~ Stephen Key ~
Robert Kiyosaki’s best-selling book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, has sat on my nightstand for a number of years.
Within it, Kiyosaki advocates bold entrepreneurship and personal conviction as a means to achieving financial success and freedom; simply working as an employee will never generate significant wealth. Rich Dad, Poor Dad has been enormously successful. What advice does Kiyosaki have to give now?
“There’s an assumption that once one has achieved a certain level of success, everything is easier. Not true! I face the same dilemmas and struggles today I did 30 years ago.
It’s only the paradigm that has shifted. The way I perceive these problems is different; there’s a different sophistication level. But the lessons I learned as an entrepreneur working on a Velcro and nylon product decades ago are still relevant,†Kiyosaki explains.
Before becoming a best-selling author, Kiyosaki was a product developer. He counts his inexperience and naivete at that time as a blessing. “If, at the time, I knew how much I did not know, I would have never started. I would have stayed in the Marine Corps, done my 20 years, and collected a paycheck. It’s a great thing I didn’t know,†he says with laughter.
It’s the fearless acceptance of the mistakes he made (and, according to him, continues to make) as a result of that naivete that has allowed him to be so successful. “I blundered along then and I often feel like I’m blundering along now. What’s changed? I have smarter advisors,†he reveals.
But as intelligent as they may be, Kiyosaki’s advisors aren’t responsible for his willingness to try and try again. “The biggest skill I have is making mistakes. I’m pretty much an expert now. In the corporate world, if you make mistakes, you’re fired. But in the entrepreneurial world, if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not learning. I enjoy making mistakes. As far as I can tell, every mistake is accompanied by a priceless lesson. I’ve built my life around these lessons.â€
While most people avoid fear rather than seek it, Kiyosaki adheres to a different principle. “If I don’t have butterflies in my stomach, there’s no sense working,†he says.
Kiyosaki can explain his perspective on failure and fear in numerical terms. Simply put, the number of failures you experience is a reflection of the degree to which you’re putting yourself out there. And having the courage to put yourself in a position to fail will ultimately lead you to success. If you never try, you’re never going to fail. But more important, you’re never going to succeed.
“The biggest problem wannabe entrepreneurs have is believing they’re going to ‘do what they love’ — but really, a big part of being a successful entrepreneur is doing what you don’t want to. And failing is part of that.â€
Although Kiyosaki admits that the economy is “terrible,†he doesn’t view it as an impossible climate. “If you don’t make someone else money, they’re not going to give you their money. This principle is true in any economic climate. Show your client how you’re going to make them money. It may not be as easy now, but it’s possible. Get creative,†advises Kiyosaki.
But don’t, he says, talk too much. “Most people overpitch. We have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth. Observe body language and act accordingly. Most salespeople talk too much — don’t.â€
More here:
Robert Kiyosaki: “The biggest skill I have is making mistakes.â€
A recent article by Robert Kiyosaki entitled Preparing for the Worst caught my eye. After all, isn’t this sound financial advice for all of us? That’s why we Fools have things like emergency funds.
The article, however, wasn’t about wills, life insurance, or anything like that (which is what I was expecting based on the title), but rather a list of reasons why Kiyosaki thinks that “The worst is yet to come” in the stock market. Unfortunately, however, Kiyosaki doesn’t tell us how to go about preparing for it.
I’ll have to admit that while some of his reasoning as to why we may have more tough times ahead in the market (and I don’t profess to know one way or the other the way the market’s headed over the short or even intermediate term)Â seems plausible on the surface, I think he misses the mark in a few places.
1. I believe the stock market is being manipulated. I suspect the government, banks, and Wall Street are doing everything they can to keep the market from crashing. Our leaders know that nothing makes the world feel better than a raging bull market.
Government’s hand has been a very heavy one in the economy lately. Everything from bailouts of companies like AIG and GM to the Cash for Clunkers program is evidence of this. Maniplating the stock market? I’m not so sure. Manipulating the economy (which has an impact on the stock market)? Absolutely. I wish the manipulation were related only to the stock market and not to the economy as a whole, because I fear that the long-term ramififications of many of the government’s recent actions may place an unnecessary drag on the economy for a long time to come.
2. In my view, this global crisis has been caused by the Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. Treasury, Wall Street, and the central banks of the world. They caused the problem, profited excessively in doing so, and now profit by being asked to fix the problem.
While each of the above entities certainly had a hand in creating the mess, laying this problem solely at the feet of financial istitutions is a bit like blaming McDonald’s and Burger King for America’s growing obesity problem. We gladly borrowed all that money and took out loans for all kinds of stuff despite a lot of good financial advice that’s readily available to us that urged us not to take on too much debt (you know, at places like this Fool.com outfit I keep hearing about) just like we gladly and willingly wolf down Big Macs and Whoppers despite all of the information out there telling us we should be eating broccoli instead.
3. Old frogs don’t hop. Another reason I am cautious about the future is that the Western world has a growing number of old frogs. Between 1970 and 2000, the economy responded to bailouts and stimulus packages because the baby boomers of the world were entering their greatest earning years — their purchasing power increased, and demand for homes, cars, refrigerators, computers, and TVs boosted the economy.
That demographic changes will alter the economic landscape isn’t exactly new, but I’m not so sure that I follow this logic. Yes, baby boomers had good earning power and spent money on lots of ’stuff’ — but what are earnings? After all, they’re something someone is willing to pay these boomers for their work — and while there are exceptions, each and every one of these boomers was hired, and paid, because his or her employer at least had the perception that the value of the work they were receiving was at least as great or greater than the value of the money they were paying.
If we are to fear the economic impact of retiring baby boomers, I think its the loss of their productivity, not the loss of their consumption, that we should be most concerned about.
4. The dying frog economy will lead us to the biggest Ponzi schemes of all: Social Security and Medicare. If we think this subprime financial crisis is big, it’s my opinion that this crisis will be dwarfed by the crisis brewing in Social Security and Medicare…Medicare being the biggest crisis of all. As old frogs head for the big lily pad in the sky, they will demand young frogs spend even more in tax dollars just to keep old frogs from croaking.
I agree that this is one of the greatest economic challenges that will be faced within the next generation. No matter what one’s individual views are as to how to best handle this impending problem, I believe the decisions we ultimately make here will have a large impact on our economy and financial well-being for a very long time to come. My only fault with Kiyosaki here is that he never gets to the “Preparing” part that was in the article’s title.
5. The 401(k)Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme, like the scheme Madoff ran, depends upon young money to pay off old money. In other words, a Ponzi scheme needs tadpoles to finance old frogs. The same is true for the 401(k) and other retirement plans to work. If young money does not come into the stock market, the old money cannot retire.
I couldn’t disagree with Kiyosaki more. Sure, lots of money flowing into and out of the market can sometimes cause some pretty big short-term changes in overall stock prices. In the long-term, however, I firmly believe that stocks are ultimately valued by the amount of money they return (or are expected to return) to their shareholders. Sure, short-term irrational ‘blips’, some lasting several years, can, do, and will happen — but 401(k) plans are most definately not a Ponzi scheme.
My differences from Kiyosaki aside, I do still like the title of the article. After all, if nothing else, the recent housing and credit crisis, our struggling economy, and the looming pension, Medicare, Social Security, and other obligations faced by private companies and the government alike tell us that we should, indeed, do our best to be financially prepared for tough times — whenever and however they should strike.
As far as what to do to prepare, well, there are some blue tabs at the top of your screen right now that, if you click on them, have a lot of information and ideas as to how to go about doing exactly that.
Regards,
Russell (a.k.a. TMFEldrehad)
More here:
Is the worst over?
World renowned author and Real Estate investor, Robert Kiyosaki, talks to Joe Aldeguer about his insights and strategies in investing into Real Estate.
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Robert Kiyosaki & Joe Aldeguer
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Because we live and work in a society where making mistakes isn’t well-tolerated, it can be difficult to see any value in making mistakes. After all, mistakes often cost us time and money, and in small business both of these resources are at a premium.
However, you might be surprised that some of the most prominent leaders in the world value mistakes-a lot. Take a look at what some of these leaders have to say about making mistakes.
Gordon Moore, co-founder, Intel
“One thing a leader does is to remove the stigma of mistakes. People who are afraid of making mistakes all the time just don’t try anything.â€
Sam Walton, founder, Walmart
Sam Walton, famous for driving an old beat-up pickup truck to work even when his worth was in the billions, was fond of saying that if you keep expenses down you can afford to make a lot of mistakes!
Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author, “Rich Dad Poor Dadâ€
In his book “Business School for People Who Like Helping People,†Kiyosaki recounts how he learned the process of selling: by making mistakes. In the context of sales, Kiyosaki calls it rejection. He and his sales mentor, Charlie Robinson, would make sales calls together. Robinson would say virtually nothing during the visit, but would simply watch Kiyosaki work. Then the two would return to the office and review every mistake Kiyosaki made that caused a rejection. During that time, Kiyosaki even volunteered at a charity organization, making cold calls, so he could increase his rejection rate and learn from them. The message? Make as many mistakes as you can because mistakes are how you learn.
Herb Kelleher, co-founder, Southwest Airlines
When one of Southwest Airline’s property managers made a mistake (he made an oral commitment of $400,000 to the City of Austin for the preliminary design of a new airport when Southwest had no intention of supporting the new airport), Herb Kelleher backed his manager with the money. Although the lesson was hugely expensive, Kelleher didn’t get upset. He just jokingly told the manager: “Now pal, this is a fairly expensive lesson. A $400,000 lesson-I hope you remember it!â€
Does that give you a new perspective on the value of making mistakes in your small business, and learning from them?
Stephanie Valentine
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Leadership: On Making Mistakes
From : YouTube :: Tag // business
Author: moneywizbiz Keywords: The Ideal Business in Todays Economy by R Kiyosaki Added: June 23, 2009
The Ideal Business in Todays Economy by R Kiyosaki
