How to Meditate

	How to Meditate

 

Chapter Excerpt from: How to Meditate , by Joyce Mayor

 

Why We Meditate

A few years ago, I was at a small conference of scientists all of whom practiced meditation on a daily basis. Toward the end of the four-day meeting, during which each of them had described at some length how he meditated, I began to press them on the question of why they meditated. Various answers were given by different members of the group and we all knew that they were unsatisfactory, that they did not really answer the questions. Finally one man said, “It’s like coming home.” There was silence after this, and one by one all nodded their heads in agreement. There was clearly no need to prolong the inquiry further.

This answer to the question “Why meditate?” runs all through the literature written by those who practice this discipline. We meditate to find, to recover, to come back to something of ourselves we once dimly and unknowingly had and have lost without knowing what it was or where or when we lost it. We may call it access to more of our human potential or being closer to ourselves and to reality, or to more of our capacity for love and zest and enthusiasm, or our knowledge that we are a part of the universe and can never be alienated or separated from it, or our ability to see and function in reality more effectively. As we work at meditation, we find that each of these statements of the goal has the same meaning. It is this loss, whose recovery we search for, that led the psychologist Max Wertheimer to define an adult as “a deteriorated child.”

Eugen Herrigel, who studied the Zen method of meditation for a long time, wrote, “Working on a Koan [a meditational technique of that school] leads you to a point where you are behaving like a person trying to remember something you have forgotten.” And Louis Claude de St. Martin, summing up his reasons for his long years of meditation, succinctly put it, “We are all in a widowed state and our task is to remarry.”

It is our fullest “humanhood,” the fullest use of what it means to be human, that is the goal of meditation. Meditation is a tough-minded, hard discipline to help us move toward this goal. It is not the invention of any one person or one school. Repeatedly, in many different places and times, serious explorers of the human condition have come to the conclusion that human beings have a greater potential for being, for living, for participation and expression, than they have ability to use. These explorers have developed training methods to help people reach these abilities, and these methods (meditational practices) all have much in common. As I shall show in Chapters 4, 5 and 6, all are based on the same insights and principles, whether they were developed early in India, in the fifth to twelfth century in the Syrian and Jordanian deserts, in tenth-century Japan, in medieval European monasteries, in Poland and Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries or at other times and places.

All take work. There is no easy or royal road to the goal we seek. Further, there is no end to the search; there is no position from which we can say, “Now I have arrived, I can stop working.” As we work we find ourselves more at home in the universe, more at ease with ourselves, more able to work effectively at our tasks and toward our goal, closer to our fellow humans, less anxious and less hostile. We do not, however, reach an end. As in all serious matters—love, the appreciation of beauty, efficiency—there is no endpoint to the potential of human growth. We work—in meditation—as part of a process; we seek a goal knowing it is forever unattainable.

A good program of meditation is, in many ways, quite similar to a good program of physical exercise. Both require repeated hard work. The work is often basically pretty silly in its formal aspect. What could be more foolish than to repeatedly lift twenty pounds of lead up and down unless it is counting your breaths up to four over and over again, a meditational exercise? In both the exercise is for the effect on the person doing it rather than for the goal of lifting lead or counting breaths. Both programs should be adapted to the particular person using them with the clear understanding that there is no one “right” program for everyone. It would be stupid to give the same physical program to two individuals differing widely in build, general physical condition, and relationship of the development of the breathing and blood circulating apparatus to the development of the muscles. It is equally stupid to give the same meditational program to two individuals differing widely in the development of the intellectual, emotional and sensory systems and in the relationship of these systems to each other. One of the reasons the formal schools of meditational practice have such a high percentage of failures among their students—those who get little out of the practices and leave meditation completely—is that most schools tend to believe that there is one right way to meditate for everyone and, by a curious coincidence, it happens to be the one they use. Both physical and meditational programs have, as a primary goal, the tuning and training of the person so that he can effectively move toward his goals.

Does meditation also change these goals? Certainly the increased competence and knowledge of this competence, the increased ability to act wholeheartedly and wholemindedly, the wider perception of reality and the more coherent personality organization that it brings do change the individual’s actions and goals as much as good psychotherapy is likely to change actions and goals for the same reason. My goals are a function of the way I perceive myself and the world. As these perceptions clarify and broaden, my goals also develop. As I become less anxious and feel less vulnerable, I become less suspicious of and hostile to my fellows, and my goals and actions change. The analogy between physical and meditational programs cannot be carried too far, but it seems reasonable here to point out that a person who has trained his body and is confident of it feels far less vulnerable and therefore behaves differently in many situations than a person with an untrained and uncoordinated body.

There is no age limit for meditation. This book was originally titled Meditation for Adults. One can practice, and benefit from, these disciplines as long as you are adult enough to understand that your own growth and becoming is a serious matter and worth working for. And so long as you understand that if you wish the best from and for yourself, you will have to work hard, that it does not come without sustained effort.

Meditational techniques have been primarily developed by individuals generally termed “mystics” and in certain mystical training schools or traditions in which individuals come together to study and practice these techniques. The term “mystic” has long been widely misunderstood in Western culture as referring to an individual who believes in things no one else can understand, who withdraws from the world and has little to do with its ordinary activities, who talks or writes in terms that communicate nothing and who, if not actually certifiable as insane, has drifted so far from common sense that he or she certainly could not be considered sane. (There has certainly been a modification of this viewpoint in the past few years in this country, but the position as stated has been the prevailing view for a long time. Recent developments in Western culture are changing this stereotype.)

It is certainly true that there are a good many individuals who identify themselves as mystics who fit these criteria. However, if we look carefully at the larger number of those who are classified or who classify themselves as mystics we find a curiously different picture. We see that the two main characteristics of this group are their high level of efficiency at what they do (Western mystics are especially noted for their proficiency in business)1 and the serenity, good human relationships, zest, peace and joy that fill their lives. Further, their agreement on major issues—the nature of man and the universe, the ethical standards of life, and the like—is very strong no matter what time and culture they live in. All mystics, wrote de St. Martin, “come from the same country and speak the same language.” Speaking to this point, C. D. Broad, the British philosopher, has written:

To me, the occurrence of mystical experience at all times and places, and the similarities between the statements of so many mystics all the world over, seems to be a really significant fact. “Prima facie” it suggests that there is an aspect of reality with which these persons come in contact and largely fail to describe in the language of daily life. I should say that this “prima facie” appearance of objectivity ought to be accepted at its face value unless and until some reasonably satisfactory explanation of the agreement can be given.

Evelyn Underhill, herself both a serious mystic and an outstanding student of the literature of mysticism, wrote in this regard:

The most highly developed branches of the human family have in common one peculiar characteristic. They tend to produce—sporadically it is true, and often in the teeth of adverse external circumstances—a curious and definite type of personality; a type which refuses to be satisfied with that which other men call experience, and is inclined, in the words of its enemies, to “deny the world in order that it may find reality.” We need these persons in the east and the west; in the ancient, medieval and modern worlds . . . whatever the place or period in which they have arisen, their aims, doctrines and methods have been substantially the same. Their experience, therefore, forms a body of evidence, curiously self-consistent and often mutually explanatory, which must be taken into account before we can add up the sum of the energies and potentialities of the human spirit, or reasonably speculate on its relations to the unknown world which lies outside the boundaries of sense.

Mysticism, from a historical and psychological viewpoint, is the search for and experience of the relationship of the individual himself and the totality that makes up the universe. A mystic is either a person who has this knowledge as background music to his or her daily experience or else a person who strives and works consistently to attain this knowledge.

The results of this attainment are a capacity to transcend the painful and negative aspects of everyday life and to live with a serenity, an inner peace, a joy and a capacity to love that are so characteristic of the lives of the mystics. The best of mysticism also provides a zest, a fervor and gusto in life plus a much higher ability to function in the affairs of everyday life.

All other definitions of mysticism and mystics are the definitions of one particular school or religious group. They may be adequate definitions for that particular religious group; they are not adequate for the basic meaning of the term.

The mystic regards this search for knowledge of his relationship with the universe (and for a very deep sense of the union of himself and the All) as a search for a lost knowledge he once had and for a way of being that is the natural one for man. The root of the word “mystic” is the same root as the word “to close.” The mystical search is training in closing off all those artificial factors which ordinarily keep us from this knowledge, this birthright we have lost.

Mystics are individuals who have worked long and hard at meditation and who have had their perception of their ability to participate in reality changed by the work that they have done. Much of each mystic’s specific views about reality are colored by the culture he or she grew up in, but behind the fa?ade of different terms and specifics, there are deep, vast areas of agreement.

In the classical Western tradition, there are two alternate paths to mystical development in addition to the via meditative, the way of meditation. These are the via ascetica and the via illuminata.

The via ascetica, the way of assault on the body and ego, is of little applicability today. Never very useful in itself, its long years of fasting, selfflagellation, etc., are simply not going to be followed much in Western culture as we know it. The via illuminata, the sudden tremendous change in personality integration and understanding, has been the source of some mystics’ development. However, it happens so rarely that there is really no point in holding your breath waiting for it. If you are on the right part of the road to Damascus at the right time—congratulations! Otherwise, you better get to work meditating if you are interested in this sort of growth. In addition, of course, it has been generally reported that followers of both these roads have done a great deal of meditation.

There are two major common results reported by mystics the world over and that all mystical training schools (such as Zen, Hesychasm, Yoga, Sufi, Christian mysticism, Hindu mysticism, Jewish mysticism, and so on) aim toward. These are greater efficiency in everyday life and comprehension of a different view of reality than the one we ordinarily use.

Great Efficiency in Everyday Life

Nowhere is the usual stereotype of the mystic as wrong as it is in this area. The mystic is usually seen as unworldly and dreamy. It is a strange concept, almost as if anyone who trained regularly and in a disciplined manner in a gymnasium were to be considered as belonging to a group whose members were regarded as unmuscular and uncoordinated. Much of the work of any form of meditation is in learning to do one thing at a time: if you are thinking about something to be just thinking of it and nothing else; if you are dancing to be just dancing and not thinking about your dancing. This kind of exercise certainly produces more efficiency at anything we do rather than less.

Tuning and training the mind as an athlete tunes and trains his body is one of the primary aims of all forms of meditation. This is one of the basic reasons that this discipline increases efficiency in everyday life.

There are also other reasons. One of these (I shall discuss others in later chapters) rests on a theory of how to reorganize the personality structure therapeutically. “If we look deeply into such ways of life as Buddhism or Taoism, Vedanta or Yoga,” wrote Alan Watts, “we do not find either philosophy or religion as these are understood in the West. We find something much more nearly resembling psychotherapy.”4 In this area, mysticism and Western psychotherapy follow different paths to the same goal. If I have a severe anxiety attack and go for help to a psychotherapist, she will attempt to aid me primarily by exploring the content of the problem: what is it focused on, what is the content of its symbolic meaning on different personality levels? The therapist will work on the theory that as the content is reorganized and troublesome elements brought to consciousness, the structure of my personality will also reorganize in a more healthful and positive manner.

If, however, with the same anxiety attack, I go for help to a specialist in meditation, she will attempt to aid me primarily by strengthening and reorganizing the structure and ability to function of my personality organization. She will give me various exercises to practice in order to strengthen the overall structure of this organization. She will work on the theory that as the structure is made stronger and more coherent by these exercises, content that is on a nonideal level (i.e., material that is repressed and causing symptoms) will move to preferable levels and will be reorganized properly.

Both theories are valid and both approaches “work.” Both are also in primitive states of the art and there is a great deal of nonsense at present in both mystical and psychotherapeutic practices. Perhaps ultimately we may hope for a synthesis of the two, combining the best features of each and discarding the concretistic thinking and superstition presently found in both. This would certainly lead to a much more effective method, but unfortunately there is very little research in this direction at present. A few psychologists and psychiatrists—such as Arthur Deikman, M.D.—have been experimenting with this synthesis and doing some excellent work with it. A bare beginning is being made.

Comprehension of Another View of Reality

The second major result reported by mystics of all times and places, and aimed at in their training by all mystical schools, is the comprehension of a different view of reality. I use the term “comprehension” here to indicate an emotional as well as an intellectual understanding of and participation in this view.

This is a strange and difficult claim. What can the mystic mean when he refers to a different view of reality? Is not reality what is “out there” and is not our task to understand “it”? If there are two different views, must not one be “right” and the other “wrong”? If the mystic says that there are two equally valid views, is there not a basic contradiction?

The problem is a real one. On the one hand we know our usual view of reality is essentially correct. Not only does it “feel” right, but we operate in it far too efficiently; the results of our actions are predictable enough so that it is obvious that our assumptions about the nature of reality (on which we base our actions) must be correct.

On the other hand, a large number of serious people—including many of those whom humanity regards very highly—have stated clearly that they were basing their actions on a quite different view of how the world works. They also state that they “know” this other view to be valid. And, to make it worse, they also appear to achieve their ends, to operate efficiently in the world, often to have a large effect on it. They also claim to have achieved serenity and joy in their lives, and outside observers report that their behavior appears to bear out this claim.

I shall discuss in some detail this other viewpoint about the nature of reality in Chapter 3. Perhaps it will suffice here to say that if we have learned one thing from modern physics, it is that there may be two viewpoints about something which are mutually contradictory and yet both viewpoints are equally “correct.” In physics this is called the principle of complementary. It states that for the fullest understanding of some phenomena we must approach them from two different viewpoints. Each viewpoint by itself tells only half the truth.

The mystic does not claim that one way of comprehending reality, of being at home in the universe, is superior to the other. He claims rather that for his fullest humanhood, a person needs both. The Roman mystic Plotinus said man must be seen as an amphibian who needs both life on land and life in the water to achieve his fullest “amphibianhood.” So, also, a person needs to be at home in the world in two different ways—one can call them “different states of consciousness” or “use of different systems of metaphysics”—for one’s fullest development. In a curiously similar way the Indian mystic Ramakrishna likened man to a frog who, in his youth, lives as a tadpole in one medium only. “Later, however,” wrote Ramakrishna, “when the tail of ignorance drops off,” he needs in his adulthood both land and water for the fullest attainment of his potential.

It is this second way of perceiving reality that is one of the goals of meditation. And, indeed, those who have attained it and gone on to make a working fusion of the two ways, so that one is, at one time, the background music for the other and vice versa, certainly claim and appear to others to be leading much fuller and richer lives than before and than the rest of our race do. Certainly they are also the kind of person it is a pleasure to share our planet with. These, then, are the goals of meditation. It is indeed a sort of “coming home.”

In the rest of this book I will discuss the nature of this other view of reality, the basic structure of meditations and the major forms they take, and the psychological and physiological effects of meditation. I will then present detailed instructions for a sample of meditations, covering most of the major forms. After that is a section on common errors (“alluring traps”) in meditation and mysticism, and a concluding discussion on the value of meditation to the individual and society.

I had originally intended to include a chapter on the major mystical and meditational training schools, such as Yoga, Zen, Sufi and Gurdjieff. However, it soon became plain that it would be foolish to try to abbreviate briefly what has already been done so well and is widely available today. For most of the major schools, the best I could possibly hope for is a very poor man’s version of Jacob Needleman’s classic, The New Religions (New York: Doubleday, 1970). Huston Smith in his Religions of Man (New York: Harper & Row, 1958) has covered the major religions far better than I could. For Christian mysticism, Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism (New York: E. P. Dutton, 2nd ed., 1930) is still the definitive work. For Hasidic mysticism, Martin Buber’s Tales of the Hasidim (New York: Schocken, 1967) seems to me to be the best overview. For a first survey of these schools, or if you are considering training in one of them, I would recommend Needleman’s The New Religions

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Edited by; Don David

	401(k) Take Charge of Your Future By Eric Schurenberg ISBN: 0446674923 Genre: Business & Money

 401(k) Take Charge of Your Future , by Eric Schurenberg

INTRODUCTION

Most of us aren’t accustomed to thinking of the U. S. Internal Revenue Code as a force for good. That’s partly because our political process assures that the tax code at any particular moment has less to do with sound policy than with which lobbies currently have Congress’s ear. It’s also because of the tax code itself—all 4,000 pages and 5.6 million words of it. It is so horrifically complex that not even experts can foresee all the ripple effects of any new tax provision. Even so, out of this sea of code sections and letter rulings, corollaries and subparagraphs, occasionally something washes up that is of genuine benefit to America and her citizens.

One of those pearls is the 401(k) savings plan. For millions of Americans, including me, it is arguably the sturdiest lifeline to a future of financial security. To employees who approach their 401(k) with the proper blend of discipline, patience, and basic investing know-how, it offers a reliable way to build a nest egg worth hundreds of thousands of dollars—or considerably more. No other investment even comes close. And for our savings-starved economy, the 401(k) is a godsend. As of 1997 the plans had already invested 675 billion dollars of employee savings that might otherwise have been consumed. Without that kind of savings push, the nation will inevitably see its standard of living decline.

Considering how indispensable 401(k) plans have become, it is amazing how accidentally they came into being. Unlike Individual Retirement Accounts, say, which have vocal supporters in Washington, no congressman ever campaigned for the creation of 401(k) plans. No think tank ever dreamed them up. Instead, Internal Revenue Code Section 401(k)—the brief passage that spawned the plans—was quietly slipped into the code by the Revenue Act of 1978, mainly to clear up a dispute over the taxation of profit sharing plans. The section says, basically, that an employee savings plan can include a cash or deferred arrangement as long as the plan is designed to benefit low-paid as well as high-paid employees, among a few other requirements. Cash or deferred arrangements (CODAs, in employee benefits jargon) were deals in which employees had the choice of taking their profit-sharing bonuses in cash (and owing taxes on them that year) or putting them into their savings plans and postponing their tax bill.

It took a quiet, religious, 38-year-old pension consultant named R. Theodore Benna to see the promise buried in Section 401(k)’s technical details. Benna had two key insights: first, he recognized that nothing in the law forbade an employer from applying CODAs to regular salary rather than just bonuses. He also saw that companies could chip in extra money to the plan to encourage employees to save, thus helping to ensure that the plan would serve all employees. While Benna’s inspiration complied with the letter of the law, it was so novel that no one could be sure it would win the approval of the Internal Revenue Service. As a test case, his company, Johnson Companies, set up a savings plan modeled on his idea. In November 1981 the IRS finally gave the design the green light.

Benna could not possibly have anticipated how his brainchild would flourish. According to estimates by Access Research, Inc., more than 26 million employees at some 210,000 companies are now eligible to participate in 401(k) plans. Three-quarters of those workers actually do take advantage of the opportunity, and many of them have already racked up impressive savings. The average active employee in a plan has more than $32,000 in his or her account. Nearly 20% of them have more than $50,000.

The projected growth of the plans is equally astonishing. By the end of the century, the amount of money invested in 401(k)s is expected to exceed a trillion dollars. Within 10 years the money stored in 401(k)s will be corporate employees’ single largest source of wealth-exceeding not only the value of their other retirement plans, but also the equity in their homes.

Obviously, 401(k) plans could not have achieved such widespread acceptance had they not fitted conveniently into several themes sweeping corporate America. Most important, perhaps, is the reengineering of the U.S. corporation. To a cost-conscious corporate treasurer, 401(k)s are the perfect retirement benefit. Compared to traditional pensions, they are less expensive to administer (about $89 per employee in a small company, compared with as much as $500 for a pension) and easier for employees to understand and appreciate (which means the employer generates more goodwill for the buck with a 401(k)). Perhaps most important, 401 (k)s absolve the employer of any responsibility to make sure that you take any specific amount of money with you when you retire. In a 401(k) plan, it’s up to you—and you alone—to make sure you have enough money when you leave.

For employees, this aspect of 401(k)s requires a radical change in thinking. With a 401(k), the payoff you get from your company retirement plan depends first of all on you. If you don’t take the initiative to contribute to the plan, it will do nothing for you at al1. Unless you learn to invest it wisely, it will never live up to its potential. These are not small matters. As you can see from the chart on page xvi, postponing your first investment from age 25 to age 40 will shrink your returns by more than half. And if you think you can ignore the realities of investing your plan, look at the chart on page xvii. Choosing investments that under perform by as little as one percentage point a year can shrivel your nest egg by more than $150,000 over the course of your career. Make no mistake: Decisions you make (or avoid) today regarding your 401(k) have real consequences.

That’s where this book comes in. It’s included to help you make the right decisions regarding your 401(k) at every point in the process-from enrollment and your first investment choices through finally withdrawing your money. While many employers make an effort to help their employees understand their plans, the educational materials they provide are often hopelessly superficial and vague. That’s partly because companies have agendas they don’t disclose to employees. For example, all companies worry tremendously about being sued if employees see them as giving advice that doesn’t work out. Some companies want you to invest your 401(k) in the company’s own stock, even if that’s a bad idea (as it usually is). Whatever this book’s shortcomings, pulled punches and hidden agendas won’t be among them. As an objective guide unaffiliated with any 401(k) sponsor, this book’s only agenda is to help you make the most of your 401(k).

The good news is, making the most of your 401(k) is not as difficult a task as you may think. Even if you’re a complete novice at investing, you can master your 401(k) and take charge of your future. While some of the investing concepts you will encounter in the chapters ahead may be unfan1iliar, they are not mysterious. The principles behind them obey all the laws of common sense. The fact is, you don’t have to be a Wall Street wizard to earn a respectable return from your 401(k). All you need is a firm grasp of the basic investing principles outlined in this book and the combination of gumption and patience to abide by them.

                                                                                                                                                                       To all viewers; by Don David

A little on The Advantages of Real Estate.

Rich Dad’s Real Estate Advantages By Garrett Sutton, Esq. and Sharon L. Lechter C.P.A. ISBN: 0446694118 Genre: Business & Money

.

UNDERSTANDING THE
“WHY” OF REAL ESTATE

 

The CASHFLOW Quadrant above appeared in the second book in the Rich Dad series, Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom. The “E-S” on the left side of the Quadrant stands for employees and self-employed. These two types of income earners manage personal finances the way almost all of us have been trained to do by our parents and society in general: to forge a career in an income-producing occupation and plow paycheck savings into (1) paying off bills, loans, and mortgages, (2) buying a home, and (3) investing in stocks, bonds, and retirement funds.

This financial pattern is the status quo. Our educational system doesn’t teach us how to handle money. Our culture teaches us to go to school, go to work, save for retirement. So that’s what most of us do. We “park” our money. If you’re like most people, you remain on the left side of the Quadrant, working for your money. Other people’s money isn’t working for you. Your earned income-what you bring in from your job-is paying off bills and debt; what’s left over goes into investments to generate portfolio income. You’re not doing what those on the right side of the Quadrant do: enjoy the benefits of passive income, as described in the introduction to Part One.

Your goal, if you want to grow your wealth as quickly as possible, is to move to the right side of the Quadrant. “B-I” stands for business owners and investors. These income earners have their money working for them. Their assets are diversified among businesses, real estate, and paper (stocks and bonds). The businesses and properties in these investors’ portfolios are generating passive income-meaning that other people’s money, time, and energy are working for these investors, as is their own money.

This chart illustrates why the rich are getting richer. It delineates the different mentality between the two groups of investors. The employees and selfemployed on the left side rely on their jobs to slowly build their estates. The business owners and investors on the right-hand side rely on their dynamic assets to accelerate their wealth. This doesn’t mean that your goal in moving to the right side is to give up your primary career as an employee or selfemployee. Rather, the goal is to begin putting your income into assets on the right side that will transform your earning ability and pull you out of the rat race.

Real Estate Is a Pillar of Your Investments

The three asset classes on the right-hand side of the “Why the Rich Get Richer” chart are Business, Real Estate, and Paper. Robert T. Kiyosaki’s rich dad’s formula for getting wealthy was to start a business, use the cash flow from that business (primarily after-tax monies) to invest in real estate, and hold that wealth in real estate and paper assets, where it will increase. All three asset classes worked for Kiyosaki’s rich dad. (For those of you who don’t know, Robert’s “rich dad” was the father of Robert’s best friend, and became Robert’s financial mentor and a very rich man. Robert’s father, “poor dad,” was a salary earner who believed in education and company or government pensions and invested only in long-term, low-appreciating paper assets; he died poor.)

In the Accelerator column are the different methods by which you can accelerate your wealth within each asset class. An explanation of chart abbreviations: OPM is “other people’s money”-that is, money from lenders, such as banks or investment partners. OPT is “other people’s time.” (In a business, you have employees working for you, benefiting your bottom line.) “OPM-$1:$9” refers to a real estate investor’s ability to borrow from a bank or other lender nine-tenths of the cost of an investment, while using the investor’s own money to cover the remaining one-tenth-an example of leveraging “good debt.” PPM is “private placement memorandum,” which young companies use to attract investment capital, and which can pay off handsomely. IPO is “initial public offering,” which includes an attractive opening price for stock that a company issues for the first time for purchase by investors outside the company.

This book deals with the accelerators that specifically relate to real estate. You may wonder, from reading Rich Dad’s Who Took My Money?, if you must start a business before investing in real estate. The answer is no. You can funnel after-tax earnings from your job (on the left side of the Quadrant) into real estate. Some people eventually make real estate investing itself their business.

As was noted in the introduction to this part, real estate as an asset can accelerate income much faster than other assets, such as paper. Real estate also affords special tax benefits. Note that Depreciation and Passive Loss are shown as accelerators in the Real Estate asset class in the chart. Passive loss-when passive income is negative-allows the property owner to write off a deduction (accountants call it a paper loss) every year based on business expenses plus the calculated cost (depreciation) of repairing a structural component or piece of personal property used in the building on your land, since these items deteriorate over time.

In sum, investing in real estate can be the key to moving you from the left side of the Quadrant to the right side. It can be the key to building your estate. But it requires educating yourself.

The easiest method of investing, albeit not usually the most successful, to build an estate is through portfolio income-simply putting your earnings into stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, either on your own or by using a taxdeferred retirement plan or by entrusting your earnings to a financial planner. That’s what investors on the left side of the Quadrant do.

The most difficult method of investing is running your own business (such as a franchise, store, restaurant, or personal services company) with employees. This requires education and a time commitment, but offers a potentially far greater rate of return than portfolio (or even real estate) income. Yet running a business also entails a much greater risk. (Nine out of ten businesses fail within their first five years.)

Investing in real estate requires a bit more education than investing for portfolio income, but much less education than running a business. Also, as we’ll discuss, real estate income typically provides a much greater return (as well as tax savings) than portfolio income.

To succeed in real estate, you must be prepared to wade into the water and learn from your mistakes. And you need to consider building a team of experts in order to minimize your mistakes.

When you are ready to do so, you can start realizing the benefits of leverage to amass wealth in real estate. Let’s take a look at that right now in our first case.

Case No. 1
Jerry and Justin

Jerry and Justin were twin brothers. While they looked alike, had the exact same mannerisms, and could fool not only their teachers in school but their girlfriends as well, they differed in one big respect.

Justin wanted security in all things. And when it came to investing, Justin would put his money only in funds indexed to the Standard & Poor’s 500, a compilation of large companies representing the U.S. stock market known as the S&P 500.

This strategy worked well for Justin because he was not forced to ever worry about extraneous issues. Yes, if the U.S. and/or global economy went into recession, his investment would be affected. But so would everyone else’s investment. That was a risk we all took. Nevertheless, Justin felt safe because he was not subject to the investment risks that Jerry took.

Jerry believed in real estate. He liked the fact that he could put $10,000 down on a house and the bank would loan him another $90,000 to buy a $100,000 house. He appreciated that there were additional risks to owning real estate. He knew that while he could be sued by tenants, neighbors, and vendors, brother Justin would never be sued for owning his paper assets. But Jerry understood that asset protection strategies could limit his liability and reduce his exposure. And Jerry felt confident that the leverage of real estate would exceed his brother’s return. Through the leverage offered by real estate, Jerry could own a $100,000 house asset compared to Justin’s $10,000 S&P 500 fund account.

In the book a chart chronicles how well the brothers did from 1992 to 2002, a ten-year period.

While Justin’s $10,000 grew to $17,397, albeit with no extraneous risk, Jerry’s $10,000 investment (with the $90,000 loan) was valued at $158,673. Clearly, the benefits of leverage are worthy of further exploration . . .

                                                                                                                                                                                                Edited by; Don David

Running a 21st Century Small Business By Randy W. Kirk ISBN: 0446696188 Genre: Business & Money

Chapter Excerpt from: Running a 21st Century Small Business , by Randy W. Kirk

 

Why Self-Employment?

 

SO YOU WANT TO OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS. You’re not alone. The idea of being in business for oneself is as American as apple pie or baseball. It’s the rare American who hasn’t at least considered the idea from time to time. (This is not to say that the goal is unknown in other nations or cultures. In fact, citizens of Australia and Taiwan have an even higher level of interest in self-employment than do citizens in the United States.)

Many do take the plunge. From selling Avon or Amway to purchasing a McDonald’s franchise, from marketing a brand-new idea to hanging out a dentist’s shingle, from buying out their boss to opening a hardware store, millions of otherwise intelligent folks give up good-paying jobs and sink their life savings into being their own boss.

What would motivate a person to risk his livelihood, his marriage, and his emotional health? Why would a person want to work sixty or eighty hours per week for little or no income? Who are these entrepreneurs who give up the safe life for a taste of life in the fast lane? What is the big deal, anyway?

Money? The pursuit of the almighty dollar and all that goes with it? Are we a nation of aspiring Donald Trumps? Yes, and no. Many, if not most, of those who choose the path of self-employment expect to make more money than they could as an employee. They’re willing to put up with inconvenience and temporary poverty in order to create a high-income position for themselves in the future. Those primarily driven by monetary considerations also generally expect to “get rich.” But the lure of excellent pay alone is not appealing enough for most folks to agree to even temporary sacrifices. If it were, we’d see these individuals taking a safer route to the same end, such as furthering their education, job hopping, or going into commissioned sales jobs . . . not starting a business.

Personal independence takes a close second to hard cash in driving an employee to become a boss. This type of individual may find it hard to work for others, or simply want to do it his way. Folks who find being employed by others about as desirable as swimming with sharks don’t care how successful they are in business. They’ll keep the doors open regardless of the sacrifice to self or family. They’d rather be operating a one-man shoe-repair store than be vice president of a $10 million division of a conglomerate. You’d be amazed at how many small retailers fit into this category. You’d be even more surprised to learn how many doctors, lawyers, CPAs, and other professionals make substantially less than their potential income in order to be “on their own.”

Among those entering the world of self-employment is the managerial-level woman who has what it takes to run a business, but who has hit the “glass ceiling.” That is, while her employer may talk a good game about equal opportunity, and may have made great strides in this area, there’s a point above which there is still a sign on the door: NO WOMEN NEED APPLY. Thus the talented and motivated female often finds that the only hope for reaching her full potential is to open her own enterprise.

Another large group of small business owners is motivated by a desire to make a special contribution to the world—one they believe would be impossible to make working for a profit-seeking enterprise. Here you’ll find the hobbyist who wants to make sure other model-train collectors in Dubuque have a place to buy, sell, and trade their collections.

Also in this group are the lawyers who wish to provide low-cost legal services to special segments of the population who couldn’t otherwise afford a lawyer; doctors, dentists, and other professionals with similar motivation; pastors of independent congregations; founders of specialized schools, cooperatives, and credit unions. The list of those who find small business an outlet for their community-service orientation goes on and on.

Interestingly, this selfless approach often results in much greater financial success than the business founded to create wealth, probably as a result of the tireless devotion that such an enterprise produces. When the primary goal of an owner is making money, it’s common to see great swings in the level of desire. When the going gets very rough or too easy, many who have only dollar signs in their eyes lose interest. Those who are pursuing the greater good may feel a stronger compulsion to keep on pushing.

Simply being out of a job has often pushed people into self-employment. This seems to be particularly true when an individual has lost his job due to a merger, an acquisition, a dot-com bust, or changing economic conditions (such as military downsizing).

Having something to prove can be a major motivational factor. A parent, sibling, spouse, or other significant person who is doing well in his own business, or speaks of others who are, could create pressure to give it a try. A rival is making more money than our budding businessman. He sees a small venture as the only hope he has of “keeping up.” A son feels that he must keep the family business going, or do it better than his dad. This group may be acting from a neurotic point of view, and as such will likely be very unhappy in business. Some of our most successful and well-known businesspeople are very wealthy and very unhappy because their drive comes from this unhealthy direction.

Only rarely does an individual who aspires to a life of self-employment fit just one of these categories. More frequently, there is a mixture of forces at work. For instance, the desire for financial independence coupled with a need to call all the shots is a potent combination. The overriding fact remains that, for whatever reason, many in our population will take a stab at going it alone. There’s something very romantic—and very American—about owning your own business.

In this section we’ll try to take a slightly less passionate look at ownership. Our goal will be to provide a set of practical guides that will allow you to come to a logical conclusion about whether you should go out on your own. Every attempt will be made to give you an overview of every aspect of the decision-making process.

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Edited by; Don David

Extract Of The Book; When Money Isn’t Enough….

When Money Isn’t Enough By Barbara Steinberg Smalley and Connie Glaser ISBN: 0446675695 Genre: Business & Money

 

Chapter Excerpt from: When Money Isn’t Enough , by Barbara Steinberg Smalley and Connie Glaser

A Time of Reckoning

Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it.

—Anne De Lenclos

Quick! Define what success means to you. A prestigious job title? An impressive salary? A corner office with a view? Power and perks?

Traditionally, these have been the yardsticks used to measure one’s success. But as we stand on the threshold of the twenty-first century, the nature and meaning of work are undergoing a profound revolution—particularly for women. Indeed, a burgeoning number of women appear to be finding themselves at an emotional—and even spiritual—crossroads.

Caroline is one such woman. Forty-five years old and an executive vice president at a Fortune 100 company, she appears to have it all: an elegant home, a successful husband, two beautiful children, a live-in nanny, a fancy car, and a fat bank account. Yet, despite these outward trappings of success, Caroline feels hollow inside and dangerously out of balance.

“My entire life is work,” she admits. “In my quest for success, I have neglected family and friends, and when I look at who I’ve become, I don’t particularly like what I see. All of my hard work and the tangible rewards it’s brought me have not given me the joy and peace of mind I thought they would. Sure, on the outside, I appear successful. But I keep wondering, “Is this all there is?'”

Caroline, we have discovered in our research, is far from alone. Despite their stunning achievements, scores of successful women like her report feeling the same: empty, disillusioned, and unfulfilled.

MAKING HEADLINES

PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING NEW YORK TIMES COLUMNIST GIVES UP NEWSPAPER CAREER . . . MICROSOFT’S HIGHEST RANKING WOMAN RESIGNS . . . FIRST FEMALE TO HEAD UP FDIC STEPS DOWN . . . PEPSI PRESIDENT CALLS IT QUITS.

What gives? In the ’80s, women bought into the traditional notion of success: the prestigious job title and six-figure income. But now many are discovering that they want much more than the bottom line provides. They resent being married to their jobs. Instead of doing more and more and enjoying it less and less, they seek lives that are more multidimensional. They long for sufficient quality time to devote to family, friends, community, and other outside interests, as well as time for solitude and self-reflection to balance how much of themselves they typically give away. They yearn to feel that who they are and what they do matters. They want the workplace to be more than a place to earn their daily bread. In essence, money is not enough.

“Women are discovering that work isn’t enough,” confirms Los Angeles organizational psychologist Anna Graham, Ph.D. “They’re also realizing that when you make work the center of your universe, you lose diversity in your life and end up not only feeling out of touch with the rest of the world, but out of touch with yourself.”

Women who are consumed by the demands of work also risk losing their sense of purpose. “And purpose is not only what you do; it is who you are,” Graham adds. “Regardless of your choice of career paths, it is purpose—not salary or recognition—that gives your work meaning. And sooner or later, an absence of meaning is not only frustrating, but robs your life of zest and joy.”

Clearly, this is a time of reckoning for working women, and that, in a nutshell, is the focus of this book. For years, far too many women—grateful and even flattered by opportunities to climb the corporate ladder—have taken whatever was offered to them without pausing to consider their own needs. They have followed the advice of mentors rather than listening to their own hearts and playing to their own strengths. So busy trying to prove themselves, many have lost sight of their own values, as well as control of their own lives. And in the process of constantly trying to meet others’ expectations, these women have let others define their own destinies.

But no longer.

This book, through a series of thought-provoking and inspirational stories, will show you how growing numbers of women are beginning to redefine success in a variety of ways.

For example, some, whose careers have advanced far beyond their wildest dreams—but who have also paid a high price for success in terms of personal sacrifice—have decided to put the brakes on and exit the rat race. Others have opted to step off the promotion path—at least temporarily—to regain their footing and sense of equilibrium. Many have elected to move down the ladder a notch or two and replace their exhausting and all-consuming careers with positions offering less pressure, lower visibility, and greater personal satisfaction. And while some of these women have struggled a bit financially as a result, few have any regrets.

Of course, not all women are leaving or changing their jobs. Instead, they are changing themselves. No longer willing to postpone happiness, they are taking deliberate steps to sort out and separate what’s really important to them in life from all the glitz and glitter.

Many women we spoke with suffered from boredom—not burnout—and have decided to look elsewhere for jobs that offer meaning and purpose, or have turned to community work to fill the void. In their quest for success, staggering numbers of women we interviewed have launched their own businesses. And the most common reason they cited for venturing out on their own? Control—of their time, their futures, and their financial destinies. Surprisingly few, however, seem exclusively motivated by money. In fact, scores of female entrepreneurs we spoke with have found ways to integrate profits and meaning.

Naturally, many of today’s working women who are redefining success cut their teeth working in corporate America—rising through the ranks, then bumping their heads on a glass ceiling. Sadly, in their futile efforts to reach the top, many worked so hard at trying to “fit in” and meet the expectations of their bosses and colleagues, that somewhere along the way they lost track of themselves. Many of them are now redefining success by recovering their identities.

Finally, perhaps never is there a greater need for women to redefine success than when the work-family equation is thrown off kilter. The good news is that scores of working mothers are devising ways—through job sharing, flextime, telecommuting, and even taking a few years off—to find serenity and sanity.

As writers and consultants, we have devoted ourselves to chronicling the development of women in the workplace. Six years ago, we published our first book together, More Power to You! This book showed women how to communicate their way to success. Three years later, we wrote Swim with the Dolphins, a book filled with tips and stories showing how female managers could succeed—and were succeeding—on their own terms.

While crisscrossing the country to give lectures, workshops, and seminars for working women, one dominant concern has emerged: the quest for meaning and balance in one’s life. As women have become more and more successful in traditional terms, they have come to question the real meaning of success. This rampant ambivalence is what led us to focus in this book on what is perhaps the most important work-related issue of our time: winning at work without losing at life.

In our research, we have discovered many women who have taken the steps necessary for them to have successful careers without sacrificing family, fun, and a sense of balance and well-being. The number one lesson they’ve taught us is that success is a very personal thing. We hope that this book will help you define and create a definition of success that fulfills your needs, your goals, and your dreams.

Summary of Rich Dad’s Retire Young Retire Rich

 

Rich Dad’s Retire Young, Retire Rich By Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter C.P.A. ISBN: 0446678430 Genre: Business & Money

.

Chapter Excerpt from: Rich Dad’s Retire Young, Retire Rich, by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter C.P.A.

HOW TO BECOME RICH
AND RETIRE YOUNG

The following is the story of how my wife, Kim, my best friend, Larry, and I began our journey from broke, to rich, to retired in less than ten years. I tell this story to encourage any of you who may be doubtful or in need of some self-confidence to begin the journey to retiring young. When Kim and I started, we were nearly out of money, low on confidence, and filled with doubt. We all have doubts. The difference is what we do with those doubts.

The Journey Begins

 

In December of 1984, Kim, my best friend, Larry Clark, and I were skiing in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Whistler Mountain. The snow was very deep, the runs were long, and the skiing was excellent, although very cold. At night, the three of us sat in a little cabin that was snuggled in between tall pines, barely visible because the snow was up to the roof.

Sitting around the fire every night, we would discuss our plans for the future. We had very high hopes but very little resources. Kim and I were on our last few dollars and Larry was in the process of building another business. Our discussions ran late into the night, every night. We discussed books we had recently read as well as movies we had seen. We listened to educational audiotapes we had brought along and then discussed the lessons on those tapes in depth.

On New Year’s Day, we did what we do every year, we set our goals for the coming year. But this year our goal-setting session was different. Larry wanted to do more than just set goals for the coming year. Instead of discussing just our goals for the year, he wanted us to set goals that changed our lives by changing our realities. He said, “Why don’t we write a plan on how we can all become financially free?”

I listened to his words and heard what he said. But I could not fit what he said into my reality. I had talked about it, dreamed about it, and knew that someday I would do it. But the idea of being financially free was always an idea in the future, not today…so the idea did not fit. “Financially free?” I said. The moment I heard my voice I knew how much of a wimp I had become. My voice did not sound like the old me.

“We’ve talked about it many times,” Larry said. “But I think it is time to stop talking, stop dreaming, and start committing. Let’s write it down. Once we write it down you know we have to do it. Once we write it down, we’ll support each other on this journey.”

Being almost out of money, Kim and I looked at each other. The glow from the fire illuminated the doubt and uncertainty on our faces. “It’s a good idea but I think I would rather just focus on surviving for the next year.” I had just left the nylon and Velcro wallet business. After it had crashed in 1979, I had spent the next five years rebuilding it and then walked away from it. I walked away early because the business had changed drastically. We were no longer manufacturing in the United States. In order to compete with increasing competition, we had moved our factories to China, Taiwan, and Korea. I left the business because I could no longer stand the idea of using sweatshop child labor to make me rich. The business was putting money in my pocket, but it was taking life out of my soul. I was also not getting along with my partners. We had grown apart and did not see eye to eye. I walked away with very little equity. I just could not continue to work in a business that violated my spirit and with partners I could not talk to. I am not proud of how I left, yet I knew it was time to leave. I had been there for eight years and I had learned a lot. I learned how to build a business, how to destroy a business, and then how to rebuild it. Although I walked away with very little money, I did walk away with priceless education and experience.

“Come on,” said Larry. “You’re being a wimp. Instead of setting simple one-year goals, let’s go for it. Let’s set a big multiyear goal. Let’s go for freedom.”

“But we don’t have much money,” I said, looking over at Kim, whose face reflected my concerns. “You know we’re starting over again. All we want to do is survive for the next six months and maybe a year. How can we think about financial freedom when all I can think about right now is financial survival?”

Again I was shocked at how wimpy I sounded. My self-confidence was really low. My energy was really low.

“Even better. Think of this as a fresh start,” Larry was now on it. He would not stop.

“But how can we retire early when we don’t have any money?” I protested. I could hear more and more of the wimp in me coming out. I felt weak inside and did not want to commit to something just yet. I did just want to survive for the financial short term and not think about the future.

“I did not say we were going to retire in a year,” said Larry, now irritated with my wimpy responses. “All I am saying is let’s plan on retiring now. Let’s write down the goal, create a plan, and then focus on the idea. Most people do not think about retiring until it’s too late… or they plan on retiring when they’re sixty-five. I don’t want to do that. I want a better plan. I don’t want to spend my life working just to pay bills. I want to live. I want to be rich. I want to travel the world while I am young enough to enjoy it.”

As I sat there listening to Larry sell me on the benefits of setting such a goal, I could hear the little voice inside of me telling me why setting a goal to be financially free and retiring early was unrealistic. It even sounded impossible. Larry continued. He did not seem to care if Kim or I were listening so I tuned him out as I began to think about what he had said. Silently, I said to myself, “Setting a goal to retire early was a good idea…so why am I fighting it? It is not like me to fight a good idea.”

Suddenly, in my silence, I began to hear my rich dad saying, “The biggest challenge you have is to challenge your own self-doubt and your laziness. It is your self-doubt and your laziness that define and limit who you are. If you want to change what you are you must take on your self-doubt and your laziness.

It is your self-doubt and laziness that keep you small. It is your self-doubt and laziness that deny you the life you want.” I could hear rich dad driving home his point, saying, “There is no one in your way except you and your doubts about you. It is easy to stay the same. It is easy not to change. Most people choose to stay the same all their lives. If you will take on your self-doubt and your laziness, you will find the door to your freedom.”

Rich dad had had this talk with me just before I left Hawaii to come on this trip. He knew I was probably leaving Hawaii for good. He knew I was leaving my home and a place I felt very comfortable in. He knew I was venturing out into the world without any guarantees of security. Now just a month after my talk with rich dad, I found myself sitting on this tall snow-covered mountain, feeling weak, vulnerable, and insecure, listening to my best friend telling me the same things. I knew it was time to grow up or give up and go home. I realized that it was this moment of weakness on the mountains that I had come for. It was decision time once again. It was time to choose. I could let my self-doubt and laziness win or I could go on and change my perceptions about myself. It was time to move forward or to go backward.

As I tuned back into Larry talking about freedom I realized that he was not really talking about freedom. At that moment, I came to realize that taking on my self-doubt and my laziness was the most important thing I could do. If I did not take it on, my life would go backward.

“Okay, let’s do it,” I said. “Let’s set the goal to be financially free.” That was New Year’s Day 1985. In 1994 Kim and I were free. Larry went on to build his company, which became one of Inc. magazine’s fastest-growing companies of the year in 1996. Larry retired in 1998 at the age of forty-six after selling his company and took a year off.

 

How Did You Do It?

 

Whenever I tell this story, the question I am asked is, “How? How did you do it?”

I then say, “It’s not about how. It is about why Kim and I did it.” I go on to say, “Without the why, the how would have been impossible.” I could go on to tell you how Kim, Larry, and I did it, but I won’t. How we did it is not that important. When it comes to how we did it, all I will say is that from 1985 to 1994, Kim, Larry, and I focused on rich dad’s three paths to great wealth, which are:

1. Increasing business skills

2. Increasing money management skills

3. Increasing investment skills

There are many books written on each of these paths, and if I did the same, this would be just another how to book. But what I think is more important than how to, is the why we did it, and the why is because I wanted to challenge my own self-doubts, my laziness, and my past. It was the why that gave us the power to do the how.

Rich dad often said, “Many people ask me how to do something. I used to tell them until I realized that even after I told them how I did something, they often did not do it. I then realized that it was not the how to but why I do something that is more important. It is the why that gives you the power to do the how to.” He also said, “The reason most people do not do what they can do is because they do not have a strong enough why. Once you find the why, it is easy to find your own how to to wealth. Instead of looking inside of themselves to find their own why they want to become rich, most people look for the easy road to wealth, and the problem with the easy road is that the easy road usually ends in a dead end.”

 

Arguing with Myself

 

That night, sitting in the cold mountain cabin, listening to Larry, I found myself silently arguing with him. Every time he said, “Let’s set it as a goal, write it down, and create a plan,” I could hear myself arguing in response, saying such things as:

1. “But we don’t have any money.”

2. “I can’t do that.”

3. “I’ll think about it next year, or once Kim and I get settled.”

4. “You don’t understand our situation.”

5. “I need more time.”

Over the years, my rich dad had taught me many lessons. One of the lessons was, “If you find yourself arguing with a good idea, you may want to stop arguing.”

That night as Larry went on and on about getting rich and retiring early, I again heard rich dad warning me about arguing against a good idea. Explaining further, rich dad said, “Whenever someone says something like ‘I can’t afford it’ or ‘I can’t do it’ to something they want, they have a big problem. Why in the world would someone say, ‘I can’t afford it’ or ‘I can’t do it’ to something they want? Why would someone deny themselves the things they want? It makes no logical sense.”

As the fire crackled in the fireplace, I found myself arguing against something I wanted. “Why not retire rich and retire early?” I finally asked myself. “What would be wrong with that?” My mind began to open slowly and I repeated silently to myself, “Why am I arguing against the idea? Why am I arguing against myself? It is a good idea. I have talked about it for years. I did want to retire by thirty-five and now I’m soon to be thirty-seven years old and I’m not even close to retiring. In fact, I’m nearly broke. So why am I arguing?”

Once I said that to myself, I realized why I had been arguing against a good idea. At the age of twenty-five, I had planned on becoming rich and retiring between ages thirty to thirty-five. It was my dream. But after losing my Velcro wallet business the first time, my spirit was crushed and I had lost much self-confidence. That night sitting by the fire, I realized it was my lack of self-confidence that was doing the arguing. I was arguing against a dream I wanted. I was arguing because I did not want to feel disappointed again. I was arguing because I was protecting myself from the pain that dreaming big dreams can bring if that big dream does not become reality. I had dreamed and failed. That night I realized that I was arguing against failing again, not against the dream.

“Okay, let’s set a big goal,” I said quietly to Larry. I had finally stopped arguing against a good idea. The argument was still there but I was not going to let the argument stop me. After all, it is only an argument I was having with myself and no one else. The little person in me was arguing against the person that wanted to grow up and be bigger. “Good,” said Larry. “It’s about time you stopped being such a wimp. I was really getting worried about you.”

The reason I had decided to do it was because I had found my why. I knew why I was going to do it, even though at that moment I did not know how I was going to do it.

 

Why I Decided to Retire Early

 

How many of you have ever on occasion said to yourself, “I am sick and tired of myself “? Well that New Year’s Eve, sitting around the fire with Kim and Larry, I got sick and tired of my old self and decided to change. It was not just a mental change; it was a change that came from deep inside. It was time for a big change and I knew I could change because I found out why I wanted to change. The following are some of my personal whys…why I decided to go for retiring young and retiring rich:

1. I was fed up with being broke and always struggling for money. I had been rich for a brief moment with my wallet business, but after the business crashed, I was back to struggling again. Although my rich dad had taught me well, I still only had his lessons. I had still not become rich and it was time for me to become rich.

2. I was tired of being average. Through school, teachers said, “Robert is a bright boy but he just does not apply himself.” They also said, “He’s bright but he’ll never be as smart as the gifted kids. He is just above average.” That night sitting on the mountain, I got sick and tired of being average. It was time for me to stop being average.

3. When I was eight years old, I came home and found my mom crying at the kitchen table. She was crying because we were buried under a mountain of bills. My dad was doing the best he could to earn more money, but as a schoolteacher, he wasn’t doing so well financially. All he would say was, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” But he didn’t. The way my dad handled it was by going back to school, working harder, and waiting for his annual pay raise. Meanwhile, the bills kept piling up and my mom felt more and more alone with no one to turn to. My dad did not like to discuss the subject of money, and if he did, he only got angry. I remember deciding at the age of eight to find the answers that could help my mom. That night sitting on the mountain, I realized that I had found the answers I had searched for since the age of eight. It was now time to take those answers and turn them into reality.

4. The most painful why of all was the reality that I now had a beautiful young woman in my life, Kim. I had met my soul mate and she was in this financial mess because she loved me. That night on the mountain I realized that I was doing to Kim what my dad had done to my mom. I was repeating a family pattern. At that moment, I found my real why.

So those are my whys. I wrote them down that night and kept them in a secret place. For those of you who read my second book, Rich Dad’s CASH-FLOW Quadrant, you may recall that things got worse for us once we left the mountain. I started that book by telling the story of Kim and me living in a car for about three weeks after our money ran out. So things did not get better just because we made the decision to retire rich, but it was the reasons why that kept us going.

Things did not go well for Larry either after leaving the mountain. He too had substantial financial setbacks in the late 1980s, yet his whys kept him going.

A suggestion: I learned years ago that passion is a combination of love and hate. Unless someone has a passion for something, it is difficult to accomplish anything. Rich dad used to say, “If you want something, be passionate. Passion gives energy to your life. If you want something you do not have, find out why you love what you want and why you hate not having what you want. When you combine those two thoughts, you will find the energy to get off your seat and go get anything you want.”

So you may want to start with a list comparing loves and hates. For ex-ample, I would create the following list:

Love Hate

Being rich Being poor

Being free Being required to work

Buying anything I want Not having what I want

Expensive things Cheap things

Having other people do Doing things I don’t want to do

what I don’t want to do

I found out as my rich dad did that I cannot tell anyone how to get rich. I now first ask people why they want to become rich. Without a strong enough why, even the easiest how to get rich will be too hard. There are many, many, ways to get rich…but there are only a few personal reasons why you want to get rich. Find your why and then you will find your how. As the old saying goes, “Where there is a will there is a way.” For me, I would say finding my will made finding my way possible. Without the will, the way would have been way too hard.

My suggestion is, you may want to start your list of loves and hates in the space listed below. If you need more space, which I hope you do, find a much larger sheet of paper. May you live your life with more and more passion.

So sit quietly to find and define your loves and hates. Then write down your whys. Write down your dreams, goals, and plans on becoming financially free, retiring early, and retiring as young as possible. Once it is in writing, you may want to show it to a friend who will support you in achieving your dreams. Take a look at this paper with your dreams, goals, and plans on a regular basis, talk about it often, ask for support, be willing to continually learn, and before you know it, things will begin to happen.

As a final comment, I have heard many people say, “Money does not make you happy.” That statement has some truth to it. But what money does do is buy me the time to do what I love and pay other people to do what I hate doing.

                                                                                                                                                                                         Proudly Created by; Don David & Edited

                                                                                                                                                                                                               by Amani Edward.

 

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.

Here are some suggestions for your first post.

1. You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
2. Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting  page you read on the web.
3. Make some changes to this page, and then hit preview on the right. You can alway preview any post or edit you before you share it to the world.