Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and other books, host of the Rich Dad Radio Show podcast and personal finance guru, has made a living helping others become financially independent.
Kiyosaki recommends asking yourself these five questions every day.
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Who Am I?
Kiyosaki understands that you have to know who you are in order to be successful in life.
Here’s the example Kiyosaki gives to explain the importance of this question. His “poor dad” placed a high value on getting an education and finding a secure, well-paying job. He wanted his son to take a high-paying job as a pilot or with the Merchant Marines. But Kiyosaki wanted to be rich, and he knew that meant learning how to invest and building businesses. So, he took a job as a salesman for Xerox so he could learn how to sell. He knew that being able to sell would help him realize his dream.
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What Do I Love?
Pursuing your passion almost always leads to success. “Do what you love, and the money will follow” is a well-used axiom because it’s true. If you can find what you love and pursue it with passion, you will often find a way to be successful at it.
Remember, though, that what you love may change over time. That’s why you need to ask yourself this question every day — because it could change from one day to the next. There’s nothing wrong with that; in fact, it’s a sign of growth. A change in your answer is your clue to move on to something new.
Where Can I Grow?
Successful people know that you should never stop growing. Asking yourself this question every day ensures you will continue to get better in all areas of your life. One day, the answer to this question may help you grow in your career or business; the next day, the answer could help you grow in your relationships.
When Should I Act?
If you’ve asked yourself the previous question and determined that where you can grow is different from where you are now, take a beat before you make a change. Successful people make a plan and ask for input from those they trust.
Kiyosaki illustrates this with a story about a significant purchase he wanted to make. “I wanted a new Bentley,” he said, “and though I had the money to buy one outright, I instead developed a plan to buy assets that would provide cash flow to cover the cost of the new car. I worked closely with my advisors to establish this plan and knew it would take about a year. Patiently, I executed each part of the plan, and in about a year, I had both a new cash-flowing asset and a new Bentley.”
Why Am I Doing This?
This may be the most important of the five questions, and the most challenging to answer. The trick to getting to your “why” is to keep asking it until you get to the real answer. If your answer to “why” is “I want to make more money,” ask yourself why you want to make more money. If your answer to why you want to make more money is so you can go on a nice vacation, ask yourself why you want to go on a nice vacation. Keep asking until you get to the thing that’s really driving you. Spoiler alert: It’s rarely money. It’s what money can do for you.
If you’ve read carefully, you know that these five questions cover five of the six questions journalists are taught to ask when covering a story: who, what, where, when, why and how. The only one missing in Kiyosaki’s list of questions is “how” — and that’s up to you.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Questions Successful People Ask Themselves, According To ‘Rich Dad’ Robert Kiyosaki
