Poverty consciousness is one of the most destructive mindsets holding people back from prosperity, Randy Gage said in a post on LinkedIn.

“After 30+ years of coaching people, I’ve seen how this mindset destroys success,” Gage wrote. “Prosperity consciousness: You expect good things to happen. Poverty consciousness: You expect bad things to happen.”

Gage explained that language is one indicator of mindset. “Listen to your language,” he said, pointing to phrases like “I can’t believe I won!” immediately followed by “Something bad will happen now,” as examples of scarcity-based thinking.

He described how his own transformation unfolded — from $20 plastic shoes to $10,000 custom shoes — not out of vanity, but to rewire his self-worth. “Each purchase wasn’t about the shoes,” he said. “It was about changing what I believed I deserved.”

He posed a final challenge: “When someone shows you how to turn $100 into $1,000, what do you focus on?” Prosperity consciousness sees a 10x return. Poverty consciousness sees the risk of losing $100.

Gage is a speaker, author of 15 books in over 25 languages, and an expert in prosperity and mindset transformation. He is widely known for helping people reframe how they think about money and success.