4 Habits That Make You Rich at Any Age | John D. Rockefeller — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00If you are 20 years old, you may think
2. 0:02you are too young to worry about wealth.
3. 0:05If you are 40, you may think you started
4. 0:08too late.
5. 0:09And if you are 60, perhaps you believe
6. 0:12the opportunity has already passed.
7. 0:16Let me tell you something I learned long
8. 0:18ago.
9. 0:19Age is not what keeps people poor. Their
10. 0:22habits do.
11. 0:24I have watched young men earn fortunes
12. 0:26and lose them.
13. 0:28I have watched ordinary men with modest
14. 0:30incomes become financially secure simply
15. 0:33because they understood how to handle
16. 0:35money.
17. 0:36And I have learned that wealth does not
18. 0:38begin when you earn a large income. It
19. 0:41begins with what you do with the income
20. 0:43you already have.
21. 0:45So, if you are sitting here wondering
22. 0:47whether it is too late to become
23. 0:49wealthy, forget your age for a moment.
24. 0:52Listen carefully.
25. 0:54These are four habits I would want every
26. 0:56person in this room to develop.
27. 0:59The first is simple.
28. 1:01Learn to live below your means.
29. 1:04When I was young, I understood something
30. 1:07that many successful people forget after
31. 1:10they become successful.
32. 1:12Earning money and keeping money are two
33. 1:15entirely different skills.
34. 1:17A man can earn $10,000
35. 1:20and remain poor.
36. 1:21Another can earn 2,000 and slowly become
37. 1:25wealthy.
38. 1:26Why?
39. 1:27Because one spends everything he earns,
40. 1:30while the other creates a gap between
41. 1:32what he earns and what he spends.
42. 1:35That gap is where wealth begins.
43. 1:38I never believed that every increase in
44. 1:41income should produce an increase in
45. 1:43lifestyle.
46. 1:44If your income rises and your expenses
47. 1:47rise with it, you may look richer
48. 1:49without actually becoming richer.
49. 1:52The wealthy person asks, "How much can I
50. 1:55keep?" Not "How much can I spend?
51. 1:59Your income feeds you today.
52. 2:01Your surplus can build your tomorrow.
53. 2:04The second habit is even more important.
54. 2:07Make your money productive.
55. 2:10I never wanted my money sitting still.
56. 2:12When capital came into my hands, I
57. 2:15wanted it working.
58. 2:17I wanted it producing something.
59. 2:19I wanted it creating another dollar.
60. 2:22This is [clears throat] where many
61. 2:23people misunderstand wealth.
62. 2:25They work for money all their lives, but
63. 2:28never teach their money to work.
64. 2:30You may not own an oil refinery.
65. 2:33You may not have millions of dollars.
66. 2:36That does not matter.
67. 2:38Today, your productive asset might be a
68. 2:40business, an investment, a piece of
69. 2:42software, a website, or a skill that
70. 2:46allows you to create value repeatedly.
71. 2:49Start small.
72. 2:51A small amount invested consistently can
73. 2:54become meaningful with enough time.
74. 2:56Do not wait until you are rich before
75. 2:59learning how to make money productive.
76. 3:02Learning to make money work is how you
77. 3:05become rich.
78. 3:06The third habit is one I consider
79. 3:09extremely powerful.
80. 3:11Think in decades, not days.
81. 3:14When I entered the oil business, I was
82. 3:16not thinking about what would happen
83. 3:18next Tuesday.
84. 3:20I was thinking about what the business
85. 3:22could become years from now.
86. 3:24That way of thinking changes a man's
87. 3:27decisions.
88. 3:28The impatient person asks, "How quickly
89. 3:31can I become rich?"
90. 3:33The patient person asks,
91. 3:35"What can I build that will still be
92. 3:37valuable 20 years from now?"
93. 3:40The first question creates gambling.
94. 3:43The second creates wealth.
95. 3:45You will be tempted to chase quick
96. 3:47opportunities.
97. 3:48You will see someone become wealthy
98. 3:50overnight on the internet and wonder why
99. 3:53it hasn't happened to you.
100. 3:55Ignore the noise.
101. 3:57Trees do not become strong because you
102. 4:00pull on their branches.
103. 4:02They become strong because they keep
104. 4:04growing.
105. 4:05Your skills work the same way.
106. 4:08Your investments work the same way.
107. 4:11Your reputation works the same way.
108. 4:14Your business works the same way.
109. 4:16Give good things enough time to
110. 4:18compound.
111. 4:20And the fourth habit may be the one that
112. 4:22separates people who become wealthy from
113. 4:25those who merely talk about becoming
114. 4:28wealthy.
115. 4:29Always look for ways to increase your
116. 4:31value.
117. 4:33When I was young, I didn't simply ask
118. 4:35how I could earn more money.
119. 4:38I asked myself,
120. 4:39"What can I learn that makes me more
121. 4:41useful?"
122. 4:43That question follows you at every age.
123. 4:46If you are 20, learn. [clears throat]
124. 4:48If you are 30, specialize.
125. 4:51If you are 40, build systems.
126. 4:54If you are 50, use your experience. If
127. 4:57you are 60, invest your knowledge and
128. 4:59capital wisely.
129. 5:01There is no age at which you become
130. 5:03useless,
131. 5:04but there is an age at which you stop
132. 5:05learning, and that is far more
133. 5:08dangerous.
134. 5:09The world changes constantly.
135. 5:12New industries appear.
136. 5:13Old industries disappear.
137. 5:16Technology transforms entire businesses.
138. 5:19If your value never changes, eventually
139. 5:22the world will leave you behind.
140. 5:24So, keep learning. Keep improving. Keep
141. 5:27becoming harder to replace.
142. 5:29And now, let me give you the part most
143. 5:31people don't want to hear.
144. 5:34These four habits are not complicated.
145. 5:36You do not need a secret formula.
146. 5:39You do not need to be born rich. You do
147. 5:41not need to be 20 years old. You need
148. 5:44discipline. Live below your
149. 5:46[clears throat] means, make your money
150. 5:48productive, think in decades, increase
151. 5:51your value.
152. 5:53Do these things long enough and
153. 5:55something remarkable happens.
154. 5:57Your age becomes less important because
155. 6:00wealth is not built in a single year. It
156. 6:03is built through thousands of small
157. 6:05decisions that appear insignificant when
158. 6:08you make them, but become enormous when
159. 6:11you look back decades later.
160. 6:14I did not become wealthy because I
161. 6:16discovered a secret that nobody else
162. 6:18knew.
163. 6:20I became wealthy because I learned to
164. 6:22repeat the right behaviors long after
165. 6:25other people became impatient.
166. 6:28So, do not ask me whether you are too
167. 6:30young.
168. 6:31Do not ask me whether you are too old.
169. 6:34Ask yourself a better question.
170. 6:37If I repeat my current habits for the
171. 6:39next 20 years, where will they take me?
172. 6:44Your answer to that question may be more
173. 6:46important than your current bank balance
174. 6:49because your future wealth is being
175. 6:52built right now,
176. 6:54not tomorrow,
177. 6:55not someday,
178. 6:57today.