How minding your Own Business” in Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad makes perfect sense

How minding your Own Business” in Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad makes perfect sense

I’ve been reading Kiyosaki’s book for some time now but I have always wondered about the concept of minding my own business. Not simply being nosy and all but rather just being preoccupied with the ongoing of other people’s lives through social media. How would I be able to build a business if I was preoccupied with the ongoings of other people?

In Kiyosaki’s book Rich Dad Poor Dad, he talks about Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s and although he is best known for being in the hamburger business, he mentions his real true business is real estate. His primary focus is the location of each franchise and making it the most noticeable shop at each intersection. He wasn’t worried about other people and their hamburgers, he was focused on his business and building brand recognition and customer loyalty.

Today, there are more McDonalds than Catholic churches.

Minding my own business

Source: Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki
Kiyosaki then goes on to talks about minding your own business.

As Kiyosaki puts it in his book as taught by his rich dad, the financial struggle one usually faces is often directly a result of people working all their lives for someone else. And many people will have nothing at the end of their working days to show for their efforts. Whatever that they have contributed or produced is the intellectual property of the company and not their own.

I agree with Kiyosaki that the education system prioritises scholastics skills and getting a good job. This primarily revolves around skillset and wages as well as the income column. School rarely discusses or prioritises entrepreneurship or being a business owner.

Don’t sit around, take initiative

If you think about it, at home you follow the rules from your parents, then at school you follow the rules & instructions set by the school, and at work, you do what your boss tells you to do. But what I realise is that wealthy people don’t usually sit around and wait for things to happen. They usually take the initiative and make it happen.

If there’s something you want it’s up to you to make it happen. If you have a goal, you’ll need to actively work towards it. In the real world, there is no deadline, there is no homework, and there is no test…it’s just you, for better or for worse. You need to learn to hold yourself accountable for everything you do, and only you will keep yourself on track.

This was a wake-up call to me when I worked at my first job. It’s pretty funny now that I recall sitting at my computer clueless about what I needed to do because I never had someone not tell me what to do. But I soon realise if I wanted to get ahead and perform well I needed to have a plan to make my day happen. If I didn’t have a plan usually the day will pass by with all the things that needed to be done not get done.

I did realise time just like money, it’s best to prioritise important tasks first and the less important stuff later. This is because of something called the law of diminishing returns. Mostly because we are only productive up to a certain point beyond that point your input is decreasing your rate of output and performance
Why the poor/ middle class have less money?

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
Kiyosaki highlights that the main reason the poor/ middle class have less money is that:

They are too focused on minding someone else’s business.
They are focused on only their income column and not building their asset column. This income column could be eg, going back to school to get a raise/ promotion.
The general idea Kiyosaki puts forth is that although these are sensible ideas, expanding income and getting more cash inflows through raises and promotions, it still focuses on the income column. A person would only become more financially secure if additional money is being used to build or purchase income-generating assets.

How do I mind my own business?

Kiyosaki gives practical steps in doing this:

Keeping your daytime job. After all, you need to generate income immediately to survive and put a roof over your head.
But at the same time buy or build assets (eg stocks, rental properties, bonds, investments, intellectual properties, a business) as opposed to acquiring liabilities that have no real value after you bring them home, (eg, cars, golf clubs, clothes).
I think for the most part if young people do not have a solid financial foundation, the debt will slowly snowball. This will compound as they get married, leave home, have kids, and buying things on credit all while clinging to a job.

I like the way Kiyosaki puts it “ once a dollar goes in, never let it come out”. The illustration Kiyosaki gives is very easy to understand: “think of it as a dollar going into your asset column becoming your employee”.

He also emphasises keeping your day job and being a great hardworking employee while building your asset column. This is statement is very true. Always add value to whatever job that you do and contribute while building your asset column at the same time. This is so that you have something of your own to show for at the end of the day.

In a nutshell, minding my own business to build wealth makes perfect sense!

CONTRIBUTED BY Marcus Tan

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