EPISODE 9
“By not giving in to your emotions, you were able to delay
your reactions and think. That is important. We will always have
emotions of fear and greed. From here on in, it’s imperative for you
to use those emotions to your advantage, and for the long term to not
let your emotions control your thinking. Most people use fear and
greed against themselves. That’s the start of ignorance. Most people
live their lives chasing paychecks, pay raises and job security because
of the emotions of desire and fear, not really questioning where those
emotion-driven thoughts are leading them. It’s just like the picture of
a donkey dragging a cart with its owner dangling a carrot just in front
of its nose. The donkey’s owner may be going where he wants to, but
the donkey is chasing an illusion. Tomorrow there will only be another
carrot for the donkey.”
“You mean the moment I picture a new baseball glove, candy and
toys, that’s like a carrot to a donkey?” Mike asked.
“Yes, and as you get older, your toys get more expensive—a new
car, a boat, and a big house to impress your friends,” said rich dad
with a smile. “Fear pushes you out the door, and desire calls to you.
That’s the trap.”
“So what’s the answer,” Mike asked.
“What intensifies fear and desire is ignorance. That is why rich
people with lots of money often have more fear the richer they get.
Money is the carrot, the illusion. If the donkey could see the whole
picture, it might rethink its choice to chase the carrot.”
Rich dad went on to explain that a human’s life is a struggle
between ignorance and illumination.
He explained that once a person stops searching for information
and self-knowledge, ignorance sets in. That struggle is a moment-tomoment
decision—to learn to open or close one’s mind.
“Look, school is very important. You go to school to learn a skill
or profession to become a contributing member of society. Every
culture needs teachers, doctors, mechanics, artists, cooks, businesspeople,
police officers, firefighters, and soldiers. Schools train them so society
can thrive and flourish,” said rich dad. “Unfortunately, for many people
school is the end, not the beginning.”
There was a long silence. Rich dad was smiling. I didn’t
comprehend everything he said that day. But as with most great
teachers, his words continued to teach for years.
“I’ve been a little cruel today,” said rich dad. “But I want you
to always remember this talk. I want you to always think of Mrs.
Martin. And I want you always to remember that donkey. Never
forget that fear and desire can lead you into life’s biggest trap if you’re
not aware of them controlling your thinking. To spend your life
living in fear, never exploring your dreams, is cruel. To work hard for
money, thinking that it will buy you things that will make you happy
is also cruel. To wake up in the middle of the night terrified about
paying bills is a horrible way to live. To live a life dictated by the size
of a paycheck is not really living a life. Thinking that a job makes you
secure is lying to yourself. That’s cruel, and that’s the trap I want
you to avoid. I’ve seen how money runs people’s lives. Don’t let that
happen to you. Please don’t let money run your life.”
A softball rolled under our table. Rich dad picked it up and threw
it back.
“So what does ignorance have to do with greed and fear?” I asked.
“Because it is ignorance about money that causes so much greed
and fear,” said rich dad. “Let me give you some examples. A doctor,
wanting more money to better provide for his family, raises his fees.
By raising his fees, it makes health care more expensive for everyone.
It hurts the poor people the most, so they have worse health than
those with money. Because the doctors raise their fees, the attorneys
raise their fees. Because the attorneys’ fees have gone up, schoolteachers
want a raise, which raises our taxes, and on and on and on. Soon there
will be such a horrifying gap between the rich and the poor that chaos
will break out and another great civilization will collapse. History
proves that great civilizations collapse when the gap between the haves
and have-nots is too great. Sadly, America is on that same course
because we haven’t learned from history. We only memorize historical
dates and names, not the lesson.”
“Aren’t prices supposed to go up?” I asked.
“In an educated society with a well-run government, prices should
actually come down. Of course, that is often only true in theory.
Prices go up because of greed and fear caused by ignorance. If schools
taught people about money, there would be more money and lower
prices. But schools focus only on teaching people to work for money,
not how to harness money’s power.”
“But don’t we have business schools?” Mike asked. “And haven’t
you encouraged me to go for my MBA?”
“Yes,” said rich dad. “But all too often business schools train
employees to become sophisticated bean-counters. Heaven forbid a beancounter
takes over a business. All they do is look at the numbers, fire
people, and kill the business. I know this because I hire bean-counters.
All they think about is cutting costs and raising prices, which cause more
problems. Bean-counting is important. I wish more people knew it, but
it, too, is not the whole picture,” added rich dad angrily.
“So is there an answer?” asked Mike.
“Yes,” said rich dad. “Learn to use your emotions to think, not
think with your emotions. When you boys mastered your emotions
by agreeing to work for free, I knew there was hope. When you again
resisted your emotions when I tempted you with more money, you
were again learning to think in spite of being emotionally charged.
That’s the first step.”
“Why is that step so important?” I asked
“Well, that’s up to you to find out. If you want to learn, I’ll take
you boys into the briar patch, a place almost everyone else avoids. If
you go with me, you’ll let go of the idea of working for money and
instead learn to have money work for you.”
“And what will we get if we go with you. What if we agree to
learn from you? What will we get?” I asked.
“The same thing Brer Rabbit got,” said rich dad, referring to the
classic children’s story.
“Is there a briar patch?” I asked.
“Yes,” said rich dad. “The briar patch is our fear and greed.
Confronting fear, weaknesses, and neediness by choosing our own
thoughts is the way out.”
“Choosing our thoughts?” Mike asked, puzzled.
“Yes. Choosing what we think rather than reacting to our emotions.
Instead of just getting up and going to work because not having the
money to pay your bills is scaring you, ask yourself, ‘Is working harder
at this the best solution to this problem?’ Most people are too afraid to
rationally think things through and instead run out the door to a job
they hate. The Tar Baby is in control. That’s what I mean by choosing
your thoughts.”
“And how do we do that?” Mike asked.
“That’s what I will teach you. I’ll teach you to have a choice of
thoughts rather than a knee-jerk reaction, like gulping down your
morning coffee and running out the door.
“Remember what I said before: A job is only a short-term
solution to a long-term problem. Most people have only one problem
in mind, and it’s short-term. It’s the bills at the end of the month,
the Tar Baby. Money controls their lives, or should I say the fear and
ignorance about money controls it. So they do as their parents did.
They get up every day and go work for money, not taking the time to
ask the question, ‘Is there another way?’ Their emotions now control
their thinking, not their heads.”
“Can you tell the difference between emotions thinking and the
head thinking?” Mike asked.
“Oh, yes. I hear it all the time,” said rich dad. “I hear things like,
‘Well, everyone has to work.’ Or ‘The rich are crooks.’ Or ‘I’ll get
another job. I deserve this raise. You can’t push me around.’ Or ‘I like
this job because it’s secure.’ No one asks, ‘Is there something I’m
missing here?’ which would break through the emotional thought
and give you time to think clearly.”