562. Banks

Banks are institutions that exist in society for the purpose of making bonuses for their directors. Despite their protests to the contrary, they do NOT exist to serve their customers. So long as there is a profit in it for them, they will serve your needs. Once your agenda and theirs diverge, you can no longer rely on them for any kind of support.

Banks can be a useful place to store your money but they will only pay you a paltry rate of interest and will put as many obstacles as they can in your way when you try to take it out again. Today, using electronic methods to move your money around is your best bet. You do need this facility so banks are a necessary evil.

Banks and bankers are not known for their high level  of intelligence or their fine communication skills. They are prone to losing your paperwork and telling you incorrect things in their letters to you. They also make errors when conducting transactions such as misplacing decimal points. You need to watch them carefully and NEVER trust them to get it right.
To achieve great things, it is necessary to exert leverage. This means that you may have to borrow money from the bank once in a while. Once your objectives are clear and you are protected on the down side, this is fine.

DO NOT, HOWEVER, RUN YOUR LIFE ON DEBIT FINANCE (BORROWING).

Do not borrow money for day to day expenses. Keep as large a reserve of cash at the bank as possible so that you never, ever, ever go overdrawn. A suitable amount is one month's gross income. Learn to live within your means and do not give the bank any leverage on you. Leverage is power and the pettifogging little toads will squeeze you at every opportunity. Don't give them the satisfaction.

The key to staying out of debt and living within your means is to master the art of budgeting. At a simple level, this means knowing how much money you have coming in and how much you must pay out. You need to know these figures for the year, quarter, month, week and day. Using spreadsheets makes this exercise very easy. The secret is to set your budgets so that for every day of the plan there is a surplus. The next stage, once you have created the budget is to STICK RIGIDLY TO IT and do not deviate. If you haven't budgeted for it, DON'T SPEND IT !

If you live by this plan, you will have a surplus at the end of the year. Reward yourself by spending 10% of it and invest the rest.

561. What you Show to the World

There is a difference between what is called in Japan "Honne" and "Tatame". This is the difference between what you really think and what you show to the world. If, for you, the two things are too close, then you are giving the world too much of a lever with which it can manipulate you. Do not let anyone ever know what you really feel or think. Be very clear in your own mind where you stand but don't let those outside know.

Keep the stiff upper lip. Don't let them know what hurts or offends you or what things give you satisfaction. Maintain your outward persona carefully. You can use humour to great effect in keeping the outer world out of your inner thoughts.

If you maintain this outer ring of defense around your mind, you will protect yourself both from those who would be deliberately cruel to you and those who would hurt you through ignorance or through their neutral pursuit of their own ends without a care in the world for your welfare.

Very often, too, if you reveal too much about your own personal inner thoughts, you will not be believed. If, for example, you genuinely want to be good, generous and helpful, without the slightest care for your own gain, you will not be believed because everyone else is thinking one thing and saying another and will assume that you are too.

In particular, do not reveal your true thoughts about business, work, investments etc. The system, economy and the institutions are all set up to keep the wealthy wealthy and the poor poor. Any knowledge that you have that works in your favour and against the status quo is knowledge that has been hard won and is not to be shared with those who would misuse it or use it against you.

This is a very practical application of the principle of Omerta.

510. Strengths and Weaknesses

It may be more fun to leverage your strengths and you should certainly do so but you should not fail to strengthen your weaknesses. From time to time, (about every 90 days) you should carry out a SWOT analysis. On a quadrant, you should list your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Keep these in front of you for the next 90 days and repeat and so on and so forth.

358. Leverage

The next most imprtant word (after "Cashflow") in the financial world is "Leverage." This is the reason some become rich while others do not. Leverage is power. Some learn to use it, others have it used against them and yet others fear it. Learn to use the power of leveraged debt in your favour. There are two types of debt : good and bad. Leveraged debt is good debt. Good debt is defined as debt that makes you rich, an example is debt incurred while trading options. Bad debt is defined as debt that makes you poor, an example is excessive consumer debt.
Rich Dad's CASHFLOW Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom

280. Technology

Master all the technology you find around you. (Start with Lego and Meccano). Tecnology is Leverage

122. Miyamoto Musashi, the Wise Warrior.

Read and study Musashi's Book of the Five Rings and that of his rival, Takuan Soho, The Unfettered Mind. Musashi says : " The spirit of defeating one man is the same for defeating ten million. The strategist makes small things into big things." This is a very important point - Learn how to leverage your advantages and assets in order to turn the small things into big. Musashi also says : "Train day and night to make quick decisions. Treat training as part of your normal life." When you get the opportunity to train at your Martial Art, jump at it so you can learn to defend yourself and overcome your enemies. Train every day. If you cannot find a training partner, read your notes or Martial Arts Books or watch training videos. This is called keeping your mind in company with your Art. While philosophy tells you to know yourself so that you may know others, it is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others. Study well, therefore.

"Everything is difficult at first but becomes easy with practice."

Perfect practice makes perfect. Make sure what you practice is perfect, correct. Polish your way, your techniques. "

"It is better to use 2 swords when fighting a crowd, especially if you want to take a prisoner."

"From one thing know ten thousand."

"Do not have favourite weapons or tools. Do not have likes and dislikes (attractions and aversions). Learn to transcend the many pairs of opposites presented by the mind.

"Until trained in how to use them, do not use your weapons."