so Robert Kiyosaki is a phoney??

i'm admittedly a closet reader of motivational books, especially Wall Street winners on personal finance, management etc... they rank high in my secret list of "Books that have changed my life" (hey, i'm sure you have one too..)... i'm typically Singaporean i guess - constantly on the drive to make ourselves better, more competitive - which is why this sort of books still regularly top the local best-sellers list .. though if you ask any of us, we would all probably agree that it is mostly "packaged common sense"..:p

anyhow, my list would include books like:-

- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (which i still think is a good book on planning for early retirement and this elusive thing called "Financial Freedom"... i mean, why not? if it is our dream not to spend our whole lives working unhappily or grudgingly and to spend our lives doing what we love to do..)

- Who Moved My Cheese? - by Spencer Johson (still my favourite "Change Management" book.. a lot of gems in this one, albeit the large font size, giant pictures of cheese and lots of repetition with regards to mice running around - a must-read 'cos "The only constant is change".. heh heh.. cliched..)

- Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen (simple truth about being happy at work - if all of us followed its principles, i think we will no longer see grumpy salesgirls, stressed out executives and office cleaning aunties who look like they could zap our eyes out with their fierce stares if we forget to lift up our feet while they vacuumed the floor area around us)

- Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (this is the book that is most often accused of being "packaged common sense".. but i personally feel has helped me to prioritise the day's tasks with principles like "Begin with the end in mind" and "First Things First" and to keep relationships with "Seek win-win" and "Synergise".. read it even if you have to read it critically..)

- The One Minute Manager by Spencer Johnson (another book by the same guy who did the cheese book - i finished this one while standing in MPH bookstore but decided to buy it in the end cos it seems to be the perfect solution to my poor handling of our over-reliant staff (who now go through the day in a daze, reacting to our instructions without using their brains)

these are all pretty good books and usually take no more than a day or two (and sometimes even half an hour, especially for the shorter books) to be read from cover to cover. but if you remember what they write, i think they help