I came to see the book called Break Free by Don Soriano while roaming around a bookstore. The design was too simple for my taste but it was also too intriguing so even I’m not a fan of reading books, I still considered getting a copy. Anyway, who wouldn’t want to be an employer from just being an employee in 3 years time or even less which is the idea the book is introducing to us. Good thing I told my manager, Raymund Camat (MoneyTalkPh), about it not knowing he has a copy until he lent it to me. Yippee! So here I am now making a review of “Break Free” and I’ll tell you later if it’s a good buy or goodbye.
Table of Contents
The Best Things About Break Free
As a financial literacy advocate, I decided to make reviews of books and judge if it’s a good buy or a goodbye. If it’s a good buy it means that I totally recommend it even for a non-reader. But if it’s goodbye then I think the book is not worth it to buy or is something I don’t recommend to a beginner.
Easy to Read
First of all, what I really love the book is the way it was written. It has no jargons and complicated terms making the learning process easy. It makes me feel that the author is really talking to me and making me feel that even if I had made a bad financial decision in the past I can still bounce back just like how he did. If you finished a book of Chinkee Tan, the diary series which is the closest in form to this, then you can definitely finish this one.
Compact
The book has only 81 pages. It’s not a pocket-sized book but almost hehe. Though it only has few pages the book offers a step by step on how he was able to achieve financial freedom in a span of 3 years. He also disagreed that experience is the best teacher because the experience of others is an even better teacher. Plus, it’s way less expensive.
Learn the 8 Principles of Being Financially Free
- Don’t quit your job – he recommends not to quit your job yet not until your part-time job or sideline is earning at least twice of what you get from being employed.
- Make the best investment – the best investment is actually personal development. He illustrated how the level of success you’ll achieve is proportionate based on the level of your personal development.
- Money management – being financially free leans greatly on your money management skills. It has nothing to do with how much you are making but on how you are using the money.
READ: Budgeting 101 | Cash Envelope System
- Power of leverage – most of you think that business is about building it solely from your own pocket, time, and effort but he suggested using leverage like using other people’s money, time, experience and effort, risks, etc.
- The best first step to business – you must learn sales because this is the life and blood of all businesses. No matter how great the product is, if no one is buying then your business is bound to fail. Do some part-time jobs related to sales and anything that can be of great value to you in the future.
- Law of association – you are the average of the people you spend your time with, so choose your friends wisely, avoid negative one and surround yourself with mentors.
- Understanding financial freedom – he made a simple formula on how to achieve financial freedom by making your passive income greater than your expenses.
- Success is only 20% skill – because 80% is all about psychology or with what you feed your brain. You need to master yourself first for you to rule the world.
The NOT so Good Things About Break Free
1 Hour Read is Actually a Few Hours
Just like what I’ve said, I am not a reader. Probably the guaranteed 1 hour read just like what’s on the cover of the book is for those who love reading. I actually finished this book in 4 hours with 4 sittings. The possible reason maybe is that some of the topics were so good that I need to flip back some pages to read it again which I believe is a good problem.
The layout is too simple
If you look at the book, the design up to the layout of the text it is pretty simple. I guess Don wanted his book to focus more on the content rather on the flashy design of the cover. I also think that a few additions of a graphic, cartoon, or similar won’t hurt making it more attractive and less boring to read as you can only see texts and nothing but texts until the last chapter.
Pricey
As soon as I got the copy on my hand, the first book I can think of similar to Break Free is Chinkee Tan’s Ipon Diary. I initially thought it’s just around Php 150. Let’s be honest, Php 300+ is kind of too much for this book though I must say that it’s better than the Ipon Diary. I can understand if it’s more than an hour read and its simple design but the price is just not right for this one. With the price, I’ll definitely suggest other books like the “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki and “The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind” by T. Harv Eker.
READ: Rich Dad Poor Dad: A Must Read to Develop a Millionaire Mindset
The Verdict:
Basically, the only negative thing about the book is the price other than that it’s a good read for personal development. But I’ll only recommend this book to you if you have the budget. And also if you would like to know how Don Soriano achieved financial freedom by using a system which he joyfully shared to us thru his book Break Free. Overall I will be giving my seal of approval that this book is really a good buy.
****
Ton is an electronics engineer, financial blogger, insurance agent, and a certified investment solicitor. A multi-awarded financial advisor with clients ranging from lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, business owners, company directors, and OFWs to minimum wage earners had sought advice from him in achieving lifetime financial freedom.