What attitudes you must develop to become rich and successful
Disliking the rich is often mistaken for envy, but they are not the same. Envy is a complicated feeling that has a social side. It happens when someone compares how they look or their place in society to someone else. Envy is a personal feeling.
The negative attitude toward wealth has more of a group aspect. It comes from history and is linked to human nature.
There are two main reasons why many find it hard to accept someone else's wealth. First, we still live by a system based on ideas from 2.5 million years ago. In those early days, the main goal was the group working together. Everything was shared among people.
That was the aim of the system. It only fell apart after private property appeared. Material things and economic relations started to divide people. Societies began to form classes.
If we think about it in psychological terms, every system tries to stay united. If someone tries to stand out or break away, the system fights back.
That is why society has always told us it’s shameful to be different from most people. Stories from the past praised unity. To gain approval, you needed to be part of the group.
During the Soviet era, the desire to stay united was even stronger. Phrases like “You are me, and I am you” and “We are all one” became common. Anyone who stood out felt like an outsider. That’s why many fear being seen as rich or successful.
People need boundaries to grow. Without clear limits, growth becomes harder. Goals also act as boundaries. Sometimes society sets boundaries to keep order.
The labels “poor” and “rich” set strict limits. People tend to join one group or the other and stay within those lines. To make people easier to control, stereotypes like “rich is bad” and “poor is good” arose.
There are social reasons behind negative views of money and wealth. These beliefs are shaped by family, culture, and surroundings.
Children’s fairy tales are a good example of limiting beliefs. They create boundaries that are unfair or exaggerated. These are not boundaries worth defending, but they are the ones people accept.
Fairy tales do have benefits. They teach how to make choices and show universal ideas like friendship, love, and loyalty.
However, many stories show the hero suffering a lot before reaching their goal. If parents don’t talk about this, children might think happiness is hard to get. They may believe they must face tough struggles to succeed.
In the end, happiness and wealth become connected with sacrifice. This makes people see success as something that needs suffering. That is not a good way to think about achievement.