Overwhelmed

One of the last steps before the completion of a graduate student’s PhD is a student’s comprehensive finals (comps). Comps can come in many forms depending on the school, but in general, they are a daylong test where students are given a series of questions that can relate to any topic or subject that students have learned in graduate school. Since the questions can relate to any subject, and oftentimes ask the student to draw on in-depth knowledge of all subjects, the student effectively needs to be able to recall all they have been taught on comp day.

While undoubtedly the student is intensely preparing in the weeks and months before comps, they have had many years to prepare for this cumulative moment. Graduate schools structure their courses so students can be taught material in increments, absorbing the material semester by semester until they have completed all of their coursework. If a student feels overwhelmed on test day, then it usually is the fault of the student, not the institution, as they have had ample time and have been given the structure to succeed.

While one may debate the importance or role that formal education has on society or the impact it can have in one’s life, one thing that formal education does well is structure its offerings so students don’t feel overwhelmed. Biology 1010 comes before Biology 7130 as the knowledge in subsequent courses builds on previous knowledge. Without this structure, most students would drop out due to stress, confusion, or simple feelings of inadequacy. Unfortunately as adults, this is exactly what we put upon ourselves as we try to learn and apply a new subject, in our case stock and real estate investing.

Entering the Real World

If you ask 100 adults if they could fully understand and apply any advanced subject from graduate school in a matter of weeks, you would get a universal “no.” It would be unlikely that an individual could even read all of the requisite material in a few months, let alone be able to comprehend and have the ability to apply this material in such a short time frame. Yet these same individuals who recognize the folly of such an attempt will become frustrated and even start to question their own intelligence and ability when they can’t master and apply material relating to stock and real estate investing in a matter of weeks, sometimes even days. They don’t even recognize they are asking themselves to be superhuman to do so.

Real estate and stock investing is not dissimilar from other learning endeavors. There is terminology to learn, concepts to grasp, and history to learn from. Most importantly, there is the process of starting to apply difficult concepts in the real world where at times you compete against other investors and institutions that have years, if not decades of experience. The fact that you cannot master your field of interest on day one, or day one hundred for that matter, is not an indictment on you or your intelligence. Learning and mastering simply takes acquiring the right knowledge and devoting the necessary time to learn and then apply that knowledge.

The graduate student knows that if they finish their coursework, pass their comps, and write their dissertation, they will accomplish their goal. The advantage they have is that they know that this is a lengthy process. Real estate and stock investing students should have the same surety in their quest. If they acquire the proper knowledge and learn to apply that knowledge, they too will accomplish their goal. Since the goal of such an endeavor is financial success, and for Rich Dad followers, escaping the rat race, this should provide the proper motivation and desire necessary to succeed. Here are a few tips to succeed in your real-world educational journey.

Acquire the Proper Knowledge – In today’s Internet world, information is accessible as it never has been in the history of humankind. Unfortunately, this information is oftentimes presented as incomplete tidbits, unverifiable facts, and not in a manner that is conducive to learning. One of the advantages that Rich Dad Education courses offer is that material is presented in a manner similar to a university setting and compiled and taught by experts in that field. The material often teaches shortcuts to success and ways to avoid pitfalls in that subject area in addition to all of the terms and concepts you need to learn. This real-world learning experience is the biggest advantage it has over the formal educational structure.

Learn the Terminology – If you walk into any advanced class you would likely be confused simply due to the terminology being used. Each subject has its own lingo and language of its own. Spending time learning key terms before class and in the days and weeks following will expedite the learning process.

Structure Your Learning – When you attend a university, you are informed when classes are held and then handed a syllabus on the first day of class. As class progresses, you are given assignments, informed of the dates of tests, and so forth. This structure creates a sense of urgency in the minds of students and defines short-term goals and objectives for the student to fulfill. After you attend a Rich Dad Education class, create your own version of a syllabus that can help you retain and start to apply the material that you have been taught. Set up reading assignments to review material you have been taught and apply what you’ve learned so you can start acquiring critical experience. These assignments might include placing a virtual trade, attending a tax liens auction, or making an offer on a house.

We all want to escape the rat race as quickly as possible, but we must realize that it is not an overnight process. However, with the right motivation, knowledge and patience we can all eventually graduate specializing in the real-world investing area of our choice. The rewards are well worth the effort and offer far more than a diploma that we can hang on the wall.

Living a Life Worthwhile

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile ~Albert Einstein

Rich Dad Education is continually creating and refining its educational offerings to give students a world-class education in the areas of real estate and financial instruments investing.  With this world-class education, students gain the knowledge necessary to achieve financial success and gain true freedom in escaping the dreaded Rat Race. While Rich Dad’s educational offerings are structured to teach students how to gain wealth, the true end goal in this process is the acquisition of freedom.

No matter what path one takes in their quest to escape the Rat Race, motivation will be needed to complete the journey as the road to financial freedom is not without roadblocks. Sacrifice, taking risks, and long hours often accompany this journey and many stumble along the path because they lack the proper motivation to carry them through. Making money for its own sake works for some, but concepts such as freedom are usually far more powerful. When one pictures their life truly free they can start to envision what they really want in life and who they truly want to be.

This macro vision of your future can be a powerful motivator in achieving your goals and helping you identify your true priorities in life. With financial freedom, the potential you have in life are truly limitless. Kim Kiyosaki spoke to these possibilities when she said, “Financial freedom is much more than having money. It’s the freedom to be who you really are and do what you really want in life…It’s a process of growth, improvement and gaining spiritual and emotional strength to become the most powerful, happy, and successful ‘you’ possible. That is the true reward of financial freedom.”

Find Your Source of Motivation

Having a clear vision of what you would do with financial freedom can provide the fire you need in coming weeks and months. Get out a blank piece of paper and start brainstorming on how you would live your life if money were no longer an object. Every person will be motivated by different things, but here are a few areas to consider:

Family and Friends – Few people would argue that they didn’t want more time with their loved ones. While there are only 24 hours in the day, it would be nice if more of them could be spent with the ones we love.

Material Goods – Maybe it is your dream house, or a classic car, or that boat you have always wanted. Whatever it may be, write it down as no matter how altruistic you may be, if these are things you have wanted then don’t be afraid to envision yourself having them.

Hobbies and Interests – Want to learn the guitar? Write that novel that you have always pictured in your head? Go skiing every day for the rest of your life? There are countless hobbies and activities that people have and the biggest limit on most of them is time. Picturing yourself spending your time as you want can be a powerful motivational source.

Self-Improvement – There are always areas in our life that we feel we fall short in. No one can better identify these areas than you. Envisioning yourself as Kim Kiyosaki said as the most “powerful, happy, and successful ‘you’ possible” can not only serve as a motivational source, but also might help you create these attributes along the way.

Living a Life Worthwhile

While there are numerous motivational sources for different people, one that is perhaps overlooked too often is the potential we have to help others if financial freedom was obtained. The impact one can have on others through the donation of time and money is limitless. If you envision yourself in constant acts of charity, without constraints that you might have today, then this singular vision might be all you need to gain the financial freedom necessary to make it happen.

Elevating the financial well-being of humanity is a task that each Rich Dad Education employee and instructor takes on with humility. This mission drives our company each day as we strive to teach and change people’s lives.  When opportunities present themselves to improve our educational offerings, we do it. When opportunities present themselves to pass on our financial knowledge to our communities, we jump at the chance. Recently we had such an opportunity when Habitat for Humanity had a call for volunteers. You can read about this opportunity here.

Living a life worthwhile for Rich Dad Education means we give people every opportunity possible to gain financial freedom and pass on the knowledge we have. For each person that obtains that freedom, we know that the impact can reach far beyond the person itself. While everyone has their own motivation to work hard and achieve their objectives, this is ours.

Whatever your motivation may be, find it and use it. Financial freedom is not an unobtainable concept as people do it each and every day. Picture who you want to be, what you want to accomplish and don’t be surprised when it happens.

Learning from the Ultimate Reality Show

The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dream, and how you handle disappointment along the way.
~ Robert Kiyosaki

Human beings truly are diverse. You have individuals, whether through inheritance, fame, or athletics, that acquire huge fortunes only to squander them away on nothing. You have other individuals who start with next to nothing and end up becoming incredibly wealthy through brains, hard work, and perseverance. You have human beings attempt to discover, cure disease, explore, and invent, and whose intellectual discoveries oftentimes add to the collective good of all mankind. You have other human beings who watch TV, play video games, and generally waste away large portions of their entire life. Watch the news and you will see the best and worst of humanity on display each and every day.

Planet Earth truly is the best reality show in the galaxy. When you observe the characters that have been stars on Planet Earth, you observe general patterns that have led some people to great success and other patterns that have led some to epic failure. Their lives, successes, and failures provide a blueprint to apply to our own circumstances and challenges.

Dream/Vision/Goal

One of the most common traits of those that have been successful is that they had a dream. You could use the term vision, goal, or objective but in the end they clearly envisioned where they wanted to be. Perhaps this end point was to become the best athlete in their sport, or cure a disease, or to become wealthy, but these individuals knew that they wanted to accomplish great things and had a general idea of the area in which they wanted to achieve success. Very rarely do people simply stumble into success.

To one extent or another everyone has a dream or vision of what they would ideally like to be doing in life. The common trait that truly separates those that we look back on with wonder and respect is that they just didn’t have a dream or goal, they had an ambitious vision of what they wanted to accomplish.  Robert Kiysoaki clearly states that the size of your dream is a clear variable in the size of your success, so don’t be modest as you envision what you want to accomplish or achieve in life.

Passion and/or Drive = Desire

Another variable Mr. Kiyosaki links to success is the strength of your desire. A plain and simple truth is that some people want success more than others. While most people would allow their magic genie to grant them the rewards that come with success, how many are truly prepared to make the sacrifices and put in the work that is necessary to achieve greatness? Many of those that have achieved greatness on Planet Earth were relentlessly driven to achieve their goal. It oftentimes was their singular overriding objective. For others, their success was a by-product of the passion they had for the subject matter.

Whether through driving motivation or intense passion, both of these qualities led to an incredible desire to continually achieve or perform in their chosen field. If we learn from the past, having a dream or goal isn’t enough; it must be accompanied by a strong desire to achieve that goal or dream. If you have to ask yourself if you have the drive necessary to create the requisite desire needed to achieve greatness, then you probably don’t have it. Fortunately there are plenty of examples of individuals who achieve great levels of success because they were passionate about what they did. Either way, past episodes of Planet Earth tell us that either drive or passion are the most common ingredients in creating the desire necessary to overcome the inevitable obstacles that will pop up along the way.

Application – Overcoming Obstacles

Hellen Keller could not speak or hear yet became an inspiration for countless generations. Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders fought in the face of persecution to transform the world. Thomas Edison was told he wasn’t very bright. Abraham Lincoln couldn’t win an election. There are a couple dozen billionaires today who started with next to nothing.  There are thousands of millionaires who share similar stories. In fact, when you look at the history of those that have been successful on Planet Earth you will find that more people HAD obstacles than did not.

In Robert Kiyosaki’s quote, the third component for measuring the eventual size of your future success is how you will handle disappointment along the way. Scientists sometimes have to fail thousands of times before eventually making a scientific breakthrough. Actors and actresses often go to hundreds of auditions before landing their big break. Artists can work on their creations for a lifetime before recognition comes their way. Whatever your path, whatever your chosen field, you will encounter disappointment. This is where the strength of your desire will truly be tested. This is where you will determine whether you truly want your goal and are one of a tenacious few that will relentlessly overcome any obstacle in your path.  There are no guarantees of success but as the saying goes, you can’t make any shots you don’t attempt.

A Final Thought

If you want to go somewhere, it is best to find someone who has already been there.
~ Robert Kiyosaki

Dreams, desire, and perseverance can only come from within. Others can lead by example and show you what is possible to accomplish in life, but it is up to you to create the emotional framework necessary to succeed. Once you have the framework in place, have determined your dream and believe you have the desire and perseverance necessary to succeed, there is nothing wrong with finding others who have succeeded on the path you are about to travel.  Not only can those individuals help give you solid advice on helping avoid pitfalls you might have otherwise encountered, they can also give you practical advice on what steps you need to take to become the next upcoming star on Planet Earth.

Excuses and Success

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. ~Benjamin Franklin

Use your mind to make money… and not to make excuses. ~Robert Kiyosaki

When you ask a six year old why they didn’t do their chores, they might respond with “I forgot.” When you ask your employee or co-worker why a project isn’t completed they may respond with, “I didn’t know it was a priority” or “I have not had enough time.” When you ask your congressman why the government is a mess you likely will get a long-winded response on why it is everyone else’s fault but theirs. Excuses are like air, they constantly surround you wherever you go.

Most excuses come in the form of answers to why specific actions were not performed. For example, the question of why you were late to work may be responded to with “my alarm clock didn’t go off.” There was a direct action that needed to be performed, in this case getting to work, and when it is not performed an excuse almost inevitably follows. These are the most common forms of excuses because one’s day is comprised of responsibilities that need to be performed and when they are not performed, people want an answer. Rarely are excuses needed for larger life-altering questions because frankly, people are too polite to ask the difficult questions. “Why aren’t you successful?” or “Why haven’t you lived up to your potential?” or “Why are you so unhappy” are questions many people are never asked in their entire lives.

While these questions are rarely asked directly by others, these are often the questions that individuals focus on internally and come up with the most excuses to explain away. When someone is not successful, many will blame their parents, the education system, their boss, their co-workers, their own spouse, and countless other individuals who stood in their way or did not contribute to their success. They will blame faceless institutions that for whatever reason create rules so that they specifically would not succeed. They will blame a lack of time in their life, as if for some odd set of circumstances time only gave them 16 hours a day to work instead of 24. They will blame everything under the sun except their own actions for why they haven’t achieved success.

Why you have not achieved success in life is not due to your intelligence, situation, or opportunities that have been given you. There are countless stories of individuals that started out with less that have achieved more. If you have not accomplished what you want in life, then you need look no further than the choices and actions you have made up to this point. If you are reading this and are thinking “Yeah, but my circumstance is unique” or “Yeah, but I don’t have…” or “Yeah, but (insert countless excuses here),” then you will simply continue down the path that has led you to this point.

It is time to become the type of individual who eliminates excuses and takes responsibility for their actions. It is time to become the rare individual that others can look up to as a model of accountability and performance. It is within you to achieve great things and taking responsibility for where you are in life is a wonderful first step.

As you move forward with the goal of being excuse-free, ask yourself a few questions:

Do You Really Want to Be Successful?

Achieving success takes drive and determination, qualities that are not easily artificially produced. Except for the most ideologically driven individuals, almost anyone would take a winning lottery ticket if it was given to them. Almost everyone claims that they want success but few are willing to put in the time, energy, and make the sacrifices necessary to become successful. What do you want to accomplish in life? What are your goals? If success truly isn’t something you want, then you will be unlikely to stumble into it.

Who and What Have You Blamed for Past Failures?

Answering this question honestly will take a level of self-awareness that might make you uncomfortable. Have you constantly inwardly or outwardly complained about a lack of time? Have you thought to yourself that if you had a different boss, or business partner, or a more supportive spouse that you would be more successful? What about your situation have you lamented about that you have seen as a hindrance to your success? By identifying and analyzing what you have blamed in the past, you are taking an important step to eliminating that excuse in the future. If you catch yourself in the future uttering that same excuse, just give yourself a little slap on the hand, smile outwardly and compliment yourself on the fact that you no longer are the type of person that blames others and situations for your circumstances.

What are the Excuses that have Prevented You from Moving Forward?

It is likely that you have a business idea or area of interest that you have hesitated to move forward on. Maybe it is a great idea for a website, or you know that your area needs a new type of business that isn’t available. Maybe you are interested in real estate and know you can be successful but haven’t taken that next step. Whatever the area may be, there have likely been excuses that you have told yourself on why you haven’t moved forward with your idea or ambition.

Some of the most common excuses in this area are a lack of time, resources, and specific knowledge that prevent people in their mind from taking the next (or sometimes first) step. When you catch yourself stating any of the countless excuses that can arise when you are tempted to put off action today, simply remember the quote from Robert Kiyosaki:

“The most life-destroying word of all is the word tomorrow.”

There will never be the perfect time where you have an unlimited amount of time or resources, performed all of the perfect planning, and learned all you need to know. Take your idea and run with it. Replace excuses with action and you will be amazed at the transformation that begins in your life.

The Renaissance Man and One Way of Approaching 2013 Goals

Leonardo da Vinci is the classic embodiment of the Renaissance man. He was a painter, sculptor, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, biologist, geologist, physicist, architect, philosopher, and humanist. His accomplishments were so vast that his fame was not only recognized and admired by kings of his age but has been widely revered in the centuries that followed his death.

Others through the centuries have also embodied the Renaissance ideal. Notable names such as Galileo, Newton, Donatello, and Franklin are just a few among many famous names who accomplished great things in their lifetime in a variety of fields. Their lives embodied the basic tenets of Renaissance humanism which point to the limitless capacity of mankind to develop all of their capacities to their fullest.

It is truly breathtaking to think about the capacity of mankind as a whole and the limitless potential that each one of us has within us. Each of us truly can accomplish great things, far more than we can even possibly imagine. However, it is so easy for all of us to get sidetracked in our quest to maximize our potential and accomplish our goals with the day-to-day responsibilities each of us have.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

You may want to become a great pianist, scientist, author, or painter. Maybe your dreams are more financial in nature: you may want to own your own business, or become a great real estate investor, or stock trader. Whatever your dreams, ambitions, and goals may be, there are likely numerous time constraints that limit your ability to pursue those goals.

Prepare breakfast, shower, give the kids a bath, drop kids off at day care, commute to work, survive a day in the rat race, pick the kids up, prepare dinner, go to soccer practice, feed the dog, go to the store, put the kids to bed, and hopefully find some time somewhere for your significant other. These are just a few items in many people’s daily lives. Doesn’t seem to leave much room to become the next great Renaissance man or woman, does it?

10,000 Hours

A pursuit of a Renaissance ideal can become downright discouraging when you calculate how many hours are truly required to become an expert at any one specific thing in relation to how many hours you may have free in any given week. If you enter the term “how many hours to become an expert” into the search engine of your choice the popular answer that comes back is 10,000. Put another way, if you want to become an expert at something and are willing to devote two hours a day into that task then in just less than 14 years you can become an expert at it. If you somehow can find three hours a day then it will take you just over nine years.

Does it really take 10,000 hours to become an expert? Each of us has different levels of ability and talent in certain areas. It may take one person far less time to become an expert at auto repair but that same person may find it more difficult to become an expert at the piano than another. Whatever the actual number, it is safe to agree that an extensive time commitment is required to become an expert at any given task.

The Mindset for Your 2013 goals

Let’s take a look at two simple facts heading into the planning of your 2013 goals. While they may feel discouraging we must face the facts head on.

1. You are likely very busy and have numerous day-to-day responsibilities that have to be taken care of.
2. It requires an extensive amount of time to become an expert at any one thing

Now let’s add a simple Renaissance ideal to these facts, one that you should write down if you truly believe it:

“I believe in the limitless potential of mankind to develop all of their capacities to their fullest.”

If you believe this then you believe you can essentially set out to accomplish what you want to accomplish, it is just going to take time, something you don’t have an excess of. So how do you rectify these facts with this belief for your particular circumstance? How can you, with your limited time available, tap into your limitless potential and accomplish remarkable things?

The key for the Renaissance idealist is to look at 2013 as a down payment for future decades.

2013 – A Down Payment on the Future

If you lead a busy life with many responsibilities you should write down all of the things you want to accomplish in life and use that as a motivation board. These are your big picture items, ones that will simply serve as motivation in the coming year as you are not going to spend much actual time on most of them in the next 12 months. If you want to accomplish your life goals and tap into your true potential then you have to look at 2013 as an investment to free up time in future years.

Let’s say in 2013 you have 15-20 hours of free time a week outside the course of your normal work and family responsibilities. If you do not change any of the dynamics of your current life then in 2014 you will likely also have 15-20 hours of free time. If nothing changes at that point, then in 2015, 2016, and subsequent years you will also have roughly the same amount of free time to pursue your interests, goals, and ambitions.

So whatever talent you want to grow and maximize you will be limited in time each year to devote to that talent. If it truly takes 10,000 hours to become an expert, or even several thousand hours to become very proficient, this lack of time will limit your ability in life to pursue all of your interests.

You need to find a way to change this long-term equation so that you are not always limited by the amount of time at your disposal. If time is an issue today, then it is essential that you focus your goals in the coming year on how you can use that limited available time so that you are not always at the mercy of the rat race. You have the unlimited capacity within you; it is simply a matter of finding the time to put it to work.

Escaping the Rat Race – Your 2013 Goal

Undoubtedly there are things you could do to help find extra available time to pursue your goals and dreams in life. You likely watch too much TV, or spend too much time on hobbies, or countless other things that prevent you from maximizing your potential. If these are an issue then you should create goals for 2013 where you deem appropriate.

However, for most of us the bulk of time and energy that is spent every week is on our job…our place in the rat race. Between the commute, hours spent at work, and time spent stressing about work, we have little time left to cultivate our other talents and pursue our other passions and dreams in life. If you find yourself in this situation then your focus on goals for the coming year should be on freeing up your time in coming years so that those 15 hours a week in 2013 turn into 60-80 hours a week in following years.

The only way to truly do that is to escape the rat race. If you value a Renaissance ideal, or just want to lie in the sun for 60 hours a week, then you have to escape the rat race to free up those precious hours to spend where you deem appropriate. Time is our most precious commodity and the rat race for too many of us has been stealing that time from us. 2013 is a time for you to make a stand and prioritize your life so that sometime in the not so distant future you will be able to have the time to accomplish all you ever dreamed of becoming.

So as you sit down to make your goals for the coming year, make that goal session based entirely on how to escape the rat race. As you formulate a plan, make sub goals for 2013 that will drive and motivate you to put that plan into action. Don’t be afraid to view 2013 as an investment for the rest of your life and be willing to make the sacrifices this year to ensure that the rat race never takes a minute of your valuable time in future years.