I have to admit that I am a reader of Kiyosaki’s books and have enjoyed his books despite the many critics that he has. I have read quite a number of articles related to the man above and I found out that he has his fair share of supporters as well as people who just can’t stand his ideas and his shot to fame at a global level.
I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and it did illuminated on the answer to the question of why the rich get rich and the poor remains poor. Its mainly about the difference in mindset which impacts on the investment activities or lack of investment activities of that particular group of people. Coming from a sociological background, I feel that Kiyosaki have missed the point that not everyone comes from an advantageous position to have the rights contacts, the right amount of experience, the capital and most importantly the courage and the strength to start a business and to invest. There are lots of stories of people losing money in investments than making money and most people cannot afford to lose what they already have.
Hence, I believe that readers of Kiyosaki’s books need to read the book with an open mind and understand that Kiyosaki’s perspectives are rather Macro in nature and some say that it might be rather short in specifics. You need to read widely and you also need to read other books that will teach you the technical side of things. You cannot run away from stuff like that. It is easy to say that you need to keep on learning and learning and learning from your mistakes. However, I feel that you also need to do lots of introspecting and retrospecting in order to understand where you go wrong and what you did right.
We are faced with a stupendous combination of settings in our day to day lives and we cannot afford to hang our fate on just the books that we read. We can learn from other people’s experiences but do take note that every day, many things change and these changes have an impact on our lives and how we deal with it.
Kiyosaki was tasked to help out 3 wannabe entrepreneurs in a programme conducted by 20/20 called “Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur?“. In the end, all 3 didn’t really fare that well, even with the master at hand. I would not totally blame Kiyosaki for the entrant’s failure to succeed in their business plans but I would have expected more advice that could have turned the whole thing around for them. Even the contestants thought that he wan’t really helpful and wished more from him.
If you are looking for a really thorough analysis of the man and one which is rather unforgiving, I recommend that you take a look at John T Reed’s analysis of Robert T. Kiyosaki’s Book Rich dad, Poor Dad. It is a nice read and do point out a number of factors that might need the writer to clarify further. It is sometimes just too easy for us to make a statement but most often, it is just not too easy to defend it.
Take Care!
Ishykiel
