrong answer. A 1930s big gang leader in old Shanghaionce had a conversation with his followers after he rose to the helm ofhis gang. He talked about his hard early days when he came to Shanghaias a dirt poor boy from a village near Ningbo, worked long hours as alaborer in the Harbor..., he turned around and asked this question:"What is the key element a poor man miss to become rich and powerful?". Most of his followers answered: "Money". He smiled and said "No,the most missing element in poor people is their lack of courage tothink differently in terms of their own fate...". Once thinking ischanged, fate can be changed and money will follow... Basically, thisGodfather is telling an age old truth, it's the mind that molds a poorman into his own cage. And it will have to be himself to be able tofree himself from his cage.

My point is not to glorifying the deeds and thoughts of this Chinesemafia master. My point is to show how a dirt poor boy from countrysidemade himself to the top of social echelon in old Shanghai from a veryhumble position. His acts and deeds may not be honorable at all frommorale standpoints, but he does have a very different mindset from hispeers that let him standout.

The moral of this story is very clear. Money will not turn you intosomeone with a "rich mindset". Many people earn very high salaryincome, the couple's income often exceeds 200K total. However, manypeople behave exactly a poor man despite their high income. They actedvery traditionally, focusing on 401K, a Wall street's golden handcuffto lock the hands of millions of middle income families. Once I wasexplaining "poor mindset" here, a PhD professor type of guy argued withme and said how I could label him as "poor mindset" in spite of his300K annual income from his consultation service. I explained to himthat despite his high income, his mindset still remains very poor. Iguess he never understood me. :-) and probably thought I insulted himfor his intelligence..., sigh.

The truth is, one does not need to have a lot of money to be richminded. Once rich minded, he would understand how to leverage otherpeople's money with small premium fees (down pay in real estate).Controlling other people's money doesn't require you a lot of money tostart. Poor minded people tend to use mostly his own funds, avoidingleverage as if they were plagues. Why? they are having poor mindset.They don't understand the key concept that sets poor man from rich man:The ability to control assets, rather than own assets. These poorminded people are by no means poor, they may have tons of cash stashedaway into multiple funds or stocks. But they don't leverage them atall. Even if we admit that stock and option may generate instantaneousreturn. But due to their lack of leveraging power, in the end, theyfall short of creating sustainable and passive wealth for people.

What did this Shanghai mafia leader did differently than his peers?Leverage. He leveraged other people's existing social status andconnection to make himself to the top.

What does our beloved movie star Ms. Zhang did diffferently from herpeers? Again, leverage. She leveraged her billionaire boyfriend toenter into Upper society in the US, sat on the same table with Mr.Murdoch...

What did our great Chairman Mr. Mao did differently from his peers? Yougot it again! leverage. He leveraged the giant power of dirt poorpeasants, he catered to them a idealogical opium: Communism. Maoleveraged millions of peasants' power to win the power for himself...

Now, legally, you can leverage other people' money. It's not that hard to do, much easier than what Mao had to accommpolish.