GUIDE TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM

 

 

 

If there’s one book this century that really captured the interest of many people from all walks of life around the globe  - it’s probably, Robert T. Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad.’

Robert Kiyosaki has challenged and changed the way tens of millions of people around the world think about money.  With perspectives that often contradict conventional wisdom.  Robert is regarded worldwide as a passionate advocate for financial education.

We just got a copy of another book from this great bestselling author – ‘Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant: Guide to Financial Freedom.’

This book reveals how some people work less, earn more, pay less in taxes, and learn to become financially free.

Have you ever asked yourself this questions:

§  Why do some investors make money with little risk while most other investors just break even?

§  Why do most employees go from job to job while others quit their jobs and go on to build business empires?

Did you know that the wealthiest 2% of the worlds population owns 50% of the world’s wealth?  Why is this so?

Cashflow Quadrant tells us how is this even possible and the principles behind attaining financial freedom.

This book was written for you if you are ready to….

§  Move beyond job security and begin to find your own world of financial freedom.

§  Make significant changes in your life.

§  Take control of your financial future.

The cashflow quadrant explains four ways on how to build income:

§  In EMPLOYMENT, you exchange time for money, you have a boss and you have only two hands to work with.

§  In SELF-EMPLOYMENT, you still exchange time for money and you still have only two hands to work with but you control your time and you are your own boss.

§  In OWNING A BUSINESS,  you multiply your time through other people through business systems or organization, thereby the more people you have the more opportunity of you earning more.  Leveraging is the secret of most successful companies.

§  In INVESTING, you leverage passive income to create more wealth.  And this is where you become financially free.

I highly recommend this book to all people aspiring for financial freedom specially to   employees, would-be-employees or those who have already set themselves to be just an employee for life.

A business mentor once told me, that at one point in our life we must all experience employment, there are a lot of things that we could learn from employment that our schools have not taught us.  However, give yourself to employment only one or two or three years, but don’t be an employee for life.

 My rich dad used to say, “You can never have true freedom without financial freedom.”  He would go on to say, “Freedom may be free, but it has a price.” – R. Kiyosaki

The book is dedicated to those who are willing to pay the price.

 

ROBERT KIYOSAKI

The main reason people struggle financially is because they have spent years in school but learned nothing about money.  The result is that people learn to work for money… but never learn to have money work for them.

RICHARD BANDLER

Brains are not designed to get results; they go in directions.

If you know how the brain works you can set your own directions.  If you don’t, then someone else will.

REALITY CHECK

Have you sat down and stop for a while and look at your life lately?  When was the last time you’ve asked yourself ‘How are you doing?’  Do you sometimes feel that your going in circles or aren’t moving at all?  If you feel lost right now or overwhelmed by whatever is happening to you right now, maybe it’s time we take a short break from all the heavy traffic and our very busy lives.  It’s time for us to sharpen our saws once again.  To re-introduce ourselves with our selves and ask those important questions once again to find out if we are still on the right path or are we moving away from it.

Here are a few questions that might help us re-align our priorities in life.  Let’s start:

1.  HOW IS OUR LIFESTYLE?

Are we living a well-balanced lifestyle?...

.. do we see our lifestyle as relaxed and stress free or..

...do we have a very unbalanced and stressful lifestyle. Full of worries and anxieties.

2. HOW’S OUR HEALTH?

Are you generally healthy? Free from sickness and fit enough to be able to do all the things that you love.

Or, Are you always complaining of some physical discomforts? A frequent visitor at clinics and hospitals? Or, a fan of over-the-counter medications?

3. HOW’S OUR WORK?

Can you see your work right now as a rewarding career in all aspect? Can you clearly map out a retirement plan from your present work? Does it help you achieve your ultimate goals in life and give you freedom (time and financial)?

Or, Do you still just work for a living? To make ends meet? Trade time for money and to end up BROKE after retirement.

4. HOW’S OUR BUSINESS?

Is your business doing great? Do you see growth and can this growth be measured by profit?

Or, Is your business crumbling down? Is it becoming more of a headache because the anxieties or stress of handling the business far outweighs the financial benefits?

5.  HOW’S OUR MONTHLY SAVINGS?

Are we saving enough? Do we have a bank account or any investment that is strong enough to secure our future and the future of our loved ones?

Or, well... do we have a poor piggy instead?

6.  HOW’S OUR FAMILY?

Are we spending quality time with the people we love?

 

Or, Are we sacrificing time with them for work and money?

7.  HOW’S OUR DREAMS?

Do you have Big Dreams?

Or, Just small ones.

8.  ARE WE…

LIVING?.... or,

....JUST EXISTING?

Hope that this small exercise helped us to get to know more of our present situation and inspire us to move towards a worthwhile direction.

GOD WANTS US TO BE RICH

Do you believe that God wanted us to be poor? – because money and material things are the root of all evil?

Do you believe that God wanted us to suffer? – because suffering leads to a more divine life?

Do you believe that God wanted us to have just a very simple and mediocre life?

If you believe this, well, God doesn’t agree with you.

God never wanted us to be poor!

We were created in His image and our God is a rich God.  If our God is a rich God then why live in poverty?  Why embrace it?

Because most people see God as a great provider.  Which He is.  But, never to people without any form of conviction and personal action.

Like the saying goes: “Na sa DIYOS ang awa, na sa tao ang gawa.”

People always forget the “GAWA” part.  Believing should lead you to act on that belief.  If you believe that God will help change your situation in life then go out and take action because God works through others and through you.  And not by staying at home, watching ‘tele-seryes’, lying down and waiting for the miracle to happen because it will never happen.

Moses, Abraham, Joseph, and many other biblical figures all received God’s wonderful blessings because they believed and acted on that belief.

Remember, Faith is nothing without action.

Another thing that prevents us to want greatness and a financially rewarding life is the thought that Money and Material Things are evil or the root of all evil!

To put this thing into the right perspective, let me site some powerful examples: King Solomon – Is he rich and powerful?  Joseph who became the Pharaoh’s second in command in Egypt at that time – Is he rich and powerful?  Were they evil?

Money, material things and technological advances are not evil on their own.  These are just tools and innovations that enriches our lives.  It is the abuse and too much love for these things that makes it evil.  It is us, who make these things evil.

When we sacrifice relationships because of money and power.  When our judgment of right and wrong is governed by these things rather than sound principles.  These are the root of all evil.

God never wanted us to suffer.

Indeed, we have our challenges and some have greater challenges than others.  But remember, that our challenges are normal and universal because we all experience it and because we are not alone in these world and that our actions affects everyone else.

There are things that happen in our lives that are out of our control but still there are things that we can control.  But to both, we were given the power to control how we see and how we will act on those experiences.  We may see it as a life changing experience to be a better person or choose to let it destroy us.  Suffering therefore is our choice.

God never wanted us to live in mediocrity

The parable of the talents told by Jesus tells us of a master who was leaving his home to travel, and before going entrusted his property to his servants (property worth 8 talents, where a talent was a large unit of money). One servant receives five talents, the second two talents, and the third one talent, according to their respective abilities.

Returning after a long absence, the master asks his servants for an accounting. The first two servants explain that they have each put their money to work and doubled the value of the property they were entrusted with, and so they are each rewarded.  The third servant, however, has merely hidden his talent in a hole in the ground, and is punished for being lazy.

Enough said?

If God wanted us to be poor, to suffer and live mediocre lives.  He should have never sent Jesus to be with us and to mentor and teach us.  Can you imagine how God values our lives?  To Him we are precious jewels – why become anything less?

God works his hands to all people, to the rich and most specially to the poor, but He never wanted his people to be poor.  He wanted all of us to be rich and to prosper.  If we are rich and prosperous – then the more chances for good and faithful people to help others be rich and prosperous as well.

And remember:

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  – Luke 6:38