What Are You Working For - A Financial Education or a Job?
The rich work to learn, the poor work to earn
My poor dad said, "Job security is the most important thing."
My rich dad said, "Learning is the most important thing."
My rich dad said, "Learning is the most important thing."
In the movie Jerry Maguire, there are many great one-liners.
But there is one that I found particularly truthful. Tom Cruise's
character is leaving his high-paying job to start his own agency after
being fired, and he says, "Who wants to come with me?" The whole place
is frozen and silent, looking down at him. Finally, one woman pipes up
and says, "I'd like to, but I'm due for a promotion in three months."
Sadly, this is the mindset of most people when it comes to work. Rather
than look at work as an opportunity to grow and learn, they look at
work as a necessary evil and try to get as much money from their job as
possible.
As a young man, I faced the same decision as the woman in Jerry Maguire.
After graduation from the Merchant Marine Academy, I had a good career
ahead of me. My first job was on a Standard Oil of California oil-tanker
fleet as third-mate. I made $42,000 a year, including overtime, and
only had to work seven months of the year. My poor dad was very happy.
After six months, however, I resigned my position with Standard Oil and
joined the Marine Corps. My poor dad was devastated, but my rich dad
congratulated me.
The reason I joined the Marine Corps was to learn new skills. I wanted
to learn how to be a pilot and to learn how to lead others into
difficult situations. I knew that the leadership skills I learned in the
Corps would benefit me greatly in life and business.
After my tour of duty, I had the opportunity to get a steady paying job
as a commercial airline pilot. Instead, however, I took a job with
Xerox as a salesman. Again, my poor dad was devastated and my rich dad
was happy. Though I could have had a comfortable life as a pilot, I
wanted to learn the skill of sales. I knew that skill, coupled with the
leadership skills I learned in the Marine Corps, would make me rich.
Specialist vs. generalist
The fundamental difference between my poor dad's philosophy and my rich
dad's philosophy about work was one of specialization versus
generalization.
My poor dad believed that the best thing to do was to become
increasingly specialized in your work. He admitted that people were paid
more for knowing more and more about less and less. This is why he was
so proud to get his doctorate. Yet, he always struggled financially.
My rich dad believed that the best thing to do was to become a
generalist and to know a little about a lot. He said the best thing to
do was to work in many areas of a company and pick up skills rather than
a profession. He knew the best way to get rich was to be able to lead
specialists across a wide spectrum of departments in a company.
Can you cook better than McDonald's?
Sometimes when I'm teaching a class, I'll ask, "How many of you can
cook a better hamburger than McDonald's?" Nearly everyone in the room
will raise their hand. I'll then ask, "If you can cook a better
hamburger, how come you're not richer than McDonald's?"
The obvious answer is that McDonald's is better at business than they
are at making hamburgers. They have developed sophisticated sales and
business systems and skills that equal success. The reason why most
people are poor is because they're so focused on making the better
hamburger but not developing the best business systems and skills.
Work to learn not to earn
Today, you're faced with these same choices. Will you work to earn, holding onto security over opportunity? Or, will you work to learn (and get a financial education), giving up some security to embrace greater opportunity?
Today, you're faced with these same choices. Will you work to earn, holding onto security over opportunity? Or, will you work to learn (and get a financial education), giving up some security to embrace greater opportunity?
Most people will follow the conventional wisdom and choose to work to
earn. But if you want to be rich, I recommend that you work for what you
want to learn rather than what you want to earn. Figure out what skills
you want to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before
getting trapped in the rat race.
What skills do you need to acquire to live a rich life?
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