Introduction
I had two father's a rich one and a poor one. One was highy educated and intelligent. He had a Ph. D. and complete four years of undergraduate work in less than two years. He then went on to standford University, the University of Chicago, and Northwest University to dobhis advanced studies, all on full financial scholarship. The other father never finished the eighth grade.
Both men were successful in their careers, working hard all lives. Both earned substantial incomes. Yet one always struggled financially. The other would become the richest man in the Hawaii. One died leaving tens of millions of dollars to his family, charities, and his church. The other left bills to be paid when he died.
Both men were strong, charismatic, and influential. Both men offered me advice, but they did not advice the same thing. Both men believed strongly in education but did not recommend the same course of study.
If I had only one dad, I would have had to accept or reject his advice. Having two dads offered me the choice of contrasting points of view one of a rich man and one of a poor man.
Instead of simply accepting or rejecting one or the other, I found myself thinking more, comparing, and then choosing for myself. This problem was that the rich man was not rich yet, and the poor man was not poor yet. Both were just startiy out on their careers, and both were struggling with money and families. But they had very different points of views about money.
For example, one dad would say, "The love of money is the root of all evil, " The other said, " The lack of money is the root of all evil".
As a young boy, having two strong father both influencing me was difficult. I wanted to be a good son and listen, but the two father didn't say the same thing. The contrast in their points of view, particularly about money, was so extreme that I grew curious and intrigued. I began to start thinking fir long periods of time about what each was saving.
Much of my private time was spent reflectio asking myself qu such as, " Why does he say that?" and then asking the same qu of the other dad's statey. It would have been much easier to simply say. "Yeah he's right. I agree with that. " Or to simply reject the point of viy by saying. " The old man doesn't know what he's talking about. " Instead, having two dads whom I loved forced me to think and ultimately choose a way of thinking for myself. As a process, choosing for myself turned out to be much more valuable in the long run then simply accepting or rejecting a single point of view.
One of the reasons the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt is that the subject of money is taught at home, not in school. Most of us learn about money from our parents. So what can poor parents tell their child about money? They simply say " Stay in school and study hard" The child may graduate with excellent grades, but with a poor person financial programming and mindset.
Sadly money is not taught in the school. Schools focus on scholastic and professional skills, but not on financial skills. This explain why smart bankers, doctors, and accountants who earned excellent gradesay struggle financially all of their lives. Our staggering national debt is due in large part to highly educated politicians and government officials making financially decision with little or no training in the subject of money.
Today I often wonder what will happen when we have million of people who need financial and medical assistance. They will be dependent upon their families or the government fir financial support. What will happen when Medicare and social Security run out of money? How will a nation survive if teaching children about money continues to be left to parents most of whom will be or already are, poor?
Because I had two influential father's, I learned from both of them. I had to think about each dad's advice and, is doing so, I gained valuable insight into the power and effect of the one's thought on one's life. Fir example, one dad had a habit of saying, " I can't afford it. " The other dad forbade those words to be used. He insisted I ask, " How can I afford itb?" One is a statement and the other bis a question. One let's you off the hook, and the other forces you to think. My soon-to-be-rich dad would explain that by automatically saying the word's "I can't afford it, " Your brain stops working. By asking the question " how can I afford it? Your brain is put to work. He did not mean that you should buy everything you want. He was fanatical about exercising your mind, the most powerful computer in the world. He'd say, " The stronger it gets, the more money I can make. He believed that automatically saying " I can't afford it " was a sign of mental laziness.
Although both dad's worked hard, I noticed that one dad had a habit of putting his Brian to sleep when it came to finances, and the other had a habit of exercising his brain. The long term result was that one dad grew stronger financially and the other grew weaker. It is not much different from a person who goes to the gym to exercise on a regular basis versus someone who sits on the couch watching television. Proper physical exercise increase your chances for health, and proper mental exercise increase your chances for wealth.
For next just wait for one day...!!!