Introduction
Rich dad poor dad is a self-help book which helps to increase your financial understanding. The book mainly provides information as to how rich people use the money to work for them and not an average person who works for money.
About Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki is an American businessman and author. Kiyosaki is the founder of Rich Global LLC and the Rich Dad Company, a private financial education company that provides personal finance and business education to people through books and videos.
Content of the book
Robert’s dad is an educator by profession and he is always fearful as to what will happen if he loses his job. So, he always tries to teach Robert to get a secure job and avoid taking risks in life. He advises Robert to get good grades as marks do matter according to him. Robert denotes him as a poor dad as he lacks financial intelligence.
His friend is Mike. Mike’s father is a businessman who is very practical in his approach. He likes to learn by doing and advises the same. He didn’t even complete the eighth grade. Though he didn’t completely discard schooling, he complains that schools don’t teach financial intelligence to students. Also, he heavily disagrees with the view of taking no risks. According to him, when it comes to money, most people want to play it safe and feel secure. So passion does not direct them. Fear does.
There is a stark difference between taking risks and taking a calculated risk. He summarizes his lessons as If you succeed that’s good. If you don’t, you learn something new which will help to achieve success the next time you take a calculated risk.
Robert went on to become the real estate businessman and a bestseller author. Through the book, he also takes us through the business of real estate and how it works.
He shares his experiences as he learned with any sale that he did. According to him, everybody who has tried has failed. But if he has learned from that failure he will definitely be successful. But this fear of failure has prevented millions to take a risk.
Best quotes from the book
Often in the real world, it’s not the smart who get ahead, but the bold.
Failure inspires winners. Failure defeats losers.
A person can be highly educated, professionally successful, and financially illiterate.
Great opportunities are not seen with your eyes. They are seen with your mind.
If you work for money, you give the power to your employer. If money works for you, you keep the power and control it.
Whom Should Read
The book very successfully explains how money works for rich people. The lessons that Mike’s father gave to Robert is very precious and that’s what makes this book the best-seller. According to Robert, the willingness to earn more comes only when you think that you don’t want to put a permanent price tag on your efforts.
The analysis of the author of how a person learns in practical life vs in school provides a get recipe for a debate. Let’s look at how Robert explains it:
In school, we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them. Yet if you look at the way humans are designed to learn, we learn by making mistakes. We learn to walk by falling down. If we never fell down, we would never walk. The same is true for learning to ride a bike. Unfortunately, the main reason most people are not rich is that they are terrified of losing. Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.
Robert says that you should work to learn rather than working for money. The money will definitely follow. He urges the readers to upgrade constantly so that you have the luxury of deciding your career. You are not fearful of losing your job but instead, it’s your choice when you want to leave.
This book should be read by students to understand that fear of losing the job should never drive your life. You must be an asset and not just a cog in the machinery.
In the Indian Context
In India, most people have the mindset of acquiring a safe, secure job. Consequently, the demand for job security has reached to such an extent that people don’t even bother if they are paid in accordance with their efforts.
After reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, you may disagree on some points with the author but it’s never has been said to follow a book blindfolded. The perspective of the author is important in not just understanding how he became a successful and rich person but also to understand the thought process of that person.
One of the prime learning that you can take from this book is that whoever has tried, has failed sometimes. But the number of people who haven’t tried just because of fear of failure is much greater than those who tried.
So, if you can come out of this failure and start to take some calculated risk. After a few hiccups, you will become the master of the art, and a decision that involves risk will be new normal to you.
