Rich Dad, Poor Dad was definitely one of those books that turned my world around.
It's a book that essentially pitches the idea that most working people are really over-dependent on their regular day jobs- so the goal really, is to get yourself to go beyond the regular 9-to-5 job: start a business, invest in some real estate, get into the stock market- all that.
The point really, is to get your money to work for you, not the otherway around where you work for the money. It's actually this dependence on a regular job that keeps a lot of people from getting more from life.
What had the biggest impact on me was the fact that the richer (i.e. more successful) folk tend to look for their own opportunities, or even better, make their own.
I suppose I appreciate it because I've seen it at work throughout my radio career- not just for me, but for a lot of my colleagues in the broadcasting industry.
See, working for a radio station, is really more of a glamour job. Sure you get lots of free stuff and you get invited into a lot of events and parties- but you really get paid crap.
Like, much less than minimum wage crap.
It was a little discouraging at first, and you wonder why everybody is seemingly alright with that.
And then you figure it out- every DJ has a whole bunch of side-projects going on:
- voice talent work for commercials and AVPs.
- stints as emcee or host for parties and corporate gigs
- a job as commentator for sports events
- work as continuity announcer for a tv station
- voice talent gigs for cartoons and telenovellas
It just goes on and on. I realized that, even if the pay did suck, the radio stint actually serves as a calling card- an impressive credential that opens doors for you- allowing you to do so much more.
Then it hits you.
Why just be a voice-over when you can be a producer, or have your own production house? Why keep emceeing, when you can have your own events group? Why just be a DJ, when you can be in charge of sales and marketing, a program director, or station manager?
Why not? After building yourself up, learning the necessary skill-sets and expanding your personal network, it's not entirely unlikely.
So it really is more of a state of mind- something that triggers your more ambitious side to get creative, and gives you a vision of what you want to happen.
Something, which, I know will keep me fulfilled and driven for the rest of my life.
