Rich Dad, Poor
Dad
As narrated by Robert Kiyosaki
I had two fathers, a rich
one and a poor one. One was highly educated and intelligent;
he had a Ph.D. and completed four years of undergraduate work
in less than two years. He then went on to Stanford University,
the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University to
do his advanced studies, all on full financial scholarships.
The other father never finished the eighth grade.
Both men were successful in
their careers, working hard all their lives. Both earned substantial
incomes. Yet one struggled financially all his life. The other
would become one of the richest men in Hawaii. One died leaving
tens of millions of dollars to his family, charities and his
church. The other left bills to be paid.
Both men were strong, charismatic
and influential. Both men offered me advice, but they did
not advise the same things. Both men believed strongly in
education but did not recommend the same course of study.
If I had had only one dad,
I would have had to accept or reject his advice. Having two
dads advising me offered me the choice of contrasting points
of view; one of a rich man and one of a poor man.
Instead of simply accepting
or rejecting one or the other, I found myself thinking more,
comparing and then choosing for myself.
The problem was, the rich
man was not rich yet and the poor man not yet poor. Both were
just starting out on their careers, and both were struggling
with money and families. But they had very different points
of view about the subject of money.
For example, one dad would
say, "The love of money is the root of all evil."
The other, "The lack of money is the root of all evil."
As a young boy, having two
strong fathers both influencing me was difficult. I wanted
to be a good son and listen, but the two fathers did not say
the same things. The contrast in their points of view, particularly
where money was concerned, was so extreme that I grew curious
and intrigued. I began to start thinking for long periods
of time about what each was saying.
Much of my private time was
spent reflecting, asking myself questions such as, "Why
does he say that?" and then asking the same question
of the other dad's statement. It would have been much easier
to simply say, "Yeah, he's right. I agree with that."
Or to simply reject the point of view by saying, "The
old man doesn't know what he's talking about." Instead,
having two dads whom I loved forced me to think and ultimately
choose a way of thinking for myself. As a process, choosing
for myself turned out to be much more valuable in the long
run, rather than simply accepting or rejecting a single point
of view.
One of the reasons the rich
get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles
in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home,
not in school. Most of us learn about money from our parents.
So what can a poor parent tell their child about money? They
simply say "Stay in school and study hard." The
child may graduate with excellent grades but with a poor person's
financial programming and mind-set. It was learned while the
child was young.
Money is not taught in schools.
Schools focus on scholastic and professional skills, but not
on financial skills. This explains how smart bankers, doctors
and accountants who earned excellent grades in school may
still struggle financially all of their lives. Our staggering
national debt is due in large part to highly educated politicians
and government officials making financial decisions with little
or no training on the subject of money.
I often look ahead to the
new millennium and wonder what will happen when we have millions
of people who will need financial and medical assistance.
They will be dependent on their families or the government
for financial support. What will happen when Medicare and
Social Security run out of money? How will a nation survive
if teaching children about money continues to be left to parents—most
of whom will be, or already are, poor?
Because I had two influential
fathers, I learned from both of them. I had to think about
each dad's advice, and in doing so, I gained valuable insight
into the power and effect of one's thoughts on one's life.
For example, one dad had a habit of saying, "I can't
afford it." The other dad forbade those words to be used.
He insisted I say, "How can I afford it?" One is
a statement, and the other is a question. One lets you off
the hook, and the other forces you to think. My soon-to-be-rich
dad would explain that by automatically saying the words "I
can't afford it," your brain stops working. By asking
the question "How can I afford it?" your brain is
put to work. He did not mean buy everything you wanted. He
was fanatical about exercising your mind, the most powerful
computer in the world. "My brain gets stronger every
day because I exercise it. The stronger it gets, the more
money I can make." He believed that automatically saying
"I can't afford it" was a sign of mental laziness.
Although both dads worked
hard, I noticed that one dad had a habit of putting his brain
to sleep when it came to money matters, and the other had
a habit of exercising his brain. The long-term result was
that one dad grew stronger financially and the other grew
weaker. It is not much different from a person who goes to
the gym to exercise on a regular basis versus someone who
sits on the couch watching television. Proper physical exercise
increases your chances for health, and proper mental exercise
increases your chances for wealth. Laziness decreases both
health and wealth.
(Continued
In Rich Dad Poor Dad Pt 2...)
| Authors Details: Robert T. Kiyosaki
and Sharon L. Lechter Excerpt From "Rich Dad Poor
Dad" |
More Articles On How To Get Rich
(Ten
Decisions You Need to Make to Get Rich Part 1)
(Ten
Decisions You Need to Make to Get Rich Part 2)
(Rich
Dad Poor Dad Pt 1)
(Rich
Dad Poor Dad Pt 2)
(How
To Get Rich) |
