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Lazy People Don’t Get Rich
By DaveM | August 13, 2006
One of the reasons I like Robert Kiyosaki is because he tells it like it is. I’ve only read three of his books so far, but he doesn’t tend to sugar coat the truth, and his column over at Yahoo Finance is no different.
Recently, he chose a touchy topic that I’m sure most people would agree with. Here’s a partial reprint of the highlights, but you can click the included link to read the entire article at Yahoo Finance.
Allow me to be politically incorrect: The No. 1 reason people aren’t rich is because they’re lazy. This is purely my opinion and no one else’s, and I have no scientific proof to back it up. One of the things I loved most about the Marine Corps was that I never had to worry about what anyone was thinking. When I was preparing to be an officer, there was no sensitivity training. When superior officers spoke to you, they didn’t have to wrap their words in ribbons and bows, and didn’t worry about hurting anyone’s feelings. When I returned from the war and entered the civilized world of business, I was shocked by the phoniness, the covert hostility (disguised as caring), and the fake smiles that are rampant to this day.
But I’m happy to say that things are changing. We now have reality TV. Donald Trump, who has millions of people from all over the world tuning in just to hear him say the magic words “you’re fired” to an apprentice wannabe. And there’s Simon Cowell of American Idol, the critic of all critics, whose book of brutally honest dismissals I was recently tempted to buy. The recent outbreak of honesty also inspires me to be more forthcoming in general, and less politically correct. This is the web, after all, where honesty is respected, not suppressed, censored, or forced to be “sensitive” like our old, more traditional forms of media. You wouldn’t be reading Yahoo! Finance if you weren’t serious about being rich or becoming rich. So I owe it to you to be more truthful. And I’m not worried about offending the financial losers of the world, because financial losers don’t read this column.
It’s in this spirit that I opened by saying that lazy people don’t get rich. I also said that the difference between “God” and “gold” is a simple “L” as in “lazy,” or “looting.” The conquistadors who looted the Inca Empire in the name of God weren’t lazy. They were thugs with guns, but they had ambition. Another word that begins with “L” is “loser.” Over the years, I’ve met many losers who pray to God to give them gold. They’ll never get it that way because, as the Sunday school I went to taught me, God helps those who help themselves. Again, the conquistadors may have been killers and thieves, but at least they knew how to help themselves. I do, too. As some of you may be aware, I wasn’t born rich. And I’ve written openly about my failures as an entrepreneur and my losses as an investor. I haven’t hidden my horror stories. The reason I don’t keep them secret is because my failures are the best learning experiences of my life. We learn by making mistakes (except in school, where we’re punished for making mistakes). This may be why most schoolteachers aren’t rich. I’m not recommending that you become an ambitious looter, as Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were convicted of being. I only want to point out that if you’re not a lazy loser, you may find yourself with more gold in your life without having to resort to looting.
August 14th, 2006 at 10:31 am
For me, I think “laziness” really help me to be rich and give power to me to take action. I’m lazy to go to work and make money from a job. In order to set myself free, so I set a goal of financial freedom and take action to achieve it. So far, “laziness” makes me take action and I’m going to success because of my laziness.
August 14th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Good point harrison!
Although, many people can’t differentiate the “laziness” of not wanting to work a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke), from the true laziness that can manifest itself as lack of motivation and/or ability to take action.
If you can use the former as a motivator, and avoid the latter, then I think you might be onto something.
Thanks for your post!