I read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki last week, and I got a few good things out of it. There were some ideas of Kiyosaki’s that I did not agree with such as treating your home as a liability. I understood what he was saying, but if you treat your house like a liability, there’s no incentive to improve it, and many people do make quite a bit of money on appreciation and home improvements when selling their home, if they hold onto it for ten to fifteen years. But, there was one thing he said that will stick with me for a long time.

One slogan from “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, was, Don’t Work For Money, Let Money Work For You.

I started thinking about how I currently have the mentality of just working for money. I get up, go to work, eat dinner, go to sleep, and start the process all over again. Is it no wonder why so many people are clinically depressed? We work for money, so that we can see it fly out of our bank accounts before we know it. Breaking free of that mentality is the beginning of a new career and financial freedom. Finding a way to break free of the rat race, as Kiyosaki, is the beginning of finding work that you love and being financially free.

Meaningful work equals financial freedom

Do you believe that? Do you believe that if you find the career you were meant for, you would be closer to becoming financially free? Here are four reasons why I believe that when you stop working for money, and start working for you, you’ll find yourself in a better financial situation.

• When you are doing work that you love, your creativity goes up, which will allow you to find more creative ways to earn more income at a faster pace.
• Doing something that you are passionate about allows you to be an effective and hard worker.
• Clients and customers are attracted to those who love what they are doing. They can sniff out those who are just working for a paycheck, and they’ll gravitate more to those that love what they are doing.
• When money works for you, it works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It’s the hardest worker you’ll ever meet. It will ALWAYS outperform you. Why? Because you’re reading this blog right now and not out making money!

Let Money Work For You

Treat your career path like that of an entrepreneur. Business owners take a portion of their profits and re-invest it into the company. Even if you’re never going to a small business owner, you can still treat yourself like a company. Invest your paycheck into yourself and into assets. This is the essence of letting money work for you. Taking the money that you earn and investing it into things that appreciate in value.

Assets that you can accumulate:

• A business. You can either start your own business or buy another small business. I stress the importance of thinking like an entrepreneur, because many people can only fulfill their desire for meainingful work by being their own boss.
• The stock market. Stocks are an asset, even if they go down occasionally, because the stock market has an 80 year track record of a 10% return on your investment.
• Rental properties. Real estate is always an asset in my mind. Kiyosaki says your house isn’t one, and I would agree with him if he were talking about people who are house poor. If your house drains all of your cash, then it’s not an asset. But, if you have considerable equity in your home and your maintenance is under control, it’s definitely an asset. Also, rental properties that are cash flowing money are assets. If you’re breaking even or losing money each month from your rental property, it’s not an asset. The appreciation from it isn’t worth the time unless you’re in a very hot market.

Since this blog focuses on career development, I want you to think about the different ways that you can invest in yourself. Think of yourself as an appreciating asset. If you treat yourself like that, you won’t be just working for money, you’ll be working for a purpose, and that purpose will give you numerous opportunities to let your money work for you.