Becoming Wealthy not just Rich - Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (26 million copies sold)

Hi All,

This is truly a marvelous book. I had it on my list of books to read but since my list was long I did not really know much of this book. Happened to see it  in Borders when I was there with my kids to spend the afternoon. Read a few chapters and decided I have to have my personal copy of it.

He explains things so even a 9 year old can understand it. The book weaves the information through 2 main characters the Rich dad and the Poor dad. He talks about having 2 dads one who was highly educated (Ph.D) from the best universities in US (his dad) and the other who passed just 8th grade (his friend's dad who mentored him). The differing philosopy on life by these 2 dads taught Robert Kiyosaki a lot.  The educated dad believed in good education, working for a good company, working hard to make it in life. The other believed in a good education, financial intelligence, (financial intelligence not taught in schools), working smart.

What really impressed me about the book is his emphasis on our belief systems, our thoughts, our fears and learning to give back to community. One can get rich (lottery maybe) but unless you are financially intelligent you can lose all that money. Remember the .dot com bust and how many of us lost money? Now I see we were not financially intelligent, it was not the economy but how we played the cards.

All the talk about beliefs, power of our thoughts, removing fears, giving back resonates so well with what I do as a hypnotherapist. It's the perfect tuning on my mission and his :)

So a few extracts from the book and of course my comments in braces (my comments). Here goes:

MONEY & JOB
“Just know that it’s fear that keeps most people working at a job. The fear of not paying their
bills. The fear of being fired. The fear of not having enough money. The fear of starting over.
That’s the price of studying to learn a profession or trade, and then working for money. Most
people become a slave to money… and then get angry at their boss.”

(Does it ring any bells for you? Are you in the rat race and not able to get out because of your fears about money, your beliefs about money? Angry at your boss for not giving you the well deserved bonus or raise? Are these fears affecting your quality of life? Not found a way out? Well, read Kiyosaki's books and you will find a new direction, a new approach).

As T. Harv Eker says in his inspiring and practical  book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: “You can be a victim or you can be rich, but you can’t be both.

Our thoughts shape our lives

Being a product of two strong dads allowed me the luxury of observing the effects that different thoughts have on one's life. I noticed that people really do shape their lives through their thoughts.

(Do you know that every thought you have creates a physiological response in your body? That's how powerful your thoughts are. Automatic Negative thoughts,ANT's as per Dr Daniel Amen, can destroy your brain cells. Our repetitive thoughts creates habits, beliefs. Self limiting beliefs can stop you from reaching your full potential and hamper the quality of your life sometimes significantly).

Poor Dad vs. Rich Dad

My Poor Dad Said "My house is an asset."
My Rich Dad Said "My house is a liability."

Rich dad says, "If you stop working today, an asset puts money in your pocket and a liability takes money from your pocket. Too often people call liabilities assets. It's important to know the difference between the two.
My Poor Dad Said "I can't afford it."
My Rich Dad Said  "How can I afford it?"

The statement "I can't afford it" shuts down your thinking. By asking the right question, you mind opens up and looks for answers.

My Poor Dad Said  "The reason I'm not rich is because I have you kids."
My Rich Dad Said  "The reason I must be rich is because I have you kids."
My Poor Dad Said  "I'm not interested in money."
My Rich Dad Said  "Money is power."


My Poor Dad Said "When it comes to money, play it safe - don't take risks."
My Rich Dad Said "Learn how to manage risk."

My Poor Dad Said "Pay myself last."
My Rich Dad Said "Pay myself first."

Rich Dad always took a percentage off the top of any income he earned. He put that money into an investment account that went toward purchasing his assets. Poor Dad spent all his money first and never had any remaining for investments.

My Poor Dad Believed that the company you worked for or the government should take care of your financial needs.
My Rich Dad Believed in financial self-reliance and financial responsibility.
My Poor Dad Focused only on academic literacy.
My Rich Dad Focused on financial literacy as well as academic literacy.

My Poor Dad Learned only the vocabulary of academia.
My Rich Dad Learned the vocabulary of finance – "Your words are the most valuable tools you have."

My Poor Dad "I work for my money."
My Rich Dad  "My money works for me."

My Poor Dad Thought that making more money would solve his financial problem.
My Rich Dad Knew that financial education was the answer to his financial problems: "It's not how much money you make that's important – it's how much money you keep and how long you keep it."


Understanding the difference in attitudes between Rich Dad and Poor Dad is essential to taking the first steps to financial freedom.

“The poor and the middle class work for money.
The rich have money work for them.”
         ~ Robert Kiyosaki

FINANCIAL LITERACY
“I am concerned that too many people are focused too much on money and not on their greatest wealth, which is their education. If people are prepared to be flexible, keep an open mind and learn, they will grow richer and richer through the changes. If they think money will solve the problems, I am afraid those people will have a rough ride. Intelligence solves problems and produces money. Money without financial intelligence is money soon gone.”


(Robert lays emphasis on education, spending time to learn, attending at least a couple of seminars a year on new ideas and formulas, spending time on your own business - wealthy via financial intelligence, taking charge of your financial life, listening to experts and following those who have walked the talk. There are tons of people even your friends and family who are always ready to find faults with what you are planning to do. The important thing to consider is have they walked on the path you are going, do they have experience in what you are trying to do? If not, find someone who is successful and then listen to them. Cooool!!)
 
“I want to teach you to master the power of money. Not be afraid of it. And they don’t teach that in school. If you don’t learn it, you become a slave to money.”
  ~ Rich Dad

As Byron Katie says in Loving What Is: “The greatest stock market you can invest in is yourself. Finding this truth is better than finding a gold mine.”

He uses simple diagrams to explain financial terms, so simple that even kids can understand it. It really gave me a good insight and another way at looking at the same financial terms I was aware of. I was aware of the words (such as expenses, income, liabilities, assets etc) but not the true intelligence of these words till I started reading Robert Kiyosaki's books.

“The greatest losses of all are those from missed opportunities. If all your money is tied up in your house, you may be forced to work harder because your money continues blowing out of the expense column, instead of adding to the asset column, the classic middle class cash flow problem.”

WEALTH
“Wealth is a person’s ability to survive so many number of days forward… or if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?”
 
(Now think, do you desire money or do you desire being wealthy?)
 
Remember: “The single most powerful asset we all have is our mind. If it is trained well, it can create enormous wealth in what seems to be an instant.”
 
FOCUS
“If you have little money and you want to be rich, you must first be ‘focused,’ not ‘balanced.’ If you look at anyone successful, at the start they were not balanced. Balanced people go nowhere. They stay in one spot. To make progress, you must first go unbalanced. Just look at how you make progress walking.”
 
(Being balanced is studying, working hard, following the well trodden path. Being unbalanced is thinking out of the box, thinking different from norm)
 
FEAR (AGAIN)
“We all have tremendous potential, and we all are blessed with gifts. Yet, the one thing that holds all of us back is some degree of self-doubt. It is not so much the lack of technical information that holds us back, but more the lack of self-confidence.”
 
“I strongly urge students to learn to take risks, to be bold, to let their genius convert that fear into power and brilliance.”
   ~ Robert Kiyosaki


GIVE, GIVE, GIVE!!

“Whenever you feel ‘short’ or in ‘need’ of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money, a smile, love, friendship. I know it is often the last thing a person may want to do, but it has always worked for me. I just trust that the principle of reciprocity is true, and I give what I want.”

This echoes Deepak Chopra’s wisdom from The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (see Notes) where he says: “Practicing the Law of Giving is actually very simple; if you want joy, give joy to others; if you want love, learn to give love; if you want attention and appreciation, learn to give attention and appreciation; if you want material affluence, help others to become materially affluent. In fact, the easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want.”
 
(Going back to my earlier blogs, . To change things, you have to change somethings in your life. DO IT NOW. Tomorrow will only bring more of what you have today. Act now. Give what you want from life and see it come back to you in buckets).
 
That's all for now. Keep having fun. Share you thoughts, ideas with everyone. Write your comments. The more you share the more you learn. Let's make this a better planet together. Learn and share.