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Do you understand the difference between these terms: rich vs wealthy? Here’s the quick answer; you can read it and close the article. You become rich over night. Wealth takes time to build.

That’s it, you can go now! Bye!

Now that we got rid of those wanting to be rich, let’s discuss amongst the rest of us.

You can BE rich over night, where ‘over night’ can mean even 1 or 2 years, but it implies either low effort or pure luck. You ARE rich at one moment in your life. It’s temporary. Examples of becoming rich: you win the lottery, you’re a one hit wonder, you have this one time amazing idea and you’re (luckily) able to capitalize on it. But it’s not a familiar state, you didn’t build the force of habit into it.

Wealth takes time to build. You BECOME wealthy. People that become wealthy usually start from a small idea or from a small garage (the so-called “typical garage story”, yeah… you’ll see why it’s so typical). From the small garage you move to a small apartment, then to a small office. Then a larger office in a villa. Finally, you buy “corporate space”. Between the garage and the corporate space, at least 10 years have passed. Wealth endures over time.

Have you ever seen that type of resume, where one guy or gal – freshly out of college! – is listing a first job as Corporate BS Manager? And moving from manager to manager role? Sorry, I don’t buy that. You may’ve had an influential uncle or buddy that actually helped you land a manager role on your first job, but … I’m not buying it, kid. If you did that, you definitely did not take the time to form as a manager. You did not take the time to learn and form good habits (I’m going to keep repeating this, so get used to it).

The reason why all books called “Becoming … in 7 easy steps” or “The guide to becoming … in 1 month” are so successful is because people want to burn the steps and just jump to the results. What they actually want is the reward, not the effort needed to get there. And guess what, those books sell thousands of copies, but I didn’t hear one single person succeeding in any field just by reading “The 7 quick steps to…”. Except for the ‘anonymous’ testimonials those books have.

The reason why a vast majority of lottery winners go bankrupt in less than one year is because that this newfound state of being a millionaire is not familiar to them. They did not form the habit of handling large amounts of money, they didn’t train their economic skills, nor did they have any experience in business. There are of course exceptions, when an entrepreneur wins the lottery.

Therefore, I believe in resumes and in people that took the natural road. People that went from customer support to CEO, from working late nights in a basement eating pizza to celebrating with Cava on the 17^th floor of their corporate HQ. It’s not always a straight line, that’s why I also believe in people with different working backgrounds, because each quality and aptitude they possess nowadays might’ve been learned in a completely different workplace.

Wealthy means feeling fulfilled. It’s not just money in your bank. It means feeling satisfied with where you are, seeing the results of your work in its whole.

I would not partner either in business with people that got rich over night, because they can’t handle their business. Overnight success can be deceiving. You need to gather pieces of the puzzle until the complete image forms.

Form good habits first, then learn to connect the dots. Looking forward to doing business with you!