By Mathew in Personal Development — 22 Apr 2022

Imagen-Reprogram Your Mind for Wealth: The 28 Habits That Keep You Poor

Introduction

When it comes to achieving wealth, most advice focuses on what to do. But what if we approached the problem differently? Alex Hormozi, founder of Acquisition.com and manager of a portfolio generating over $250 million annually, believes that understanding how to stay poor might be the key to becoming rich.

"Charlie Munger, my personal hero, had a seminal talk that he gave multiple times on how to live a miserable life," Hormozi explains. "He believes in a process called inversion thinking, which is where you solve problems in reverse."

This approach leverages our brain's natural tendency to spot problems rather than solutions. By identifying every possible way to fail, then doing the opposite, we create a roadmap to success that's surprisingly effective across business, relationships, and personal growth.

Key Points

Alex Hormozi introduces inversion thinking, a problem-solving approach championed by Charlie Munger where you identify ways to fail and then do the opposite
The 28 ways to stay poor reveal common mindset traps that prevent wealth building, such as procrastination, seeking validation, and avoiding discomfort
Your choice of influences matters significantly - taking financial advice from unsuccessful people reinforces poor decision-making
Success requires consistency in following through on what works rather than constantly starting new ventures
Financial discipline (spending less than you earn) is fundamental regardless of income level
True wealth building prioritizes actual results over appearances and social validation

The Procrastination Trap

The journey to poverty begins with a simple decision: to start tomorrow. "Whatever it is that you want to do, whether it's losing weight, saving money, starting that business, whatever it is—to start tomorrow," Hormozi says with a knowing smile. This perpetual postponement ensures nothing meaningful ever gets accomplished.

Equally dangerous is consuming knowledge without application. "Lots of people talk about reading books, and I see people all the time that I've seen for years in the exact same position posting 'Oh yeah, I'm reading 52 books this year, that's my commitment,'" Hormozi observes. "Instead of reading 52 books, maybe just read one book and actually do something about it. Crazy, I know."

These initial behaviors establish a pattern where action never materializes, and dreams remain safely tucked away in the realm of "someday."

The Influence of Your Circle

Who you listen to shapes what you believe is possible. Hormozi points out a critical error: "Take advice from poor people on how to be rich." He reflects on his early experiences, noting, "A lot of us surround ourselves, or at least I did when I was starting out, with people who are very poor, and we listen to their advice on how to be rich—and they have no idea what they are doing."

This extends to your closest relationships as well. "Pick a spouse who will make you feel guilty for working," he says, explaining how this undermines long-term success. "You have your dreams, you have these things you want to pursue, but this person is saying you shouldn't do that... The problem is that you put the power of your destiny in their hands, and you're asking for permission instead of support."

The consequence? "If you don't accomplish your dreams and you did it because of them, who do you think you're going to resent?"

The Resilience Factor

One of the most reliable paths to poverty is giving up at the first sign of difficulty. "Fail once, quit forever," Hormozi says. "As soon as you do actually start to decide doing something, you fail immediately and say, 'Oh, I guess this isn't for me. I guess success isn't for me. I guess business isn't for me.'"

This mindset stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of failure's role in growth. "We have an incorrect view of failure because failure is a necessary part [of success]," he explains. "It's either you win or you learn."

Compounding this problem is a victim mentality: "Think that the world is fair... Blame your circumstances and complain." Hormozi reflects on his own experience: "I would complain, I'd be like, 'That's not fair, this is fair, it shouldn't be this way,' and the thing is that all that complaining that I did did nothing at all whatsoever."

Instead of lamenting challenges, he suggests embracing them: "Your mess is your message... How sad would it be to wish to have a life of ease and comfort because strong character is built through hard times."

The Comfort Zone Dilemma

Avoiding discomfort guarantees stagnation. "A lot of us have new things we have to take risks on, we have to learn things, and it's uncomfortable because we will suck," Hormozi acknowledges. "Of course you will suck—it's normal to suck. But people avoid discomfort because they don't want to go through that."

He points out the irony: "The discomfort that they're feeling is the judgment they impose upon themselves about not being good at something they've never done before. How insane is that?"

This avoidance creates a vicious cycle where mediocrity becomes acceptable. "If you tolerate mediocrity from yourself and others... people over time will just degrade and get worse and worse," he warns. The alternative? "Think like, 'I will only tolerate excellence, and anything below that is intolerable.'"

The Trust Deficit

Broken promises create both external and internal damage. "Make promises, break promises," Hormozi says. "You destroy your reputation with other people, and that's a terrible thing and it takes a long time to fix that. But the one that's the hardest to fix is the reputation you have with yourself."

He offers a profound perspective on happiness: "A different version of happiness, in my opinion, is respect for oneself. And I think your own respect is the hardest to earn because you know how hard you could have pushed."

This self-awareness is brutal but necessary: "You know if you could have gone for an extra mile, you could have shown up to the gym more times, you could have eaten better, you could have made more cold calls... You make promises to yourself and then you break promises to yourself, and you lose respect in the process."

The Perfectionism Paradox

Waiting for ideal circumstances ensures nothing gets done. "Wait for perfect conditions," Hormozi says sarcastically. "Here's the secret—there are never gonna be perfect conditions."

He adds a powerful insight: "If you need perfect conditions to be successful, the moment the conditions change, you will stop being successful. So you might as well start when the conditions are their absolute worst because it means that they will only get better from there."

This perfectionism often extends to appearances over substance: "Prioritize looking rich over being rich." Hormozi notes the irony of being criticized for his casual appearance in videos: "You confuse looking rich with being rich... You have to prioritize being rich, which means spending less for a long period of time."

He challenges viewers: "Be willing to die to the opinion of others rather than dying to the opinion of yourself... Stop trying to look rich; be willing to look poor."

The Focus Fallacy

Busyness without progress keeps you treading water. "Avoid working on what matters most," Hormozi says. "You work all day long, you're busy, you're full of activity, you're doing stuff, and nothing important moves forward."

He distinguishes between activity and productivity: "The nature of speed is not about activity. The people who are the richest in the world aren't doing the most stuff—they're doing the right stuff."

This requires brutal prioritization: "It's looking at the many things that you can or could do and picking the very few that are the ones that move the needle the most. And typically, they are the ones that you do not want to do and you are procrastinating on."

Following the crowd compounds this error: "Do what everyone else is doing... If you want to be in the one percent, you can't do what 99% of people are doing."

The Execution Gap

Talking about goals differs fundamentally from achieving them. "Talk more, do less," Hormozi observes. "Post about your goals, post about your affirmations, spend all day doing routines and stuff of getting prepared to work, and actually do very little."

He sees this especially prevalent online: "People love talking about how much they're working rather than actually getting shit done."

This pattern often leads to starting many projects but completing none: "Start something new today, start something new tomorrow, repeat... You never complete anything you start, just keep starting new things because it's exciting and it's new."

He describes the psychological cycle behind this behavior: "You have what is called uninformed optimism because as soon as you jump into the new thing, you realize that it will take work... As soon as you realize that is work, you go through the change cycle... and this is where everyone then jumps to the next opportunity."

The Accountability Equation

Many people know what to do but fail to follow through. "Most people know what to do to achieve their goals," Hormozi states emphatically. "People [say] 'I don't know how to lose weight.' I'm like, 'Yeah, you do—stop eating shit and move.'"

He applies this to business: "You want to make money? Start making calls, start reaching out to people, start promoting the thing that you are trying to sell... It's not complex, it's not complicated, but people just don't do it. It's because they're not willing to do it."

Even more frustrating is finding something that works and abandoning it: "Find something that works, dear God find something that works, and then stop doing it." He challenges viewers to reflect: "How many of you have needed to make money last minute? You had to pay payroll, you had to pay taxes... and you find a way to make the money."

The irony? "You had the ability, you knew what to do, and you just chose not to do it. You stopped doing it as soon as you paid someone else's bills because you were willing to pay other people's bills but not your own."

The Human Element

The quality of people you surround yourself with determines your trajectory. "Hire dumb people," Hormozi says sarcastically. "Excellent way to stay poor and have a bad business... If you just want to be surrounded by dumb people, just hire people... and you'll feel good, but you'll be poor."

Equally dangerous is an unwillingness to learn: "Assume you are always right... How many people here know someone who always just thinks they're right, and they're not successful?"

He contrasts this with truly successful individuals: "From the people that I've met who have been far ahead of me, they have a voracious desire to learn and a voracious interest in learning from anyone and every single possible source they can."

This humility enables growth: "Those people have the humility to say that everyone knows something that they don't know, and so in that way, they can learn from them."

The Financial Foundation

The most fundamental principle comes last: "Make money, period, spend more than you make." Hormozi explains the universal nature of this rule: "It doesn't matter how much you make—if you spend more than it, you can be poor."

This behavior persists across income levels: "It doesn't matter how much you increase your income, just spend more than you made. Go into debt and adjust your lifestyle to your new income at all times, or rather above your income, so that you can always stay poor no matter how much money you make."

He points to a sobering statistic: "The bottom 50% of America doesn't have any savings, and what's crazy is that these things are controllable... You can always downgrade your lifestyle, but the thing is, you care more about the opinions of others than you do about your own."

Conclusion: The Inversion Blueprint

Hormozi concludes by flipping each rule on its head, creating a powerful framework for success:

"Start today. Read books, do the stuff that's in the books. Take advice from rich people on how to be rich. Pick a spouse who makes you feel awesome about working. Fail once, try again. Think the world is unfair and act accordingly. Never blame your circumstances; thank your circumstances for making you who you are."

He continues, "Instead of complaining, do something. Expect no one to save you except for yourself. Value your opinion over those of other people. Seek out discomfort. Tolerate nothing but excellence. Make promises, keep promises."

On timing and approach: "Wait for imperfect conditions and act anyways on what you want. Avoid working on the stuff that doesn't matter; work on the things that matter most, ignore the rest. Say you're going to do something and then do it. Do what no one else is doing."

On standards and perseverance: "Do your best and make it above what it takes to be successful. Talk less, do more. Start something new today and keep at it until you are good; do it so long that it would be unreasonable for you to be bad."

On mindset and finances: "Don't believe what other people think about you more than what you think about yourself. Be irreplaceable. Find something that works and don't stop doing it; keep doing it until you're bored out of your mind because you're so good at doing that thing that worked. Hire smart people. Assume that you were always wrong and be willing to learn. And make money and spend less than you make."

Through this exercise in inversion thinking, Hormozi provides not just a list of behaviors to avoid, but a comprehensive philosophy for building wealth and success. By focusing on eliminating the common pitfalls that guarantee poverty, we can create a path that makes success almost inevitable.

As he puts it: "If you don't make many mistakes, you succeed without trying because all you're doing is just focusing on just not making these stupid mistakes that most people do."

This approach transforms wealth-building from a mysterious process into a clear set of decisions within anyone's reach—provided they're willing to think differently and act accordingly.

For the full conversation, watch the video here.