Now at Dec 15, 2014, 4:30 PM Bangladesh time am reading the book: Rich dad
Poor dad.
The portions that comes to my favorite and igniting, am keeping here:
One dad taught me how to write an impressive resumé so I could find a good
job. The other taught me how to write strong business and financial plans so I
could create jobs.
I noticed that people really do shape their lives through their thoughts.
For example, my poor dad always said, “I’ll never be rich.” And that
prophecy became reality.
He would say things like, “I’m a rich man, and rich people don’t do this.”
He would cover himself by saying, “There is a difference between being poor
and being broke. Broke is temporary. Poor is eternal.”
My poor dad would say, “I’m not interested in money,” or
“Money doesn’t matter.” My rich dad always said, “Money is power.”
The power of our thoughts may never be measured or appreciated,
but it became obvious to me as a young boy that it was important
to be aware of my thoughts and how
I expressed myself.
There is a difference
between being poor
and being broke.
Broke is temporary.
Poor is eternal.
The other encouraged me to study to be rich, to understand how
money works, and to learn how to have it work for me.
“I don’t work
for money!” were words he would repeat over and over. “Money works
for me!”
Money Talks, You don't talk.
- Sazzad Hossain (2014)
A Lesson from Robert Frost
Robert Frost is my favorite poet. Although I love many of his poems, my
favorite is “The Road Not Taken.” I use its lesson almost daily.
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads onto way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Money is one form of power. But what is more powerful is financial
education. Money comes and goes, but if you have the education about
how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building
wealth.
The reason positive thinking alone does not work is because
most people went to school and never learned how money works, so
they spend their lives working for money.
The lessons are meant not to be answers,
but guideposts that will assist you and your children to grow wealthier
no matter what happens in a world of increasing change and uncertainty.
LESSON 1: THE RICH DON'T
WORK FOR MONEY
The poor and the middle class work for money.
The rich have money work for them.
“Well, Son…,” he began slowly. “If you want to be rich, you have
to learn to make money.”
“How do I make money?” I asked.
“Well, use your head, Son,” he said, smiling. Even then I knew
that really meant, “That’s all I’m going to tell you,” or “I don’t know
the answer, so don’t embarrass me.”
Mom and Dad provided us with the basics, like food, shelter,
and clothes. But that was about it. My dad used to say, “If you want
something, work for it.”
He asked us to put everything down and sit with him on the front
step of our house. With a smile, he gently explained what the word
“counterfeiting” meant.
The business was over on
opening day. Sweeping the powder up, I looked at Mike and said,
“I guess Jimmy and his friends are right. We are poor.”
My father was just leaving as I said that. “Boys,” he said. “You’re
only poor if you give up. The most important thing is that you did
something. Most people only talk and dream of getting rich. You’ve
done something. I’m very proud of the two of you. I will say it again:
Keep going. Don’t quit.”
“My dad?” asked Mike with a scrunched-up face.
“Yeah, your dad,” repeated my dad with a smile. “Your dad
and I have the same banker, and he raves about your father. He’s
told me several times that your father is brilliant when it comes to
making money.”
“A nice car and a nice house don’t necessarily mean you’re rich or
you know how to make money,” my dad replied.
“Mike says you want to learn to make money? Is that correct, Robert?”
I nodded my head quickly, but with a little trepidation.
He had
a lot of power behind his words and smile.
“Okay, here’s my offer. I’ll teach you, but I won’t do it classroomstyle.
You work for me, I’ll teach you. You don’t work for me, I won’t
teach you. I can teach you faster if you work, and I’m wasting my time if
you just want to sit and listen like you do in school. That’s my offer. Take
it or leave it.”
“Ah, may I ask a question first?” I asked.
“No. Take it or leave it. I’ve got too much work to do to waste
my time. If you can’t make up your mind decisively, then you’ll never
learn to make money anyway. Opportunities come and go. Being able
to know when to make quick decisions is an important skill. You have
the opportunity that you asked for. School is beginning, or it’s over in
10 seconds,” Mike’s dad said with a teasing smile.
“I’ll take it,” I replied, choosing to work and learn instead of playing.
Mike’s
dad, whom I call my rich dad, owned nine of these little superettes, each with
a large parking lot.
“Dad said this would happen. He said to meet with him when
you were ready to quit.”
“Sort of,” Mike said. “Dad’s kind
of different.
My dad is quiet and a man
of few words. You just wait till this Saturday. I’ll tell him you’re ready.”
Rich dad rocked back in his swivel chair, hands up to his chin,
and stared at me.
“Not bad,” he said. “In less than a month, you sound like most
of my employees.”
“Does teaching mean talking or a lecture?” rich dad asked.
“That’s how they teach you in school,” he said, smiling. “But
that is not how life teaches you, and I would say that life is the best
teacher of all. Most of the time, life does not talk to you. It just sort
of pushes you around. Each push is life saying, ‘Wake up. There’s
something I want you to learn.’”
“If you learn life’s lessons, you will do well. If not, life will just
continue to push you around. People do two things. Some just let life
push them around. Others get angry and push back. But they push
back against their boss, or their job, or their husband or wife. They
do not know it’s life that’s pushing.”
“Life pushes all of us around. Some people give up and others
fight.
A few learn the lesson and
move on.
They welcome life pushing
them around. To these few people, it means they need and want to
learn something. They learn and move on. Most quit, and a few like
you fight.”
Rich dad stood and shut the creaky old wooden window that
needed repair. “If you learn this lesson, you will grow into a wise,
wealthy, and happy young man. If you don’t, you will spend your
life blaming a job, low pay, or your boss for your problems. You’ll
live life always hoping for that big break that will solve all your
money problems.”
Rich dad looked over at me to see if I was still listening. His eyes
met mine. We stared at each other, communicating through our eyes.
Finally, I looked away once I had absorbed his message. I knew he
was right. I was blaming him, and I did ask to learn. I was fighting.
You really wanted to win, but the fear of losing was
greater than the excitement of winning.
Deep inside, you and only
you will know you didn’t go for it. You chose to play it safe.”
“Some people might say that,” smiled rich dad. “I would say that
I just gave you a taste of life.”
“You boys are the first people who have ever asked me to teach
them how to make money. I have more than 150 employees, and not
one of them has asked me what I know about money.
They ask me for
a job and a paycheck, but never to teach them about money. So most
will spend the best years of their lives working for money, not really
understanding what it is they are working for.”
“So when Mike told me you wanted to learn how to make money,
I decided to design a course that mirrored real life.
Rich
dad rocked back and laughed heartily. Finally he said, “You’d best change your
point of view. Stop blaming me and thinking I’m the problem. If you think I’m
the problem, then you have to change me. If you realize that you’re the
problem, then you can change yourself, learn something, and grow wiser. Most
people want everyone else in the world to change but themselves. Let me tell
you, it’s easier to change yourself than everyone else.”
“So what will solve the problem?”
“This stuff between your ears.”
Rich dad explained this point of view over and over, which I call
lesson number one:
The poor and the middle class work for money. The
rich have money work for them.
My rich dad wanted me to learn how money works so I
could make it work for me.
My rich dad continued my first lesson, “I’m glad you got angry
about working for 10 cents an hour. If you hadn’t got angry and had
simply accepted it, I would have to tell you that I could not teach you.
You see,
true learning takes
energy, passion, and a burning desire.
Anger is a big part of that formula, for passion is anger and love combined.
When it comes to money, most people want to play it safe and feel
secure. So passion does not direct them. Fear does.”
Most people, given more money, only get into more debt.”
“So that’s why the 10 cents an hour,” I said, smiling. “It’s a part
of the lesson.”
“No,” said rich dad, “simply because it’s easier to learn to work for
money, especially if fear is your primary emotion when the subject of
money is discussed.”
Just know that it’s fear that keeps
most people working at a job:
Most people become a slave to money—
and then get angry at their boss.
People’s lives are
forever controlled
by two emotions:
fear and greed.
“Most
people have a price. And they have a
price because of human emotions named
fear and greed. First, the fear of being
without money motivates us to work hard, and then once we get that
paycheck, greed or desire starts us thinking about all the wonderful
things money can buy. The pattern is then set.”
Offer them more money and they continue the cycle by
increasing their spending. This is what I call the Rat Race.
“There is another way?” Mike asked.
“Yes,” said rich dad slowly. “But only a few people find it.”
“You mean the people in this park, the people who work for you,
Mrs. Martin, they don’t do that?” I asked.
“I doubt it,” said rich dad. “Instead, they feel the fear of not
having money. They don’t confront it logically. They react emotionally
instead of using their heads,” rich dad said.
And again they react, instead of think.”
Instead of admitting the truth
about how they feel, they react to their feelings and fail to think.
Fear keeps them in this trap of working, earning money,
working, earning money, hoping the fear will go away.
Money is running
their lives, and they refuse to tell the truth about that. Money is in
control of their emotions and their souls.
It’s perfectly normal to desire something
better, prettier, more fun, or exciting.
Some call it greed, but I prefer desire.
The avoidance of money
is just as psychotic as being attached to money.”
Yet they’ll work at a job for eight hours a day. That’s a denial of
truth.
If they weren’t interested in money, then why are they working?
That kind of thinking is probably more psychotic than a person who
hoards money.
“So what do we do?” I asked. “Not
work for money until all traces of fear
and greed are gone?”
“No, that would be a waste of time,”
said rich dad. “Emotions are what make
us human. The word
‘emotion’ stands
for ‘energy in motion.’
Be truthful about your emotions and use your mind and emotions in
your favor, not against yourself.
Just be an observer, not a reactor, to your emotions.
I want to teach you to master the power of money, instead of
being afraid of it. They don’t teach that in school and, if you don’t
learn it, you become a slave to money.”
It was finally making sense. He wanted us to widen our views
and to see what the Mrs. Martins of this world couldn’t see.
“You see, we’re all employees ultimately. We just work at different
levels,” said rich dad.
I just want you boys to have a chance to avoid
the trap caused by those two emotions, fear and desire. Use them in
your favor, not against you.
That’s what I want to teach you. I’m not
interested in just teaching you to make a pile of money. That won’t
handle the fear or desire.
If you don’t first handle fear and desire, and
you get rich, you’ll only be a highly paid slave.”
“The main cause of poverty or financial struggle is fear and
ignorance, not the economy or the government or the rich. It’s
self-inflicted fear and ignorance that keep people trapped. So you boys go
to school and get your college degrees, and I’ll teach you
how to stay out of the trap.”
“So you’ve been talking about the fear of not having money. How
does the desire for money affect our thinking?” Mike asked.
“How did you feel when I tempted you with a pay raise? Did you
notice your desires rising?”
We nodded our heads.
“By not giving in to your emotions, you were able to delay
your reactions and think. That is important. We will always have
emotions of fear and greed. From here on in, it’s imperative for you
to use those emotions to your advantage, and for the long term to not
let your emotions control your thinking. Most people use fear and
greed against themselves. That’s the start of ignorance.
“You
mean the moment I picture a new baseball glove, candy and
toys, that’s like a carrot to a donkey?” Mike asked.
“Yes, and as you get older, your toys get more expensive—a new
car, a boat, and a big house to impress your friends,” said rich dad
with a smile. “Fear pushes you out the door, and desire calls to you.
That’s the trap.”
What intensifies fear and desire is
ignorance.
Rich dad went on to explain that a human’s life is a struggle
between ignorance and illumination.
He explained that once a person stops searching for information
and self-knowledge, ignorance sets in.
That struggle is a moment-to-moment
decision—to learn to open or close one’s mind.
You go to school to learn a skill
or profession to become a contributing member of society.
“I’ve been a little cruel today,” said rich dad. “But I want you
to always remember this talk. I want you to always think of Mrs.
Martin. And I want you always to remember that donkey.
Never forget that fear and desire
can lead you into life’s biggest trap if you’re
not aware of them controlling your thinking.
“Because it is ignorance about
money that causes so much greed
and fear,” said rich dad. “Let me give you some examples. A doctor,
wanting more money to better provide for his family, raises his fees.
By raising his fees, it makes health care more expensive for everyone.
It hurts the poor people the most,
so they have worse health than
those with money. Because the doctors raise their fees, the attorneys
raise their fees. Because the attorneys’ fees have gone up, schoolteachers
want a raise, which raises our taxes, and on and on and on. Soon there
will be such a horrifying gap between the rich and the poor that chaos
will break out and another great civilization will collapse. History
proves that great civilizations collapse when the gap between the haves
and have-nots is too great.
We only memorize historical
dates and names, not the lesson.
“Aren’t prices supposed to go up?” I asked.
“In an educated society with a well-run government, prices should
actually come down. Of course, that is often only true in theory.
Prices go up because of greed and fear caused by ignorance. If schools
taught people about money, there would be more money and lower
prices. But schools focus only on teaching people to work for money,
not how to harness money’s power.”
Learn to use your emotions to
think, not think with your emotions.
When you boys mastered your emotions
by agreeing to work for free, I knew there was hope. When you again
resisted your emotions when I tempted you with more money, you
were again learning to think in spite of being emotionally charged.
That’s the first step.”
“Is there a briar patch?” I asked.
“Yes,” said rich dad. “The briar patch is our fear and greed.
Confronting fear, weaknesses, and neediness by choosing our own
thoughts is the way out.”
They get up every day and go work for money, not taking the time to
ask the question, ‘Is there another way?’
Rich dad went on to explain that the rich know that money is an
illusion, truly like the carrot for the donkey. It’s only out of fear and
greed that the illusion of money is held together by billions of people
who believe that money is real. It’s not. Money is really made up. It
is only because of the illusion of confidence and the ignorance of the
masses that this house of cards stands.
Seeing What Others Miss
We tried opening
a branch office, but we could never quite find someone as trustworthy
and dedicated as Mike’s sister. At an early age, we found out how hard
it was to find good staff.
We learned to make money work
for us. By not getting paid for our work at the store, we were forced
to use our imaginations to identify an opportunity to make money.
The best part was that our business generated money for us, even when we
weren’t physically there. Our money worked for us.
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