RICH DAD POOR DAD

“What is this man talking about?” I asked myself silently. “Life

pushing me around was life talking to me?” Now I knew I had to quit

my job. I was talking to someone who needed to be locked up.

“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.”

I had no idea what he was talking about.

“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.

Rich dad continued, “Or if you’re the kind of person who has

no guts, you just give up every time life pushes you. If you’re that

kind of person, you’ll live all your life playing it safe, doing the right

things, saving yourself for some event that never happens. Then you

die a boring old man. You’ll have lots of friends who really like you

because you were such a nice hardworking guy. But the truth is that

you let life push you into submission. Deep down you were terrified

of taking risks. 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.”

Our eyes met again.

“You’ve been pushing me around?” I asked.

“Some people might say that,” smiled rich dad. “I would say that

I just gave you a taste of life.”

“What taste of life?” I asked, still angry, but now curious and

ready to learn.

“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.”

I sat there listening intently.

“So when Mike told me you wanted to learn how to make money,

I decided to design a course that mirrored real life. I could talk until

I was blue in the face, but you wouldn’t hear a thing. So I decided to

let life push you around a bit so you could hear me. That’s why I only

paid you 10 cents.”

“So what is the lesson I learned from working for only 10 cents an

hour?” I asked. “That you’re cheap and exploit your workers?”

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.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Don’t blame me for your problems,” rich dad said, growing impatient.

“But you only pay me 10 cents.”

“So what are you learning?” rich dad asked, smiling.

“That you’re cheap,” I said with a sly grin.

“See, you think I’m the problem,” said rich dad.

But you are.”

“Well, keep that attitude and you’ll learn nothing. Keep the

attitude that I’m the problem and what choices do you have?”

“Well, if you don’t pay me more or show me more respect and

teach me, I’ll quit.”

“Well put,” rich dad said. “And that’s exactly what most people

do. They quit and go looking for another job, a better opportunity,

and higher pay, actually thinking that this will solve the problem. In

most cases, it won’t.”

“So what should I do?” I asked. “Just take this measly 10 cents an

hour and smile?”

Rich dad smiled. “That’s what the other people do. But that’s all

they do, waiting for a raise thinking that more money will solve their

problems. Most just accept it, and some take a second job working

harder, but again accepting a small paycheck.”

I sat staring at the floor, beginning to understand the lesson

rich dad was presenting. I could sense it was a taste of life. Finally,

I looked up and asked, “So what will solve the problem?”

“This,” he said, leaning forward in his chair and tapping me

gently on the head. “This stuff between your ears.”

It was at that moment that rich dad shared the pivotal point of

view that separated him from his employees and my poor dad—and

led him to eventually become one of the richest men in Hawaii, while

my highly educated but poor dad struggled financially all his life.

It was a singular point of view that made all the difference over

a lifetime.

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.

On that bright Saturday morning, I learned a completely different

point of view from what I had been taught by my poor dad. At the age

of nine, I understood that both dads wanted me to learn. Both dads

encouraged me to study, but not the same thing.

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