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Friday, September 28, 2012

’m told that sharing a checking account with one’s spouse is practical. I’ll never know—I can’t do it.

All relationships have landmines; mine involve money. When I was 13, my father—whom I adored—had an affair with, and married, a woman with four children. A wealthy man, he financed them all, but never paid my mother child support regularly.
Out of the Box
How do couples handle their money? Many couples simply...don’t. 43% say they didn’t discuss money before marriage; 46% say they’ve lied to their partner. Check out the infographic.

My dad and his new family moved into a mansion with a pool in a leafy suburb five states away. My mother, brother, and I squeezed into a crummy apartment.

Whenever I visited, my father was either distant or hostile.Despairing, I had to remain gracious—anything to keep the checks coming.

Later, Dad reneged on sending me to college, as stipulated in the divorce agreement; but he covered hisstepchildren’s tuitions. Raging, I worked two full-time jobs, sent myself to Temple University, and saved enough to sue him.

I won and transferred to Columbia. I grinned through reams of written and verbal assaults. Keep the checks coming. At graduation, I was free.

But I would never mix money with relationships again. For me, the two are intertwined with abandonment, dependence, power, and anger. By keeping my financesseparate from my husband’s, I can make my own mistakes and decisions—and keep my marriage free of landmines.

Serious Signs of Becoming Conscious



You might be becoming conscious if … you have a sudden urge to cross your legs, close your eyes, and start chanting ‘om’ in the middle of a business meeting.
You might be becoming conscious if … you can’t sit down in front of the TV until you’ve checked in with your spirit guides.
You might be becoming conscious if … you have the irresistible urge to start plastering that old chevy in the yard with stickers of rainbows and unicorns.
You might be becoming conscious if … your Super Bowl party menu consists of gluten-free granola, celery sticks, tofu pizza and herbal tea (organic, of course).
You might be becoming conscious if … you tell your kids they can’t go do their homework until they’ve pulled an Angel Card and meditated on its deeper message.
You might be becoming conscious if … you really would rather spend that extra five bucks on the organicversion of the ‘death-by-chocolate’ cake with raspberry glaze and vanilla creme drizzle.
You might be becoming conscious if … you’ve missed the last 3 America Idol shows because your pile of personal development books keeps seducing you away (and getting bigger).
You might be becoming conscious if … your belly-button really does become more interesting than the boys at the bar.
You might be becoming conscious if … you have a sudden ‘aha!’ about Rosey Grier and needle point.
You might be becoming conscious if … Fox News triggers sudden burst of hysterical laughter followed by - as soon as you can catch your breath – hitting the ‘off’ button

7 Warning Signs That Something is Wrong


Many years ago during a spectacular typhoon, we saw a man sheltering behind the building opposite, preparing to make a dash for safety. As we watched from our window, he opened his umbrella and then stepped out from the building. His umbrella was immediately blown inside out and almost whipped away. He was forced backwards until he ducked back behind the building. The funniest thing is he did this twice more! He finally gave up and went into the rain minus the umbrella.
We laughed then, but when the storms of life hit us, it is no laughing matter. And yet, the lessons are the same – every single time. I have no idea why this gentleman was out in the storm, he definitely must have known about the typhoon.
If we parallel that with our lives – how prepared and alert are we? No crisis happens overnight: it’s a gradual deterioration of conditions that comes to a head suddenly. If we pay attention, we can pick up the signals along the way. If we can see ourselves and others clearly, we can interpret those signals with accuracy and take appropriate, timely action.
So what tells us something is wrong? Here’s seven early warning signs that tells us something is off key.
Tiredness
When situations, people, ideas sap our energy, 9 times out of then they are not for us. Just think about the times when we are brimming over with joy and energy. We think this is exceptional, but it can be the rule. We just assume that we have to put up with people and situations which drain us, that this is “normal”, it is not. It is a system alarm.
Irritability
When the smallest things get blown out of proportion, there is something bigger under the surface. Sometimes, it is just a passing phase, but sometimes, if we get angry about small issues to divert from the big ones, we must stop and think. For instance, with a chronically bad relationship, it is best to examine what is beneath our irritation and find comprehensive solutions before crisis hits.
Inertia
A little bit like tiredness, but it could manifest in unrelated areas, like when we want to start something we love but can not get traction. Typically it comes from many different places or too many conflicting choices. For example, from being the wearer of too many hats: someone’s parent, someone’s spouse, business owner and being bombarded by information from all these avenues. So rather than tackle or eliminate things one at a time, we give up and do nothing at all: inertia.
Helplessness
When we are giving up our power to someone else, when the controls of our lives are not in our hands: financially, emotionally or physically. Are we constrained in these ways by our situation or by a person? It is crucial that we find the source – sometimes “love” or “helpfulness” are masks for creating situations to someone else’s advantage and our detriment. These things should make us feel nurtured, not helpless – there’s a clue.
Hopelessness
A long while of feeling helpless will lead to a complete lack of hope, a lack of belief in our own power. And putting a brave face on hopelessness is not the solution, it only saps the energy required to build up our spirits and regain our power. It does not have to take a great crisis to find our power. It just takes belief.
Autopilot
When life becomes routine and the routine is an escape hatch from growth, change and living. When we bury our heads in the sand and march forward through the rhythms of the day to avoid thinking about how we don’t like our lives. It is safe, it is unchanging, it is stultifying.
Feeling stuck
A direct result of autopilot: we are stuck by our own reluctance to make changes we know we must. This could range from changing jobs or a relationship, to adjusting our expectations, to all of the above. We could also be stuck because we are passively waiting for someone or something to change and unstick us. Maybe that will happen, but the results may not be to our liking.
These are just seven of the most commonly ignored signs. I would say, when life just seems to not be hitting the spot, when we are discontented – these are the times to start looking into our lives honestly and address the things that are simply not working, the sooner the better. It is time to stop pretending, find the truth and live from genuine joy.
If we bring our entire reality to full consciousness and take positive action, we will never find ourselves with the choice of being stuck behind a building or being drenched in the rain. We will be home and dry. Are there any additional ways your mind and body uses to alert you when something is wrong?

How to Decide Between Two Equally Good Things



By Michael Masterson
Number Three Son had narrowed down his summer internship choices to two. But he was stuck. Where should he go? The office in Mumbai or the one in Melbourne?

Each had its benefits and drawbacks. India was more exotic, but Australia was more familiar. India might offer him more challenges, but Australia would give him a more personalized mentorship. India had more resources, but Australia was focused on what he wanted to do.

How do you choose between two good options when they are so evenly balanced?

Number Three Son asked for advice. His mother said one thing. His aunt said another. His friends were equally divided.

I was sitting on the porch, enjoying a Padron Aniversario 1964 (Natural) when he put the question to me.

"This is driving me nuts," he said. "How do I decide?"

"Why don't you flip a coin?" I suggested.

"Flip a coin? Is that how you make your important decisions?"

"Not always. But sometimes." I said.

"I can't believe that."

I told him the story about how I got into the direct-marketing business. If you are a long-time ETR reader, you may have heard it before, so I'll retell it very quickly.

It was 1981. I was sitting on a beach in Key Largo, watching jet skiers cutting back and forth on the Gulf's crystal blue water. Next to me sat Tom. Tom's hair curled at his shoulders. He was smoking what was then called a "doobie." Tom's job was to put people on the jet skis and then take them off. That was it. And it appeared to be about all he was capable of doing.

I had just been offered three great job opportunities. A desk position at the Miami Herald, a reporting job at the St. Petersburg Times, and an editorial management slot with a newsletter publisher in Boca Raton. In my mind's eye, I could see three career paths ahead of me: publisher, journalist, or marketing maven. All three appealed to me. I couldn't choose.

So I decided to leave it up to Tom. I explained the jobs, the benefits, the drawbacks, and my thoughts about where they could lead me. Tom listened semi-attentively. Then, when I had told him everything there was to tell - all the details and all the nuances - I put my hand on his bronzed shoulder and said, "What should I do, Tom? Which way should I go?"

He took a what-we-then-called "toke" from his doobie, exhaled contentedly, and with a glassy-eyed gaze said, "Boca. Go Boca, man."

That, in fact, is exactly what I did. I took the Boca job and things turned out very nicely.

Just hours before Number Three Son had tracked me down on the porch, MaryEllen Tribby and I had spent some time with Brian Andreas, an ETR reader and an attendee at our business-building boot camp. In describing his amazing success in business, Brian said, "Everybody thinks that you can go through life making logical decisions based on factual input. One logical decision after another. But when I think about my career, it is clear that many of the most important directions I took were impulsive or arbitrary. Life doesn't unroll in a straight line. It's more complicated than that."
I thought about The Black Swan, the best-selling book by Nicholas Taleb that made a similar point. Life's most critical events, Taleb argued, cannot be predicted.

Those thoughts were in my head when I suggested to Number Three Son that he flip a coin. Both opportunities were likely to be very good to him. But it was impossible to predict how they might develop and what benefits they would provide.

I pointed out that asking Tom to make my decision back in 1981 was the equivalent of flipping a three-sided coin. I wasn't relying on Tom's wisdom. I was simply using him to arbitrarily pick one of three good choices. What I did with those opportunities and what I got from them would depend on my actions later on.

So Number Three Son went into his room and put on some music. And when he was ready, he flipped a coin.

"What did the coin tell you?" I asked.

"It said to go to Australia."

"And how do you feel about that?"

"I feel good, actually."

"That's great," I said. "So now you've decided. Now you can go forward and make something of that opportunity. It's entirely up to you."

I didn't tell him that if the coin toss had made him feel bad I would have told him to ignore it and go to India. That's one useful outcome of making decisions arbitrarily. Sometimes they will show you how you really feel about the choices you're considering.

This happened to me about eight months ago. The stock market had me worried, and I was thinking about pulling out all my money and putting it into cash. I called up one of the advisors I most respect and asked him what I should do. He made a very cogent argument for staying in the market. I thanked him for his advice, hung up the phone, and sold my stocks. Not because I don't trust him. I do. But because his advice forced me to reckon with what my gut was telling me. And my gut was telling me to get out.

We store our emotional intelligence in our limbic brain. We do our rational thinking in our neocortical brain. The two are connected, but they don't always communicate well with one another.

Sometimes you need a coin toss to help you know what your limbic brain wants you to do.

For Number Three Son, his limbic brain had already told him to go to Australia. That's why he felt good when the coin toss came up Australia.

Just to be clear - I am not suggesting that all decisions should be made by tossing coins. I don't believe that at all. Quite the opposite, I believe we should use our rational faculties to analyze problems, to break them down into smaller issues and figure them out. But when the rational answers are in, you must compare them to your gut instinct.

Good decisions are made when both parts of your brain are saying the same thing. And when your rational mind tells you that both options are good and you are not sure what your limbic brain is saying, then an arbitrary decision-making process like flipping a coin can be very helpful.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Benefit of Doubting


by Michael Webb



Several years ago a minister from the United States went to visit
one of his denomination's congregations in Africa.  When he got up
to the pulpit to preach he noticed by the style of clothing that
members of one of the local tribes sat in the front of the room
while those from a different tribe seemed to be forced to sit in
the back.

Knowing that there is much tribal animosity in the country, the
minister scrapped his notes and began preaching about unity, how
we're all one in Christ and how we are to love our spiritual
brothers. After the condemning sermon, the visiting minister sat
down and the local pastor leaned over to him and stated "Our
members sit in different sections out of much love and respect for
one another.  In our culture, it is our way of showing honor to the
visiting tribe by giving them the best seats in the church."

Had the preacher not jumped to conclusions, he would have saved
himself from humiliation and from offending the church members.
While he might not have had the opportunity to ask why they sat
apart before his sermon, he could have certainly done so afterwards.

How often do we make the same mistake in our relationships?  How do
you think your relationship is affected when you allow yourself to
get bent out of shape over what appears to be a rude waiter, a
slothful co-worker, an insensitive pastor or an uncaring mate?

Consider the following scenario.

You call your wife at home during your lunch break to ask her what
she's making for dinner.  She snaps back "I don't know.  Gotta run.
Talk to you later."  and then hangs up.

Instead of going the "Jumping to Conclusions" route, let's play the
"Benefit of the Doubt" game.

Could it be that:

1.  She is planning a surprise dinner for you and didn't want you
to know about it.  She got flustered at your call thinking you
might be on to her.

2.  Little Johnny is throwing up on the persian rug, lunch is
burning on the stove and someone is knocking on the door.

3.  She has awful cramps, a blistering headache and you woke her up
from a much needed nap.

4.  She is on the other line with a relative calling from Sri Lanka
at $3 a minute.

5.  She is right in the middle of a really good episode of Jerry
Springer (if there was such a thing).

When you arrive home you lovingly ask your lovely wife why she hung
up on you so quickly.  If her answer matches one of your "Benefit
of the Doubt" possibilities, you win.  If it doesn't match, you
still win because you didn't sit in judgment of her all afternoon,
brewing over the fact that she was a little curt.  And best of all,
you open a dialog of communication so hopefully any
misunderstanding doesn't happen again.

Athena and I like to play this game when we are out around town.
We come up with some great explanations why the Toyota SUV
just cut us off in traffic, why the cashier practically ignored us
and why our friends didn't return our calls.  Most importantly, we
try to do the same when we are confronted with potential "Jumping
to Conclusion" situations in our relationship.

Sure, we still fall back into our condemning and judgmental ways
from time to time.  But we are working at it.

If you find yourself regularly getting frustrated, angry or even
furious at others, it is possibly because you haven't considered
the benefits of doubting

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The Lowest Point in My Life


The Open Book Policy

Some ETR readers ask me why I share so much about myself, particularly my failures. I tell them that the "open book" policy is important when you're trying to motivate people into action. It's essential to show you that I've overcome some struggles in my life, so that you will see it possible to overcome yours as well. Today you'll hear about one of the worst days of my life, and how it became a turning point for me. It's embarrassing, but I know it will help you.

Craig Ballantyne

"Anxiety is usually caused by lack of control, organization, preparation, and action." - Kekich Credo #97




By Craig Ballantyne
He was a five-foot-six, 310 pound, 56-year-old lawyer that was stressed out, obese and had a myriad of health problems. And yet, I had to ask him to take me to the hospital.

The year was 2006. This was the year that my online business would grow exponentially, but before that could happen; I had to go through one of my biggest struggles.

At this point in my life, I may have been a bit of a hypocrite in the way I lived. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were gym days. I would wake up at 4:30 a.m. to work on my online business before heading uptown to the gym to meet my first client. After a few hours of training, I'd return to my downtown apartment to spend the rest of the day creating workouts, writing emails and shooting exercise videos for my website.Tuesdays and Thursdays were dedicated entirely to my online business and Saturday nights were devoted to staying out way too late and drinking too much.

Burning the candle at both ends caught up with me. I wasn't a 21-year-old anymore, but I made the mistake of living like I was...

On New Year's Day of 2006, I experienced my first incident. That holiday season had been particularly busy with Christmas parties and early morning gym sessions resulting in missed sleep.  For whatever reason, my body responded with what appeared to be a panic attack or anxiety attack. For twelve hours my heart rate was elevated, my breathing was labored, and I felt terrible. I worked through that particular episode with sleep, a yoga session, and a week of better living.

An anxiety attack, for those of you that have never had one, is a terrible experience. You feel as though you have no control of your life. You wake up in the middle of the night literally thinking you are having a heart attack, even though you know that's not the case.

After recovering from my first attack my feelings of invincibility returned and I began to slip back into the same bad habits. Each night I would stay up until 11 p.m. and wake up at 4:30 a.m. to keep working on my business. These hours might seem like child's play to a medical resident, but I simply wasn't meant to keep them.

In March, I woke up on a Tuesday morning after a rather strange dream. Within minutes I could feel the onset of another anxiety attack. I knew it was coming and yet there was nothing I could do about it. But this time it just wouldn't go away. No matter what I tried there was no relief. Day after day I dealt with the symptoms: a tight chest, tingles in my head and arms, and short, shallow breaths.

This turned the next six weeks into an incredibly difficult period for me. I tried everything, from Qi Gong to meditation to yoga in order to get rid of the symptoms, but nothing worked. Not even bringing home a lil' chocolate lab puppy brought me relief.

There were good days, where the symptoms felt like background noise and there were bad days, where it took all of my power not to go to the hospital. But eventually, as I mentioned earlier, I lost that battle too...

It was a regular Wednesday morning and my client was doing bodyweight exercises in the small, upscale studio in uptown Toronto. Near the end of his workout, I gave up. I had to get out of there. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. Fortunately, my client gave me a ride to the emergency room of St. Michael's. Just being there lessened my symptoms significantly and hours later, after a chest x-ray that showed nothing was wrong with me, I was sent home wearing a heart-rate monitor.

I sat down at my computer and began searching the Internet (again) for the solution to my problems. That's when I stumbled across an eBook called "Panic Away". Within an hour of downloading the book, I was cured by five simple words in Chapter Two. Literally cured. It was almost as though I had been shaken and told to snap out of it.

I was too busy for this, I said to myself. I had a call with my business coach in an hour and we were working on a product launch for my fitness business that would greatly increase my sales. I needed to dedicate my energy and focus to that project, not worrying about my health.

There was nothing wrong with me. The doctors proved it. The heart rate monitor data would later confirm it. I knew what to do, what changes to make and that I needed to stop being a fool.

That was when I grew up, perhaps a lot later than I should have, but better late than never.

We all suffer from anxiety, but I hope you never experience the same intensity of symptoms that I dealt with. If you do, please see your doctor and make the changes in your life that they recommend.

But for day-to-day situational anxiety, we can turn to one of my daily guiding documents (and one that should be in yours as well), the Kekich Credos. Revisiting #97 which is posted above, says, "Anxiety is usually caused by lack of control, organization, preparation, and action."

Look at the stressful situations in your life and identify how you can overcome them through better living, organization, preparation, and action. In business, accept that at some point you will need to take action and fail forward. But if you do all the preparation work and you take small, educated risks, then you will maximize your chances of success while lowering your stress and anxiety.

You also need to set rules for your life and stick to them. (If you aren't sure how to do this, watch this short video and read this article where I describe mine.)

Despite a handful of setbacks following that low point in my life, it's now been years since I've felt even a twinge of panic. My stress levels are low, my life is filled with better people, and more importantly my external devotion to my 1 Million Transformation Mission keeps me focused on what really matters.

It was during that time I also discovered that one should never, ever give up on looking for the solution to your problems. When I read those five words in that simple eBook, I knew that after six weeks of searching, I had finally found the missing factor that would lead to my recovery.

"There's nothing wrong with you." 

That was it. That's all I needed to hear.

I read that again and again, and said to myself, "I'm way too busy for this." And that was it. I wish everyone's problems could be solved so simply. However, no matter what you are going through, I'll leave you with this advice.

You must look at what could be, not what you are. You can change. Things can be different. It's up to you. So much can be accomplished with a long-term vision and resilience to short-term setbacks. Stay strong, and let us know how we can help

Friday, September 21, 2012

How to Become What You Want to Be



By Michael Masterson
"If you want to be a writer, you have to write."

I was sixteen years old when my father said those words to me. They were both kind and cruel. And I never forgot them.

The first time I can remember wanting to be a writer was several years earlier. I was eleven or twelve years old. It happened in the kitchen on a weeknight.

I had written a poem for Sister Mary Something at St. Agnes elementary school. My rhyming quatrain was titled, pretentiously, "How Do I Know the World is Real?"

I was sitting at the kitchen table finishing it off when my father walked up behind me. I could feel him reading over my shoulder. I felt anxious and embarrassed. This little thing I was making, this first poem, was being scrutinized by a very serious critic. In addition to being the man who sat at the head of the table at dinner and in the living room thereafter, my father was a credentialed writer, an award-winning playwright, a Shakespearean scholar and a teacher of literature, including poetry.

I remember my father, on Saturday mornings, hunched over student essays, muttering complaints about "virtual illiterates" and mockingly reading passages out loud to my mother that sounded perfectly good to me, but elicited derisive laughter from her. I didn't feel at all comfortable having my fragile young poem exposed to the awesome danger of his critical mind.

It must have only been a minute, but it felt much longer. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder, gentle and warm. "You may have a talent for writing," he said. And then he turned his attention to the refrigerator, took out a beer and went back to his reading chair in the living room.

I wrote a lot of poetry in the months that followed and I began to think of myself as a writer. I liked that feeling. But soon other interests: touch football, the Junior Police Club, and Virginia Lanzo crowded my life.

Gradually I wrote less and less. I still yearned to be a writer and I began to feel guilty about not writing. To assuage my guilt, I promised myself that my other activities qualified as life experience, and I needed that to become the writer I wanted to be.

The truth was I never really understood what it meant to be a writer. I just knew that it was something I wanted to become. I told myself that it was okay not to write so long as I spent some time now and then wanting to be a writer.

This was the shape of my delusion when, at 16, I asked my father finally, "So how does a person become a writer?"

I will never forget his answer. He said, "The way to become a writer is to write."

When my father told me this, he was saying two things:
  • That I had lost the right to call myself a writer when I stopped writing.
  • That I could regain the title the moment I started writing again.
If you spend a while ruminating on these thoughts you may find them both disturbing and liberating.

In my case, I was disturbed because what I wanted my father to say was the way to become a writer was to read books about writing and then take courses on writing and then perhaps become an apprentice to a writer and then begin writing little bits here and there and finally, after three to 10 years of education, preparation and qualification, I would somehow automatically become a writer. In the meantime, I would be a writer in training - which seemed to carry the prestige of being a writer without the responsibility of actually writing.

But my father's definition wouldn't allow that. As long as I was studying writing or preparing myself to be a writer and yet not actually writing I wasn't a writer. It was as simple as that. For many years I struggled with this pronouncement and subconsciously resented my father for making it.

Lots of people feel like they can keep their dream alive simply by living in a state of becoming. "I am not yet the person I want to become, but so long as I continue to express a wish to become that person, I keep that possibility alive and deserve credit for doing so."

My father was telling me that if I wanted to become a writer the first thing I had to do was to refuse to accept any psychological credit for wanting to be a writer. If I wanted to become a writer there was only one thing I could do: start writing.

If you really want to do something, don't worry about qualifications, credentials and certifications, just do it.

Accepting my father's lesson was like learning to swim in cold water. Painful at first but invigorating after I got used to it. After the initial disappointment of giving up the delusion that the state of becoming a writer was as good as being one I had no choice but to jump over the becoming stage and simply be.

I did that by writing, every day. And when I learned the secret of getting up early and writing first thing in the morning - hours before other people trailed into work - then I began to really live my dream.

These days I usually get to the office between 6:30 and 7:00 and the first thing I do is brew a cup of coffee and fire up the computer. There is no better feeling than getting going - sometimes by writing in my journal but more often by tackling something tougher, like a book chapter - in the morning when the office is dark and quiet.
The best part about being a writer, I have discovered, is the writing.

Here's a bonus thought: the best way to become something special is also the fastest and the easiest, just start doing it. Don't wait for the proper time. Don't wait until you've finished your education. Don't insist on getting all your qualifications first. Just start doing it.

That, I realize now, was the other side of what my father was telling me. If a writer is someone who writes - and not someone who has an MFA in Creative Writing or even someone who collects a check for writing - then I could become a writer simply by starting to write! I didn't have to take any courses or complete any qualifications or get someone to pay for my writing.

I become a writer the moment I start writing and I cease to be a writer the moment I stop. From an existential perspective, this is exactly right. If you live by this perception, nobody can stop you from becoming what you want to be and you don't have to wait for anyone's approval or acknowledgement. You just make a decision to become and then you become.

This idea may apply to the dream of becoming a writer, one might argue, but what if your dream were to be a doctor or a lawyer or a professional basketball player?

I'd say yes you can. If your dream of being a doctor (or a lawyer, etc.) entails getting paid for your work, then you will have to go through the officially sanctioned process. But if your dream is to do what doctors are supposed to do, to help heal people, then you can become a doctor, simply by starting to help people heal.

Before you write in to tell me how irresponsible I am, let me say that I am not advocating that ETR readers practice medicine without licenses. What I am saying is that if you want to be anything, even something that in the regulated world requires education and certification, you can become that person simply by doing the thing you want.

Don't worry about not being qualified and don't worry about not getting paid for it. If you have a dream that's been long deferred, don't spend another day talking about what you will do one day, just do it.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

People Power: Whom Do You Trust with Your Money?


Take the Extra Step

You work hard for your money. Very hard. And so the last thing you want to do is hand it over to the wrong person. Today, Susan Fujii explains how to choose the right people to trust with your money.

Craig Ballantyne

"The best investment you will ever make is your steady increase of knowledge. Invest in yourself. Thirty minutes of study per day eventually makes you an expert in any subject - but only if you apply that knowledge. Study alone is no substitute for experience. Education is always painfully slow." - Kekich #93


By Susan Fujii
In today's technology-driven world, you can easily go for days without needing to speak face-to-face with another human being.

Need to get gas? No attendant necessary, just pay at the pump.

Groceries? Use the self-checkout lane.

Need some cash? Stop by the nearest ATM.

Hungry? Place your order online and have it delivered.

I could go on for several paragraphs, but I'm sure you get the idea. It's rare today that we take the time to speak with the peoplebehind these businesses.

Growing up when I did (ahem, many years ago) in a small, rural American town, this wasn't always the case. I knew all of the bank tellers by name and they knew me. I exchanged smiles and face-to-face pleasantries with the gas attendants and supermarket check out clerks, and personally knew the owners and the staff of every business in town.

I, of course, completely took this for granted and never gave it much thought...

Until a recent conversation I had with a fellow investor friend who was interested in my opinion of a popular investment newsletter.

I immediately told him, "It is absolutely worth your money--I know the chairman and the editor to the specific letter you're thinking of personally and they are wonderful, ethical human beings in addition to having a great track record."

My investor friend appreciated my recommendation, but was surprised that I personally knew the people who wrote the newsletter (this, by the way is very easy to do--I am not famous, but if you go to any investing conference where the person in question is speaking, you can just about always meet them in person and get a true sense of who they are and what they believe.)

This one simple rule has contributed immensely to my financial success and I am positive it will help you, too:

Know the people behind the business.

I am so thankful for my conversation with my friend because I had taken this principle for granted for years, but I firmly believe that adding this "secret" weapon to your investing arsenal will help you become a much better investor.

It astonishes me how many well-meaning investors do some or all of the following:
  • Buy a share of stock in a company without knowing who the CEO or Chairman of the Board is.
  • Subscribe to an investment newsletter without knowing who publishes it and what their beliefs, values, and track records are.
  • Hire a financial advisor to manage their investments without knowing whether the advisor successfully manages his or her own investments.
If I am going to trust someone with my hard-earned dollars, whether it's a company whose stock I am buying or a high-priced newsletter I'm considering subscribing to, I want to know whom I am dealing with...who is the person behind the business?

This is because I don't do business with businesses--I do business with people. (And you should, too!)

This holds particularly true in the investing world where most newsletters, financial advisors, and brokers are not well-established household name brands with 50-year proven track records of ethical behavior and success.

Just who exactly is this newsletter person promising to tell me the secret of "How the strange disappearance of element '107' could make me a fortune next week" or promising to "Double My Money in 2011 Guaranteed..."?

I am inherently skeptical and actually go find out, and I hope you will, too.

Bruce Lee was a famous skeptic, saying,

"There are lots of guys around the world that are lazy. They have big fat guts. They talk about chi power and things they can do, but don't believe it." -- Bruce Lee

Exactly.

A healthy dose of skepticism, particularly when entrusting your money to someone, is a good thing.

Your job is to do the hard work of sorting out the wheat from the chaff, the Bruce Lee's of finance from the Bernie Madoff's, or as they say in Texas, those with cattle from those with "all hat, no cattle".

And focusing on people is an important part of that equation. When I look into the "person behind the newsletter" I get a very, very good idea of the entire newsletter empire.

Even if you cannot meet the editor in question in person, the beauty (and the curse) of the Internet is that there is a vast array of information available on any person whom you wish to find out about.

A quick Google search will provide you with volumes of information about someone. Many times these authors have been interviewed by text or even better on audio or video so you can get a real sense of who they are as a person.

You can ferret out what they believe in, whether or not they know what they are talking about, whether or not they have similar values to you, and whether or not they are ethical. You can also find out their track record and history and learn what other people think of them.

Important questions to ask before forking over your money are:
  • Who is this person?
  • What is their background?
  • What are they trying to sell me?
  • What is their bias?
  • What is their track record?
  • Will they take the time to educate me or do they only care about selling newsletters?
  • Do I believe they are ethical?
  • What can I glean about their personal values and beliefs?
  • Does anyone whom I trust or know personally endorse them or think well of them?
That may sound like a lot, but truly, with the Internet you can find out volumes about a person in just a few minutes.

The sad truth, though, is that many people will never bother to do so!

Please don't be one of them...

Before you hand over your hard-earned money to someone, first see what you can find out about them and meet them in person if you can.

It's not that hard (it's even fun!) and your wallet will thank you tremendously!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

In a blissful relationship household responsibilities are divided up based on talent, not tradition.

Do you ever find yourself saying "I could clean the house better
than she does" or "I could do a better job at painting the house
than he does"?  Then perhaps it's time to reassess your family
responsibilities.  Now, that doesn't mean that if someone is super
talented, they "get" to do all the work.  And while you are at it,
make sure your sons and daughters are chipping in on the chores
(and not just the ones that are traditional to their gender -
duties will only remain stereotyped as long as we keep treating
them that way). Their future roommates and spouses will thank you.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

What's Your Story?


Make Money from Your Life Story

You've had quite a ride, haven't you? It doesn't matter if you're 23 or 73, your life story is interesting. And here's the great thing. You can make money from your hard-knock journey. I have. (Heck, I even make money from my dog's life.) Daniel Levis has. And today, you'll discover how you can too.

Craig Ballantyne

"Stake your territory: create a unique brand for you and your life." - Frank McKinney



By Daniel Levis
To stand out, be recognized or even deserve a seat in the room, you need a good origin story. It's what helps someone remember you after a brief interaction. Maybe it includes a little mystery to keep people intrigued to continue the conversation.

A carefully crafted legend will tell people who you are, why you're uniquely qualified to be a part of their company, what you bring to the table, and maybe even how you plan to benefit from the relationship.

So let's look at the essential structure of such a narrative...

A good origin story subconsciously communicates these three prerequisite qualities of a potential friend or advisor:

Competence: This should be obvious. Your potential customers, in response to your marketing, must be confident in your ability to help them. Colleagues must know that you can carry your own weight in the workplace.

Good character: Everything about your story must convey impeccable ethics. The things you do and don't do or say and don't say are a reflection of your honesty and ability to play fair. 

Good will: Your story is the perfect vehicle for displaying empathy and understanding for the kind of customers and clients you wish to attract. Yes, you are of general high character, but there needs to be a special place in your heart that wants to see this specific type of individual succeed.

Your origin story should answer the question: Who are you? 

Your colleagues and prospects need a frame of reference. They need to know some basic facts about your background. And more importantly, they need sound reasons to believe you are the right person to be dispensing the kind of advice they're looking for.

If you give them a litany of facts about your achievements, accreditation, experience etc., you may bore them or come off as boastful. But if you weave these facts into a satisfying personal story, you become a fascinating character that people will want to listen to and believe. 

To develop your story, answer these questions:
  • Are you a family man or woman?
  • What were you like as a kid?
  • What did your parents teach you?
  • What did you learn from your first job?
Stay relevant to the needs of your prospects but stitch a half a dozen personal facts into your story. Of course, you will also include some facts about your professional qualifications.
  • What specifically have you done lately that demonstrates you can solve a problem?
  • What's in it for YOU? Your prospects want to know your motivations.
It's not enough for your story to demonstrate a certain skill set, level of experience, or expertise. It should not only be built around your victories.

If you try to portray yourself as a miracle man or woman, your prospects will have a great deal of trouble relating to you. It's important that you share your struggles and the relevant lessons you learned, as well.

Sharing your suffering may be painful. It may make you feel vulnerable. But letting people see a little of your soft underbelly is essential to creating empathy and making a true connection with your target market.

Don't forget to show people that you made hard choices in your life that demonstrate your ethics and integrity. Tell them about a time you were tempted to take an easy way out that threatened to compromise your values and why you rejected the temptation.

Here's an outline to use as a guide:

At the beginning, you have an unfulfilled desire. An antagonistic force -- another person, an institution, the forces of nature, or perhaps some aspect of your own personality stands in the way of your desire.

You muster the courage to step out of your comfort zone and begin searching for a way around this limitation.

You seek out a mentor. You try different tactics with your mentor. Some move you forward while others waste your time and test your resolve.

Chances are you are tested to the breaking point. Great sacrifices are made, until something borderline miraculous allows you to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

Your story allows people to see that you know first hand what it's like to want something so badly you can almost taste it. While at the same time you felt utterly frustrated in your efforts to get it.

So you are now here offering to help others with their thwarted desires. This shared feeling of disappointment is what creates a natural affinity between you and your market.

You've been where they are, you've felt their pain, but you found a cure and want to share it. That's why you're here. You really care about your colleague's or prospect's success. The money is secondary and your story proves it.

If you don't have direct personal experience of frustration, explain how you felt the pain of someone close to you. Tell them how you helped this person find a solution to their problem. In this case, the person you helped becomes the protagonist of the story and you become the mentor.

Your origin story is a powerful targeting tool that serves to attract your ideal clientele. People tend to like people who are similar to them and who share the same core beliefs and values. So, if you tell your story in a way that illuminates your values it will act as a magnet. Some people will be attracted while others are repelled. And this is exactly what you want.

As they climb the relationship ladder, the probability of affinity increases and you don't waste your time with people who are ill fitted for your practice. This might sound discriminatory. It is. But you are not a government agency. The more discriminating you are, the tighter the business bonds you will be able to create.

Such is the awesome practice-building power of a good origin story

Monday, September 10, 2012

Playing Up a Level in Life


Bringing Out the Best in You

Surely you've heard the old saw, "You're the average of the five people that you hang around the most." If the five people you see the most are Norm, Cliff, Carla, Sam, and Woody, then just imagine how you'd turn out. On the other hand, imagine you hung around the best and brightest and most positive people you knew. Don't you think that would make a huge impact on your success? Today, let's talk about doing that. Let's see how you can play up a level in life and bring out the best in you.

Craig Ballantyne

"Your network is your net worth."


By Craig Ballantyne

Twenty-one years ago this month, one of my most significant accomplishments occurred. It happened on a soccer field, and it involved two of my best friends (still to this very day), along with eight other guys that have also been lifelong mates.

It was on a sunny September afternoon in my hometown of Stratford, Ontario, that we became the Southwest Ontario Regional Under-16 champions. It was a long journey to the top, one that spanned seven seasons and many, many losses. But it was one loss in particular that actually turned the tide and changed our mindset from losers to champions. More about that in a moment. 

When we first started out, as a rag-tag group of misfits in the Under-10 division, we lost every game that season. We were the perennial Bad News Bears, traveling to larger cities on an old school bus and getting thumped 4-0, 6-0, even 9-0.

But each year we got a little better and our opponents scored on us a little less (especially when they stopped putting me in net). While we still lost, we actually started scoring a few goals of our own. Suddenly we began beating the mediocre teams in the league. 

Each spring the same core group of boys from last fall would come together, one year older and closer to being the young men we would be on that Under-16 team. Our pre-season indoor training brought optimism and as each one of us improved, so did the others.

Finally, one year we made it to the second round of the playoffs. We were up against the city of Guelph, a perennial powerhouse and a team that we had never beaten. In fact, we considered it a moral victory when we held them to under three goals. That night, in that playoff game, the young boys that we once were played like the young men we had become. 

We traded goals with them in the first half, played on a soggy pitch just outside the world famous Stratford Festival Theater. It was an odd place to have a soccer field, with the theater on one side and a river on the other. Every game was certain to be interrupted by an old couple taking a shortcut across the playing field or a ball getting lost in the river, and adopted by one of the local swans as one of their own.

In the second half, Guelph scored early, but we battled back to a 2-2 tie. Only minutes remained, and overtime - and penalty kicks - loomed. Alas, on nearly the final kick of the game, Guelph scored. They were relieved. In fact, looking at the two teams as the final whistle blew; you might even think that we were the victors.

We might have lost the game, but we won the battle. We had played up a level.

You see this in sports all the time. Perhaps your children have played an exhibition game against a team a year older than them and nearly won - or perhaps even achieved an upset. It happens in the pros and the Olympics too. Small countries, just 1/100th of the size of America, such as Lithuania, come within just a few points of beating the "Dream Team" headed by multi-million dollar superstars.

Why does this happen? And how can we take these lessons and put them to use in our lives?

The answer is to play up a level. You only do that by getting out of your comfort zone. In that game where your child played the older team, there were two perspectives out on the field or court that day.

First, there was the team that was taking the competition lightly - the older kids. "This will be so easy," they thought, "I'm not even going to try." But do you see what happens when this mindset is adopted? It's a loser's attitude and a no-win situation when you play down a level, because even if you do win, there's nothing to be gained. There are no learning experiences when you don't give yourself competition or surround yourself with people that push you to perform.

On the other hand, your youngsters on the underdog team enjoy a mix of sheer terror (look how big these guys are!) and excitement (just imagine if we can score on them first!). Each positive result from a great pass to an excellent block boosts their confidence. Each second that went by with the score tied at zero, or even in their favor was another notch on their belt. 

Each tick on the clock changed their perception from "Can we do this?" to "We can do this" and finally to "We CAN do this!"

Your children grew up that day. Not physically, that takes years, but mentally. Giant leaps forward occur because their coach and mentors knew that only by taking the players out of their comfort zone could they see their true potential.

(When you're done reading this essay, please send a big "Thank you" email to your child's coach for doing this, if you haven't already.)

Now back to your life. How can we incorporate this lesson into your career or into building your business?

The answer is simple. You must put yourself in situations where you have to play up a level. You must surround yourself with positive people that push you to your peak performance. You must volunteer when the boss offers up a terrifyingly difficult opportunity. You must raise your hand when the committee asks for volunteers to lead a group through a monumental task. You must book your plane ticket, register for the conference, and put yourself out there at the seminar and in the post-event networking opportunities. 

You must, you must, you must play up a level any chance you get.

Surround yourself with the best. Build a better network of people that you spend the most time with. Increase your average. Find opportunities that challenge you, terrify you, and bring out the best in you.

That night, after our season ending loss to Guelph, eleven young men left the field as different people. The boys that walked on ninety minutes earlier were nowhere to be found. That feeling never left us over the winter and when it came time for indoor practice, there was a sense of purpose and potential like never before.

As the next season began, each week our confidence grew. We beat Kitchener, a team of untouchables that averaged seven goals against us for many years. We split a home-and-home series with Cambridge, the team we would eventually meet in the finals. And yes, we even beat Guelph. 

Those teams had taught us too many lessons over the years. The students had become the masters. And then, on one sunny Saturday afternoon, just a few miles from where I write to you today, we left the field as champions. That was a feeling that you could never take away from us, and a lesson that will never be forgotten.

Find your opportunity to play at a higher level. Get out of your comfort zone, and seek to be pushed to that potential you are capable of achieving. It's the only way to know what truly resides inside of you.

The Truth About Money


This Message Matters

What you're about to read will likely offend one-third of our audience and mystify another third, while delivering a big breakthrough to the remaining third. If you're in the latter third, it's for you that this message matters the most. When you finally get the truth about building wealth, you'll finally be able to direct your energy to the activities that give you the greatest results.

Craig Ballantyne

"You have much more opportunity to earn more money than you do to 'not spend' money, and yet most people spend hours upon hours clipping coupons and perusing daily deal sites instead of brainstorming how to earn more money and solve people's problems." - Susan Fujii, Kung-Fu Finance


By Craig Ballantyne

Today is the day you discover the politically incorrect truth about money.

This lesson will probably be much different than the one your parents taught you. I know my mother would disagree with what I'm about to say, such as...

Pinching pennies is a losing game. And that obsessing about cutting costs is a waste of your valuable time and energy.
You see, the only way to truly create financial independence and take control of your future is by adding value to the world and creating your own economy.

You don't save your way to wealth by extreme cost cutting.
Instead, you save your way to wealth by increasing your income so you have much more money to save and invest.
And the best way to increase your income today is with an online business.

"But Craig", you might protest, "right now all I can do is try to cut expenses".

I understand. I've been broke.

Unfortunately, personal "austerity" can only get you so far.
Sure you can cut and slash expenses to the bone, but eventually the fact remains that you always do get down to just the bone.

However, you have to eat. You need a roof over your head. And there are always going to be emergencies that come up.
Those are mandatory expenses, and you can't cut them.

Let's take a look at a $40,000 per year income.

In the United States, a person making that much money, with no dependents, would be getting about $600 per week in take-home pay. Let's say your monthly expenses are $600 for rent, $300 for transportation, and $300 for food.

You're left with $1200 per month for everything else (and let's be frank, you're living a spartan existence - albeit a Westernized version - on the above expenses).

But wait, there's more. Reality usually throws in a spouse, a child, even a pet, and things start to get tight. Real tight. Real fast.

That leaves with you two choices.

Put your positive energy into earning more money.

Or exhaust yourself with the negative mindset of cutting costs.

You can only do one or the other.

As NY Times best-selling author Ramit Sethi eloquently put it:

"We have limited cognition and attention, so each additional thing we try to focus on means an overall reduced amount of willpower and attention."

If you had to use your limited willpower to cut back on $2 a day of something you love, versus learning how to negotiate a $10,000 salary increase, which would you rather do?"

Exactly.

Stop trying to cut costs to the bone.

Now you might find this callous or cold, that's fine.

But I'm asking you to trust me...and to take all the energy that you put into slashing your budget and transfer it over to creating value.

It will make all the difference in the world to your wealth building efforts.

Let me tell you a little story.

As you know, I just returned from Europe, specifically Scandinavia. Norway, the first country I visited, is expensive. Outrageously expensive.

In fact, Norway is the most expensive country in the entire world.

Last week's issue of The Economist had Norway at the top of their annual "Big Mac" index. It showed that the iconic burger costs TWO times as much in Norway as in America. And a gallon of gas in Norway is $10. In Toronto, only $6. In America, even less.

And while I had boots-on-the-ground in Bergen, Norway, we decided to check out a McDonald's restaurant (NOTE: I didn't eat anything there.)

Want to guess how much a Big Mac combo costs?

$15 USD.

In Toronto, that same combo costs $7.61.

As a result of Norway's high prices, two of my traveling partners spent most of the time complaining about costs and discussing ways that they could cut travel expenses.

While they complained, I sat there. *Shrug*.

$4, $14, or $40 Big Macs, I really don't care.

No big deal, I thought. If I want a Big Mac (which I don't, of course), I'll just go up to my room, write an email, add value to someone's life, and persuade them to invest money in my business in exchange for giving them more value via one of my products.

Fair deal.

That's how a free market works: Add value. Earn reward.

Essentially, unlike these other guys, I can virtually "create money out of thin air".

Doesn't matter when or where it is, nor how expensive the Big Mac might be, having a global online business allows you to "write yourself a swimming pool", as John Lennon is alleged to have once said.

Normal people, those that don't think like you and I, can't do that.

They don't have a positive outlet for economic energy. All they can do is turn money into a negative issue.

It's too bad they haven't discovered what you and I know.

And that secret is the bottom line.

It's easier - and more positive - for you to ADD value to the world and earn greater rewards than it is for you to try and cut costs.

It's easier to make money than it is to slash expenses.

Now before you disagree, just hear me out.

Making more money is a simple equation.

After all, you are already making money with your skills, right?

So to make MORE money, all you need to do is take your skills, add the way you create value and do it for more people.

That's it.

Add more value = make more money.

It's not rocket science.

Nor is making money the root of all evil.

The correct phrase is:

"The love of money is the root of all evil." - 1 Timothy 6:10

BIG difference.

And not only is money NOT evil, but in fact, money is the answer to a LOT of life's problems.

Don't believe me?

Try going without money for a day.

You might be able to do it if you spend all day in bed, but you sure as heck better not allow your browser surf over to Amazon.com...because you'll wish you had money then.

So back to your money problem.

If you need more money, the best thing for you to do is to switch from a negative cost-cutting mindset to a positive value-adding approach.

If you need money, you must find a way to MAKE more of it.

You can only slash your spending so far. At some point you'll hit the bone of necessity - and you can't cut that.

So you need to switch your energy over to creating more value.

Better to do it now while you're young and full of energy.

Yes, this message is politically incorrect. And yes, it goes against everything that you and I were brought up to believe...

That making money is hard.

That getting rich probably involves something shady.

That it's better to be frugal and clip coupons and drive an extra mile to save a penny on gas (even though this is the ultimate waste of time). That approach is WRONG.

I dare you to believe me...that you can add value to the world, make it a better place, AND make more money ALL at the same time.

In fact, when you make more money, dozens of people will directly benefit from it.

All you need to do is identify the right way for you to add your unique value to the world.

The Mindset of a Champion


The Empowering Belief

At Early To Rise, we preach self-reliance. After all, and this ispolitically incorrect, the only person you can ever truly rely on is yourself. And when you understand that, things will begin to change for you. You will have more mental freedom, knowing that you are in control of your life. Never forget this empowering belief, "You are the one that got yourself into this (whatever 'this' may be), and you are the only one that can get you out of it. Rely on no one else. It is up to you and you alone." Combined with Michael Masterson's politically incorrect advice today, you will now have what you need to develop the success mindset.

Craig Ballantyne

"Don't fret about what you can't control. Focus on building your wealth and protecting it. There is nothing else you can do." - Mark Ford


By Michael Masterson

Do you have the mindset of a champion?

Are you able to look at your career challenges and feel certain you can overcome them? Do you feel, like Mohammed Ali and Michael Jordan must have felt, that you have greatness in your soul?

If your answer is "no," don't worry. I don't have that mindset either.

I never did. I never felt like a natural-born winner. I never had the confidence that the people I admired seemed to have.

I doubted I could ever fully understand anything about business when I started writing about it in 1976. Just back from a two-year stint in the Peace Corps, teaching literature to students in Chad, I got a job with a newsletter called African Business & Trade. I remember looking at that name on the door my first day and thinking, "What is the difference between business and trade?" I learned fast.

My next business-related position was as editorial director for a fledgling publisher in Florida. I had a half dozen freelance writers reporting to me. My job was to edit and polish their work. But I could barely understand what they were talking about: robotics and professional practice management and agribusiness, etc. How could I presume to tell them what to do? Again, I learned fast.

When I set out to create and market my own investment newsletter, I was nearly paralyzed with fear. I was not just worried about failing, I was sure I would. But my doubtfulness was proven wrong once again. That publication earned millions of dollars its first year. Today, it has mushroomed into a $70 million investment publishing franchise.

When I first retired at 39 and spent my days writing poetry and fiction, I didn't imagine for a moment that I'd get any of it published. But in the 12 to 14 months that I did that writing, about a dozen of my stories and six poems were published in literary magazines. Three of them won prizes.

In 1992, Bill Bonner asked me to help him grow his publishing business. I took the job because he made me an irresistible offer. A year later, sales had jumped to $24 million and he asked me if I thought we could eventually be a $100 million business. I remember telling him, "I'd be thrilled if we can keep sales as high as they are. My best guess is that we will get smaller next year, not bigger." But we did get bigger. And when we hit that $100 million target, I said, "Let's just be happy with this." Ten years later, our revenues topped $500 million and our profit margins had doubled too.

When K and I returned from Africa in 1977, we had a $400 car and about $300 in savings. Today, we live in two multimillion-dollar mansions, have tens of millions of dollars in the bank and brokerage accounts, and interests in businesses with a combined value of well more than $20 million.

So I know that you can be successful in life without thinking like a champion. I know it's possible to accomplish amazing things.

I'm telling you this in case you, too, are full of doubt and fear. I want you to know that you don't necessarily have to change your "attitude" to be a winner.

I tried to change. I read the books and studied the tapes. I shouted mantras while driving and yelled at myself in the mirror. I did it all, but it didn't change the way I felt. If I'd had to wait 'til my attitude changed, I'd be waiting still.

Instead, I found something different. I call it the Secret Path for the Timid. It is a low-key, back-door strategy that I believe will work for anyone who has a humble heart and a doubtful mind.

The success I have had came from two very simple ideas:
  1. If I didn't have an abundance of natural talent, I could make up for it by working harder to acquire the skills and knowledge I needed.
  2. If I didn't have the natural genius to come up with great ideas, I could find out what rich and successful people were doing and imitate exactly what they did.
When I took that job with African Business & Trade, for example, I spent hours every evening in the National Library, studying the subjects I was writing about. I never told my boss I was doing that extra work because I didn't want him to know how ignorant I was. I simply worked twice as many hours as the other writers. And slowly but surely, I began to know what I was talking about. Eventually, I was as good as any writer on the team.

When I started writing my first sales letter, I hadn't the faintest notion of how to do it. So I spent several weeknights and weekends reading every successful sales letter I could get my hands on. I copied lines that caught my eye. I made notes about how the sales pitches were structured. I studied how the offers were designed - the pricing, premiums and guarantees- that made those great sales letters so effective.

Gradually, I learned what I needed to know. The mysteries that had befuddled me as a beginner in business and marketing slowly became clear.

With each small success, my confidence grew. But it was not confidence in myself. It was confidence in the process of working hard and emulating success.

Years later, after I had built many businesses and acquired wealth, people began treating me like a champion. They assumed I had natural born talents they lacked.

Part of this was my fault. To motivate the people who worked for me, I put on the mask of a champion. I pretended to be undeterred by any problems and happy to take on any challenge.

I now believe I was wrong to do that. In an effort to motivate them, I was doing the opposite. I was unwittingly suggesting that to accomplish what I had accomplished they had to have my confidence and courage.

I should have told them the truth: that my accomplishments came slowly and painstakingly. The reality was that I was a natural born entrepreneurial dimwit. I should have admitted that and explained that my success was the result of mule-like hard work and monkey-like imitation.

The point of today's message is that I don't believe you need the mind of a champion to be successful in business. You need to do only two things: work harder than all those who are competing with you and imitate the actions of successful people you admire.

If you do that long enough you will have the success you yearn for. And as a bonus you will have acquired courage and confidence too.

The courage and confidence I have today was not achieved by mantras or mediation or self-imaging. It was all achieved by the persistent application of hard work and imitation. If you work hard and smart at anything long enough, you will know success. And with each small success, your mind and heart will grow incrementally braver and more confident.

Eventually, you will wear the mask of a champion. But when that happens, remember to take it off in front of those you love and care about.