What is Poverty Mentality?
Poverty mentality is an attitude. It’s a way of thinking that is said to perpetuate poverty because the focus is on what one doesn’t have rather than what one does have. Thoughts and comments such as “I can’t afford this…” and “I’ll never have enough money for that…” may turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s not clear where the idea of poverty mentality came from, but one of the earliest motivational speakers to discuss it was Zig Ziglar. Zig Ziglar noted that focusing on the concern about what is missing in one’s life rather than focusing on what is there can lead to further poverty. Ziglar and others believe the ones who break out of poverty and really succeed are those who use what they do have, are grateful for what they do have and most of all aren’t jealous of what others have. Basically, it’s an attitude of self-belief and empowerment rather than one of self-pity and jealousy that is thought to combat the destructive poverty mentality. Being positive and building o
