Most of us have heard of the one percent. The one percent of people that is rich, powerful, influential, and perhaps famous. While that group still exists, there is a new group of one percenters. This group is made up of people who take care of themselves physically, mentally, financially, spiritually, and are able to care and provide for others as well. In short, these are the people who handle their business. These are the people who thanklessly provide pillars of our society. Need examples? Let’s take the nine-to-five employed father who provides for his family financially, coaches a kids sport, takes care of himself physically in the gym such that his wife is still attracted to him, leads the family, and is in touch with himself on a spiritual level. Or perhaps an entrepreneur who manages a business from home, but volunteers in his community and regularly takes his family on outings where he is present and not stuck on phone calls or managing emails. Perhaps it’s a woman who chooses to stay at home and raise kids, but hasn’t lost touch with herself and still makes time to workout, stay attractive, and continues to learn and grow, even though she doesn’t plan on being employed any time soon. These are the people who are intellectually curious, genuinely care about friends and family, and are comfortable with themselves, the lives they’ve built, and their future. And because of that they can give back to others and add value to others’ lives.
How do we know this is actually a group of one percent? We don’t. It might be ten percent, it might be five. But the more you go out in public and observe behaviors of your peers; you will start to see why the best estimate is likely one percent. You may have parents out there that provide financially for the family, but they aren’t “present” once they get home. You may see a man who provides and is present in the home, but he’s let himself go physically and he just waits for the kids to go to bed so he can binge watch television. On the other end of the spectrum you may see a woman holding down an executive level job, staying in perfect shape, but is selfish and neglectful in her home life. We see these examples out there and that’s why this group of one percenters is so rare; because they have developed habits and discipline throughout their life that enables them to handle their business while giving back to others.
Consider for a moment how many people have rainy day savings and are not living paycheck to paycheck. And out of those people, how many are in good physical shape? Not average, but good physical shape. Out of those people, how many have healthy relationships and good family lives? And out of those people how many people have tenacity for life that no matter what you throw at them, they are just going to handle it? And out of those people how many are happy enough with their lives that they can complement others, genuinely want others to succeed, and constantly work to improve themselves? Now you see where one percent comes from.
One of the key points that needs to be highlighted about the one percent is that they wish everyone success. They are not selfish or greedy. They are happy enough with where they are in life that they genuinely want others to succeed and achieve the life they want. That’s a key point because the more people that attain the one percent status, the more people will be trying to pull others up to their level and help them succeed, such that they can begin to give back as well.
We should all be striving to be a member of the one percent. You won’t be thanked, credited, or recognized, but that’s okay because you don’t demand that. You just work quietly on yourself and your family to handle your financial, physical, mental, and spiritual business. And hopefully, you pass your ideals on to your children and others such that they may continue the cycle and expand the one percent.