Rich mindset versus poor mindset: what billionaires say is different
September 29, 2026 · 17 min read
Grant Cardone lists three mindset shifts between rich and poor, John Paul DeJoria contrasts billionaire and millionaire thinking, David Rubenstein describes the difference in his own terms, and Lewis Howes names quiet signs that wealth is coming. Their overlap points to abundance, long time horizons and taking responsibility.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Shared pattern: abundance over scarcity, long time horizons, and responsibility over blame.
- Grant Cardone: invest instead of spending, know money is not required to start, delay gratification.
- Cardone: seek equity and opportunity, not wages; resentment means you have gone too small.
- Cardone: deals break down over face, not dollars; let the other side win too.
- John Paul DeJoria: giving is what separates millionaires from billionaires.
- DeJoria: pay off your home, keep six months of expenses in cash, never charge what you cannot pay in full.
- DeJoria: build for reorders and loyalty, not one-time sales.
- David Rubenstein: the richest chased an idea, not money, and thought in decades.
- Rubenstein: reputation takes years to build and minutes to destroy.
- Lewis Howes: celebrate people ahead of you; you will not become what you speak badly about.
- Howes: move up from doing to managing, communicating and imagining.
- Howes: 48 percent of people earning over $250,000 still live paycheck to paycheck; measure runway in months.
- Disagreement: Cardone uses leverage freely, DeJoria avoids debt.
- These are personal patterns, not guarantees; see a qualified financial advisor on debt, investing or insurance.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.