What is the difference between people who get rich and people who don't? It is a very simple question that many people simply forget to ask. The first time you are truly confronted with this question, you will probably reach for an easy answer, such as, "Being born into a rich family" or "Getting lucky with the lotto" or even "Having a good career that pays a lot of money." And you might indeed be considered lucky if any of those things had happened to you.

Unfortunately for these people, however, being lucky isn't all it takes to become rich.  Robert Kiyosaki, author of the best-selling Rich Dad, Poor Dad books claims that being rich has more to do with how much money you hold on to than how much money you have coming in.

Kiyosaki's father, the so-called "Poor Dad," is a great example of a well educated man blessed with a great career who was nonetheless poor, because he couldn't seem to keep any of the money he was earning.

Fortunately for you, the circumstances of your life, such as the family into which you are born or the salary you receive at your job, are not what will determine whether or not you become rich.  Being wealthy depends on internal factors, not external circumstances.

That's right, folks-- becoming rich has more to do with how you think than who you are and what you've got.

Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad" demonstrated the effects that one's personality and attitude have on the way in which one earns and handles money using a graph called the Cash Flow Quadrant. This graph is split into four quadrants, labeled 'E,' 'S,' 'B,' and 'I'-- "employee," "self-employed," "businessmen," and "investor," respectively.  Not only do these four categories show how a person earns his or her money, claims Kiyosaki, but they shed light on the way in which different individuals view the world.

The quadrant into which an individual falls isn't determined simply by the luck of the draw; on the contrary, a person's perspective on money and the world, and their resultant decisions are the key.

In to book "Cash Flow Quadrant," Kiyosaki states that the people inhabiting the four corners of the graph are, in fact, totally different people.  Their different intellectual and emotional mindsets are the main determining factor of how each group deals with money.

Individuals gravitate to one of the previously mentioned quadrants based on their innate natures, driven by their personal values in regard to money.  You can tell which corner a person falls into simply by hearing them speak about money.  A person who frets about money and desires nothing more than simple security is  obviously an occupant of the 'E' quadrant, and there isn't anything wrong with that; this person will probably be unhappy if he or she strays into a different quadrant.  The "Employee," quadrant, however, is not the path towards wealth.

This may seem a little bit daunting at first, but in reality you should feel encouraged-- since being rich really isn't the result of blind luck, that means that all you have to do to become rich is change the way in which you think of money.

Real estate is a great place to start for prospective investors; it's what made "Rich Dad" rich in the first place!  In order to become a real estate investor and start building your fortune, all you have to do is make a decision to stop working for a paycheck, and put your paycheck to work for you.

About the Author: Alexandria P. Anderson is a Golden Valley real estate agent that helps people to find and purchase Golden Valley Homes and properties for sale in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.