Microsoft-Gates Lie Essay Example for Free

Microsoft-Gates Lie Essay The experience of reading this book is ironic at this point in time. It is written by a black man from the southside of Chicago who goes from rags to riches beyond most of our wildest dreams. A black man’s route from poverty to incredible success? Is there not a current presidential candidate who has done exactly the same? The timing is uncanny. The book is about the barriers to getting rich. I will explain how it was motivating, easy to read and empowering, even to someone my age, in the text of this report. Explanation of content In the book, Mr. Gray identifies the seven myths that hold people back from getting rich: †¢ The Born Lucky Lie: I have to be born with connections or a special talent to be rich †¢ The Celebrity Lie: I have to hit it big in entertainment or sports to be rich †¢ The Money Lie: I have to have money to make money †¢ The Debt Lie: I have to have zero debt to be rich †¢ The Microsoft-Gates Lie: I have to be super smart and invent something the world relies on to be rich †¢ The Wall Street Lie: I have to know a lot about the stock market or work on it to be rich †¢ The Work Hard Lie: I have to work hard, pay my dues, and be willing to make sacrifices to be rich He explains: †¢ How to work less and make more †¢ What to do when you’re not the next â€Å"American Idol† †¢ How to find your first dollar and turn it into millions †¢ How to manipulate debt in wealth-building †¢ How to move beyond the lottery mentality †¢ How to use common sense, and put it into common practice †¢ How to invest in what you know Mr. Gray tries to break down the walls people build around them to explain why they cannot get rich. His style is no-nonsense and hard-hitting. He challenges the reader to get off the couch, stop making excuses and get going right now. The fact that he was a self-made millionaire by age 14 is very motivating. My Opinion and Analysis I found this book very exciting and energetic. According to the research I did on him, he is a public speaker and I can imagine he is very interesting to hear in person. For someone his age, he has really achieved a lot. The most interesting of the myths for me was the Money Lie. Here he talks about the how the best way to improve and sustain your wealth is living below your means. That means buying a Ford when you can afford a Cadillac, a Timex instead of a Rolex. This struck me because so often we try to make money to spend it immediately on some sort of status symbol – a Ralph Lauren shirt, Addidas sneakers, a BMW or a house on the hill. But he emphasizes living a little below your means to avoid going broke and to ensure you have the money to live and prosper more. That seems very intelligent to me but I think it is a lesson a lot of us could stand to listen to and apply in our own lives. I think he is very effective in getting his points across in the book. I paid attention because he is only 23 years old and was a millionaire at the age of 14. I feel as if I have some catching up to do already. But, as I work towards financial independence from my parents, he laid a groundwork I could build from. He made me look at things from another angle than I am used to and I was impressed. While the book could be taken as an individual person’s guide to wealth creation, I also looked at it from the perspective of our class with more of a management angle. The ideas and rules that he discusses can be applied to business too. Take for example the Microsoft-Gates Lie which basically says: I have to be super smart and invent something the world relies on to be rich. If I were the executive of a company, I might mistakenly think that the only way my company could succeed is to invent something revolutionary. But that is not true. There are many companies who make almost the same product as their competitor and they have high profits. This lie would help me as the CEO of a company to look at other factors that could make my company succeed. This might be in pursuing high levels of customer service, for example. I could train my sales force to pay extra-special attention to customers. Or, perhaps we could emphasize our marketing or look for strategic partners to help us grow the business. In human resources and the motivation of staff, this strategy would work well too. I would love to work for someone that knew the right steps to become rich. As his or her employee, I could look up to them and use them as my mentor to grow my own wealth following their path. They could use this information to teach me. I would be a very happy employee if I had that kind of a leader above me. If we all had the common goal to increase our wealth, that would increase a team spirit in the office as well. We would all be working towards a common goal. I think that would reduce conflict and increase the quality of work employees perform. I would want to work hard with everyone around me if we were all in agreement where we wanted to go. I think it would reduce turnover too. The points he makes in the book can turn into good questions to ask people when they come in to interview for a job. If I were hiring someone, I would want to be sure they are not victims of the lies he describes so they do not bring those opinions into our work environment. Their answers to questions created from this book would help me judge them as appropriate or not to join the organization. Conclusion In the book, Mr. Gray states his purpose of the book as being, â€Å"I want to help you marshal out your own wealth potential, which relates to everything about you – not just your bank account. † Does he do that? I definitely think so. He breaks down myths, gives guidelines to follow and leads by explaining his own example of a pathway to success. I was very impressed by his explanations, his accomplishments and his approach to life. He made me think and he has made me want to lay out a framework for my own approach to the future. I think I am the perfect age to read this book because I am not already a creature of habit, I am young and impressionable. I can take his ideas as my own from the start. I will take the lessons he taught to move forward with my career. He emphasizes that we should invest in what we know. I can translate that to also pursuing what I know as a career. His specific point on this matter gives me a lot to think about moving forward. Money is not everything but it is important in life. If I can start out with the right ideas and ways to approach my relationship with money, I know I will end up further ahead than my peers who did not have the benefit of having read the book. ? Works Cited Get Real, Get Rich by Farrah Gray. Dutton Adult, December 2007.