Lesson Six:Work to Learn -  Don't Work for Money

In 1995,1 granted an interview with a newspaper in Singapore. The young female reporter was on time, and the interview got under way immediately. We sat in the lobby of a luxurious hotel, sipping coffee and discussing the purpose of my visit to Singapore. I was to share the platform with Zig Ziglar. He was speaking on motivation, and I was speaking on "The Secrets of the Rich."
"Someday, I would like to be a best-selling author like you," she said. I had seen some of the articles she had written for the paper, and I was impressed. She had a tough, clear style of writing. Her articles held a reader's interest.
"You have a great style," I said in reply.  "What holds you back from achieving your dream?"
"My work does not seem to go anywhere," she said quietly. "Everyone says that my novels are excellent, but nothing happens.  So I keep my job with the paper. At least it pays the bills. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Yes, I do," I said brightly.  "A friend of mine here in Singapore runs a school that trains people to sell. He runs sales-training courses for many of the top corporations here in Singapore, and I think attending one of his courses would greatly enhance your career."
She stiffened.  "Are you saying I should go to school to learn to sell?"
I nodded.
"You aren't serious, are you?"
Again, I nodded.  "What is wrong with that?" I was now backpeddling. She was offended by something, and now I was wishing 11 had not said anything. In my attempt to be helpful, I found myself defending my suggestion.
"I have a master's degree in English Literature. Why would I go to school to learn to be a salesperson? I am a professional. I went to school to be trained in a profession so I would not have to be a salesperson. I hate salespeople. All they want is money. So tell me why| I should study sales?" She was now packing her briefcase forcibly. The interview was over.
On the coffee table sat a copy of an earlier best-selling book I wrote. I I picked it up as well as the notes she had jotted down on her legal pad. | "Do you see this?" I said pointing to her notes.
She looked down at her notes.  "What," she said, confused.
Again, I pointed deliberately to her notes.  On her pad she had written "Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author."
"It says 'best-selling author,' not best 'writing' author."
Her eyes widened immediately.
"I am a terrible writer. You are a great writer. I went to sales school. You have a master's degree. Put them together and you get a 'best-selling author' and a 'best-writing author.'"
Anger flared from her eyes. "I'll never stoop so low as to learn how to sell. People like you have no business writing. I am a professionally trained writer and you are a salesman. It is not fair."
The rest of her notes were put away, and she hurried out through the j, large glass doors into the humid Singapore morning.
At least she gave me a fair and favorable write-up the next morning.
The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. They are all around us.
A few days ago, my car was not running well.  I pulled into a garage, and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine.  I was amazed.
The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.
 I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year. I have met brilliant, highly educated people who earn less than $20,000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors, dentists and chiropractors struggle financially. All this time, I thought that when they graduated, the dollars would pour in. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, "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. I have mentioned before that financial intelligence is a synergy of accounting, investing, marketing and law. Combine those four technical skills and making money with money is easier. When it comes to money, the only skill most people know is to work hard.
The classic example of a synergy of skills was that young writer for the newspaper. If she diligently learned the skills of sales and marketing, her income would jump dramatically. If I were her, I would take some courses in advertising copywriting as well as sales. Then, instead of working at the newspaper, I would seek a job at an advertising agency. 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. Then, at night and on weekends, she could be writing her great novel. When it was finished, she would be better able to sell her book. Then, in a short while, she could be a "best-selling author."
When I first came out with my first book If You Want To Be Rich and Happy, Don't Go to School? a publisher suggested I change the tide to The Economics of Education. I told the publisher that with a title like that, I would sell two books: one to my family and one to my best friend. The problem is, they would expect it for free. The obnoxious title If You Want To Be Rich and Happy, Don't Go to School? was chosen because we knew it would get tons of publicity. I am pro-education and believe in education reform.  Otherwise, why would I continue to press for changing our antiquated educational system? So I chose a title that would get me on more TV and radio shows, simply because I was willing to be controversial. Many people thought I was a fruitcake, but the book sold and sold.
When I graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1969, my educated dad was happy. Standard Oil of California had hired me for its oil-tanker fleet. I was a third mate, and the pay was low compared with my classmates, but it was OK for a first real job after college. My starting pay was about $42,000 a year, including overtime, and I only had , to work for seven months. I had five months of vacation. If I had wanted to, I could have taken the run to Vietnam with a subsidiary shipping company, and easily doubled my pay instead of taking the five J months' vacation.
I had a great career ahead of me, yet I resigned after six months with the company and joined the Marine Corps to learn how to fly. My educated dad was devastated. Rich dad congratulated me.
In school and in the workplace, the popular opinion is the idea of "specialization." That is, in order to make more money or get promoted, you need to "specialize." That is why medical doctors immediately begin to seek a specialty such as orthopedics or pediatrics. The same is true for accountants, architects, lawyers, pilots and others.
My educated dad believed in the same dogma. That is why he was thrilled when he eventually achieved his doctorate. He often admitted   ??that schools reward people who study more and more about less and less.
Rich dad encouraged me to do exactly the opposite.  "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 awhile, 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. I also worked as a bus boy and construction worker, as well as in sales, reservations and marketing.  He was "grooming" Mike and me. That is why he insisted we sit in on the meetings with his bankers, lawyers, accountants and brokers. He wanted us to know a little about every aspect of his empire.
When I quit my high-paying job with Standard Oil, my educated dad had a heart-to-heart with me.  He was bewildered. He could not understand my decision to resign from a career that offered high pay, great benefits, lots of time off, and opportunity for promotion. When he asked me one evening, "Why did you quit?" I could not explain it to him, as much as I tried. My logic did not fit his logic. The big problem wasthat my logic was my rich dad's logic.
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. So as a student, I made cargo runs, navigating large freighters, oil tankers and passenger ships to the Far East and the South Pacific. Rich dad emphasized that I stay in the Pacific instead of taking ships to Europe because he knew that the "emerging nations" were in Asia, not Europe. While most of my classmates, including Mike, were partying at their fraternity houses, I was studying trade, people, business styles and cultures in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Korea, Tahiti, Samoa and the Philippines. I also was partying, but it was not in any frat house. I grew up rapidly.
Educated dad just could not understand why I decided to quit and join the Marine Corps. I told him I wanted to learn to fly, but really I wanted to learn to lead troops. Rich dad explained to me that the hardest part of running a company is managing people. He had spent three years in the Army; my educated dad was draft-exempt. Rich dad told me of the value of learning to lead men into dangerous situations. "Leadership is what you need to learn next," he said.  "If you're not a good leader, you'll get shot in the back, just like they do in business."
Returning from Vietnam in 1973,1 resigned my commission, even though I loved flying. I found a job with Xerox Corp. I joined it for one reason, and it was not for the benefits. I was a shy person, and the thought of selling was the most frightening subject in the world. Xerox has one of the best sales-training programs in America.
Rich dad was proud of me. My educated dad was ashamed. Being an intellectual, he thought that salespeople were below him.  I worked with Xerox for four years until I overcame my fear of knocking on doors and being rejected.  Once I could consistently be in the top five in sales, I again resigned and moved on, leaving behind another great career with an excellent company.
In 1977,1 formed my first company. Rich dad had groomed Mike and me to take over companies.  So I now had to learn to form them and put them together. My first product, the nylon and velcro wallet, was manufactured in the Far East and shipped to a warehouse in New York, near where I had gone to school.  My formal education was complete, and it was time to test my wings.  If I failed, I went broke. Rich dad
thought it best to go broke before 30.  "You still have time to recover"
was his advice. On the eve of my 30th birthday, my first shipment left    ,,
Korea for New York.
Today, I still do business internationally. And as my rich dad encouraged me to do, I keep seeking the emerging nations. Today my investment company invests in South America, Asia, Norway and Russia. There is an old cliche that goes, "Job is an acronym for 'Just Over Broke.'" And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is an intelligence, most workers "live within their means." They work and they pay the bills.
There is another horrible management theory that goes, "Workers work hard enough to not be fired, and owners pay just enough so that workers won't quit." And if you look at the pay scales of most companies, again I would say there is a degree of truth in that statement.
The net result is that most workers never get ahead. They do what they've been taught to do: "Get a secure job." Most workers focus on working for pay and benefits that reward them in the short term, but is often disastrous in the long. Instead 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."
Once people are trapped in the lifelong process of bill paying, they 1 become like those little hamsters running around in those little metal wheels. Their little furry legs are spinning furiously, the wheel is turning furiously, but come tomorrow morning, they'll still be in the same cage: great job.
In the movie Jerry Maguire, starring Tom Cruise, there are many great one liners. Probably the most memorable is "Show me the money." But there is one line I thought most truthful. It comes from the scene where Tom Cruise is leaving the firm. He has just been fired, and he is asking the entire company "Who wants to come with me?" And the whole place is silent and frozen. Only one woman speaks up and says, "I'd like to but I'm due for a promotion in three months."
That statement is probably the most truthful statement in the whole movie.  It is the type of statement that people use to keep themselves
 
busy working away to pay bills. I know my educated dad looked forward to his pay raise every year, and every year he was disappointed. So he would go back to school to earn more qualifications so he could get another raise, but again, it would be another disappointment.
The question I often ask people is, "Where is this............