It is a sin not to aim for the rich

But what is rich? I will define it briefly, but I have a confession to make. I failed to become rich. Partly due to ill advice from the books promised if we follow their recommendation, we will become rich. The main suspects are "Rich Dad Poor Dad" for Robert Kiyosaki and "Think and Grow Rich" for Napoleon Hill."

Twenty years ago, I threw myself into self-help books. I wanted to augment my technical skills with the knowledge to understand how the corporate world works and how I can survive. I must have read Napoleon Hill at least ten times. And I recommended it at the time to dozens of people. I earnestly applied some of its recommendations: "Do more than what you are paid for." I cannot deny it: when I used this in my training practices, the intangible reward was huge, and I always gave more to the class participants than they subscribed for. The invaluable reward to me was that when I heard and read the participants' feedback, they denoted the values they had gained from what I shared. But in the corporate world, doing more than you are paid is a slippery slope, leading to disappointment, frustration, and stagnation.  

Following this and other recommendations of Hill's and other books on riches did not make me rich. If you apply every piece of advice from Napoleon for 40 years, you will not get rich; you will become a "nice employee" who will make it until retirement age with a salary as the main and only income. But not a wealthy person. This book is like a bible for the self-help industry, so many people will not like anyone who negates Napoleon's work. But I won't hesitate to share my realization from experience and logic that Napoleon's recommendations are unreal. They are shenanigans. They are a delusional assurance.

The first thing that is unreal about Napoleon's work is the title. Think and go rich. You do not have to indulge in intensive cerebral faculty to be rich. If you have money, invest in rent-based properties, grow your portfolio of properties every three years, and you are rich. "But an investing decision is a thinking," one might say. True. But not the thinking that Napoleon has formulated. There is no chief purpose aim, no positive affirmation, no plan written, no reading of books for eight hours, etc.; One might invest in properties merely on advice from his neighbor or friend without intellectual labor.

Rich, to me, is surviving in life, living the lifestyle you want, and getting things you want at the time of your desire, from your income, not your salary. Some call it financial independence. Financial independence is a dilutional concept because it has no meaning: independence from what? From an employer? If you resign from your full-time job and live on rent income from your properties, your income depends on tenets. Every one of us needs the other.

Everyone has to define the term based on his background and economic, social, and psychological status. In my view, wealth does not have to be associated with a certain amount but with a feeling of adequacy, gratitude, and peace.

If you have an income other than your salary, say $ 70,000 per year, and that income is enough for you and your family, and you can do everything you want to do with that amount, then you are rich.

Salary does not make a person rich. No one ever becomes rich from salary. What you do with a salary will make you rich.

To become rich, some things must be done a certain way, regardless of your mental capacity.

To become rich, you need a sustainable, reliable income that does not depend on you or does not need to be around.

You cannot get your family what they want if you are not rich. You cannot help your community if you are broke. And both are big sins. If you are not rich, you cannot appreciate many things. You cannot appreciate the blessing you have if you do not see both worlds.

If you do not build riches, you will not gain respect among the people you live around and with, as riches are the ultimate mark of achievement. It is not the certificates and degrees you hang on the walls or the books you wrote, published, or read; it is not even the invention you invented and intellectual property rights under your name. It is the riches that you reach.

Many scientists and inventors are far more intelligent than Eddison, but the world will never hear of them because they were not rich. They were poor; they lived their lives for science only. Because they were poor, they could not get the publicity they deserved because they either did not know ( maybe because of lack of money) or did not have the resources that guided them ( again, maybe because of lack of money).

Aiming for riches is conducive to entrepreneurship, increased productivity, and innovation. When everyone aims for riches, the competition level will increase, and for survival, innovation will follow to make the distinction.

Aiming for riches is conducive to economic prosperity on a personal and national level.

So, it is a sin not to aim for riches.