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Rich dad lessons I learned
Trading Time for Paper vs. Building Real Wealth
I was thinking about this concept from Rich Dad Poor Dad this morning and figured I'd do some reading and share my thoughts.
The book breaks down this fundamental split between two mindsets.
Rich v poor
Most people wake up, grind for 8-10 hours, collect a check, pay bills, repeat.
They're trading time for pieces of paper because the number on the paycheck keeps them feeling secure.
Rich Dad flips that entire script.
He taught that "working for money is the trap."
The real move is working to learn, to build skills, to understand how systems (and money models) operate.
When you work for experience instead of a paycheck, you're accumulating something that compounds - knowledge, connections, capabilities that let you build or buy assets.
Here's what an asset actually is:
"Something that puts money in your pocket without you having to show up."
Rental properties generating cash flow. Businesses running with systems.
Dividend-paying stocks.
Royalties from intellectual property.
These things work while you sleep.
A liability is anything taking money out of your pocket. Most people buy liabilities thinking they're assets.
Your car payment, credit cards, all of it - liabilities dressed up as necessities.
The wealthy understand this distinction completely.
They don't work harder for more money.
They work smarter to acquire more assets.
Each asset becomes an employee working 24/7 to generate income.
Then they use that income to buy more assets. The cycle builds on itself.
Meanwhile, the middle class gets a raise and immediately upgrades their lifestyle.
Bigger house payment, nicer car lease, fancier vacations.
Expenses rise to match income.
Running faster on the same treadmill, never actually getting ahead.
I see this playing out everywhere. People grinding 60-hour weeks at jobs they hate because they need the money to maintain lifestyles they can't afford.
They're scared to make moves because they think they need the stability.
When I took jobs earlier in my career, I wasn't chasing the biggest paycheck, I was chasing skills.
Contract negotiation experience from F-35 deals taught me how to spot value and structure favorable terms.
Running a company taught me operations and leadership. Those experiences became the foundation for everything I'm building now.
The question you need to ask yourself: are you working to collect a check or are you working to build capabilities that let you acquire assets?
The goal is to build your own ladder made of assets that work whether you're climbing or not.
Stop buying liabilities and calling them wins like I've done with extravagant vacations and Rolex watches. It's dumb.
Stop trading time for paper that loses value the moment you spend it.
Start building or buying things that generate income.
That's the real separation between people who break free and people who stay stuck.
What are you building?
I've been making music, building and buying companies and money models/ revenue streams in pretty much anything that I enjoy.
Hope you learned something.
🐺
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Rich dad lessons I learned
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