Rich Dad Poor Dad, if you didn’t already know, is one of the books written by Robert Kiyosaki. The idea for the book came from his experience with “two parents” while growing up. One father was a traditionally cultured man who went to college and had a career in education. The other father figure, who was actually a father friend, never graduated from college or did well in school in general, but created and ran a successful business that made him rich. The lessons learned from each father were invaluable in making the book a success because people rarely get to see both sides of the financial spectrum at the same time. His experiences help him explain the mental differences between the rich and the poor in a way that most people can understand.
Go to school, get good grades, get a well-paying job…maybe.
As times change, so does the way we make money. The classic advice of our parents and grandparents is ‘get a good education, find a good job in a good company and the company will take care of you. The sad thing is that a lot of people still believe that! Times have changed and so has how we make money. The problem with that is that tips on how to make money haven’t changed with it.
Why don’t rich people work for money?
This is perhaps the most important step to begin understanding how wealth is created in your life. Robert Kiyosaki explains that there is a trap most people fall into that is fueled by fear and greed. It is a trap to trade your life for money and almost everyone has their price. Once the right price is offered, by a company or a job the person is trying to get, the trap is set. The fear of not having money to buy the necessities in life is the emotion that drives people to look for jobs. It’s the greed to finally get money and start thinking about all the things you can buy with it that traps a person. Fear and greed cause a person to keep waking up early and wasting their lives on a job they probably don’t like. And all it takes to keep them in the trap is a small increase each year that probably doesn’t change anything in their lives. So, working hard for money will never change your life. A job is actually a short term solution to a lifelong problem. It only solves the problem for now because once you stop working the money stops and the problem persists.
Why just getting rich doesn’t solve everything
Since fear and greed are an emotion, having money in and of itself does not always solve the problem. If a mental shift isn’t made and we can’t change our emotions from taking control of us, problems will continue. Problems such as the fear of not having enough money will continue. On top of these problems, a rich person is also afraid of losing money, of what people will think if they don’t keep getting rich, of not being able to earn more and buy nicer things. Fear and greed still exist despite the presence of money and abundance. This mental shift must happen.
Don’t be the donkey chasing carrots
Robert Kiyosaki compares most people’s lives to a donkey chasing a carrot. People are so focused on chasing the next paycheck that they don’t take the time to step back and see where it takes them. It is just like a donkey chasing a carrot on a string in front of it. He takes the rider where he wants to go, but the donkey only chases the illusion. If only the donkey knew what was going on, he might reconsider chasing that carrot and decide it wasn’t worth the trouble. We need to do the same and take a step back.
“Living our lives in fear, never achieving our dreams, working hard for money, waking up in the middle of the night afraid to pay the bills is no way to live.” says Robert Kiyosaki. Finding a job is only a temporary solution to money problems and learning to “use our emotions to think instead of yours” is an important step out of this trap. Keep asking yourself, “Is working harder really going to solve my financial problems?” As soon as you realize that he will not solve your problems, your mind and conscience will start looking for ways to solve this problem. Start researching who the wealthy are, what they do and how they do it. Ask questions, read books, listen to audio, and go to seminars. Find out what the rich do and how you can imitate them instead of chasing after your co-workers.
