What I’ve learned from Rich Dad, Poor Dad

How to Make Money?

During this winter recess, I asked myself a question “how to live on my own?” I came up with the simplest way to do like any other else does. “Get a job.” I told myself. I was busy finding a job, but I felt frustrated. My life shouldn’t be wasted like that. My life couldn’t be valued by money. Luckily, I came across the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It gave me a lot of new ideas.

Avoid the Trap

Soon I realized why I felt frustrated. I wanted to get a job because I deeply feel the fear of not having money. Then I had the idea of getting a job. That’s the fastest way to make money. I desired money. My fear and desire was the trap, which could make me pathetic all my life.

Fear and desire are emotions. I wanted money because of my fear and desire. I was thinking with my emotions. That didn’t make me happy. If I want to live happily, I have to learn to use my emotions to think. I have to master my emotions. That means I have to use my emotions to think about more ideas about money, or much more directly, how to get rid of my emotions? The more ways I can think of, the well I use my emotions. If I think with my emotions, I will be driven by them. I will not be able to think clearly and carefully. Is my boss going to employ me? No, my fear does.

Money Is an Idea

By thinking carefully, I know that money is an idea. Money is not real. Money comes and goes. It’s not a thing that will exist forever. If I want to know how to really make money, I have to think about how money works, not work for money.

I used to see money seriously. I set it as a goal at some where in my life, a goal about my whole life. I was like a donkey dragging a cart with my owner riding on me dangling a carrot in front of me. I was one of the people who are chasing money. Carrot is the money. Chasing money is like chasing an illusion. The illusion is made up of fear. I won’t get it and I won’t know where I’ll get to. Think about the owner of the donkey and be him because he’s the only one who knows where to go.

The Power of Thinking

The reason why the rich are rich is not how much the money they make, but the way of their thinking about money. Being rich doesn’t resolve every thing. Master the power of money, and every thing will be easy.

Most of us learn about money at home, even our parents don’t really teach us about money. It’s all about the power of the language they use. One indicates how he thinks by saying a word. As in the book, the poor dad says “I can’t afford it.”, while the rich dad says “how can I afford it?” One is a statement, and the other is a question. One only sees the money, and the other think about the money. Certainly, we should exercise our bodies for health, and also exercise our minds for wealth. Otherwise, we’ll have mental laziness which makes our lives less possibility of doing things. Here is another example of how to think. The poor dad says “I am not rich because I have you kids.” The rich dad says “I must be rich because I have you kids.” Maybe both of them didn’t have much money, but one was poor and the other was broke. What’s the difference between broke and poor? Broke is temporary. Poor is eternal.

The way of thinking determines the temporary or the eternal happiness I will have. How to express myself really matters. If I say others are the problem, I have to change them. That never works. If I say I am the problem, I have to change myself. It’s always possible. Always think about what problems I have, what I need to be changed, and I can be what I want to be.

Work For Free?

I am glad to embrace this idea. It is the idea, not the thing I am paid nothing that is important. Only I have this idea can I overcome my fear. I’ll be directed by my passion, not my fear. My passion leads me to what I should learn, but my fear only leads me to be the slave of money. If I don’t love what I am doing, I won’t take care of it and learn nothing about it. Know what I am doing, and I’ll get what I want with my doing not from my doing. Once I know all these, I’ll get much more than “work for free”.

Life pushes me around. Learn a lesson and move on. Now I learn my lesson. Work to learn. Always remember that what to learn is more important than what to earn.

Financial Attitude

Most people desire money because they are in the rat race. They don’t know their real problem is not how to make money but how to spend money. They don’t know the difference between asset and liability. They buy liability and let their money go away. If they want a nice home and buy it, what they buy is an emotional thing. That thing is worth its fractal value when they buy it. High emotion tends to lower their financial intelligence. And then the home will be their liability.

You should think with your head not your eyes. People save money by buying things that’s “cheap”. This is the way to think with your eyes. Is it really cheap? Here is an example. I say I buy a nice CK watch that’s worth 4000NT. It has a ten year guarantee. Perhaps I’ll pay 800NT for more two batteries, and my watch can run ten and more years. If I buy a much cheaper Swatch for 1500NT, I’ll have to buy another one after two or three years. It has only one or two year guarantee and it breaks faster. Time has a price. Take time into account, and you’ll know what really saves your money in the long run.

Conclusion

How to live on my own? I think I should say “How to get wealth?” Wealth is a person’s ability to survive so many numbers of days forward. It can be a question like “If I stop working today, how long can I survive?” Wealth can be the money that one’s money is making. So the biggest problem to me should be “How to survive by the money made by my money?”

I started to think of some ideas that may make up a business. I know the power of corporation which can avoid the taxes. “Mind your own business”, said rich dad. If I only know how to work, I’ll bet my life on money. If I mind my own business, I’ll bet my cards on the game of money.

I also started to know the four important things―financial literacy, investment, market and law. Every one should be financial literate and know the cash flow before he has a job. Know how to keep money and make income-generating asset. Know investment and the market, and I’ll have my business grow well. Know the law because it could have something to do with the loss or gain of my money.

Why I am saying these is not because to be rich is my purpose. Some people want a happy life by getting rich, and some people don’t. Every one has his own way to find happiness. How to find? Just use the thing between the ears. If there is something blocks my way and pushes me back, I will not say “It pushes me back hard”, but I will say “how hard to push it back?” Use my head to think will make things changed.