What Are Your Philosophies Concerning God, Religion and Money?

When I first read the title of this chapter, I didn’t know what to expect as usually any kind of topic mixing money and religion results in the usual “money is evil” routine and all. I guess I was kind of right as it kind of revolved around that. Robert talked about in his younger years how he was confused about religion as he would constantly be told by people that there is only one correct religion for the world and that it is the only way to go to heaven. After researching and learning about other religions and the people who practice them, he was shocked at how people can have such a narrow minded view about it as there were many great people who all practice a different religion.

When it came to money, he was also told that money is the root of all evil and that the rich are less likely to go to heaven whereas the poor will. In a nutshell, one day a youth minister was visiting a summer church camp he was at and when asked a question in regards to whether or not having a lot of money was evil, the youth minister answered in with a more open minded approach and simply told the story of the Parable of the Talents from the Book of Matthews. By simply telling the story, everyone’s interpretation of it was different as some people thought it meant that poor people are bad or that God wants you to be rich. Basically, he wanted people to make up their own minds and to interpret it in whatever way they want. For Robert, he concluded that in the story the master could create something when there was nothing and being able to do this infinitely was the joy in his life. Therefore, as he puts it “He was creative and creativity is infinite, therefore money was infinite – abundant” and that was the key to his joy in life.

Donald talks about faith and how believing that there is a higher power out there helps to keep him in line that his problems are microscopic when you compare it to the rest of the world. Although, he mentions that he doesn’t follow the teachings of his faith 100% such as how in business he believes that if people screw with you that you should screw them back. Instead, he acknowledges the sayings that he really likes such as “Be wise as a serpent and as gentle as a dove.”

For myself, I definitely believe that we are just a small part of something much bigger than ourselves. There are too many times in my life personally where it just seems like someone is intentionally helping you to make certain things happen as if you have a specific calling in life to fulfill. It’s almost like playing a videogame or watching a movie where the unexpected happens to help move the story forward. I guess in a way it does help to put one’s ego in check as well so that you can be extremely confident yet humble at the same time. When it comes to money, I personally do not think it is evil, but like most things it’s what you do with it that really matters.

What Did You Learn From Business?

Robert starts off by mentioning how you can’t learn to ride a bicycle by reading a book and the same thing applies to business. He talks about learning from his failures in business and specifically talks about a nylon and Velcro surfer-wallet business that he ran with a few friends. While it was a huge success, it would also prove to be a downfall for him as he was spending money like crazy and living a lavish lifestyle. In the end, the business actually made him poorer. As he put it, while his income was going up so did his stupidity and losing a million dollars was a wake up call for him.

Donald talks about being a visionary and uses his example on how when he wanted to build Trump Place on the upper West Side of Manhattan it created an uproar. Today, it has proven to be a success. He then used Mark Burnett as an example and how no one understood his new direction for television. With vision and persistent, he helped define a new genre in television. So, what he learned from business is that you need to be a visionary and then focus in making it a reality regardless of your opposition.

I’ve personally learned a lot from running a business. I think for me the biggest thing was learning how to separate business and friendship as I have been taken advantage of so many times before due to me being naive in making sure that I look out for myself as well as others. I even blogged about one event that happened a long time ago in a post titled Business and Friendship which was definitely a turning point for me.

What Was The Defining Lesson You Learned From Sports?

First up was Kiyosaki as usual. For the most part, he talks about how he developed his intuitiveness and the ability to persevere in extremely difficult situations from playing sports. One interesting example of a defining moment that he gave was how when he played football it seemed like he was always on the bench as the coach wouldn’t play him. One day, the assistant coach asked him if he knew why he wasn’t being played and Kiyosaki said no and couldn’t understand as he always showed up for games and is arguably better than the person in the starting line up. The assistant coach actually agreed with him and told him how while he had better skills and talent than the starter, what that guy had over Robert was that he had more heart and wanted the position more badly than Robert did. That was a revelation for him as he realized that if he wanted something it was entirely up to him and that having the desire is not enough. He started to work harder than before and as it turns out he got his big break. He used a quote which I thought was interesting which was “Life is a rip-off when you expect to get what you want.” Basically, it’s one thing to expect things to happen for you and another to make it happen for yourself.

Robert then talks a lot about golf and how he admires the sport and uses it as a business tool. He mentions how a person plays the game of golf is a good indicator on whether or not they would be a good business partner. For example, the way they compose themselves, whether or not they cheat, etc. He then talks about how he was taught that a lot of business deals are closed on a golf course due to its relaxing environment and was told a quote which said “More business deals are done on the golf course than in the boardroom.”

Donald Trump says that the main thing he got out of sports was improving his instincts. Like Robert, Donald talks about how he uses golf as a way to examine a person’s true character. Overall, it is precision, instinct and tempo that he believes is necessary for one to be successful in sports and that same thing can be applied to business.

In my opinion, these last few chapters have all kind of revolved around the same message in a different form. Basically, learn from experiences and make yourself successful. About the closing deals on a golf course statement, the concept of it has been true for me many times where important business deals are closed in relaxing environments whereas most people think if it is a large deal you have to bring the person into the most luxurious place possible. There is a saying that I heard before which was something like “People do business with people” which essentially means that the more you know, trust and respect a person the more likely you will do business with them as oppose to solely determining a partnership based on say one’s financial portfolio.

How Did Military School Help Define Your Life?

For Robert Kiyosaki, he talks about how military life taught him discipline and leadership skills. When he was younger his goal was to simply do something that would allow him to travel the world, drink beer and meet a lot of exotic women (What he says at least). In the academy, he was severely punished whenever he did bad things and also had to play the role of the leader for new students trying to find loopholes in the system just like he did. He mentions that his defining moment was how he was practicing to be a pilot with his instructor pretending that he was being shot at while flying and it made it apparent that he was not very good and needed practice. The quote his instructor gave him was “The trouble with this business is that there is no second place. Only one pilot comes home alive.” That quote is what Robert associates with business in general and taking risks. As he implies, the main risk is not so much the situation itself, but rather being unprepared.

For Donald Trump, military school taught him the art of negotiating. He mentioned how he was confronted by a former drill sergeant and that he was no match to him physically. Instead, he began to relate and showed respect to the person which created a mutual respect between the two. He also met a history buff there who was studying WWII and figured that the guy knew everything there was to it. However, the person then mentioned how the more he read the more he realized on how much he did not know which shows that he will never truly learn everything. Donald Trump has kept that philosophy with him in business and tried to learn something new everyday. Lastly, Trump mentions how military school has taught him how to be involved in a large situation without losing one’s identity.

I’ve never been into military school myself, but I guess I have done similar things such as being involved in a club or organization that requires you to be extremely discipline. Guess the whole point of things like these is to grow as a person and to learn new skills.

What Did You Learn From School

The chapters seem to be getting smaller. This was pretty quick as well. For Robert, he mentions how he constantly flunked English. Regardless, his SAT scores were good. While debating about taking a job with the Naval Academy since the pay was very good, he decided to take a job with Standard Oil of California. Because of that, he got to learn and travel a lot. He mentions how in school despite having failed English twice, his teach Dr. Norton kept encouraging him to write and if it wasn’t for him Kiyosaki may have never been as successful as he is today.

Donald Trump mentions how he was a good student and would always try to do more than what was required. He felt that too many students were focused too much academically as oppose to what is happening in the real world. This is what Trump says was his advantage as he would often see what’s happening in the real business world.

I think what I learned most from school was stepping out of my comfort zone and realizing that if I really wanted to do something I could. There are too many examples to write, but I guess the one that I remember the most was how one of the instructors kept pushing me to do film and theatre related work and boy was I ever the opposite of someone who would want to be in the spotlight. I was one of those typical guys who was into games and technology. Maybe I’ll write about it in-depth one day, but long story short I was happy to play an integral role in breaking a stereotype that an Asian person could not be successful in the film and theatre program as I helped the school bring in a lot of awards. Guess that mindset has lived on with me in business and life in general as well.