Don't work for money

The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage, and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.

世界上滿坑滿谷都是精明能干、才華橫溢、學富五車以及極具天賦之人，我們每天都會見到他們。幾天前，我的汽車運轉不靈了。我把它開進維修廠，一位年輕的機械工只消幾分鐘就把它修好了。他僅憑傾聽發(fā)動機的聲音就能確定哪兒有毛病，這讓我驚奇不已。然而遺憾的是，光有非凡才華是不夠的。

I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in1 the medical trade was telling me how many doctors, dentists and chiropractors2 struggle financially. All this time, I thought that when they graduated, the dollars would pour in. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth.” What this phrase means is that most people need only to learn and master one more skill and their income would jump exponentially3. I have mentioned before that financial intelligence is a synergy4 of accounting, investing, marketing and law. Combine those four technical skills and making money with money is easier. When it comes to money, the only skill most people know is to work hard.

我常常吃驚，為什么有才華的人卻只有微薄的收入。前幾天我聽人說，只有不到5%的美國人年收入在10萬美元以上。一位精通藥品貿(mào)易的商務顧問曾經(jīng)告訴我，有許多醫(yī)生、牙醫(yī)和按摩師生活拮據(jù)。以前我總以為他們一畢業(yè)，財源便會滾滾而來。這位商務顧問告訴了我一句話：“離發(fā)大財，他們還差一項技能。”這句話的意思是說，大部分人還需多學習并掌握一項技能，他們的收入才能呈指數(shù)倍增長。以前我提到過，財商是會計、投資、市場營銷和法律方面的能力綜合。將上述四種專業(yè)技能結合起來，以錢生錢就會更容易。說到錢，大部分人所知的唯一技能就是拼命工作。

When I graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1969, my educated dad was happy. Standard Oil of California had hired me for its oil-tanker fleet. I had a great career ahead of me, yet I resigned5 after six months with the company and joined the Marine Corps to learn how to fly. My educated dad was devastated. Rich dad congratulated me.

1969年，我從美國海運學院畢業(yè)了。我那有學識的爸爸十分高興，因為加州標準石油公司錄用我為它的油輪隊工作。盡管我的未來前程遠大，但我還是在6個月后辭職離開了這家公司，加入海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊去學習飛行。對此我那有學識的爸爸非常傷心，而富爸爸則祝賀我做出的決定。

Job security meant everything to my educated dad. Learning meant everything to my rich dad. Educated dad thought I went to school to learn to be a ship's officer. Rich dad knew that I went to school to study international trade. So as a student, I made cargo runs, navigating6 large freighters7, oil tankers and passenger ships to the Far East and the South Pacific. While most of my classmates, including Mike, were partying at their fraternity8 houses, I was studying trade, people and cultures in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines. I also was partying, but it was not in any frat house. I grew up rapidly.

對于有學識的爸爸來說，穩(wěn)定的工作就是一切。而對于富爸爸來說，學習才是一切。有學識的爸爸以為我上學是為了做一名船長，而富爸爸明白我上學是為了學習國際貿(mào)易。因此，在做學生時，我跑過貨運、為前往遠東及南太平洋的大型貨輪、油輪和客輪導航。當我的大部分同班同學，包括邁克，在他們的聯(lián)誼會會堂舉辦晚會的時候，我正在日本、泰國、新加坡、中國香港、越南、韓國和菲律賓學習貿(mào)易、人際關系和文化。我也參加晚會，但不去任何聯(lián)誼會，我迅速地成熟起來了。

There is an old cliché that goes, “Job is an acronym9 for 'Just Over Broke.'” And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers “live within their means10.” They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn. Look down the road at what skills they want to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before getting trapped in the “Rat Race11”. Once people are trapped in the lifelong process of bill paying, they become like those little hamsters12 running around in those little metal wheels. Their little furry legs are spinning furiously, the wheel is turning furiously, but come tomorrow morning, they'll still be in the same cage: great job.

常言道，“工作(job)就是‘比破產(chǎn)強一點(Just Over Broke)’的縮寫”。然而不幸的是，這句話確實適用于千百萬人，因為學校沒有把財商看作是一種才智，大部分工人都“量入為出”：干活掙錢，支付賬單。相反，我勸告年輕人在尋找工作時要看看能從中學到什么，而不是只看能掙到多少。在選擇某種特定職業(yè)之前或是陷入 “老鼠賽跑(激烈的競爭)”之前，要好好掂量自己到底需要獲得什么技能。一旦人們?yōu)橹Ц顿~單而整天疲于奔命，就和那些在小鐵輪里不停奔跑轉圈的小老鼠一樣了。老鼠的小毛腿跑得飛快，小鐵輪也轉得飛快，可到了第二天早上，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己依然困在同一個老鼠籠里，那就是：重要的工作。

When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald's makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald's is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. All too often, they're poor or struggle financially or earn less than they are capable of, not because of what they know but because of what they do not know. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.

當我在自己教授的班級上問到“你們當中有多少人做的漢堡包能比麥當勞更好”時，幾乎所有的學生都舉起了手。我接著問，“如果你們當中大部分人都能做出比麥當勞更好的漢堡包，那為什么麥當勞比你們更能賺錢?” 答案是顯而易見的：麥當勞擁有一套出色的運營體系。許多才華橫溢的人之所以貧窮的原因，就是因為他們只是專心于做更好的漢堡包，而對運營體系幾乎一無所知。世界上到處都是有才華的窮人。在很多情況下，他們之所以貧窮、生活拮據(jù)或者收入與其能力不相符，不是因為他們已知的東西而是因為他們未知的東西。他們只將注意力集中在提高和完善做漢堡包的技術上，卻不注意提高有關漢堡包的銷售和送貨技能。