02 Don't work for money

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 1 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.

　　世界上满坑满谷都是精明能干、才华横溢、学富五车以及极具天赋之人，我们每天都会见到他们。几天前，我的汽车运转不灵了。我把它开进维修厂，一位年轻的机械工只消几分钟就把它修好了。他仅凭倾听发动机的声音就能确定哪儿有毛病，这让我惊奇不已。然而遗憾的是，光有非凡才华是不够的。

　　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 2 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 3, investing, marketing 4 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.

　　我常常吃惊，为什么有才华的人却只有微薄的收入。前几天我听人说，只有不到5％的美国人年收入在10万美元以上。一位精通药品贸易的商务顾问曾经告诉我，有许多医生、牙医和按摩师生活拮据。以前我总以为他们一毕业，财源便会滚滚而来。这位商务顾问告诉了我一句话：“离发大财，他们还差一项技能。”这句话的意思是说，大部分人还需多学习并掌握一项技能，他们的收入才能呈指数倍增长。以前我提到过，财商是会计、投资、市场营销和法律方面的能力综合。将上述四种专业技能结合起来，以钱生钱就会更容易。说到钱，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 5 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 6 to learn how to fly. My educated dad was devastated 7. Rich dad congratulated me.

　　1969年，我从美国海运学院毕业了。我那有学识的爸爸十分高兴，因为加州标准石油公司录用我为它的油轮队工作。尽管我的未来前程远大，但我还是在6个月后辞职离开了这家公司，加入海军陆战队去学习飞行。对此我那有学识的爸爸非常伤心，而富爸爸则祝贺我做出的决定。

　　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 8 runs, navigating6 large freighters7, oil tankers 9 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.

　　对于有学识的爸爸来说，稳定的工作就是一切。而对于富爸爸来说，学习才是一切。有学识的爸爸以为我上学是为了做一名船长，而富爸爸明白我上学是为了学习国际贸易。因此，在做学生时，我跑过货运、为前往远东及南太平洋的大型货轮、油轮和客轮导航。当我的大部分同班同学，包括迈克，在他们的联谊会会堂举办晚会的时候，我正在日本、泰国、新加坡、中国香港、越南、韩国和菲律宾学习贸易、人际关系和文化。我也参加晚会，但不去任何联谊会，我迅速地成熟起来了。

　　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 10 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‘比破产强一点（Just Over Broke）’的缩写”。然而不幸的是，这句话确实适用于千百万人，因为学校没有把财商看作是一种才智，大部分工人都“量入为出”：干活挣钱，支付账单。相反，我劝告年轻人在寻找工作时要看看能从中学到什么，而不是只看能挣到多少。在选择某种特定职业之前或是陷入 “老鼠赛跑（激烈的竞争）”之前，要好好掂量自己到底需要获得什么技能。一旦人们为支付账单而整天疲于奔命，就和那些在小铁轮里不停奔跑转圈的小老鼠一样了。老鼠的小毛腿跑得飞快，小铁轮也转得飞快，可到了第二天早上，他们发现自己依然困在同一个老鼠笼里，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.

　　当我在自己教授的班级上问到“你们当中有多少人做的汉堡包能比麦当劳更好”时，几乎所有的学生都举起了手。我接着问，“如果你们当中大部分人都能做出比麦当劳更好的汉堡包，那为什么麦当劳比你们更能赚钱？” 答案是显而易见的：麦当劳拥有一套出色的运营体系。许多才华横溢的人之所以贫穷的原因，就是因为他们只是专心于做更好的汉堡包，而对运营体系几乎一无所知。世界上到处都是有才华的穷人。在很多情况下，他们之所以贫穷、生活拮据或者收入与其能力不相符，不是因为他们已知的东西而是因为他们未知的东西。他们只将注意力集中在提高和完善做汉堡包的技术上，却不注意提高有关汉堡包的销售和送货技能。