How to Choose Your Personal Success

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First Edition: January 2015

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How to Choose Your Personal Success

HOW TO CHOOSE
YOUR PERSONAL
SUCCESS
If youre like most people, you like your work but deep down, you know youd rather
be doing something else.

Maybe you feel trapped because of family obligations. Maybe youre worried about the
economy, or youre playing it safe so you can retire someday.

Or maybe youre just like so many people who dont realize theyve been programmed
to get up every day, go to work, collect that paycheck, go home and do it again the
next day.

But what if, instead of working for money and if youve read Rich Dad Poor Dad, you
know the rich dont work for money but what if you were working for meaning, for a
mission that makes the world better?

Thats what this book is about. Were going to talk about why you feel trapped, what
you can do to change that feeling (maybe without even changing jobs), and why this is
so important not just in your life but in the lives of others, too.

OLD THINKING
MEETS NEW
I was in Baltimore recently and walked into a kind of high-end mens store. There was
this sales clerk, just the kind youd expect in a store like this older, kind of stuffy,
running the place.

As I walked in, this group of young kids came running in. Theyre with a network
marketing company, and they start asking me questions.

Their eyes are bright; theyre happy because theyre going for their dream. They have a

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thing called a RAT pack, which stands for Retired At Twenty. Theyre going for it.

Now, the sales clerk doesnt like these kids. Their hair is pink. They have piercings;
theyre wearing strange shoes.

The clerk who isnt really that old; hes younger than I am walks up to the kids and
shakes his fingers at them, saying, You kids better shape up or you wont get a job. Id
never hire you.

All I could think was, holy mackerel! Id hate to be that guy. Id much rather be those
kids, so full of enthusiasm and dreams, than this clerk.

Which type of person are you? Are you stuck in a rut, thinking you have to follow the
old pattern of how its always been done? Or are you striking out with a bold vision of
what your life can be, and what it can mean?

HOW WE GOT HERE

Its not your fault if you think the cycle of get up/go to work/collect paycheck/repeat
is normal. Its largely a product of our school system.

My poor dad was a head of education, and I didnt score many points with him by
continually asking, Why dont you teach us about money at school? He could never
give me an answer.

So that became my mission as a young kid. I said, OK, Im going to find out why they
dont teach us about money at school. What I found out is that what theyre teaching
is to keep your nose to the grindstone, working and not thinking about anything but
that paycheck.

One hundred years ago, schools were focused on turning farm kids into factory
workers. The modern-day version is to turn them into coders. Nowhere in there do the
schools teach financial education; in fact, many think thats beneath them.

Our schools have churned out workers who dont think past the next paycheck. But
thats only part of the story. Lets look at this situation through the lens of psychology.

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How to Choose Your Personal Success

REWARD &
PUNISHMENT
Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as modern psychology was defining itself,
there was an assumption that to understand behavior, we had to look at rewards and
punishments which were usually material things.

In the lab, rats will press levers for food. Theyll keep pushing those levers if it leads to
more food (reward), but as soon as scientists give them a shock (punishment), theyll
stop.

The experts took that behavior and turned it into a model for how humans act.
It became the stance that many economists took: that if you want people to do
something, you just have to create the right incentives. Nothing else matters.

For a lot of people, those incentives take the form of a paycheck, benefits, and a
401(k).

But thats not the full story. Its not just about the rewards otherwise people wouldnt
stay in jobs they dont enjoy.

Theres a thing called negative bias that comes into play with decision-making. To put
it simply, losses hurt more than gains help. It feels much worse to lose $10 than it
feels good to gain $10.

Its a risk to change jobs. Theres no guarantee that things will be better; in fact, by
switching jobs, youll likely gain some things and lose others.

Negativity bias makes us view the things were going to lose with more weight than
the things we might gain. What youre giving up is more powerful than what youre
gaining, and so you are reluctant to make a change.

Listen, I get it. Its one thing to be a 20-something with pink hair and a vision to
conquer the world and no one depending on you. But when you add in a family
and a mortgage, kids in college and huge tuition bills, the stakes get higher. It can be
tempting to stay in a bad situation because the reward the paycheck is adequate.

But life is about so much more than merely a paycheck. Negativity bias doesnt get to
dictate your life story, any more than the schools failure to prepare you does.

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You need to shift your mindset to what makes your work worthwhile. That goes way
beyond your next payday.

A SCOTTISH ECONOMISTS
MISTAKE
In the book Why We Work, author Barry Schwartz acknowledges that most people
wouldnt work if they didnt get paid but thats not the end of the story.

People want work that is challenging, varied and most importantly meaningful,
making a difference in someone elses life.

Think about your own career. What are the moments that make you come alive, that
make the mundane duties worth it? Odds are, they are times that you conquered
obstacles or saw how your work made life better for others.

But somewhere along the way our focus turned from making a difference to making a
dollar. And much of it can be traced back to Adam Smith.

Smith was a Scottish economist who lived in the 1700s. Hes considered the father of
modern economics.

He took a pretty pragmatic view of commerce: that it was simply about self-interest;
that is, a paycheck.

When it came to workers, Smith believed they were basically lazy. After all, why
else would you do the same mindless thing (factory jobs thanks to the Industrial
Revolution were beginning during Smiths lifetime) hour after hour, week after week,
unless you were getting a paycheck?

And true, most people wouldnt work without the promise of a paycheck. But thats
not the only reason theyll do it. The problem is that Smith basically eliminated the
possibility that there might be other reasons people would work, and his views
became the accepted viewpoint in the centuries that followed.

A lot of people still feel this way. But now we have research that tells us, across
different industries and lots of different ways of organizing workplaces, that the most
profitable companies are the ones people like working at. And not because there are

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How to Choose Your Personal Success

always snacks in the break room or cool office decor the companies that are most
successful are the ones where people feel like theyre doing interesting work and
gaining more than just a paycheck.

Think about your own workplace. What are people working for?

At Rich Dad, part of the reward for employees is the education theyre getting. We
encourage everyone to start their own businesses and to invest, and many of our
employees have created their own part-time businesses. I think thats great.

Some people say that things are shifting toward meaning because of two groups
increasingly entering the workplace: women and Millennials. Experts say that both
groups care more about meaning and purpose, and that they want to feel at the end
of the workday like theyve accomplished more than just putting a few bucks in their
bank account.

Lets look at what meaningful really means. Because its easy to see how firefighters
and cancer researchers and teachers might find meaning in what they do, but what
about everyone else?

FINDING MEANING
IN NON-HEROIC WORK
Listen, it doesnt have to be grandiose. Not everyone is a neurosurgeon saving lives
and you dont have to be in order to have meaning in your work.

You might work in a call center and get a call from a customer whose computer
problem is making it impossible to get work done. You come up with a solution, and
you just made that persons life better. Maybe you didnt save their life, but you saved
their day.

I love the guys who clean my lawn because, a) I dont have to do it and b) they do it
so well. Their mission is to create a beautiful environment, and they do that at every
house they go to. These guys are fantastic, and their mission comes through in the
quality of work that they do.

My wife, Kim, was walking through the airport the other day, and she heard this
woman selling airline credit cards. Now, you might think trying to convince stressed-

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out travelers that they need to stop and fill out forms would not be rewarding work.
But this woman was incredibly full of life. She was making everyone who walked by
happy she said, This is my purpose in life, just to bring a smile to peoples faces.
Her mission was about a lot more than just selling airline credit cards.

So how do you go about finding meaning in your work? Or, if youre the boss, how do
you go about creating an environment that helps your team do that? Read on.

A SHIFT IN
MINDSET
Sometimes the best way to find meaning in your work is to find new work. And if
youre in a truly toxic environment, you might have to just get out of that situation.

But most people can start to shift their thinking right where they are.

Someone told me a story once about a researcher who tried an experiment at a

university call center. This particular group of workers was made up of college
students who were hired to make calls to alumni asking for donations.

This kind of job is not particularly pleasant because almost everyone says no. The
student workers show up for two hours a couple of times a week to make these calls,
calls where theyre almost always rejected, and its not a surprise that they werent
particularly inspired by the work.

So the researcher brought in a recent graduate of the school. The only way this
person was able to go to college was because of a scholarship a scholarship made
possible by contributions like the ones the call-center workers were soliciting.

This guy was a working-class kid whose life trajectory was altered by the opportunity
to go to that school. He gave a five-minute speech about how life-changing it was and
how much he appreciated the efforts of people who made the scholarships possible.

That was it; a five-minute speech and then everyone got back to work calling the
alumni. But guess what happened? After that speech, alumni contributions almost
tripled. All of a sudden, these college students saw how the work they were doing had
an effect on the lives of other people. Suddenly, it mattered. And that spurred them on
to doing better work.

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How to Choose Your Personal Success

Thats good news whether youre the employee or the employer.

In this particular case, it was a supervisor stepping in that changed the environment.
But anyone can do this by asking themselves, How is what Im doing changing
someones life?

Maybe youre working in a clothing store and someone comes in to buy something.
You ask yourself, What can I do to make this persons day better? I can sell him
what he needs and try not to upsell him. I can even talk him out of buying something
because I know he wont be happy with it. I can make this persons day.

Thats a very different mindset than, How can I make a sale for as much money as
fast as possible?

And if youre the employer, and have a business where you want to motivate
your employees, there are steps you can take. Some large companies have given
permission for employees to use some of their compensated time to work on projects
that improve the world in some way. For example, some allow people to work a chunk
of hours each week in a homeless shelter.

Thats a good thing the companies arent just talking about it, but are really
encouraging employees to make a difference but that difference-making is
happening outside the company. There are things that can be done to change the
workplace itself.

The critical thing is for business owners to trust their employees. Youve got to give
them room to work (dont look over their shoulders all the time), emphasize the
positive effect their work has, not just on the organization, but on its customers.
You also have to listen to them. Respect them enough to recognize that they know
something about what theyre doing and might just have something to teach you.

We see this all the time in brainstorming meetings at Rich Dad, where our team often
comes up with better ideas than we do. Thats why we hired them. And that should be
why you hired your team.

On the employee side, if your supervisor gives you this freedom and isnt always carefully
scrutinizing and monitoring your work, you have the space to turn what might be dull
work into something meaningful by focusing on the ways it makes a difference in other
peoples lives. That can go a long way toward making your work feel less like a ball
and chain and more like something youre eager to return to every Monday morning.
Sadly, this is not the way most workplaces are run. Call-center supervisors want
calls to end fast so workers can take as many calls in a day as possible. Yard-care
companies want their employees to do each yard as fast as possible to be able to see
as many clients a day as possible.

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Theres very little emphasis placed on why the work is meaningful. And that can be
detrimental not just to the workers, but to productivity overall.

A SUCCESS STORY
Remember Schwartz and his book Why We Work? He shared an example of a carpet-
tile manufacturer who was very successful and had made a lot of money.

Then one day this guy, who was in his 60s, had an epiphany that his production
process though quite profitable was also poisoning the Earth. How they
manufactured the carpet tiles was a very highly polluting process.

So he made a commitment to switch his production to a zero environmental footprint.

He knew it was going to cost his company money because it involved revamping the
whole process, but he didnt care.

But you know what happened? Instead of these changes costing the company money,
profits went up. How could that be? How could something that costs more end up
creating larger profits?

Part of it could be that eco-minded customers were impressed by the companys

stance and chose its product because of it. But the largest part was that the
workforce, instead of being one that was just making carpet, became a workforce that
was saving the Earth.

The companys new approach so motivated the employees that they worked more
effectively and harder than ever. They came up with more ideas for modifying the
production process to be more environmentally friendly.

The company owner didnt anticipate that going in. But thats the kind of
transformation that can happen when a company and its employees are united
for a purpose.

At Rich Dad, we have a mission: to elevate the financial well-being of humanity. Thats
been our mission since 1996, and it drives everything we do.

Finding the mission behind your work whatever that work might be is crucial not
only to the companys success and your own satisfaction, but to the next generation,
as well.

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How to Choose Your Personal Success

SHOWING, NOT TELLING,

YOUR KIDS WHAT IT MEANS
The single biggest influence on the attitude young people have toward work is the
attitude their parents have toward work.

Note: Im not referring to the attitude their parents tell them to have toward work, but
the attitude the parents actually have toward work, day in and day out.

What this is means is that by finding a way to see what you do as more meaningful,
youre not only doing yourself and your customers a favor, but your children as well.

And remember, its your actions, not your words, that are going to have the biggest
effect.

In the 1960s, John Kennedy came into office and established the Peace Corps. My
mom and dad quit their jobs, just like that, and signed up. My dad, as Ive mentioned
before, was a head of education with a PhD, and my mom was a registered nurse. And
they went to work for the Peace Corps.

It was the biggest financial hit our family ever took, but you know what? I remember it
as the happiest our family ever was. For two years we had no money, but our family
the parents, the kids was just the happiest ever.

In my wife Kims family, her dad marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. because civil
rights were so important to him. That showed Kim meaning and purpose.

My parents served in the Peace Corps; her dad walked with MLK. They didnt talk
about it. They didnt say, You should do this or You should do that. Kids can see
right through that.

So the question is, what message are you sending to your kids by how you approach
your work?

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THE RIGHT TEAM
AROUND YOU
Lets take a moment to talk about the people youre surrounded by at work.

Weve discussed how an individual employee can change his or her mindset, and how
a supervisor or boss can shift the company environment.

But there are a number of other unknown factors known as Other Employees.

From a coworker perspective, its so important to have support around you. If youre
the only one with an excited mindset surrounded by a sea of negativity, its going to be
hard to maintain that excitement.

A reader from the Philippines once called into my radio show asking how to find new
friends and acquaintances with similar interests. In his case, he was wanting people
interested in real estate and investing, but his situation highlighted the importance of
finding people who will support whats important to you.

And my answer to him could apply to anyone: Education is key. Go take classes on
what youre interested in learning and becoming, and youll find like-minded people.
Spend time with them. And even if those people dont work at the same company
as you, they will be in your life and a source of support backing you as you strive to
improve your outlook.

Who you hang out with reflects your core values. I hang out with people who have a
mission. I dont hang out with people who just want to make money or be miserable at
their job.

And remember what I said earlier in this book: If its a truly toxic work environment,
get out.

From the employer standpoint, you can be a little more proactive with the team.

I was once asked by a guy starting up his own network marketing company, My team
and I are growing slowly through the grind as expected, but what can I do to keep
them from giving up so easily?

Two things strike me about his question. First, if your team is made up quitters, I
wouldnt worry about how to keep them; you should get rid of them. That sounds

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How to Choose Your Personal Success

harsh, but it comes back to the question about a sense of mission. When I went to
military school and then joined the Marine Corps, it was a mission.

If I were this company owner, Id sit with the team and find out what their mission in
life is. If its just to make money, its time for a parting of ways.

The second thing that strikes me about his question is his choice of wording: working
through the grind as expected. Building a business is tough, but if thats the mindset
working through the grind then that sounds an awful lot like the people feeling
trapped in a 9-to-5 job. How can a boss expect to inspire a team when he himself feels
like the whole thing is a slot?

If youre the boss and thats how youre feeling, take a look at why youre even building
that business, whatever it is. Are there different products or organizations you could
align with to change your outlook?

It all comes back to meaning, purpose and mission.

THE BOTTOM
LINE
Its an old adage that you have a career or you have a calling.

The term calling was originally a spiritual term used to describe people called to
God, but today it has expanded to include people called to save the planet or to treat
desperately ill children people who feel a mission to do their work for the greater
good.

If theyre also making a living, thats great, but thats not why they do it. Even if you
gave them incentives to do something else, they wouldnt switch.

Whats your calling? Do you even know?

You need to find that meaning to escape feeling trapped at a job. So much of this is
up to the individual, up to you. If you work at that call center, for example, you can tell
yourself that youre making peoples lives better every time you solve their problems.

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In finding your purpose, you may eventually discover that your mission takes you to a
different company or a different field entirely. And thats OK. The point is to realize that
you are in control of how you feel about your work.

Maybe youll stay in the same job but be inspired to start a side business, one that
grows, thanks to your mission, into something that works for you, rather than you
working for it.

A calling will sustain you through the tough times, just like how my familys Peace
Corps years were lean but happy. Its crucial that you discover what your mission is.

Part of that is continuing to educate yourself. At Rich Dad, all of our advisors get
together for three days twice a year. So many people say, Yeah, yeah, Im into
education, but they dont show up to actually do the learning. Theyre all talk.

Contrast that with my dad. He didnt talk about purpose. He didnt talk about the Peace
Corps; he joined the Peace Corps. My wifes dad didnt talk about Martin Luther King,
Jr.; he joined Martin Luther King, Jr. Its that spiritual sense of mission that is lacking in
most peoples lives because all they want is money.

Discover your mission. Put your group together and study together. Read books and
discuss them. Reach higher, reach farther.

Listen, life is far too short to waste time at a job where youre miserable. So figure
out what will make you greet each day with purpose, whether thats a different job or
simply a different attitude toward the one you already have.

The beautiful thing is that finding your mission doesnt just make your life better; it
makes the world better, too. Its one of those firing-on-all-cylinders moments that
makes life so great; when you are feeling most fulfilled and productive, it will be
reflected in the positive experience of your customers and coworkers.

Its up to you. I can point you in the right direction, but you have to be the one to
discover your mission. Starting today decide the mission that will drive your lifes work.
Not fear, not family obligations, not retirement worries.

Find that purpose, and dont just talk about it. Put it in action. Dont let fear hold you
back. I promise you, it will give your work energy like youve never experienced before.

Find the life you want. It might be easier than you think.

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