Work to Learn- Don't Work for Money

Hello people! The sixth lesson- Work to Learn- Don't Work for Money, is here. By far, this book has mainly emphasized financial education. There's one more skill, though, that is equally important for achieving financial independence. This chapter will reveal that. In case, you missed reading the first five lessons, make sure to read the blogs under the 'Recent Posts' section.

(This lesson is narrated by Robert Kiyosaki)

The world is filled with smart, talented, educated, and gifted people. 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 that great talent is not enough. In school and the workplace, the popular opinion is the idea of 'specialization', in order to make more money or get promoted, you need to specialize. My educated dad believed in the same dogma. Rich dad encouraged me to do exactly the opposite. His suggestion was, “You want to know a little about a lot”. When I speak to adults who want to earn more money, I always suggest taking a long view of their life. Instead of simply working for the money and security, which I admit are important, I suggest they take a second job that will teach them a second skill. Often I recommend joining a network marketing company if they want to learn sales skills. Education is more valuable than money, in the long run. When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?”

The answer is obvious: McDonald’s is excellent at business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. They focus on perfecting their skills in building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger. Maybe McDonald’s does not make the best hamburger, but they are the best at selling and delivering a basic average burger.

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. Communication skills such as writing, speaking, and negotiating are crucial to a life of success. These are skills I work on constantly, attending courses or buying educational resources to expand my knowledge. I know of no other skills to be more important than selling and marketing. The skills of selling and marketing are difficult for most people, primarily due to their fear of rejection.

The better you are at communicating, negotiating, and handling your fear of rejection, the easier life is.

Being technically specialized has its strengths as well as its weaknesses. I have friends who are geniuses, but they cannot communicate effectively with other human beings and, as a result, their earnings are pitiful. I advise them to just spend a year learning to sell. Even if they earn nothing, their communication skills will improve. And that is priceless. PS: You believe in coincidences? I do and you will too when you read this- the day I was reading this chapter, I also stumbled upon this YouTube Shorts of Raj Shamani and Nikhil Kamath, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Sy9kHRKoUsQ I hope you learnt something through reading this blog. If Yes, then make sure to like the blog, comment, share and subscribe to the email newsletter if you haven't yet. I post a blog every Monday at 7 pm IST, until then Happy Reading!