Book Tamers| book reviews

The two Carnegies

For those who don’t know, in the 1900 there were two famous Carnegies. Andrew Carnegie was the businessman that founded what today it is called United States Steel Corporation, one of the greatest steel manufacturers in the world. Moreover, Andrew did a great job for the people around him, being involved in numerous philanthropic actions, especially concerning libraries and peace around the world.

And because wanting “peace in the world” has become a cliché that is allowed only in the beauty contests, I am going to give you an example of Andrew Carnegie’s understanding of doing that. Wikipedia citation:

In 1898, Carnegie tried to give the Philippines its independence. As the end of the Spanish American War neared, the United States bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million USD. To counter what he perceived as imperialism on the part of the United States, Carnegie personally offered $20 million USD to the Philippines so that the Filipino people could buy their independence from Spain.

The second, and the one who wrote the book announced in the title, is Dale Carnegie. Coincidence or not, Dale changed his name from Carnagey to Carnegie in the same year when Andrew Carnegie, more known than him at that time, died. With or without the help of this trick related to his name, Dale Carnegie managed to make himself known as a writer and a “trainer” in the field of sales, personal development and public speaking. He is one of the few American authors that wrote about personal growth that is necessary to each one of us without getting caught in the lame trap of the self-help books.

Public speaking

I suppose that few are the ones who imagine that speaking in front of a lot of people is easy, even If it’s about a speech announcing the winners of a contest or just presenting some guest. However, until you actually try to do it, you have no idea how hard it is.

It is hard because you must remember all the words that you should have chosen carefully. It is hard because everyone is watching you and every hesitation or mistake will be taken into account. It’s hard because it’s not enough to remember your speech, but it is necessary to have a permanent control over your tone, your voice and over the moves you make on stage, whether they are voluntary or not.

It’s hard and Dale Carnegie tries and succeeds pretty much in giving pertinent advice in How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Speaking. It is a well structured book that contains many examples of analyzed famous speeches.

I started the book with great expectations because I thought How to Win Friends and Influence People, written by Carnegie, was genius; also, it was sold in 5 million copies and translated in 31 languages. I started reading with great expectations and they were met.

One can write tens or hundreds of books about public speaking so this one is far from being an exhaustive approach but it is certainly a five-star book, which I wouldn’t have wanted to miss. In the end, I would like to state here maybe the most important and meaningful advice that Carnegie gives right at the beginning of the book: practice, practice, practice. It does not matter how much we read, nor how much we rehearse. Alongside theory, the best way to become really good is to get on stage each time we have the possibility and start screwing up.

Written by Andrei

Kiyosaki writes worse than I could possibly write and he is far from considering himself a real writer. But his books, not a few actually, are valuable because they manage to change mentalities.

I know at least 4 people radically changed by Kiyosaki’s books

I also know a lot of multinational companies built upon the principles of the cashflow quadrant that Kiyosaki has promoted through all possible media. On the other hand, I know people who have taken the books I am talking about for a Bible and have narrowed their vision so much that they instantly deny any idea or concept that doesn’t exist in the American’s theory. I could say they live a form of fanatism.

Kiyosaki’s books are dangerous

As dangerous as a knife which you can use both to cut the bread and to kill somedoby. When I read Cashflow Quadrant, a few years ago, I had some revelations. I would exaggerate if I said they changed my life. Actually, books don’t change people, they merely show them that there are alternatives, but people are the ones who take the call. Even running away from responsibility is a choice of its own, but I am not writing about this today.

Cashflow Quadrant can be summed up to the simple scheme right where:
E = Employee
S = Self-employed (freelancer, dentist, lawyer or independent consultant)
I = Investor
B = Business owner

According to Kiyosaki everybody should want to be in the B quadrant because, from his point of view, one can manage to get faster from there to the investors’ quadrant. I found out (and it took me some time) that, first of all, not all people are made for the B quadrant and, second of all, not all the people wish to be there. But no matter if you want to be an employee, a self-employed or the owner of your own business, it is good to know what each of them means and which is the real relation between time and money.

We trade time for money

And this is the exact topic Cashflow Quadrant talks about. It is about the fact that the employee works 9 hours a day and he is paid with a certain amount of money, but if someday he decides that he doesn’t want to do that anymore, he permanently loses his income because he gets fired. The self-employed also trades time for money but if he finds himself one morning in the mood of not getting out of bed, he can do that without losing his income. The only disadvantage is that he will earn less that day (or during that period of time).

One becomes an investor the moment when, as an employee or a self-employee, has saved a serious amount of money which he tries to multiply. Likewise happens with the business owner, but you can read about it in Cashflow Quadrant. That is if you have the guts.

Written by Andrei