The Ultra-Rich Practice These 8 Things Every Day. Do You?
“Drop by drop is the water pot filled.” — Mr. Buddha
Many of us long to make big changes in our lives. We get tired of the same old, same old. The slide into Drudgery Valley. The pit of quicksand we can’t seem to Dune worm our way out of, no matter how big our guts get.
If you feel like this at all, now is probably the best time to make those changes.
“Because there ain’t no better time than right now.”—Me, I think
But how do we know what changes are truly worth all the extra effort? Well, one way is to learn from those we already mistakenly look up to in society.
The most successful among us.
The rich.
The famous.
The illustriously elusive 1%.
Perhaps we can mimic some of their habits to achieve a piece of their success while leaving the douchery behind?
If you want to learn why they’re so much better than us, then please read on.
1. The rich read every day
Margaret Fuller once said, “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” And she was right.
One-percenters like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Vlady Puty are avid readers of all things interesting.
They believe that to read is to learn, and to learn is to grow. These people aim never to stop growing and consume all sorts of content.
Science backs them up — reading throughout life has been shown to drastically slow mental decline as we age.
So they read. Even in their massively busy schedules — they find time to plop their asses down in a chair and consume a delicious chunk of epaper knowledge every week.
2. The rich spend time with positive people
They avoid losers, users, and bank account abusers. The 1% don’t waste time on Gary, the annoying neighbor who never returns what has now become an entire toolset from Home Depot.
No, they don’t got time for that.
The upper echelons of successful people know their existence is defined by those they spend their time with. So, they hang out with positive people.
Researchers studying this area figure our social network has a massive influence on obesity, anxiety, and overall happiness.
Spend more time with positive, healthy people, and you’ll likely end up a more positive and healthy person. And maybe even get a 6 pack, in a non-beer format.
3. The rich sleep like babies
Most of us don’t get the sleep we truly deserve. We stay up late at night reading Facebook posts about people we don’t care about. We click through the latest fashions of clothes we’ll never buy. We read celebrity news and wonder what seasonings the Spice Girls will use in their next cooking show.
We let that awful fake blue light envelop us from our phones and trick us into thinking it’s not actually 3 AM. And our body responds in kind.
It responds to our insatiable desire of useless media by cutting off melatonin production. And over time, by gifting us with diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Thanks, body, but I’d rather regift that particular present. Maybe to Gary, he deserves it.
If you never want to receive such an unthoughtful gift, put your phone, computer, or porn VR set down (coming soon from ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶v̶i̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶c̶a̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶F̶a̶c̶e̶b̶o̶o̶k̶ a Meta store near you!) at the same time every night.
Maybe crack a boring book and fall asleep for a lovely 7–8 hours of much-needed slumber instead.
Every night.
4. The rich are physically active
The rich and famous don’t sit on their couch watching Tiger King every night. Because they are a king, and they probably own a tiger. Or 200.
The 1% are not an obese subset of the population.
They jog, they run, they work out — regularly.
And there’s no reason you can’t too. Studies have shown time after time that regular physical exertion can help with a vast assortment of health issues, from bone density to cancer, to heart disease and pretty much everything else.
So if you want to be a bit more Bezo-ish in your life, be sure to go for a run and maybe unleash a tiger behind you.
Or the taxman.
5. The rich are optimists
When Bill Gates looks in the mirror, I wouldn’t be surprised if he flashes the wink-and-gun at least once a day.
Jeff Bezos probably blows kisses to himself.
Elon Musk is known to giggle like a schoolgirl at the dancing leprechaun perched on his shoulder after his 70-hour work stretches where he definitely doesn’t consume a shitload of Adderall.
They don’t do what I usually do:
Pinch my loveless handles.
Stare at my dark circles.
Flex while sucking in as much as humanly possible and flicking the light to see which setting optimizes my best features.*
The 1% know that having a positive outlook on life is essential for success.
Researchers have shown practicing positive thinking can have long-lasting positive effects. Especially when it comes to heart health and blood pressure.
The effects spill over into the board room too!
So practice smiling in the mirror and reframing negative situations into a silver lining as much as possible. Your heart—and maybe your wallet will thank you for it.
I will too.**
6. The rich take time to relax and have fun
The glorious American bald eagle that is Jeff Bezos makes time every single morning to eat breakfast with his kids and relax for an hour reading the newspaper. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates play bridge to chill out and get their grandpa on.
Even the notoriously busy hero-diver-hater Elon Musk has made more time to chill out in recent years, pulling his hours back from an insane 120 hours a week.
The point is, the 1% take time out of their hectic schedules to relax and unwind as much as possible.
They know a proper work-life balance has been proven to help with stress, burnout, exhaustion, marital, and life satisfaction.
Find a way to work in a bit more relaxation into your busy schedule, and reap the long-term benefits.
7. They dress to impress
The rich and powerful don’t wander out of their mega-mansions in yesterday’s mustard-stained jeans. They buy the mustard farms and grow the jeans themselves. I think they call them NFTs. Or some shit like that.
They also don’t attend any business meeting without looking like a million bucks.
And that doesn’t just mean rocking a fancier suit than everyone on Mad Men.
“Dress how you want to be addressed.” — Bianca Frazier
Steve Jobs was famous for wearing the same clean turtle neck and jeans every day.
Barack Obama sticks to the same grey or black suits all the time.
Elon Musk is thought to wear the souls of vanquished competitors on a necklace around his toupeed ballsack.
The 1% dress how they want to be addressed.
They find a look and stick with it.
It not only makes them look fantastic but projects a brand image over time as they slowly become known for it. There’s no reason you can’t do the same.
The work-from-home culture of this pandemic also makes it easier. You don’t even have to buy a full suit nowadays.
Whatever style you want to emulate or exude, find one that works and make it your thing.
8. The rich drink the blood of young children
Some one-percenters practice intermittent fasting. Others swear by the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. But all of them generally agree the best source of longevity is to consume the life force of young infants.
You don’t go from looking like a poor 1980s Ron Weasley to a wealthy miniaturized cross-eyed Vin Diesel without a little extra something.
And that little extra something is best when it comes from something extra little — babies!
This may be out of reach for the average ninety-nine percenter, though. Due to society’s so-called “morals,” it can be difficult to obtain the secret elixir of longevity.
If you do manage to get your hands on the stuff, a few cocktails come highly recommended from Oprah:
Virgin Bloody Mary’s
Young Fashioned's
Boyhatten’s
Final Thoughts
The main reason we ninety-nine percenters aren’t members of the elusive 1% club is quite simple — we don’t behave like them.
We don’t value our sleep enough, take enough time to relax, or go to our pool house mansion gyms every morning at 4 AM
We don’t wear rose-colored glasses every time we look in the mirror or surround ourselves with uber-successful friends and famous people
We don’t use our money wisely enough — on investments for the future like stocks, image branding suits, or the delectable lifeblood of infants
I swear to you, if you can incorporate even a few of these behaviors into your own lifestyle, you’ll be much better off in the long run.
And even if you don’t make it into the elusively illustrious 1%, at least you’ll be a better person than Gary.
No one likes you, Gary. Give me back my tools. It’s been 3 years dude.
Seriously.
This message has been brought to you by J.J. Pryor.
Notes:
*It’s commonly thought that J.J. Pryor’s best muscles are his biceps. Colloquially known as Thunder and Lightning. Lookout when you see them; a massive storm is coming.
**Thank you for smiling.
Article originally posted on my Medium.com page, updated here today, for your viewing pleasure.
Top photo edited by me — original photo by Riccardo Bresciani from Pexels
Your drawings are fantastic! And your words even better.