In the meantime enjoy the article below:
WHY NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO CHANGE
A friend I flew with in Vietnam called me the other day. He said,
"I've been laid off again. What do I do now?"
Jim and I went through flight school and Vietnam together. When we
returned to the states, he got a job as a pilot with the airlines and
I began building my business. Jim was absolutely in love with his
work. He loved flying and the company he worked for. Unfortunately,
the company was with Pan American, which for those of you who are old
enough to know that Pan Am went out of business, even though it was
once the number one airline in America. After five years of taking odd
jobs, he finally was rehired by an airline whose name I will not
mention, because it is still in business today, but just barely. This
is the airline he was laid off from.
"I'm 53 years old." said Jim. "I still have two kids in school. I have
nothing saved for retirement. And worst of all, how am I going to find
a job that pays me $85,000 a year, especially when all I know is to be
a pilot?"
Job Security Is An Obsolete Idea
For those of you who have read my books or come to my seminars, you
may know what I think about the idea of job security. I have said it
for a year, "Job security is an obsolete idea." The reason I say this
is because the issue of job security was the issue for my parents, the
World War II generation. My parents grew up in the Depression and to
them, just finding a job was a challenge, so when they found one, they
clung on to it for dear life. Once they retired, they did not have to
worry because the government pension, Social Security and Medicare
were there to take care of them once they were through working. We do
not have that luxury.
For those born after the WWII generation, job security is not an
issue. The reason I say job security is not an issue is because there
are plenty of jobs. Always remember that McDonald's is always hiring.
I still see help wanted signs everywhere. So the problem is not
finding a job. It is long term financial survival. For my friend Jim,
a well-educated, highly skilled man, hard working man, the question
is, where is he going to find another pilot's job that pays him what
he needs when the airlines today, are downsizing? How will he
continue to pay his mortgage, pay for his kid's college education,
and put enough aside to retire on?
When Jim asked me for advice, I said, "After you find a job, this time
why not start a part-time business?"
"What kind of business?" he asked.
"Why not build a network marketing business in your spare time? Why
not build something you control and you own?"
"No, no way." He said. "I just want a high paying job. I want to fly
again. I'm not interested in network marketing. But thanks for the
advice. I'll call you back when I find a new job with another airline.
I love flying and that is all I want to do."
Lifetime Job Security Is Over
Jim has not called back. It has been almost three weeks. Obviously, he
did not like my advice but for you, I would like to give you the
reason I offered him that advice. As I write, President Bush is in
China and our military is in Afghanistan. If you cannot see the
writing on the wall, let me open your eyes. The days of lifetime job
security and your mutual funds going up by 20% per year are over. If
you think your mutual funds will carry you after you retire, I think
you had best make other plans. Why? Because what has just happened to
my pilot friend Jim, will be happening to millions of people. The
idea of high paying jobs and pension funds that increase by 20% per
year is an obsolete idea. America is at war, battling an invisible
enemy, an enemy without a country. On top of that, China is expected
to pass the U.S. as a world financial power in less than ten years. It
does not take a crystal ball to see that there will be plenty of jobs
in America, but fewer and fewer will be high paying. Why? Because the
Chinese are smart, hard working, and willing to be paid less... much less.
Jack Welch, the retired CEO of General Electric said recently, "20% to
30% of what is produced in America will soon be produced in China." In
other words, in order to compete with China in the world economy, we
must produce for less or lose. Highly skilled pilots like my friend
Jim need to work for less, if they want to work. Pilots need to work
for less, many other professions will need to work for less and
produce more in order to survive. If you have been watching the news,
between the stories of Anthrax and President Bush in China, you may
have caught a glimpse of Bill Gates and other American business
leaders shaking hands with the Chinese. Let me say this, these leaders
of American business are not there because they
like Chinese food.
Network Marketing Is The Business Of The Future
The reason I suggested that my friend Jim start a network marketing
business on the side is because becoming a business owner is a very
wise strategy, especially at this time in history. Starting your own
business gives back some control over your life. If you think your
boss or company can protect you from the geopolitical forces that are
at play today, I think you need to rethink that thought. There is an
old song that said, "For you better start swimming or you'll sink like
a stone, for the times they are changing." Our leaders are in China,
not in the war zone. That should tell you how much things are going to
change and change soon.
The reason I recommend network marketing is because network marketing
is the business of the future. Back in the late 1990's, it was often
difficult to talk to people about network marketing when the economy
was so strong. It was hard to talk to people about network marketing
when their mutual funds were going up by 20% per year. But those days
are over. If you ever wanted to get ahead of the curve, now is the
time to open your mind and look at this business of the future. Now is
the time to talk to people when they too are looking for new answers
and new ways to find true long-term financial security. A network
marketing business is one of the asset classes. It is a business. If
you work hard and build the business, that business will give you the
excess cash to acquire the real estate and stocks that will give you
true long term financial security...security you can
pass on to your loved ones. You can't do that with your job, no matter
how secure it is.
My friend Jim the airline pilot is also a casualty of the September
11th event. The problem is, he is not willing to make changes. My
prediction is that for employees who are well educated, well trained
and ambitious, the next few years will be tough ones. Why? Because
well educated, ambitious, high paid employees are often the first to
be downsized and once downsized, they often find it harder to find a
job at the pay scale they were used to. In the Industrial Age, if you
were well educated, hard working and experienced, you were desirable.
In the Information Age, experience and age are liabilities, not
assets. So with each passing year, it gets harder to re-enter the job
force and find a high paying job in the new economy. As my rich dad
often said, "The rules have changed. If you want to do well, change
with the rules." Unfortunately, we are in time of crisis.
None-the-less, for the brave at heart, now is the time to make
changes, changes that will give you life time financial security which
is far better than job security.
Network Marketing - It's an Asset, Not a Job
I am sometimes asked, "Why do so few people make it to the top of
their network marketing system?"
The truth is, the top of the network marketing system is open to
everyone — unlike traditional corporate systems, which allow only one
person to reach the top of the company. The reason most people do not
reach the top is simply because they quit too soon. So why would
someone quit short of the top?
Most people join only to make money. If they don't make money in the
first few months or years, they become discouraged and quit (and then
often bad-mouth the industry!). Others quit and go looking for a
company with a better compensation plan, but joining to make a few
quick dollars is not the reason to get into the business.
The Two Essential Reasons to Join a Network Marketing Business
Reason number one is to help yourself. Reason number two is to help
others. If you join for only one of these two reasons, then the system
will not work for you. Reason number one is to help yourself. Reason
number two is to help others. If you join for only one of these two
reasons, then the system will not work for you.
Reason number one, means that you come to the business primarily to
change quadrants — to change from the E (Employee) or the S
(Self-employed) quadrant to the B (Business owner) or I (Investor)
quadrant.
This change is normally very difficult for most people — because of
money. The true 'E' or 'S' quadrant person will not work unless it is
for money. This is also what causes people to not reach the top of the
network marketing system: they want money more than they want to
change quadrants.
A 'B' quadrant or 'I' quadrant person will also work for money, but in
a different way. The 'B' quadrant person works to build or create an
asset — in this case, a business system. The 'I' quadrant person
invests in the asset or the system.
As a 'B' or an 'I', sometimes you don't get paid for years; this, a
true 'E' quadrant or 'S' quadrant person will not do. It's not part of
their core values. Risk and delayed gratification disturb them
emotionally.
Delayed Gratification and Emotional Intelligence
One of the beauties of network marketing is that it focuses on
developing your emotional intelligence as well as your business skills.
Emotional intelligence is an entirely different matter from academic
intelligence. In general, someone with high emotional intelligence
will often do better than someone with high academic intelligence but
low emotional intelligence. That explains, in part, why some people do
well in school but not so well in the real world.
The ability to delay gratification is a sign of higher emotional
intelligence. In a recent study of emotional intelligence, it was
found that people who could delay gratification often led more
successful lives than those who could not.
This is why the educational system inherent in a good network
marketing opportunity is so important. It's the emotional education or
emotional intelligence aspect of their programs that I find so
valuable for people.
Many people write me and tell me they loved my book, Rich Dad, Poor
Dad, but I fear that many of them don't get the most important point
of the book: Lesson #1, "The rich don't work for money."
Once I have built or bought an asset, that asset works hard to make
money for me. But I will not work for money — I will work only to
build or buy assets. Those assets make me richer and richer, while I
work less and less. That is what the rich do. The poor and middle
class work hard for money, and then buy liabilities instead of
investing in assets.
What Kind of Asset is a Network Marketing Business?
Remember, there are two reasons to be successful in network marketing:
to help yourself, and to help others. Reason number one means helping
yourself get to the 'B' side of the quadrant. What about reason number
two? Remember, there are two reasons to be successful in network
marketing: to help yourself, and to help others. Reason number one
means helping yourself get to the 'B' side of the quadrant. What about
reason number two?
The beauty of most network marketing systems is that you don't really
make much money unless you help others leave the 'E' and 'S' quadrants
and succeed in the 'B' and 'I' quadrants. If you focus on helping
others make this shift, then you will be successful in the business.
If you only want to teach yourself to be a 'B' quadrant and 'I'
quadrant person, then a true network marketing system won't work for
you. You may as well go to a traditional business school, which
focuses only on your becoming a 'B' quadrant person.
The beauty of a network marketing business is that your goal is to
create assets, which are other 'B's working under you — and their job
is to create other 'B's working under them. In traditional business,
the focus is for the 'B' to have only 'E's and 'S's working for them.
The type of business I was taught to build is a business with me at
the top and 'E's and 'S's at the base. I really don't have room at the
top for many other 'B's, which is why in my businesses, I strongly
recommend that all my employees look into network marketing as their
own part-time business.
The traditional corporate system really is a pyramid, because there
are a few 'B's and 'I's near the top, and more 'E's and 'S's at the
base. A network marketing system is a reverse pyramid: its primary
focus is to bring more and more 'B's to the top.
One type of pyramid, the traditional type, has its base on the ground;
the other type has its base in the air. It's a pyramid that pulls you
up instead of pushing you down. A network marketing business gives
everyone access to what used to be the domain only of the rich.
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