There's got to be a difference between the type of person who strike it rich and the average Joe, but what is it, really? This question is an important one, and it should be given the thought it deserves. There are plenty of easy, oversimplified responses, including, "Their family is rich," "They won the lottery," or "They have great careers." But these factors can't always be controlled by the individual experiencing them-- is wealth really dictated by the luck of the draw?

The bad news for those lucky people is that being in those circumstances is no guarantee of wealth. In fact, according to Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad book series, it isn't about how much money you bring in, but how much money you keep that determines how wealthy you are.

For instance, his father, the highly educated man to whom he refers in his books as his "poor dad," always had a good salary. Yet, Kiyosaki said, at the end of every quarter, he was practically penniless.

The good news for you, is that becoming rich has less to do with external factors like your job or whether you were born a Rockefeller, which you can't control, and more to do with internal factors which you can.

The real key to becoming right, is the way in which you think about money. It's as simple as that.

The man Kiyosaki dubbed his "rich dad" broke people down into four types and set them on a graph he called the Cash Flow Quadrant. On one side of the quadrant are the E's and S's, or the Employees and the Self-employed. On the other side are the B's and I's, or the Businesspeople and the Investors. According to Kiyosaki, each of those quadrants represents which sector a person's money comes from. It also represents the way that person thinks.

Are you beginning to see? The people in the four quadrants are not there by chance; they are there because they experience life in fundamentally different ways.

According to Kiyosaki, the people who fit into these four categories are fundamentally different in their thoughts and emotions, and these essential differences drive individuals to behave differently towards their 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.

Though the revelation that wealth simply depends on your attitude and personality may initially seem rather intimidating, you should take it as encouragement. Even if you don't see yourself as a lucky person right now, rest assured that you can, if you have the drive, become wealthy.

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.

Author and Realtor Alexandria P. Anderson helps clients to find and purchase Real Estate in Minnesota and Minnesota properties in and around the Twin Cities.