Jean Chatzky says that anyone can prosper in even the toughest economic times…if they possess the key traits and abilities that will set them apart. She calls these traits The Difference, and in her new book Jean describes how you can go from the person who lives paycheck to paycheck to the person who lives in comfort.

    Do you have The Difference? And, if not—how can you get it? Jean shares the eight things that matter most to help you become financially free.

    Happiness and Optimism

    Some people believe money leads to happiness. Not true. Once you're living comfortably, more money doesn't buy more happiness. The reverse, however, is true: Happiness leads to money. And success. Likewise, so does optimism. Both enable you to solve problems, conjure ideas, take long-range consequences into consideration and come back and try again if you miss the first time.

    Resilience

    People who have moved from a bad financial situation into comfort or wealth have resilience. They can overcome—on the job, in their personal lives, with their finances. They don't deny the bad things that happen, but they're able to turn their focus to things over which they have control with the belief that they have the ability to effect change. The good news is you don't have to be born with resilience—you can learn it by controlling the things you can control and letting go of the others.

    Connectedness

    Ever heard of social capital? It's the asset created when relationships between people change in ways that lead to action, generally for good. It's an important component of The Difference, and the wealthy and financially comfortable not only have more of it than people living paycheck to paycheck, they know how to use it. They cast a wider net, socializing with neighbors, co-workers, people who can help them advance financially or in their careers. To get your share of social capital, you have to make time for people and put yourself forward as a leader.

    Passion

    It is a key element that moves people from a life of financial struggle to one of financial success. The wealthy, simply put, want it more than the rest of that. Some want it in the form of money, but most are quite passionate about the careers they choose to pursue. And, at a time where doing what you love may seem not so possible, it's important to know you can learn to love what you do.

    Intuition

    Over the years, your brain has scored up scads of patterns, information that tells you that if one thing happens, something else is likely to follow. We feel these signals in our gut—and we call them hunches. They are really our intuition, a sixth sense that is more developed in the wealthy than in anyone else. You can learn to bring yours forward by adopting strategies like giving your intuition a little room to breathe: Jean herself says she has the best aha! moments when she's not searching for them.

    Habitual saving

    The wealthy people in our study certainly have the funds to be crazy spenders, but most are not. Both wealthy and financially comfortable individuals say that saving more money has been an "absolutely essential" financial goal as an adult. If you're not a habitual saver already, The Difference will show you how.

    Invest in stocks

    Jean did the research for this book when housing prices were cratering and the markets were falling out of the sky. Yet, one lesson emerged again and again: The wealthy understand the need to take risks in the market—in good times and in bad—in order to make their money work as hard as they do.

    Gratitude

    The Karma Kickback. The people who get rich—and stay rich—are not just grateful. They practice gratitude by giving back to their communities, to organizations they believe in and the people they care about. Even if you are thinking of something you view as mundane—like your job—when you think about it as a gift, you focus on what life might be if you didn't have it.

    Jean Chatzky在她最近的新書The Difference里描述了如何從一個每月都捉襟見肘的人變成一個能略有盈余，生活富足的人。她談到：任何人都可以在最嚴峻經濟形勢時期獲得成功，只要他們都具有某些關鍵特點和能力，那么他們就能從眾多艱難處世的人當中脫穎而出。她把這些特點叫做“用心生活，大有不同”。

    你有這些特點嗎？如果你沒有，你要怎樣去做到呢？Jean跟我們分享了最最能幫助你獲得財務自由的八個特點。

    1，快樂和樂觀

    有些人認為有錢就能快樂。這不對。一當你生活富足的時候，更多的錢并不能買到更多的快樂。反過來才是對的。快樂的人會獲得更多的財富，還有成功。同樣，樂觀態度也是這樣。快樂、樂觀能讓你找到問題的答案；幫你想到更多的點子；將各種長遠的目標結果考慮在內；假如你第一次沒做好，你可以回來再嘗試。

    2，順應力

    那些從糟糕的金融狀況中走出來獲得富足的人都很有彈性。他們能克服工作、個人生活中的財務困難。他們不排斥發生壞的情況，他們只是能轉而專注在那些他們能把握的事情上，因為他們相信：自己有能力讓事情發生改變。好在你不必天生就富有彈性，你可以關照好你能關照的事情，而其他事就隨它去，這樣你就學會了。

    3，連通

    聽說過社會資本嗎？它是人們通過關系的改變來創造資產。這些改變能促成行動，通常是好的行動。連通是The Difference這本書里一個非常重要的組成部分。那些生活富足的人不僅僅是比捉襟見肘的人有更多的“連通”關系，他們更知道如何去運用這些連通關系。他們的社會關系網更大，他們跟鄰居、同事、以及那些能在財務上或職業上有所幫助的人交往。想得到社會資本的好處，你就必須花時間跟人們交往，讓自己像一個領袖一樣前進。

    4，似火的熱情

    這是讓一個人從財務斗爭走向財務自由的關鍵要素。富有的人，簡單的說，他們想要比財富更多的東西。有些人想要的是財富，不過大多數人都對自己追求的職業有非常高的熱情。當然，當你還沒法去做自己喜歡的職業的時候，你要能學會去喜歡自己正在做的事情，這點很重要。

    5，直覺

    多年以來，你的大腦已經獲得了大量模式，信息，告訴你如果發生了某件事情，接下來就會發生什么。我們本能地感覺得到這些信號，我們把這些信號叫做直覺。這些信號的確就是我們的直覺，或者第六感，富有的人常常比其他人有更多的直覺。你可以給自己的直覺留一點空間，用這個方法來讓自己對這些直覺更敏感。Jean自己就說：當她沒有刻意去尋找直覺信號的時候，她常常會有最好的直覺。

    6，讓節儉成為習慣

    我們做的研究中富有的人當然有瘋狂購物，血拼的資本，然而大多數富人并不是這樣大肆揮霍的。富有、財務自由的人認為：作為一個成年人，省下更多的錢是一個絕對必不可少的目標。如果你還不是一個習慣節約的人，The Difference會告訴你怎么做。

    7，投資股票

    Jean為寫這本書做了研究。當時正是房價猛跌，市場疲軟，有一個教訓一次又一次地出現。富有的人懂得在市場中冒險，無論是經濟好還是經濟糟糕的時候，就是為了讓自己的錢活起來。

    8，感激

    “一切都是因果。”那些獲得大量財富的人—并且一直擁有財富的人不僅僅是心存感激。他們用實際行動回饋給他們的社區，他們信奉的組織，還有他們關照的人。即使你覺得自己看到的事情（比如你的工作）不過是平常事的時候，只要你把這些都當作是上天給予的一份禮物，那么你就專注在生活的價值上了，即便你之前并沒有看到這一點。