FBC – 222 – What rich people do that you don’t?

What rich people do that you don't?

Today, I am going to tell you one of the main reasons why rich people get richer while the rest of the population struggles. This has a major impact on their success and it's a key concept that you need to integrate if you want to be more successful.

All the answers are in this episode

I wanted to tell you about one of the main differences that you see with the 97 percent we talked about and the three percent. There are a bunch of differences, obviously, but there is one that is a huge, huge, huge part of the success of these gurus that you see.

There is a saying that rich people, so those three percent make decisions really, really fast and change their minds really, really slowly. OK. Whereas the 97 percent will make decisions very, very slowly and change their minds very, very fast. OK. And let me explain, you know, why that is important and why that's a big difference.

So let's say there is an opportunity right in front of you. It's not going to be there for long and if you don't seize that opportunity, then it's gone. Or if you see that too late, then you only have crumbs and you have missed the big chunk of the pie. All right. And the reason why these rich people are actually getting richer is that they make decisions really fast before anybody else.

They go at it even though they're not prepared and stuff. So you don't need to know every single thing about it. You just need to go at it really fast. And this is why they're the first ones to the treasure chest or to the pie. So if you come late to the party, don't be amazed if everything is gone. The most successful people will seize an opportunity.

They will see it and they will be like dude. That sounds interesting. I like the numbers. I want to jump on that opportunity. Are they 100 percent prepared? No, they just put their foot in the door. Ok maybe it is something they've been doing for a long time or something.

So they have some level of preparation, but sometimes they're not fully prepared, man. They're like, well, you know what? Let me jump in and then we'll see afterwards how that goes.

Another mistake that the 3 percent are not doing is that let's say you're going from point A to point B. They will go from point A to point B, instead of being Oh, man. You know what? Let's exploit C now. C. Kind of sucks before I even get there.

Let's go to D. Are you sure? No. Maybe. Let's go to A. To Z. Right. And switching lanes all the time. Right. Have you noticed? I'm pretty sure you've seen that. So this is what, you know, successful people won't do, like flip flopping and switching and all our stuff.

What rich people do that you don't?

Right. So it's very important that if you see something you like, go for it. And we already talked about this in a previous podcast. There is a certain level information you need to get in. You don't need a hundred percent, right? You just need to go with enough information. You just need to know the basics.

And then you can go in and then you will figure it out later. There is a certain level of information that will allow you to go in there kind of prepared. OK. Now, is everybody going to do it? Not really. You could go in something like 60 percent of information. 60 percent. You're ready to jump in.

You don't need the 100 percent because there is a point after which, to collect more information actually becomes damaging for you because you keep asking yourself questions, and then afterwards, you don't actually do anything.

So this is one thing you need to learn if you want to be more successful. Which point does it make sense for me to actually be going there? And yeah, as I was saying, you know, stick to your guns, man.

Rich people are not luckier. They move faster. The opportunity that most people spend three weeks analyzing is already gone by the time they decide whether to act on it.

The 97 percent overthink until the window closes. The 3 percent commit at 60 percent certainty and figure out the rest on the way in. That gap in decision speed is the single biggest factor separating people who build wealth from people who watch others do it.

What the genuinely wealthy people I have met actually do differently

I have sat across from people who moved serious money, and the difference was never the flash. It was patience and leverage. They did not trade every hour for a dollar. They built systems and assets that kept working while they slept, and they were almost boring about how consistent they stayed. I have worked with brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and eBay, and the same pattern showed up inside the big machines too. The people who compounded wealth thought in decades, not in weekends. Harvard Business Review has documented how long term thinking consistently outperforms short term opportunism in building durable wealth, and every wealthy person I trust lives that way. The lever most people never pull is systematisation. I built more than 1,500 automation workflows so my income would not be chained to my presence, and I share the mechanics on my story page and across my Substack essays. McKinsey research on value creation says the same thing in colder language: durable returns come from compounding systems, not from hustle. Copy that, not the flash.

Frequently Asked Questions: How Rich People Think and Decide Differently

Why do wealthy people make decisions so much faster than everyone else? Because they have trained themselves to recognize that perfect information is never available and that waiting for it is more costly than acting on incomplete information. They also understand compounding at a deep level. Every week of delay on a good opportunity is a week of growth they will never recover. Speed is not recklessness. It is a deliberate competitive advantage.

Is it not reckless to commit before you have all the facts? Only if you are waiting for 100 percent certainty, which never exists. Martin's threshold is 60 percent. At that point you know the core mechanics of the opportunity, the major risks, and the basic path forward. Everything beyond that is information you can gather while executing rather than while deliberating. The people who wait for 90 or 100 percent certainty consistently arrive too late to the opportunities that matter.

How do you train yourself to make faster decisions? Start by separating reversible decisions from irreversible ones. For reversible choices, set a hard deadline of 24 to 48 hours and act. For larger commitments, ask yourself: what is the minimum information I need to make a reasonable decision here, and do I have it? If yes, move. The practice of hitting self-imposed deadlines builds the decision-making muscle over time until speed becomes the default.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Related Reading

• Use this awesome business hack that will change your life and allow you to work
• The #1 System You Absolutely Must Use If You Want To Make Money While You Sleep
• This is the #1 Facebook Ad System That Will Use Automation To Make Money Even Wh
• Efficiently increase your sales and safe loads of money with this sales hack!