Emili Demneri XI-1A, Rich Dad Poor Dad, pg 5-6-7.

Being a product of two strong dads allowed me the luxury of observing the effects different thoughts have on one’s life. I noticed that people really do shape their lives through their thoughts.

For example, my poor dad always said, “I’ll never be rich.” And that prophecy became reality. My rich dad, on the other hand, always referred to himself as rich. He would say things like, “I’m a rich man, and rich people don’t do this.” Even when he was flat broke after a major financial setback, he continued to refer to himself as a rich man. He would cover himself by saying, “There is a difference between being poor and being broke. Broke is temporary. Poor is eternal.”

My poor dad would say, “I’m not interested in money,” or “Money doesn’t matter.” My rich dad always said, “Money is power.”

The power of our thoughts may never be measured or appreciated, but it became obvious to me as a young boy that it was important to be aware of my thoughts and how I expressed myself. I noticed that my poor dad was poor, not because of the amount of money he earned, which was significant, but because of his thoughts and actions. As a young boy having two fathers, I became acutely aware of being careful about which thoughts I chose to adopt as my own. Should I listen to my rich dad or to my poor dad?

Although both men had tremendous respect for education and learning, they disagreed about what they thought was important to learn. One wanted me to study hard, earn a degree, and get a good job to earn money. He wanted me to study to become a professional, an attorney or an accountant, and to go to business school for my MBA. The other encouraged me to study to be rich, to understand how money works, and to learn how to have it work for me. “I don’t work for money!” were words he would repeat over and over. “Money works for me!”

At the age of nine, I decided to listen to and learn from my rich dad about money. In doing so, I chose not to listen to my poor dad, even though he was the one with all the college degrees.

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A Lesson from Robert Frost

Robert Frost is my favorite poet. Although I love many of his poems, my favorite is “The Road Not Taken.” I use its lesson almost daily.

                                                        The Road Not Taken

                                        Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

                                            And sorry I could not travel both

                                             And be one traveler, long I stood

                                         And looked down one as far as I could

                                          To where it bent in the undergrowth;

                                            Then took the other, as just as fair,

                                          And having perhaps the better claim,

                                       Because it was grassy and wanted wear

                                          Though as for that the passing there

                                        Had worn them really about the same,

                                          And both that morning equally lay

                                          In leaves no step had trodden black.

                                           Oh, I kept the first for another day!

                                         Yet knowing how way leads onto way, 

                                         I doubted if I should ever come back. 

                                             I shall be telling this with a sigh  

                                             Somewhere ages and ages hence;  

                                           Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-  

                                               I took the one less traveled by,  

                                           And that has made all the difference.

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And that has made all the difference. 

Over the years, I have often reflected upon Robert Frost’s poem. Choosing not to listen to my highly educated dad’s advice and attitude about money was a painful decision, but it was a decision that shaped the rest of my life.

Once I made up my mind about whom to listen to, my education about money began. My rich dad taught me over a period of 30 years until I was 39 years old. He stopped once he realized that I knew and fully understood what he had been trying to drum into my often-thick skull.

Money is one form of power. But what is more powerful is financial education. Money comes and goes, but if you have the education about how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building wealth. The reason positive thinking alone does not work is because most people went to school and never learned how money works, so they spend their lives working for money.

Because I was only nine years old when I started, the lessons my rich dad taught me were simple. And when it was all said and done, there were only six main lessons, repeated over 30 years. This book is about those six lessons, put as simply as possible, just as simply as my rich dad put forth those lessons to me. The lessons are meant not to be answers, but guideposts that will assist you and your children to grow wealthier no matter what happens in a world of increasing change and uncertainty.

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Te jesh fryt i dy baballareve te fuqishem me dha luksin e te vrojtuarit te ndikimit qe kane mendimet e dikujt ne jeten e tij. Kam vene re qe ne te vertete njerezit i japin drejtim jeteve te tyre nepermjet mendimeve. Per shembull, babai im i varfer thonte, “Nuk do behem kurre i pasur”. Dhe kjo profeci u kthye ne realitet. Nga ana tjeter, babai im i pasur i drejtohej vetes si te ishte i pasur. Ai thonte gjera si, “Une jam nje burre i pasur dhe njerezit e e pasur nuk e bejne kete.” Madje edhe kur ishte troke pas nje pengese financiare te madhe, ai vazhdoi ta quante veten nje njeri te pasur. Ai e siguronte veten duke thene, " Ka nje ndryshim midis te qenit i varfer dhe te qenit troke. Te qenit troke eshte e perkohshme. Varferia eshte e perjetshme”.

Babai im i varfer thonte, “Nuk me interesojne parate” ose “Paraja nuk ka rendesi”. Babai im i pasur thonte gjithmone, “Paraja eshte fuqi”. 

Potenciali i mendimeve tona mund te mos matet apo vleresohet ndonjehere, por ishte e dukshme, si nje djal i ri, qe ishte e rendesishme te isha i vetedijshem per mendimet e mia dhe se si shprehesha per veten.

Vura re se babai im i varfer, ishte i tille, jo per shkak te sasise se parave qe fitonte, e cila ishte domethenese, por per shkak te mendimeve dhe veprimeve te tij. Si nje djale i ri qe kisha dy baballare, u bera mprehtesisht i vetedijshem per te qenit i kujdesshem mbi mendimet qe zgjidhja te pervetesoja. Duhet te degjoja babane tim te pasur apo babane tim te varfer ?

 Megjithese te dy burrat kishim respekt te jashtezakonshem per edukimin dhe te nxenit, ata nuk binin dakord per ate qe ishte e rendesishme te mesohej. Njeri donte qe une te studioja fort, te merrja diplomen, dhe te gjeja nje pune te mire qe te fitoja para. Ai donte qe une te studioja qe te behesha nje profesionist, nje avokat ose llogaritar dhe te shkoja ne shkollen e biznesit per MBA-ne time. Tjetri me inkurajoi te mesoja si te behesha i pasur, te kuptoja si funksionon paraja, dhe te mesoja si ta beja te punonte per mua. “Une nuk punoj per para!” ishin fjalet qe ai me perseriste vazhdimisht. “Paraja punon per mua!”

Ne moshen 9-vjecare vendosa te degjoja dhe mesoja nga babai im i pasur mbi parane. Duke bere kete, zgjodha te mos e degjoaj babane tim te varfer, edhe pse ai kishte te gjitha diplomat. 

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Nje mesim nga Robert Frost

Robert Frosy eshte poeti im i preferuar. Megjithese me pelqejne shume nga poezite e tij, e preferuara ime eshte “Rruga qe su ndoq”. Une e perdor mesimin e saj pothuajse cdo dite. 

“Rruga qe su ndoq” 

Ne nje pyll ndaheshin dy rruge

keq me vinte te dyja si ndiqja dot

per te zgjedhur njeren gjate qendrova

shikimin i hodha sa munda njeres

qe kthehej te gemusha.

E me pas tjetren, sa e gjate e gjere

dhe qe me terhoqi teper

sepse ishte me bar e veshur dhe e pashkelur

edhe pse te dyja rruget njesoj ishin te shkelura.

E ate mengjes baras shtriheshin te dyja

ne gjethe te saporena

Oh, te paren e ruajte per nje dite tjeter!

Duke ditur se nje rruge te con te tjetra

dyshova nese duhet te kthehesha pas.

Do ta them me psheretime kete 

diku, kohe me pas;

Dy rruge ndaheshin ne nje pyll, dhe une- 

Une ndoqa te panjohuren, te rene.

Dhe kjo solli gjithe ndryshimin.

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Dhe kjo solli gjithe ndryshimin. 

Me kalimin e viteve, kam reflektuat mbi poezine e Robert Frostit. Zgjedhja per te mos ndjekur keshillat dhe qendrimin ndaj parase se babait tim me edukim te larte ishte nje vendim i dhimbshem, por qe formesoi pjesen tjeter te jetes sime. 

Pasi e ndava mendjen se ke te degjoja, edukimi im mbi parane filloi. Babai im i pasur me mesoi per nje periudhe prej 30 vitesh, derisa u bera 39 vjec. Ai ndaloi kur vuri re qe une kisha perthitur cdo gje qe ishte perpjekur te fuste ne koken time. 

Paraja eshte nje forme fuqie. Por ajo qe eshte me e fuqishme eshte edukimi financiar. Paraja shkon e vjen, por me edukimin per menyren sesi funksionon ajo, ti fiton fuqi mbi te dhe mund te fillosh te ndertosh pasuri. Vetem mendimi pozitiv nuk funksionon per arsye se shumica e njerezve shkuan ne shkolle e nuk mesuan si funksionon paraja, keshtu qe ata punojne gjithe jeten per te. 

Duke qene se kur nisa mesimet me babane e psur isha vetem 9 vjec, ato ishin te thjeshta. Dhe kur cdo gje ishte thene e bere, mbeten vetem 6 mesime kryesore, te perseritura per 30 vite. Ky liber eshte per t’i thjeshtuar sa me shume keto 6 mesime, aq thjesht sa babai im i pasur mi pasoi mua. 

Mesimet nuk jane pergjigje, por udherrefyes qe do t’ju ndihmoje juve dhe femijet tuaj te rriten me te pasur pavaresisht ndryshimeve dhe pasigurive ne bote. 

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