i am in the middle of implementing a novel idea that will eventually become something very useful to the community and my future.
ever since i sat for that entrepreneurial class, my mind has raced to the galaxies and back. robert kiyosaki's pack of rich dad poor dad and cashflow quadrant hasn't made it easier for me either. it is a rally against procrastination, initiative and self start. some of our minds and bodies are like an old rickety truck that has to always be parked facing downhill to make it easier to jump start the engine whenever you want to take a ride.
after winning the war with inertia, somewhere along the way i started zero in on non-entities and trivia. soon i was losing the bigger picture and was concentrating on skinning rat tails instead of training the cat. till my old-time buddy came along; dr robert schuller. ever since i read his 'tough times never last tough people do!' book, i have always over-adored his possibility thinking theology. at the time i was facing a crisis and his possibility thinking books came in handy and hardened my otherwise losing will. this time he came along in the form of a sermon that made me miss church that day.
he took me back to the basics of entrepreneurship that was literally grilled into my head a few years back by a russian-trained, 'wide-brim-hatted' kenyan professor. quite a gem. dr robert schuller, now in his eighties drummed the message home to my at-most-times sceptic consciousness!
"How do you take a powerful idea and turn it into a dynamic achievement? Of course, it's prayer! Of course, it's faith! Of course, it's never losing heart! And how do you do that? You think, you test, you try, you tackle it, you keep track of it, and you trust God Almighty."
i have just refreshed my memory about this two-week old sermon from this website:
crystal cathedral: hour of power
4 comments:
robert kiyosaki! i think u need to re- evaluate the bullshit that that guy writes. for real that guy is in the business of selling books and not making u rich
Hey, JP.
I feel you. The struggle against mediocrity is a big one. To sit down and come up with a uniqueness is a great struggle.
Robert Kiyosaki is a man i respect Leave what anonymous talks about. Though he is widely criticized, his books sell like hot cake. It seems the critics didn't just get it. The only thing that a book can do is get you up and moving. Only when i read Kiyosaki's books did i realize something important
It is not about saving or anything; ITS ABOUT MAKING MORE MONEY.
Obviously if you make more money; you are happier.
I am reading a book that has been recommended over the years; Awaken The Giant Within. I have realized one thing i didn't do before. I take Action but not Massive action. And thats what Tony Robbin says; don't just do something; Do something big.
I would also recommend you read this book
The Greatest Secret in the World- Og Mandino. It especially helps get over procastination which i can say i have .
People who don't like reading Self Improvement books keep on complaining about everything. And those are people we could safely do without
I would probably say that the one thing that has helped me in understanding wealth is the principle of sowing and reaping.It has worked for Oprah,Bill Gates, the Weinbergs and countless other philanthropists of our day. So many time we are focused on amassing wealth for us and the little circle of family and friends that we deem worthy to share it with. We never think beyond that to the countless other people who can benefit from our wealth.By giving away, we plant seeds that in turn yield a harvest far much greater than that which we gave away. I am convinced that the reason why Africa as not reached its peak in terms of wealth is the fact that we are selfish people
(yes, I just said that) .Once we get a little bit of wealth, we build a palatial mansion(by the way we only have two kids living in the 10 bedroomed home) and surround it with brick mile high walls. Then we line up several cars in our garages. Meanwhile, next to our home is a slum whose dwellers can barely afford a meal a day. We blow dust at them as we share the roads and complain of the vermin thats spawn from this places that makes driving the cool cars a death risk. How about if we shared our wealth with this people? How about we don't wait for the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to come and finance the slum development,they are the ones reaping the blessings, we are missing out. There is enough wealth in our nation to share among us so that we uplift each other's standard of living.It does not mean that one has to be a multimillionare to do that, how about two, three collegues at work pick a family in the slum and decide to sponsor their kids and help them by pooling their resources. Once we get to a place where we realize that riches turn to wealth when invested into the lives of others, we shall experience returns that are phenomenal(sp?). The bible says that when we give to the poor we lend to God, can you imagine the interest paid back on that kind of a 'loan'....?
@anon, robert kiyosaki despite all his critics out there have made us re-focus on our beliefs about finances. fiction or not, he has made me have a broader perspective on how i manage my finances and approach the whole idea of wealth creation. i do not necessarily read books so that i can replay them in my life to the letter, but more to broaden my perspectives and challenge my status quo comfort.
@shiroh, thanks for the insights. i have had some talks on robbin's books and i intend to have a read of his soon. i like inspirational and self-improvement books. the way they articulate daily small steps to a better life is a great pull. as earlier on commented, its more for creating a momentum towards a better life than a checklist to success. at some moments they have come in handy for me when i was down and needed a way out. i will definitely get some stock of your reading list.
@casual_observer, nice piece on philanthropy. true that if you cant give a cent out of your shilling, it will be hard to give a million out of your billion. however some of the people you have quoted didnt start there. they first built empires and once they get to near-top the maslows need hierarchy, they strive for self-actualization which cannot be achieved by buying off everyone else off the world. they turn philanthropic for that reason, self-actualization. i am not sure africa's problem have to do with selfishness of the africans.
its more of selfishness of the rest of the world than anything else.
since the days of scramble for africa, through slave trade and colonization to neo-colonialism lies the history of our poverty and governance problems.
my granny used to say that the 'white man' came with a bible in the left hand and a gun in the right. blame the capitalist mentality which africa is perfecting for the wealth gaps we experience. all the same, we should be our brother's keeper; if only we could practice what we preach.