I’ve been re-reading (re-re-re-reading is more like it) Tony Robbins’ “Money: Master the Game.” As always, I appreciate its fine messages and am grateful that it came into my life. Since reading it for the first time in 2015, I have read dozens of personal finance books, yet Tony’s* passionate and open-hearted style still stands out. In his book, he lays out a financial blueprint to help ordinary, “non-financial types” (which is what I would have called myself) create an empowered financial future by becoming investors.
There are so many wonderful insights and passages in this book, but perhaps one of the most helpful for me was the idea to forget trying to earn our way to wealth and instead invest our way there. As he writes:
“Let’s face it, we’re not about to earn our way to wealth. That’s a mistake millions of Americans make. We think that if we work harder, smarter, longer, we’ll achieve our financial dreams, but our paycheck alone–no matter how big–isn’t the answer…
…”What you can do is make a simple change in strategy and embrace a whole new mind-set. You have to take control and harness the exponential power of compounding. It will change your life! You have to move from just working for money to a world where money works for you.
“It’s time to get off the sidelines and get into the game–because, ultimately, we must all become investors if we want to be financially free.”
“Money: Master the Game,” pp. 49, 54
Before reading the book, I would have agreed with this in theory. However, I had never heard it spelled out so clearly. The book helped me shift from being fixated on building a “big business” (which I wasn’t ready for, anyway) to the idea of managing the money I do make well (which it turns out I was). Tony’s point– that it’s not by earning money that we become wealthy but by investing it–is still probably the biggest gift the book gave me.
The book is full of gems like this, and I am grateful as ever that I was open to hearing the book’s messages. It is a Godsend that through fate or luck I got “the personal finance bug” and got obsessed about taking care of this part of life. “Money: Master the Game” helped launch me on my way to financial empowerment.
Since reading the book, I’ve been a firm believer in the incredibly possibilities for anyone who takes these ideas and acts on them. However, it’s interesting (and a little disappointing) that in the 7 1/2 years since I read this book, and I met very few people (outside of the community of financial do-it-yourselvers) who understand the enormous power of mastering one’s finances.
My experiences talking with friends and family about finances leads me to believe that for many people, personal finance is like a black box: mysterious, inscrutable, threatening. I believe people want to have their finances in order, but limiting beliefs and fears too often get in the way. Plus, life is busy, and for many people, finance seems like too much work (really, I think it’s that they doubt their abilities to learn it ).
For those who are ready, you cannot find a better investing primer than “Money: Master the Game.”
p.s. A few years ago I posted about a magnificent video Tony created to accompany “Money: Master the Game.” Here’s the link to my post (from which you can watch the Youtube video):
The Most Important Financial Decision You Will Ever Make…(Life Changing Video)
*I am comfortable calling Tony on a first name basis. Perhaps this is because my wife and I attended his Virtual Unleash the Power Within back in March, and that’s what everyone (including Tony) at the event did, as well!