by Happy Today!
Work to Learn, Don’t Work for Money. That is the tag line for chapter 6 of Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. It reminded me of advice I was given by an old supervisor when I started my career. She told me that I needed to make a choice as to whether I wanted to make money or help people. She told me I couldn’t do both.
This conversation came as she was encouraging me to take a new role within the company, one I wasn’t interested in. The reality was I didn’t want the job because I didn’t want to continue working for her. So I made the decision that I would find a way to do both. AND I was successful for many years because I was able to work for a company where I could learn from any department I desired. They encouraged my curiosity and I became cross trained in a variety of areas that I offer in my business to this day. But what I didn’t learn was the value of sales & marketing.
I didn’t learn it because I was like the reporter in this chapter- I didn’t see it’s value. And to be transparent, it wasn’t until I read this chapter that the importance of sales & marketing finally clicked in my head.
That’s the value of this book and reading personal development books – you are able to learn something about yourself which can make your life better. So here are my takeaways from Chapter 6.
Lessons from Chapter 6:
1. Work to Learn
“Job security meant everything to my educated dad. Learning meant everything to my rich dad.”
““They are one skill away from great wealth.” What this phrase means is that most people need only to learn and master one more skill and their income would jump exponentially.”
2. Salary isn’t the only benefit of a job
“Even if it were a cut in pay, she would learn how to communicate in short-cuts that are used in successful advertising. She also would spend time learning public relations, an important skill. She would learn how to get millions in free publicity.”
3. Learn a little about a lot
“You want to know a little about a lot” was his suggestion. That is why for years I worked in different areas of his companies. For a while, I worked in his accounting department. Although I would probably never have been an accountant, he wanted me to learn via osmosis. Rich dad knew I would pick up jargon and a sense of what is important and what is not.”
“So these bright young employees do not specialize in one department. They are moved from department to department to learn all the aspects of business systems.”
4. Understand what means the most to you
“Job security meant everything to my educated dad. Learning meant everything to my rich dad.”
“Educated dad thought I went to school to learn to be a ship’s officer. Rich dad knew that I went to school to study international trade.”
“I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn. Look down the road at what skills they want to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before getting trapped in the Rat Race.”
5. 20 years later but still relevant
“Job is an acronym for “Just Over Broke.”
“Workers work hard enough to not be fired, and owners pay just enough so that workers won’t quit.”
“Most workers focus on working for pay and benefits that reward them in the short term, but are often disastrous in the long run.”
6. Ask yourself questions
“Where is this daily activity taking you?” Just like the little hamster, I wonder if people look at where their hard work is taking them. What does the future hold?
7. There are universal transferable skills
“The most important specialized skills are sales and marketing. The ability to sell—to communicate to another human being, be it a customer, employee, boss, spouse, or child—is the base skill of personal success.”
“The better you are at communicating, negotiating, and handling your fear of rejection, the easier life is.”
8. You have to give to receive
“He knew that to receive money, you had to give money. Giving money is the secret to most great wealthy families.”
“In addition to being good learners, sellers, and marketers, we need to be good teachers as well as good students. To be truly rich, we need to be able to give as well as to receive.”
Til next time,
“Unless a person is used to changing, it’s hard to change.” – Robert Kiyosaki
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