People limit poverty to mean the absence of money. That's not the entirety. Even the world's affluent are broke most times. Poverty is internal. It is the reason one group recovers while the other remains in that state perpetually. Growing up in poverty SHAPES how you think about money, success, relationships, opportunities, and even what you believe you deserve in life. Poverty affects your entire life. It influences everything you do. It's in: ▪︎ Your taste ▪︎ Your manners ▪︎ Your priorities ▪︎ The way you eat ▪︎ The way you dress ▪︎ The way you speak ▪︎ The way you behave ▪︎ Your confidence level ▪︎ The way you present yourself ▪︎ How you think about yourself ▪︎ Your approach towards life in general When you grow up with limited resources, your mind will ALWAYS prioritise SURVIVAL in every situation. You are already defeated even before you begin anything. It's why in a group of affluent individuals, you can ALMOST ALWAYS tell the nouveau riche who grew up in poverty. It's like a stamp on the forehead. Their default mannerism and idiosyncrasies will always fish them out. But if you want to move into a different social and economic class, earning more money is only one part of the journey. You also need to understand how wealthy people, powerful people, and established social circles THINK and OPERATE. Thanks to neuroplasticity, it is possible to purge poverty and it's effect out of your subconscious and adopt a more beneficial mental model. The elitist mindset in this context is not arrogance or a condescending attitude towards others. Part of the elitist mental model is the conviction that no matter what though, whether where you come from or the circumstances around you, that you too are important and deserve a sit at the top with the top. Look at the elists: They move like they own the world. They're not selectively accessible yet well-connected. They're not loud, only their prowess echoes their name. They're sophisticated yet minimal. Pick from the mentality model of established elitists and adopts the useful habits that can help you progress. I'll list a few: ▪︎ Have a growth and abundance mentality. ▪︎ Think in terms of ownership not just income ▪︎ Focus on building and retaining actual wealth and care less about looking rich or convincing people you have money ▪︎ Build and leverage on social and intellectual capital ▪︎ Learn to communicate across different environments ▪︎ Never be intimidated or think others better than you are ▪︎ Protect your time, boundaries and attention ▪︎ Learn etiquettes There's a lot more to this discuss and will probably continue sometime later. But to kickstart your journey towards adopting an elite mentality and programming your subconscious, I'll suggest these two books: ▪︎ How Rich People Think by Steve Siebold ▪︎ Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell I've got soft copies of both. Find them in the drive folder below.