WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S GOAL?


"What do you want to be when you grow up?" That is a question most of us have been asked.


I had many interests as a kid, and it was easy to choose. If it sounded exciting and glamorous, I wanted to do it. I wanted to be a marine biologist, an astronaut, a Marine, a ship's officer, a pilot, and a professional football player.


I was fortunate enough to achieve three of those goals: a Marine Corps officer, a ship's officer, and a pilot.


I knew I did not want to become a teacher, a writer, or an accountant.


I did not want to be a teacher because I did not like school. I did not want to be a writer because I failed English twice. And I dropped out of my MBA program because I could not stand accounting.


Ironically, now that I have grown up, I have become everything I never wanted to become. Although I disliked school, today I own an education company. I personally teach around the world because I love teaching. Although I failed English twice because I could not write, today I am best known as an author. My book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, was on the New York Times best-sellers list for over seven years and is one of the top three best-selling books in the United States The only books ahead of it are The Joy of Sex and The Road Less Traveled. Adding one more irony, Rich Dad Poor Dad and my CASHFLOW board game are a book and a game about accounting, another subject I struggled with.


So what does this have to do with the question: "What is your goal in life?"


The answer is found in the simple, yet profound, statement by a Vietnamese monk, Thich Naht Hahn: "The path is the goal." In other words, finding your path in life is your goal in life. Your path is not your profession, how much money you make, your title, or your successes and failures.


Finding your path means finding out what you were put here on this earth to do. What is your life's purpose? Why were you given this gift called life? And what is the gift you give back to life?


Looking back, I know going to school was not about finding my life's path. I spent four years in military school, studying and training to be a ship's officer. If I had made a career sailing for Standard Oil on their oil tankers, I would never have found my life's path. If I had stayed in the Marines or had gone to fly for the airlines, I would never have found my life's path.