Lois_E begins a long MFW journey

slowlyfading

I'm a big list fan too I would be lost without them, especially at work!

Lois_E

Well I got most of it done, but not before the forum went down at 11pm.

V tired tonight. Have stacks of marking to do but none of it urgent so am going to chill a bit. Am thinking of trying the Rich Dad game that gally recommended. Will try to report back on what I make of it.

In money news, I have been spending loads today but all necessary stuff like keeping the car roadworthy.

WishIwasstill25

Evening Lois,

Boo for a big marking day.... I've got a big assessment night ahead,which is my equivalent for marking at the moment.

I'm a massive list person, I have pretty much the same list that I write out each Friday evening, and some nights in between, someone once suggested typing it up and printing out copies. But I not that sad.

I also need to write a work list, and empty my email in box....

Cars can be a money pit, but could we survive without them?

Have a successful list completing evening...

Wish

Lois_E

Well, the Rich Dad game was quite fun, but I don't think I'll invest any more time in playing it again. Oh, and I saved up and paid off my mortgage in the game!!

I read one of the ebooks while I was on the Rich Dad site. I find that the problem with his arguments is that they are based on premises that just don't apply to me.

Every week most people just hold on until Friday because they hate their job. And when Sunday rolls around, they’re miserable because they know they have five days of work to look forward to.
It’s a lousy way to live, but it’s not the only way. We’ve just been trained to think it’s the only way.
I love my work, but I’m also never far from it. Like most entrepreneurs, I’m at it almost 24/7, but it doesn’t make me miserable—and it certainly doesn’t feel like work. It’s more like a game that I love to play. It’s challenging. It’s fun. It’s rewarding.

I don't hate my job. OK, I don't like marking coursework or writing reports, but I enjoy most of the other bits of it. I enjoy explaining ideas to young people and seeing them understand something they didn't understand before. I enjoy going to work and being with the other teachers and collaborating with them. Yes, I look forward to time off, but at the end of the holidays I also look forward to getting back to work and being part of what goes on at school again.

He may find what he does as an entrepreneur and investor fun, but I wouldn't. It would be both scary and dull to me, and it would make me miserable to have to spend my days doing what he does. And having the income that he has wouldn't make up to me for that. It's true that I want to make what money I have work for me within reason, but not if it's going to demand much of my effort and attention (apart from effort and attention devoted to clever and elegant spreadsheets, of course ).

And finally, why does he take it for granted that getting rich is the only kind of success that matters? Or that living within your means has to feel like deprivation?

Habibiboo

Lois_E wrote: »

And finally, why does he take it for granted that getting rich is the only kind of success that matters? Or that living within your means has to feel like deprivation?

:wave:

I totally agree Lois and I'd suggest that this is why you are a good teacher - you have a soul which recognises that there are greater achievements in this world than financial success and which realises that living within your means can be a sign of fulfillment, rather than deprivation. You don't have to hate your job just because someone who chooses to work another way suggests that it must be so because you "aren't successful" in the way he chooses to measure success by.
The truth is, you might hate your job at times (there's no way we can love all of it all the time, especially where marking coursework is concerned), but as you rightly point out, you like what you do - and there's a clear difference between the two!

Professionally and personally you are rich in what you offer in benefits to others (both your teaching and on here), in what you do and how you behave and for these reasons (and the fact you're kind and friendly) I choose to follow your thread. I would throw myself kicking and screaming to the floor rather than follow the teachings of someone calling themselves Rich Dad! x

gallygirl

Lois_E wrote: »

He may find what he does as an entrepreneur and investor fun, but I wouldn't. It would be both scary and dull to me, and it would make me miserable to have to spend my days doing what he does. And having the income that he has wouldn't make up to me for that. It's true that I want to make what money I have work for me within reason, but not if it's going to demand much of my effort and attention (apart from effort and attention devoted to clever and elegant spreadsheets, of course ).

And finally, why does he take it for granted that getting rich is the only kind of success that matters? Or that living within your means has to feel like deprivation?

I see it different to you. I read it as being that there is usually a way to get out of what you are doing and not being a wage slave because you can't see any alternative. Getting rich isn't the be all and end all - it's the choices it gives you that is the key. And living within your means is what he's aiming for - he's just trying to increase your means . I was quite irate having to turn down a house buying opportunity as the deposit my janitor had saved up had just been blown on a boat. I even told him out loud what an idiot he was and how much it had affected his cashflow :rotfl:. And what was it worth now - nothing, it wasn't even appearing in his assets :mad:. And as for his profligate breeding - I think I told him to keep it in his trousers when no.3 came along .

WishIwasstill25

Deep thoughts for a Tuesday night....

When times are tough and I'm disliking aspects of my job, I can never think of things I could/would do instead.

I love the children I work with, today a child put his coat on independently for the first time ever, that brought the biggest smile, or the child who counted the three gold coins he dug up after following the treasure map.

I enjoy looking at the progress of pupils across the school and seeing how well they are doing. I love chatting to a parent about the songs the children are now singing at home.

I also like the regularity of the job, I know everyday is different, but equally I know that certain aspects remain, I like the cycle of the school year, always working towards something.

I trained in a completely different field initially, but never worked in it, because I didn't use my brain enough, had I carried on in that career, I could have been earning a lot more, doing lots of traveling, but I wouldn't be happy.

Hurdler

Lois_E wrote: »

Well, the Rich Dad game was quite fun, but I don't think I'll invest any more time in playing it again. Oh, and I saved up and paid off my mortgage in the game!!

I read one of the ebooks while I was on the Rich Dad site. I find that the problem with his arguments is that they are based on premises that just don't apply to me.

I don't hate my job. OK, I don't like marking coursework or writing reports, but I enjoy most of the other bits of it. I enjoy explaining ideas to young people and seeing them understand something they didn't understand before. I enjoy going to work and being with the other teachers and collaborating with them. Yes, I look forward to time off, but at the end of the holidays I also look forward to getting back to work and being part of what goes on at school again.

He may find what he does as an entrepreneur and investor fun, but I wouldn't. It would be both scary and dull to me, and it would make me miserable to have to spend my days doing what he does. And having the income that he has wouldn't make up to me for that. It's true that I want to make what money I have work for me within reason, but not if it's going to demand much of my effort and attention (apart from effort and attention devoted to clever and elegant spreadsheets, of course ).

And finally, why does he take it for granted that getting rich is the only kind of success that matters? Or that living within your means has to feel like deprivation?

I think because that is the American ideal, and sometimes that permeates across the water.

There are those for example that work in similar areas to me who think what I have done is marvellous and those who work in the area I used to who imagine life with less than 50% of what they are earning now who think I am crackers.

Also when I worked at IBM under US managers they thought I had a drinking problem because in their eyes I was out with friends towards the end of the week which invariably involved lots of alcohol! :beer:

For them the idea that you would not dial into a conference call on a Friday afternoon their time (night, for us) because you were out at a bar with friends was diabolical.

I have had to learn to switch off email to work now because our boss is a Brit but he lives in California and is online permanently and expects us to be too. I know I can't do productive and more importantly qualify writing if I am tired so I finish at as decent a time as I can manage!

For many, money and status is their marking of success. I think you have to be there and understand how soul destroying it can be to realise that (as hackneyed as it sounds) money is not everything!

Lois_E

Habibiboo wrote: »

:wave:

I totally agree Lois and I'd suggest that this is why you are a good teacher - you have a soul which recognises that there are greater achievements in this world than than financial success and which realises that living within your means can be a sign of fulfillment, rather than deprivation. You don't have to hate your job just because someone who chooses to work another way suggests that it must be so because you aren't successful in the way he chooses to measure success by.
The truth is, you might hate your job at times (there's no way we can love all of it all the time, especially where marking coursework is concerned), but as you rightly point out, you like what you do - and there's a clear difference between the two!
Professionally and personally you are rich in what you offer in benefits to others (both your teaching and on here) in what you do and how you behave and for these reasons I choose to follow your thread. I would throw myself kicking and screaming to the floor rather than follow the teachings of someone calling themselves Rich Dad! x

Wow! Thank you!
I am humbled that you'd write like that about me.

gallygirl wrote: »

I see it different to you. I read it as being that there is usually a way to get out of what you are doing and not being a wage slave because you can't see any alternative. Getting rich isn't the be all and end all - it's the choices it gives you that is the key. And living within your means is what he's aiming for - he's just trying to increase your means . I was quite irate having to turn down a house buying opportunity as the deposit my janitor had saved up had just been blown on a boat. I even told him out loud what an idiot he was and how much it had affected his cashflow :rotfl:. And what was it worth now - nothing, it wasn't even appearing in his assets :mad:. And as for his profligate breeding - I think I told him to keep it in his trousers when no.3 came along .

Sorry to hear about your boat disaster! My lawyer was into something very dodgy - she had her first baby, and then a mere two paydays later she was forking out for her daughter's wedding! :rotfl:

I'm sure you're right that his message is aimed at those who are miserable in what they do. Maybe the reason he writes as though everybody feels like that is because he thinks the books etc will only be read by that sort of person!

I've done the game 3 times now (on my own) and got to the end quite easily each time. But I keep being aware of ways in which the game is simpler than real life in ways that make it more fun and less risky - telling you the trading range of the shares, for example, so you know when they're at the bottom or at the top.

WishIwasstill25 wrote: »

Deep thoughts for a Tuesday night....

When times are tough and I'm disliking aspects of my job, I can never think of things I could/would do instead.

I love the children I work with, today a child put his coat on independently for the first time ever, that brought the biggest smile, or the child who counted the three gold coins he dug up after following the treasure map.

I enjoy looking at the progress of pupils across the school and seeing how well they are doing. I love chatting to a parent about the songs the children are now singing at home.

I also like the regularity of the job, I know everyday is different, but equally I know that certain aspects remain, I like the cycle of the school year, always working towards something.

I trained in a completely different field initially, but never worked in it, because I didn't use my brain enough, had I carried on in that career, I could have been earning a lot more, doing lots of traveling, but I wouldn't be happy.

What a delightful description of the pleasures of your job, Wish. Hope you have a good day at work today.

Hurdler wrote: »

I think because that is the American ideal, and sometimes that permeates across the water.

There are those for example that work in similar areas to me who think what I have done is marvellous and those who work in the area I used to who imagine life with less than 50% of what they are earning now who think I am crackers.

Also when I worked at IBM under US managers they thought I had a drinking problem because in their eyes I was out with friends towards the end of the week which invariably involved lots of alcohol! :beer:

For them the idea that you would not dial into a conference call on a Friday afternoon there time (night, for us) because you were out at a bar with friends was diabolical.

I have had to learn to switch off email to work now because our boss is a Brit but he lives in California and is online permanently and expects us to be too. I know I can't do productive and more importantly qualify writing if I am tired so I finish at as decent a time as I can manage!

For many, money and status is their marking of success. I think you have to be there and understand how soul destroying it can be to realise that (as hackneyed as it sounds) money is not everything!

Thanks Hurdler. I've never worked in that kind of environment and I don't have any of those kinds of friends. The closest I get to understanding the mindset is reading the Alex cartoon!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hurdler, you are 100% spot on.

I regularly turn down calls for 9, 10p at night. There are some I am compelled to join but I could be on the phone every night, in fact, I could switch my hours to US ones and that would be perfect for the company I work for

Lois, there have been some beautiful thought provoking comments on your diary and :money: really did create a forum where like minded folk can air their views.

Best wishes Tilly x