One common criticism of Robert Kiyosaki’s best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad is that it’s repetitive. And it’s absolutely true. Most of his books seem to center around a few points that he goes over again and again. It is a turn-off for some people.
One might say that it’s just his style but I think something else is going on.
Having studied success and wealth for over 4 years now I can say that I have found even the best ideas in books get forgotten. It’s not that we plan to forget them but unless something clicks for us, they tend to get buried under the rest of what we have going on up there.
Life today is all about keeping up. We have TV shows to watch, movies to see, places to go, people to see, projects to finish, chores to do, paperwork to complete, the list is endless.
When the computer was created people imagined a world in which we would be able to work less and produce more. The second part came true.
In our lighting fast global economy we must work harder than ever to maintain our competitive edge.
With so much on our plates it’s easy to forget everything but the most important.
So how can authors, speakers or writers ensure that their messages don’t get lost – through repetition.
Repetition is how we all learn. How many times did you have to write the letter “A” in grade school to get it right?! Thousands upon thousands. At first it was unnatural, but over time it got easier and easier.
Larry Bird, the Boston Celtics legend and one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players of all time, attributed his sharp-shooting skills to one thing – lots of shooting.
Practice anything long enough and it becomes automatic. But automatic doesn’t mean you don’t require practice to maintain it.
Point in case, Michael Jordan left basketball for two years to pursue a baseball career, upon his return to the game which he had redefined expectations were high. And while he had a few good games (raw natural talent combined with experience) he was a shell of his former self. There were those in the media who were saying he was all washed up.
But Michael Jordan was never someone who backed down from a challenge so he went to work on himself during the off season and it paid off handsomely. The following season his Chicago Bulls proceeded to rack up the best NBA record ever for a season, 72-10, along with a 4th championship.
Interactive learning, when the audience must participate, is three to four times more powerful that just having them listen to you. That’s why our teachers always told us to take notes in class.
Here on this site, I have focused on the written word but that is about to change. In the coming weeks I intend to work on more videos and audios to share with you for that one reason – retention increases.
I will still write but I intend to include audios at the end of some posts for people to learn from.
That way, through reading about my ideas and then hearing them, the message will sink in a little deeper.
Having been a teacher for over half my life I’ve found that too often my advice goes in one ear and out the other.
It got so bad at one point in dealing with a few students that I would say to myself, “Why do I bother?”
But I knew why. I care.
I keep sharing my ideas in hopes that I’ll get through to as many people as possible.
If you knew me one thing you’d say is that Adrian isn’t the kind of guy who gives up. I just keep trying.
So the next time you pick up a book and go, “Boy, this is repetitive,” ask yourself why? Maybe that message is one worth repeating.
If I were to sum up Robert Kiyosaki’s message in one sentence it would be this – “Educate yourself financially if you want to be wealthy.” Thanks to his advice I did just that.
What’s my message?
Success at anything is possible with the application of a few simple ideas.
Adrian Shepherd