What is the 1% Difference
Success leaves clues. It’s not a mystery or an enigma. It’s a formula that anyone can follow.
The only problem? It’s REALLY F*&%$^G Hard!
1%’ers have a household income of roughly $525,000.
Achieving this goal is possible. But it will take time, persistence and effort.
I’ve built a 7-figure business and joined the 1% myself over the course of the past 6 years.
But more importantly, I’ve interviewed 1%’ers and clearly identified the key habits that set them apart from the 99%.
1. They Value Education Over Entertainment
Poor people value entertainment.
They spend their time watching television, playing video games, screwing around on social media and wasting their time.
Rich people don’t. They value education and constant growth.
They read every single day. They attend seminars. They hire coaches. If they watch television or play video games, they do so in a strategic manner designed to help them recharge, not to distract themselves from the tasks at hand.
I’ve never met someone who reads nonfiction books everyday for 30–60 minutes and isn’t wealthy. (With the rare exception of individuals who read all day but never take action.)
If you want to join the 1%, then this is where you start. Double down on your education.
Learn about sales, marketing, psychology, high performance, productivity, business systems and finance. Put down the remote and pick up a book.
It changed my life and it will change yours too.
2. They Have a Plan and Stick to It
One of the key habits that differentiates high performers (1%’ers) from the rest of the population is that they are proactive instead of reactive.
Let me show you what I mean.
Your average person watches 4 hours of television every night.
They go to bed exhausted with no plan for the next day.
They wake up, hit snooze several times and then rush to get out of bed and make it to their job on time. When they arrive, they have no plan and spend the morning aimlessly answering emails and dealing with drama.
They are barely able to accomplish the important tasks of the day and come home having accomplished nothing… Just to do it all over again.
A 1%’er (or soon to be 1%’er), on the other hand, lives differently.
Every night, they write out what they accomplished that day and what their plan is for the following day.
They have a clear list of priorities that they plan to accomplish.
They wake up before they need to, spend a few minutes exercising, reading, journaling and meditating before going to work or building their business.
When they start their day, they know exactly what needs to be done and why.
They methodically move through their most valuable priorities, avoiding distractions like email, social media and water cooler talk.
When the day ends, they’ve accomplished at least one or two of their biggest priorities and they learn from their mistakes so that they can avoid making those mistakes the next day.
THAT is the difference between the 1% and everyone else.
Luckily, this isn’t all that hard. Start by writing out a plan.
For the next 5 years of your life and figure out exactly what you want to accomplish. Based on that document, plan for every day the night before. Put your gym clothes, journal and books somewhere they are easy to access and move your alarm across the room so that you can’t hit snooze.
This simple shift will radically alter your days and put you in a state of proactivity vs. reactivity.
3. They Invest Money In Themselves and Other Appreciating Assets
Poor people spend money. Rich people invest.
I don’t mean that they invest in stocks, real estate or cryptocurrencies (although many do).
They simply invest their money into appreciating assets… Namely, themselves.
Whereas poor people will spend their money on the latest toys, fashion, cars they can’t afford, and giant television sets. Rich people are different.
1%’ers are notorious for spending lavishly on their own personal development and performance.
They will spend thousands (sometimes millions) of dollars on advanced training, high performance coaching, books, seminars, and lectures.
They invest in high quality supplements and a healthy diet that allows them to have high energy and enthusiasm throughout the day.
If you want to join the 1% then you must stop spending your money on pointless crap that doesn’t serve you.
Buy clothes at Walmart, drive a used car, and downsize your house.
Take ALL of the money you are saving and invest it in yourself.
Buy a huge library of books. Spend thousands on online marketing courses. Attend personal development seminars. Hire business and life coaches to help you break through to the next level.
Invest in yourself (and eventually in other money making assets) and you will eventually join the 1%.
4. They Work On the Right Things
Poor people work on whatever is in front of them; rich people work on what’s most important to them.
Poor people will work their job, collect their $40,000 a year and go on with their lives.
Rich people (or soon to be rich people) will wake up early so that they can write their book, grow their business and build their legacy.
They don’t work on the things that are easy. They work on the things that will get them results.
If they have to, they will work longer hours than anyone else so they can build their dreams.
They know the power of saying “No” to things that don’t serve their ultimate vision and they have laser focus on their #1 most important goal.
5. They Lay One Brick a Day
1%’ers operate by a philosophy known as “Kaizen” which loosely translates to “Small daily improvement”.
They don’t try to change everything all at once.
They are patient. They lay one brick a day.
Whether it’s writing 1,000 words in their book, spending 1 hour on acquiring new leads for a marketing agency, or reading 10 pages a day, they do something every single day that will help them achieve their goal in the long run.
They know that it’s the tiny actions (not the grand leaps) that determine a person’s destiny.
They understand the power of the compound effect.
1% compounded over ten years is a 3,650% improvement.
That’s the difference between earning $100,000 a year and earning $3.6 million a year.
Tap into this power and your life will change forever… IF you play the long game.
6. They Play the Long Game
1%’ers understand that life is a game played in years and decades, not months.
They have goals for the next 30 and 90 days, yes. But they are more considerate of the next decade and how their actions today will impact them 10, 20, 30, and 40 years from now.
They act with a sense of urgency, but they don’t expect results to come quickly.
They simply take small daily actions everyday knowing that one day, the results will compound and they will have the life of their dreams.
7. They Value the Power of Networking
1%’ers have allies. The 99% have friends.
Rich people understand the value of networking and giving value to others with no expectation of anything in return.
They intentionally build a network of people who are better than they are in their field.
People who make them uncomfortable and insecure.
People who challenge them to rise above mediocrity and achieve a life of success and integrity.
