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 If you make it a habit to approach every situation this way, it will soon become automatic. And before you know it, you will have seized hundreds - even thousands - of wealth-building opportunities...each one making you a littler richer.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #13: Are You An Information Junkie?  ======
+I hadn't seen Dave in almost 20 years.
+He was my dentist when we moved to Boca Raton, Florida, in the early 1980s. He continued to take care of my wife K and the kids after we moved to Delray Beach 10 years later, but I opted for dental care closer to home. Dave contacted me when he discovered I was the man behind the 'Michael Masterson' pen name. So he got my email address from K.
+'How about lunch?' he wrote. 'I've got a bunch of things I need to ask you.'
+Several weeks later, we were eating chopped chicken salads at City Oyster on Atlantic Avenue. Dave seemed nervous. It was as if he was intimidated by the Michael Masterson persona. I did my best to assure him I was the same person who used to wince in pain when he cleaned my teeth.
+We talked a bit about family news, but it was clear he had something else on his mind. On his mind was a decision he was trying to make: should he spend $100,000 on the highest level of an internet marketing program he'd been looking at?
+'I've been studying their stuff,' he told me. 'It's really good. But I'm not sure it makes sense for me to invest that kind of money.'
+'A hundred grand is a lot of money,' I said.
+'But you get an awful lot for your money,' Dave explained. 'They do all the technical stuff for you, which I'm not very good at. All I'd have to do is come up with the ideas.'
+'Well,' I said, practicing my best Sam Spade drawl, 'what ideas do you have?'
+In fact, Dave didn't have a single one. 'All I know is that I'm in the wrong business,' he said. 'I took this self-test online - and I found out I'm in the worst business in the world for me.'
+At nearly 50 years of age, Dave had just concluded that his entire career had been a waste.
+'I've wanted to be a dentist since I was 8 years old,' he told me. 'If I had known then what a bad business it was for me, I would have done something else.'
+'Like what?' I asked.
+'Like what you do,' he said. He was smiling, but he looked serious.
+'Look,' I told him. 'My business is a great business - but I don't think you should conclude that your life has been wasted simply because you took some pop quiz that was probably designed to sell you something.'
+'But it was right,' he insisted. 'It proved something I'd always known but was afraid to admit.'
+The waitress filled our drinks. We ate in silence for a while.
+'So, what I'm thinking is, since I'm not into the technical stuff, this internet marketing program would be very good for me.'
+'How much time have you invested in learning about internet marketing?' I asked.
+'About three years,' he answered.
+'And how many information products on the subject have you bought in that three-year period?' I asked.
+Dave laughed. 'I can't even count that high,' he said.
+'How much money have you spent?'
+'Tens of thousands. Probably more.'
+'And yet, you haven't actually started an internet marketing business,' I said.
+He nodded, then rattled off the names of every internet marketing program he'd bought - all the ones I knew and dozens of others I'd never heard of.
+'That's a lot of buying,' I told him.
+'Tell me about it,' he said.
+Dave explained that when he reads an advertising promotion pitching a new internet marketing product, he is 'totally taken in by it,' even though he realises he's just reading 'a sales pitch'.
+'But even though I know that I'm being seduced by a professional wordsmith, I can't stop myself from buying.'
+'I hear you,' I said. 'You are an information junkie.'
+'You think?'
+'I do.'
+'What about you?' he said. 'I read that you read a lot of informational books - about one every week.'
+'I do,' I said, 'but I'm not an information junkie. I'm an information user.'
+'So what's the difference?'
+I explained the difference is huge. An information junkie is addicted to the process of buying information. Although he may delude himself into thinking otherwise, he has no intention of ever using the information he buys.
+An information user is very practical about his purchases. He buys information for specific, pragmatic purposes. He uses the information he buys to achieve specific goals - to start or grow a business, to learn a new language, to improve his negotiating skills.
+An information junkie is happiest at the moment he is buying the information. His enthusiasm soon wanes, however. Within hours or days of receiving it, the information junkie is on to other things. The new product goes up on the shelf with the old products. He's excited about the next new one.
+An information user makes progress. See him reading a book about nutrition, and there's a very good chance (if he likes the book) that his eating habits will change in the immediate future. The information junkie, in contrast, may have 26 books about nutrition in his living room. He may have even read them all - while he was lying on the couch eating potato chips.
+An information user is someone who consumes information to profit from it. If he invests $100 in learning about some subject, he expects to see a substantial return on that investment - perhaps a thousand dollars' worth of value, material or spiritual.
+An information junkie consumes information like drugs or candy bars. It gives him an immediate rush and then nothing afterward. That's why he needs to buy more.
+The information user has long-term expectations when it comes to knowledge. He believes the knowledge he acquires now will compound over time as he learns more and is in a better position to leverage what he's learned for a greater benefit.
+The information junkie is in it for the here-and-now. He doesn't believe in saving. He's always on to the next hot thing.
+What about you? Are you an information junkie?
+Take this test and see...
+In the past year, I've purchased more than 12 books I haven't read.
+(If your answer is Yes, give yourself 2 points.)
+In the past year, I've purchased:
+Only information products that I have used. (Yes = 1 point)
+Between one and three information products that I haven't used. (Yes = 2 points)
+Between three and five information products that I haven't used. (Yes = 3 points)
+More than five information products that I haven't used. (Yes = 5 points)
+In the past year, I've purchased at least one high priced information product that I didn't use.
+(Yes = 5 points)
+I am most excited about the information I buy:
+When I am ordering it. (Yes = 3 points)
+When I receive it. (Yes = 2 points)
+When I begin using it. (Yes = 1 point)
+When I read a book, I feel compelled to read it from cover to cover.
+(Yes = 2 points)
+I generally take notes when I read something.
+(Yes = 1 point, No = 2 points)
+Well... how did you score?
+If you scored 8 or above, you are indeed an information junkie.
+If you are an information junkie, don't despair. You can convert yourself into an information user simply by following two rules:
+When you buy an information product, set specific deadlines for reading it and implementing what you learn. For instance, set a goal that you'll take one of its recommended actions within 24 hours of receiving the product. Then resolve to take at least one more recommended action each week thereafter.
+Don't buy another product until you have made some progress with the one you previously purchased.
+That's all there is to it. Obey these two rules, and you'll not only break your addiction, you will radically improve your life.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #14: How to Read 52 Helpful Books This Year ======
+ou can give yourself a competitive edge - one that could pay you big dividends one day - by doing a little carefully calculated extra reading this year.
+I know you are busy already, but what I'm about to suggest won't take too much time - and the benefits you'll get from it will be wonderful. I'm going to show you how to read an extra 52 books this year and every year thereafter.
+Every day, new non-fiction books are published on every possible topic. Some of these contain information and advice that will help you achieve your goals. The trick is to locate the good ones and read them quickly, efficiently, and strategically.
+Tracking down good books is easy and fun. Make it a habit to browse bookstores, especially in airports and train stations (where business and self-help titles are abundant). Pick up any title that interests you. Scan the table of contents. If it seems promising, read the first page. If you find the book interesting and easy to read, hold on to it. Keep going until you have twice as many books as you can read, and then keep the ones you are most excited by...
+If you follow these simple steps, you'll be eager to get home and start reading. Eagerness alone won't get you through an extra book a week, no matter how interesting and well-written it is.
+To keep up with a weekly schedule, you have to find a way to cut your reading time by less than half. If you approach non-fiction books tactically, they don't take very long to 'read.'
+The first and most important thing is to realise books like these are raw material for your imagination, not finished artwork. So you should go through them as you might go through a big pile of kindling, looking for a few straight, dry pieces. Don't waste your time fooling around with what's not important. And don't feel compelled to read every word.
+I like to think that every good book has one big secret to convey and several smaller ones. Your job is to find out - as quickly as you can - what they are. There are many ways to speed-read, several of which I've tried over the years.
+The system I use now allows me to get through most business books in two to four hours.
+Here's how I do it (and I'm a painfully slow reader):
+Read the table of contents. It should give you a quick idea about the range and depth of the subject matter. Figure out what you want from the book: what it can teach you.
+By doing this beforehand, you can dramatically shorten the amount of time you need to spend with the text itself. Your subsequent reading will be targeted and efficient, because your subconscious mind has already begun to think along the right lines and your interest has been primed.
+Read the introduction and/or first chapter. One of them usually serves as a sort of executive summary of the entire book. Here is where you can pick up the author's main argument and discover - if the book is well-written - their big idea.
+(In my experience, most good non-fiction books have, at base, one Big Insight or Secret. If you miss that, you miss the book.)
+Read the first paragraph of each successive chapter and the first sentence of each successive paragraph. You will be amazed at how much information you can pick up that way.
+In terms of actual reading, you are covering only 20-30% of the text, but in terms of content, you are getting 80-90%.
+To get the most from this process, I usually assume that each chapter has one useful thing to teach me - and that's what I look for.
+Finally, read the entire last chapter and/or epilogue. Like the introduction/first chapter, at least one of these will often serve as a summary. Reading them gives you a chance to internalise what you've already discovered and to make notes if you haven't already.
+I recommend keeping some sort of reading journal in which you record the title, author, Big Idea, and smaller ideas of each book. If you make your entry just after you've finished a book, it shouldn't take more than five or 10 minutes.
+Review what you've written once within 24 hours and then again sometime the following week. You'll be amazed at how much you'll remember about the book.
+Once you get used to this way of reading, you'll find it addictive. You'll have a constant stream of new ideas coming to you that will help you in every important area of your life.
+You'll get smarter and better with each passing week - and that will make you feel better and more confident. Your friends and colleagues will notice the difference. And sooner or later, one of the ideas you pick up will be the big one that takes you to the next level.
+Start today by going to the bookstore after work and picking up your first title. Feel free to mark it up with a pen or highlighter, but remember that you are not looking to study it in detail but to select from it a few very helpful secrets.
+Use the scanning method I recommended if it helps, but make sure you get through this book within the next seven days.
+The most important thing to remember is not to try to learn too much. One big idea and half a dozen little ones are plenty. Get them down and move on.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #15: Mindfulness - The Stairway to a Stress-Free Life ======
+The year was 2014. My general physician was surprised when I visited him - how could a 23-year-old suffer from chronic anxiety disorder. Never before in my life had I felt so surrounded by thoughts...and so hopeless about the future. It had been going on for eight months.
+I lost my appetite...and substantial weight. I lost sleep...and my eyes looked tired all day. The chronic disorder started show physical symptoms. I rushed to my physician after a minor anxiety attack.
+'You are 100% fine physically,' my doctor said. 'You are just overstressed.'
+'What?!' I was shocked.
+'Stress is very common. Everyone has some kind of stress. From students to executives... But when it is prolonged, it needs to be managed. Chronic stress can have bad impact on health. If not controlled, it may result in various medical conditions like hypertension and type-2 diabetes.'
+My doctor gave me a prescription of vitamin tablets, calcium bars, etc., and said that I should practice mindfulness (or meditation). I didn't know anything about meditation... Moreover, the idea of sitting still with closed eyes seemed, frankly, quite boring.
+I decided to follow the prescription. The medicines resolve my physical symptoms, but my mind was still a battleground of thoughts. I didn't want to go for traquilisers and anti-depressants so early in life...so I turned to meditation.
+I enrolled in a Yes+ course organised by The Art of Living Foundation. It was a five-day course that bundled pranayama (a form of yoga) and Sudarshan Kriya (a breathing technique)...with a small discourse by the teacher at the end.
+On the first day, they advised me to give up tea, coffee, and alcohol (if I was taking any) for the next five days. They also asked me to drink as much water as I could. As I had enrolled in the morning course, I woke up at 5am every day. It felt amazing to rise early...while the rest of the world slept.
+I started the Yes+ course with enthusiasm and high expectations, and - I must say - it didn't disappoint. I felt a noticeable surge in my energy levels. No matter how hectic my days were, I almost never felt exhausted. Sudarshan Kriya - a beautiful breathing technique - refreshed my mind every time I practiced it.
+After weeks of practice, I decided to explore deeper levels of meditation. I enrolled in a 12-day Vipassana course in the town of Dharamsala. The experience was ecstatic. Not only did it help me deal with anxiety, it made me question beliefs I'd had for many years... It made me realise that temporariness is the only truth that prevails. Be it joy, worry, anger, frustration, shame...every emotion will pass. Bad times are temporary. We live in an ever-changing universe, we should witness and accept everything as it is.
+What is mindfulness after all?
+I'd heard about meditation all my life. Several definitions, several meanings. But my idea of it was something like this: You sit still with your eyes closed, resisting all kinds of thoughts, and you eventually reach a point where you have nothing but space, or emptiness, inside your head - that's meditation.
+I learned I was wrong. Completely.
+Now if someone asks me what mindfulness is, I answer in one word - 'acceptance'. Acceptance of our present state - no matter what it is - without getting attached to it or affected by it.
+When I sat to meditate for the first time, my teachers told me, 'Let the thoughts come. Don't resist them. However, don't let them affect you.
+'Observe them as you would observe a passing train...by remaining indifferent and believing that it will eventually pass.'
+From then on, whenever negative thoughts sprang in my mind...I was indifferent towards them, and eventually they passed.
+One must remember...it is important to live in the present and not worry about the future or dwell on the past. Because that's how stress is born.
+There's a popular story in Zen culture. Which throws profound light on living in the present.
+It happened once that two monks were travelling together. During their travel, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.
+The two monks glanced at one another; they had taken vows never to touch a woman.
+Then, without a word, one of them picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his journey.
+The other monk couldn't believe what had just happened. After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.
+Two more hours passed in silence... Then three... Finally, the other monk couldn't stop himself any longer and said, 'As monks, we are not permitted to even touch a woman... How could you carry one on your shoulders?'
+The first monk looked at him and gently replied, 'I placed her down on the other side of the river... Are you still carrying her?'
+Many of us carry emotional baggage from the past for too long. And the weight of it breaks us down along the way. Learning to detach from the past is the base of mindfulness. Only then can we focus and do the right things in the present.
+Why one should meditate
+There are various reasons one should meditate. But let me tell you the simplest one.
+Imagine your room... I am sure it gets cleaned every day. Whatever dust, dirt, or waste accumulates over a day, you make sure to dispose it in the evening...or the next morning. But what if you don't? After a few days, you begin to see mosquitoes and flies... After a few weeks, it starts to stink, and attracts pests. After a month, you can't enter without falling sick.
+In the same way, our mind needs to get rid of negativity, bad memories, and bitter experiences. Only then can it completely focus on the present. Or else we suffer from lack of productivity, lack of creativity, bad thoughts, and stress. A healthy mind is a must for overall healthy being.
+Regular meditation has physical and mental benefits.
+Here are some physical benefits of regular meditation:
+Lowers blood pressure
+Improves cardiac health
+Resolves anxiety disorders
+Manages diseases that arise from chronic stress such as inflammation, indigestion, and insomnia.
+Manages stress related aches: headaches, muscle and joint pains.
+Improves energy levels
+Here are some mental benefits of regular meditation:
+Helps manage stress and depression
+Improves concentration
+Improves creativity
+Improves emotional stability
+Induces harmony and acceptance
+How to get started?
+Meditation is easy to start with, but it must become a part of your daily routine... Only then you can reap benefits from it.
+There are various techniques of meditation... There are many organisations that run meditation courses on a regular basis - The Art of Living, Osho Foundation, Vipassana, etc. You can opt for them, and choose a course that suits you.
+Make sure you start at a basic level.
+Some time ago we spoke to Dr. Sharda S. Nandram - a scholar, international public speaker, consultant, and writer, who practiced meditation and spirituality.
+In our brief conversation, she threw light on some meditation exercises that you can practice domestically.
+At the end of a difficult day, imagine a vacuum cleaner is going over your whole body and cleaning out all the dirt. This will remove the negative energy and make space for the new.
+In the morning, close your eyes and observe your thoughts. Imagine them dripping into a bowl. In this way, the extra thoughts will be released while the ones that are important will stay.
+Before you sleep, count back from 50-0, and try to combine it with your breathing. As you count, you will see your over-active mind get calmer.
+It takes only a few minutes per day, but once you start meditating on a regular basis, it becomes an important part of your day. Meditation is like a seed. Once sown, fruits are bound to follow. And when you taste their sweetness for yourself, you'll be grateful you cultivated the habit of meditation.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #16: Every Penny Invested in Yourself Will Come Back as A Bag of Gold ======
+Education is never a waste. - An Anonymous Wise Person
+A typical Indian youth dreams and truly believes that once he has received a degree from a reputed institution, his life will be 'sorted'. That he will get placed overseas or with a top MNC and ultimately earn seven figures. Those with an entrepreneurial bent imagine they will start up. And after a few years of hard work and perseverance, success will knock on their door.
+Life is divided into phases after all. You are supposed to get an education when you're young, then work to build a good future.
+This was Mr J's plan. He was a confident and intelligent young man who'd recently passed out of a prestigious university and was looking for a job. He believed he had completed his education and now was the time to make money. When he wasn't giving an interview, he was mostly at the bar...charming the ladies.
+Mr A, his childhood friend, graduated at the same time. He was sporty and industrious, but an average student who had passed out of a mediocre university. When he wasn't hunting for job, he was learning. How to cook...how to skateboard...how to speak German.
+As chance would have it, Mr A and Mr J interviewed for the same position. Despite Mr J's better grades, better education, and flair for presentation...Mr A got the job.
+Why?
+The company had a good client base of Germans - recruiting a German speaker was a big plus. But more than that, Mr A came across as someone willing to learn new things - a trait that only makes us better with time.
+Much as I love to write fiction, this story is real. It's the story of two of my friends in the US.
+Now, maybe you'd say - that's pure luck. Mr A was lucky!
+I say - no. It was not pure luck.
+Mr A chose to keep learning after college. Autodidacts always have an edge - with hiring managers and everything else.
+Renowned wealth builders around the world know the importance of lifelong learning.
+According to a WikiLeaks report, Mark Zuckerberg is always hungry to learn, particularly about 'political operations' and philanthropy. Says Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg: 'He wants to meet folks who can inform his understanding about effective political operations to advance public policy goals on social oriented objectives like immigration, education, and basic scientific research.'
+Amitabh Bachchan, a superstar for more than four decades, believes it's important to keep up with the best technology and gadgets.
+According to The Guardian, Bill Gates studies foreign languages on a mobile app.
+When was the last time you invested in yourself?
+What was the last book you read? When did you last attend a workshop? Do you take advantage free online courses?
+Or do you believe your education is over? That you know everything you need to know?
+If you say 'yes' to the latter questions...you are making a decision that will hinder your growth and success big time.
+In school, I had a passion for reading and writing essays in Hindi. 'You write beautiful essays,' my Hindi teacher told me.
+I wrote a story in Hindi a few months back; it was terrible. I hadn't read or written the language in years. So I decided to get back to it...and now it's better.
+This made me realise that I can't accumulate education and expect to retain it forever. No, I need a perennial supply of new and renewed learnings. Education is food for the brain, and your brain needs a regular meal.
+Once we stop learning, we limit our thinking abilities. As well as our financial, mental, spiritual, and personal growth. Moreover - no matter how sincerely we once studied - we will lose grip on past learnings.
+Why You Need to Invest in Yourself
+When you decide to invest in yourself...to educate yourself...you make an investment that guarantees manifold returns over time. If that's not enough to convince you, here are some specific benefits you can also bank on...
+Increased proficiency
+Investing in education adds to your skillset and proficiency. It boosts your potential and makes you more versatile. Last month, when I helped a colleague with her podcasts, I learned how to edit MP3 files on a software called Audacity. Not only was it fun to learn something new, it added value to my professional profile.
+Stay ahead of competition
+When you continue to learn, you acquire more skills. This will help you to stay ahead of the competition. You'll be more knowledgeable and useful than your competitors.
+More income opportunities
+The more you know, the more you can do. If you invest in yourself, more business, professional, and entrepreneurial opportunities will be available to you. You will not only see opportunity where others do not, you will have the skills and knowledge necessary to capitalise on it.
+New insights and constant growth
+Perennial learning will help you evolve continuously and get new perspectives on life. When you read books...when you are willing to learn more...when you never settle with limited knowledge...you open yourself to the many lessons that life is waiting to give you.
+How to Start
+Before you gear up to educate yourself, it's important to know a few things and ask yourself a few questions.
+'What do I want to learn?'
+Fortunately, you can choose anything that you want. But you should prefer something that:
+Interests you
+The benefit of learning what you love is that it will keep you interested. And perhaps later you can pursue your hobby professionally.
+If you love to take pictures, you can learn more about photography. If you love to write, you can enroll in a writing course. If you're inclined to the performing arts, you can take classes on the same.
+Adds value to your work
+If you're more of a 'practical' person, you can learn something that adds value to your work. When I began writing for Common Sense Living, I was curious to know how many people read my articles, how many opened the e-mails, etc. So I learned to use Google Analytics, wich has added great value to my work.
+In the same way, if your job requires high-level communication, you can take speech and diction, image management, and personality development courses.
+Make it a daily routine
+When you've chosen what you want to learn, commit to it and make time for it on a regular basis. It's often easy to start something but hard make it a discipline. If I learn a new word today and don't get back to it for a week, I will probably forget it.
+Whatever you are up to - learning mathematics, a style of dance, or a new accent - regular study and practice will bring the best results.
+Decide the medium of learning
+It is important that you choose the right learning medium. The medium can make a big difference to the time and cost of the education.
+Mobile apps
+We're fortunate to live in an age simplified by laptops, smartphones, and 4G connectivity. We can do a multitude of tasks on the go, and learning is one of them. For example, mobile apps are great for learning languages and improving your vocabulary. While Duolingo can help you learn French, German, and Spanish...VolT can refine your English vocabulary.
+Mobile apps are also a great way to get daily news, GK facts, and solve puzzles to improve logical thinking.
+Online courses
+Several websites provide dedicated courses on specific subjects. Many of these courses are free. Two years ago, when I wrote for a band, I took an online song writing course from Berklee College of Music.
+Seeing that it was a good and cost-effective way to learn, I took more online courses.
+You can take online courses on science, marketing, business, and entrepreneurship. On MOOC platforms like Coursera, you can scout any kind of course from universities around the globe.
+Books
+What better way to learn than to read books?
+The most successful people in the world - invariably it seems - have insatiable reading habits. Books - be it fiction like The Alchemist or non-fiction like Steve Jobs' biography - are a source of knowledge, life-lessons, and inspiration. Never stop reading.
+You can browse through thousands of books on Flipkart, Amazon, etc., and choose the genre that interests you.
+Institutes and workshops
+If you want to learn something that requires practice, you may want to enrol in a workshop or institute. For instance, if you want to act...it's a good idea to join a theatre workshop - where you learn to perform on stage in front of an audience. Reading might tell how to act, but you only learn to do it through practice. Same for sports, music, public speaking, etc.
+To find good institutes and workshops, keep an eye on your local newspaper, consult people around you, or scout websites like eventshigh and allevents.
+Research before getting started
+After selecting your medium, start researching it. For example, if you choose a mobile app...make sure it has a good rating and user reviews on Play Store. These are reviews from people who have already used it, sharing with us whether the app proved good for them.
+In the same way, before enrolling in a class or workshop, make sure to get an opinion from the previous students. Your research will help you get the best education out there.
+Don't lose focus and update regularly
+Knowledge is perishable. Can you remember the Preamble of India? Or Charles' law? I used to score well in mathematics, but today I can't solve a single matrices question. If not renewed, our education and intellectual abilities degrade over time. And this directly affects our calibre, attitude, and growth.
+Successful people know that learning is not just a phase in life. It is a lifelong endeavor that pays financial, intellectual, and spiritual dividends. Never hesitate to invest time and money in your education; every penny invested in yourself will come back as a bag of gold.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #17: A Balanced Eating Routine for a Healthy and Productive Life ======
+Dinner is an important meal in my house. While our kids were growing, it was practically the only time we were all together. Five times a week, K would cook a great and healthy meal. Usually fresh vegetables, some pasta or potatoes, and fresh fish or organic chicken. We would come to the table well-dressed and with our hands washed. And everyone would be expected to eat properly and engage in sociable conversation.
+Things were more relaxed on the weekends. On Saturday night, K and I had a 'date,' and the boys ate with friends or cousins. On Sunday night, we all went to a local restaurant - most often Mexican or Italian.
+Although K and I are empty nesters now, we still like the formality of our at-home dinners. She still cooks great meals, even if they're just for the two of us. My contribution is very modest (and gives me great pleasure). Based on what K is cooking, I go out to the wine cellar and select a bottle for us to drink.
+We eat at home just three or four times a week nowadays. On Wednesday and Friday, we have separate dinner routines: a book club and girlfriends for her; a different book club and poker for me. Saturday is still date night. And Sunday is still Mexican or Italian.
+So that's dinner. A pleasant mix of formality and informality, dining with K and with friends.
+The rest of my eating routine is designed around my work schedule.
+I used to eat weekday breakfasts and lunches at restaurants, usually with a colleague. It felt like I was accomplishing more by making those meals business meals, but in retrospect I can see how much time I was wasting. (Plus, all that restaurant food was starting to make me fat.)
+Between driving to and from, waiting to order, waiting for the food, and waiting for the check, eating at restaurants is a very inefficient process. Yes, you can have a business conversation while eating, but with very few exceptions it would be better conducted and take less time in the office.
+Also, you can't work on documents very well when you have a plate of food in front of you. For another thing, you can't think well when you're hungry or express yourself well with food in your mouth.
+These days, eating in restaurants is strictly a social pastime for me - a time to relax with friends and family members, usually on the weekend. During the week, I eat breakfast at home and lunch at my desk.
+I will schedule or attend a business lunch (or breakfast) for only one reason: when the purpose is to interview a key person for one of my companies. I like the idea of including a meal in the interview process for the very reason I don't like business lunches: because eating is a social function. I like seeing the social side of someone I'm going to hire. I want to see how he or she operates outside of an office building. I also like to see how job candidates treat the waiter and busboy. It tells me about their character. And character is my top priority in judging a job candidate's worthiness.
+Other than that, how do I feed myself?
+It's very simple.
+Here's my routine:
+Meal One: 7:00 a.m., while editing poetry. Two fried eggs (organic). One piece of toasted hemp bread. Fresh juice. Coffee. Water.
+Meal Two: 11:00 a.m., while writing in my studio. Blended vegetable drink or a piece of toasted hemp bread with organic peanut butter. Water.
+Meal Three: 1:00 p.m. or 1:30 p.m., after my workout. Salad with chicken or fish. Iced tea.
+Meal Four: 6:30 p.m., after my second workout. Protein shake.
+Meal Five: 7:30 p.m. A well-balanced dinner.
+Meal Six: Does not exist when I'm being good. Once or twice a week I snack on something. When I do, I always regret it.
+Like my work routine, my eating routine has been developed over time. It is now designed to give me optimum energy throughout the day and provide me with the nutrients I've been told I need to lead a healthy life.
+Most of my current eating habits have been influenced by the research that my personal physician, Dr. Al Sears, has done on the subject. Al's approach to food is not difficult to understand: he believes that natural is better.
+In particular, he advocates an eating regime that is consistent with how our long-ago ancestors had to eat: fish, free-range poultry, organic vegetables that grow above the ground, berries and fruits. He warns against grains, grain-fed meat, and anything that is infused with hormones and chemicals.
+In The Doctor's Heart Cure, he puts it this way:
+Remember those four basic food groups from grade school health class? If you've forgotten them, don't worry about it, they don't tell you anything about your natural diet. They were a nutritionist's attempt to make sense of a very contrived artificial diet based on grains and other processed foods...
+... You don't have to count calories or record fat grams to achieve your ideal weight and maintain optimal cardiovascular health. All you have to do is to eat the same ratio and quality of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that we have for eons. How are you going to do that? Get started by remembering these three easy principles:
+Principle #1: Eat protein at every meal
+Principle #2: Limit carbohydrate intake
+Principle #3: Eat natural fats
+A typical day's meals for me supply the following nutrients:
+Quantity	Food	Fat (g)	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)
+	Eggs	10	14	1	0
+	Hemp Bread	2	4	12	5
+oz	Coffee	0	0.28	0	0
+oz	Apple Juice	0.07	0.4	7	0.1
+oz	Vegetable Shake	0	12	3	95
+cup	Green Salad	0.05	4	1	0.5
+oz	Broiled Fish	13	42	0	0
+oz	Iced Tea	0	0	1.4	0
+oz	Protein Shake	2	7	4	2
+oz	Grass-Fed Lamb	6	56	0	0
+cup	Green Beans	0.4	4	10	2.6
+large	Baked Potato	0.4	9	63	6.6
+oz	Cheddar Cheese	28	21	1	0
+glass	Red Wine	0	0.1	3.8	0
+cups	Berries or Grapes	1.6/1.5	3/2	30/55	16
+TOTALS	 	63.5/62.4	176.4/175.5	137.162.2	127.8
+I have tried dozens of eating plans over the year. This one works best for me. I like being able to eat five times a day. I don't mind if each of those meals is small. Food is primarily fuel for me. I want to put the highest quality fuel I can into my body as often as I can.
+Of course, you don't have to eat exactly the same foods that I do. What you eat is a matter of personal choice. But to stay productive, energetic, and healthy, I recommend that you try for a similar balance of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and fiber.
+When you're full of energy, your goals will be easier to tackle. And you'll enjoy their achievement even more when you're feeling healthy and strong.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #18: How to be A Star Connector ======
+Ritika Bajaj
+Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point, defined a 'connector' as "someone who knows many people." But a connector doesn't just know many people, and have a wide network, he goes beyond that. He understands how he can connect two people. And he does this purely with the intention to help out, without expecting anything in return.
+Wikipedia explains this well, saying connectors 'usually know people across an array of social, cultural, professional, and economic circles, and make a habit of introducing people who work or live in different circles. They are people who "link us up with the world...people with a special gift for bringing the world together".'
+This 'special gift' of a connector stems from a deep-seated belief that his good deeds will eventually pay off - if not in the short term, in the long run. His understanding comes from knowing that everyone is connected to everyone and the more you connect, and join the dots, the sooner will the dots join back to you.
+As an entrepreneur and employee, being a connector can help you progress much faster than you had expected. Everyone likes people who are helpful, and willing to share of themselves and their contacts. It reflects self-confidence and generosity.
+But what is the mindset and skillset you need to become a good connector, one who is remembered even after you make those initial introductions. This essay will expound on that...
+The difference between a networker and a connector
+Before we discuss the skills needed, let's understand the difference between a 'networker' and 'connector'. While both networkers and connectors focus on relationships and understand their value in the personal and professional world, they have different intentions...
+The networker looks at relationships to advance his own career, while the connector consciously looks at ways to advance the careers of those in his network. In simple terms, one is in it for himself, one is in it for the other.
+This may seem like a small difference, but for those who have been in business for some time, this is a big one... It truly reflects your place in society... It shows how far you've come with the network you've built and it also reflects your inherent sense of responsibility toward that network.
+When you're willing to connect two people, it essentially means you're willing to put your own relationships at stake. You may have built a good personal rapport with people, but till you don't leverage that for the larger good, that network only serves you.
+The other difference seen between networkers and connectors, is that while networkers are more of opportunists and 'social climbers', looking to meet people in higher positions, connectors looks to lift those in lower positions with those in higher positions. A connector helps boost someone's position.
+The attitude and skills needed as a connector
+Being a connector requires more than practice, it requires developing an attitude and inculcating a life skill. And here's how that happens...
+Put the other before yourself: Being a true connector is about helping another. You may eventually benefit from the introductions you make, but that should not be your primary motive. And hence, putting the other at the centre of those introductions is important.
+For this, you may also need to know more about the people you connect. So ask questions about what they would like to do, how they spend their time, what their dreams or aspirations are in terms of a career. Once you get to know them better, you will be able to connect them to the right people.
+Get out of your comfort zone: In the case of a networker, you just have to go up and introduce yourself, but in the case of a connector, you have to go one step further and introduce that person to another person. And not many people are comfortable doing that, but it needs to be done at all times...
+Whenever you're standing with two people, introduce them to each other, and give a little more information on the persons introduced than just their names or where they work. Personalising introductions requires some prior knowledge about the two, and a feeling of warmth and genuine concern on your end.
+Circulate as much as you can: As a connector, you will have to be out and about town attending networking events or even facilitating them in order to make connections. Nothing can be done sitting in the comfort of your home or office. So attend as many networking events as you can, and ensure you 'see' and are 'being seen' in the right places.
+Joining trade organisations or online networking groups also helps you find people to connect with... Just in case you don't get many opportunities to go out. Linkedin groups or Quora are interesting places to expand your professional network. Moreover, by viewing people's profile online you already get a sense of their background, helping you join the dots faster.
+Join the dots, and quickly: Being a connector requires you to not just think ahead, but to think fast. You will meet a vast number of people, but the beauty of that network is when you connect one to the other with ease. This requires you to quickly tap into your resources and seek out who may be a good connect for someone.
+Thus as a connector, you need to be a quick and resourceful thinker, one who can work all the knowledge at your disposal and give it some shape and direction. Additionally, you yourself should become the go-to person for many. People should look at you as a valuable resource for information for a particular industry or for your knowledge of people. So keep sharing ideas and anecdotes on your life, either online or offline... This helps people flock to you.
+Staying connected doesn't end: People change places, jobs and career paths. Thus stay abreast of these changes in their lives by staying connected with them. Send the occasional email or text message asking them what's new in their life.
+This holds truer when you're reaching out to connect them with someone. You can ask them if they are still pursuing that particular business or interest, and if they would be interested in connecting with someone who can take that further. Seeking permission holds good for two people whose profiles you are updated with too... Getting consent removes any probable miscommunication between the contacts.
+The advantage of being a connector in society is unparalleled. And in fact, the most powerful and successful individuals pride themselves on exactly this skill. I remember Nandan Nilekani of Infosys once said in a newspaper interview, that all he attributed his success to was 'connecting people and joining the dots'. What he said sounds easy, but requires a lot of hard work. So get ready, to reach out to people and connect them, and be sure to get ahead in your life and career.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #19: On Getting Wealthy and Earning Respect ======
+A few years ago, I was managing the counter of my restaurant when a customer started a conversation. Our regular customers often do...
+'What are you doing these days?'
+'My grad in business administration,' I said.
+'Good', he replied. 'Your grandfather ran one of the most successful businesses in town!'
+Then he said something I'll never forget...
+'And he had no degree in business administration. Remember that it takes something else...something more.'
+When my grandfather departed for a better place, the first tribute he got was from a relative who addressed him as laxmi-putra (son of Laxmi, goddess of wealth in Hindu mythology).
+It made me think. Though society confers many titles on successful people, no honorific can do justice to a lifetime of will and hard work.
+When my grandpa was in his twenties, all he had was a small rented space...a stove...and one pair of clothes he washed every night and wore again in the morning.
+But in his fifties, he was one of the most respected men in town - owning a successful business, a large home, acres of land, and above all, a repute that makes us all proud till date.
+One evening, as I sat with him, he casually shared what he went through to establish his restaurant business.
+Like anyone who's paved their own way to success, grandfather's journey was - and is - full of lessons.
+And though all of them are priceless, I always return to three in particular that inspire me to pursue my own dreams. And I thought I'd share them with you today...
+Give your all
+Grandpa was a born businessman. He realised his calling at an early age. It wasn't by chance that he chose business; it was his choice. And after making his choice, he didn't stop until he achieved his goals - and he didn't stop then either.
+No matter the season or day, grandpa would start work at six in the morning and continue till 11.30 at night. He worked for eighteen hours a day, every day.
+Many people would say this is not a way to live...or perhaps that my grandfather was a 'workaholic'. But I say that he gave time to what he deeply loved. Business and family came first, and then old music. No travel, no movies, no other hobbies.
+While many people may disagree with his lifestyle, I discern a deep learning from it: Know your goals, put them first, and give them everything you got.
+Be your own competition
+Grandpa's restaurant remains popular because of its quality of food and service.
+When his competitors - none of whom survived long - compromised on quality for quantity, he always delivered the best. He started in the 1950s, and went against the traditional notions of business to put his customer first.
+I did what I wanted. I never saw or judged what others did. I never heard what others said. I only aimed to give the best food at a right price, nothing else.
+He competed with himself... When you compete with yourself, you get better and better - and it doesn't even matter what others do.
+Persevere when results don't show
+When grandpa started off, it was years before he got a taste of success.
+Every day there was a new battle. People insisted that I should shut down. There were no sales, and sometimes I had to wait for a customer till 2am just so I could survive next day.
+But I never gave up and never lost hope. It takes a lot of courage to persevere when results don't show up. But if you have courage, nothing will be able to stop you from fulfilling your dreams.
+Grandpa never retired. He worked till he was 87...till his last breath. I don't remember him taking a vacation either. He built his name and his wealth through tremendous personal power. And he left a trail for me and others to follow.
+There are many success stories in the world. Though my grandfather's is not as big or not as famous and might not be talked about, it will inspire me. And I will look up to his many lessons that live after him.
+If you're not a wealth builder through luck, you can be through extraordinary skill, persistence, and hard work.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #20: How to Master Your Emotions and Make Good Investment Decisions ======
+Boldness in taking on new business opportunities is considered by many to be a virtue. And timidity, a vice.
+I'm not so sure.
+When I am bold, I often gamely invest my time and money into projects that are foolish, unnecessary, and/or unlikely to succeed. When I am feeling timid, I shy away from good and likely opportunities.
+Emotional tendencies matter. If you know your basic nature, you'll be able to make better business and investment decisions by taking contravening measures against your dominant mood.
+How do you figure out such a thing? Here are a few suggestions:
+First, determine your basic nature: Are you fundamentally an optimist or a pessimist?
+Answering the following two sets of five questions should help:
+When offered investment or business opportunities, are you instantly and positively excited? Do you find yourself immediately imagining how good it will be?
+Do you often take on projects that you regret later on?
+Do you enjoy meeting new people, seeing new sights, and going on adventures?
+When talking about a new business or investment with friends or colleagues, do you tend to exaggerate or minimize the benefits and profit potential?
+Do you often take on social obligations you later regret?
+If you answered yes to three or more of these five questions, I would call you generally optimistic. You may even be overly optimistic.
+Now answer these five questions:
+Do you feel that, generally speaking, you have more challenges and obligations than you can properly handle?
+In social situations, do you find yourself often thinking about business obligations or problems? Do you have difficulty staying in the "here and now"?
+On a scale of one to 10, would you rate your boss and colleagues higher than seven?
+Do you often feel anxious or even sad about going on business trips or attending business functions?
+Do you fantasize often about retiring or quitting your job and getting another one?
+If you answered yes to three or more of these last five questions, you might have pessimistic tendencies. If you answered yes to all five, you are probably overly pessimistic.
+Admittedly, this is not a scientific test. But optimism and pessimism aren't really scientific terms. They describe emotional tendencies, not medical conditions. And as I said above, emotional tendencies matter when it comes to business decisions.
+To push back against your dominant mood, then, here is what I recommend doing...
+If you are an optimist, curb your enthusiasm.
+Understand that there is a part of your brain that is not operating efficiently. That is the part that, in other people, causes doubt and fear.
+Be happy that you have a frame of mind that gives you the feeling that you can accomplish just about anything, but promise yourself that you'll run all your important impulses through an outside filter.
+Don't sign any contracts or agree to any business deals without running them by a trusted lawyer and accountant first. Tell your advisers that their job is to spot the problems and to be tough on you when you try to dismiss them with quick rhetoric. (That's what you'll want to do when they toss a pail of cold water on your fire.)
+Don't buy anything expensive on the spot. And don't agree to buy anything on the spot, either. When you find yourself alone in a sales situation, try to cancel the meeting and reschedule it for a time when a trusted (i.e., pessimistic) adviser can accompany you.
+This applies to all significant purchases, including investments in financial instruments, real estate, businesses, and toys. Decide for yourself what is significant. A good rule of thumb: Do this for anything that amounts to more than 1% of your (or your company's) net worth.
+Don't hire anyone on the spot. (Follow the advice above.)
+Don't fire anyone on the spot.
+Don't take a job on the spot. If it's perfect and you love it, say, "I'd love to accept this right now because I know it's perfect for me and I'm sure I'll do the job you are expecting me to do. But I promised my wife (mother, uncle, etc.) that I'd speak to her/him first, and I never break my promises. Can I get back to you with a positive response at 9 a.m. tomorrow?"
+Don't send out "reactive" emails on the spot. Wait 24 hours and then either delete or modify the email. If, in reading the email 24 hours later, you get angry again and want to send it out unchanged, hold off for another 24 hours. Don't send out that first email under any circumstances. You will regret it.
+Don't ever say anything in an email about anyone unless you wouldn't mind them reading it... because they surely will.
+The same rule applies to anything written in letters or spoken on the phone or in person.
+If you are a pessimist, fill your glass a bit more.
+Accept the fact that you have some deficiency in your brain chemistry. Recognize that your instinctive tendency to see the dark side can sometimes limit your success by dampening your enthusiasm or the enthusiasm of others.
+Be happy that you have a natural ability to detect the potential problems in every situation. Use that talent to assess the risks and problems inherent in any major venture you undertake.
+Make it a habit to always say something positive before you say whatever it is that's on your mind. If you think the soup is over salted, say, "Gee, this soup has a great texture and a perfect temperature. It would be even better if it were a little less salty." (Note: Try always to avoid the dreaded - and easily detected - "but" signal. As in, "The soup was great, but...")
+After you get through writing your daily task list, spend five or 10 minutes visualizing every task. Imagine yourself happily achieving the objective. Even if you find the job odious and the person you are doing it with repugnant, find some way to imagine actually enjoying the experience.
+This may seem like advice that borders on the silly - it certainly did to me when I first tried it - but you'll be amazed at how well it works. Not only will you feel better about the task when you do it, but you'll also accomplish your objectives more easily and with less resistance from the other parties involved.
+Practice smiling in the mirror. Do this as often as you can stomach it. And then do it some more. Again, this advice may seem ludicrous... but it will work.
+When talking on the phone, smile. The person on the other end is cueing off the energy from your voice. If you want him to respond enthusiastically to your ideas, you need to breathe that enthusiasm into the tone of your voice.
+Every time you see someone for the first time, greet him with a firm handshake, a smile, and a confident "eye lock."
+If you are bipolar (like me), learn how to recognize what mood you are in.
+You may find that your mood swings between optimism and pessimism. If you are like me, that swing can be very large.
+After going through a rather deep depression some time ago, I began to chart my mental state in terms of how I felt, what I thought about, and what sort of functionality I had.
+At the bottom of the scale, I felt suicidal, had repetitively negative thoughts, and could not get out of bed or even carry on a conversation. At the top of the scale, I was euphoric. I loved everyone and everything I encountered.
+By logging my moods every two or three hours over a six-month period, I discovered that when I was below a 6, I made bad decisions. I shied away from every challenge or opportunity, including many that could do me nothing but good.
+When I was above an 8, I often made bad decisions in the other direction. I would take on almost any new project or invest in any new business opportunity.
+Nowadays, I follow a rule that keeps me in good stead. I never make business or investment decisions unless I'm in the 6 to 8 range.
+You don't have to use my system to get the same effect. Simply recognize that if you have significant mood swings, you should defer decisions when you are feeling especially good or bad.
+In other words, say yes to new opportunities only when you are not being swayed by your emotions. Whether optimistic, pessimistic, or something in between, recognize that whatever your goals are, you'll have a better chance of achieving them if you approach them with a level mood.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #21: 9 Steps to Defeating Depression ======
+Of all the many prescriptions for happiness that populate the media these days, the most popular one is also the stupidest. I'm talking about the idea that you can defeat depression by "paying attention to yourself."
+The truth is that paying attention to yourself doesn't make you happy at all. In fact, the more attention you give yourself, the less happy you are likely to be. Focusing inward can perpetuate your feelings of hopelessness.
+Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace defined depression this way: "Sunshine means nothing to you. The seasons, friends, or good food mean nothing. All you do is focus on yourself and how bad you feel."
+Think of the least-happy people you know. What are they always talking about? Their accomplishments. Their troubles. Their hopes. Their worries. Their this. Their that. In short, themselves.
+I have a friend. Let's call her Shaila. Shaila is a smart, good-looking woman, but she can't maintain long-term relationships. She has no idea why this is true. "People are always disappointing me," she says. And she has stories.
+We have lunch together two or three times a year. And at every meeting, Shaila talks non-stop about all the people who have failed her. She complains about her boss. She gripes about her husband. She does it with a certain sense of humour - but it is all "Wah! Wah! Wah! What about me?"
+I've suggested to Shaila that she would be happier if she did some volunteer work or took on a hobby. Perhaps got a pet. But she doesn't listen.
+To the outside observer, Shaila has nothing to complain about. She has perfect health. She has a healthy family. And she is financially independent - putting her among the luckiest people on earth. Yet from her perspective - from the inside - she sees nothing but negatives.
+You probably have a Shaila in your life. Maybe more than one.
+The trouble with the Shailas of the world is that they spend too much of their valuable time thinking and talking about themselves. Their lives never get any better. And they can't figure out why. They believe the solution lies in getting other people to feel sorry for them. They don't understand that seeking attention is a big part of their problem.
+I have a theory about why this is so.
+There are essentially two impulses in the universe: contraction and relaxation. Everything - every animate and inanimate thing - is, literally, becoming more or less dense at any given moment. The ultimate denseness is a black hole, which sucks in light but gives out none.
+As psychological creatures, our consciousness is always in flux between the contraction and the dissolution of the ego. Our egocentric impulses are the source of much of the work we do and the art we create, but they are also the source of tension, sickness and despair. Our dissolution impulses are the source of our loving relationships. They relax us and prepare us to accept the ultimate dissolution of the ego, which is death.
+Contraction gives us the egoistic pleasure of being loved - being acknowledged and appreciated. Relaxation gives us the exocentric pleasure of doing the loving - of our work, our lives and the people who inhabit them.
+Both contraction and relaxation can deliver pleasure, but the pleasure of contraction (the pleasure of the ego) is temporary, whereas the pleasure of relaxation is the enduring pleasure of the soul.
+It feels good to have people pay attention to you. But even at its most intense (imagine being a movie star), the pleasure dissipates almost as soon as the attention shifts away. And when the pleasure of the ego leaves, a vacuum of sadness takes its place.
+It's like taking drugs. The effect is temporary. It's addictive. It leaves you wanting more. And each time you get more, it is not enough. Eventually, it kills you.
+"Enough of all this deep thinking," you say. "What does this have to do with me?"
+Just this: The next time you are feeling sad or angry, recognize that there is a way to become happy again: Relax your ego.
+Here's how...
+Accept the fact that it is perfectly normal to feel crummy sometimes.
+Despite your core strengths and your many accomplishments, you will occasionally find yourself down in the dumps. It's natural for ambitious people (like yourself) to feel that way. As productivity expert Tim Ferriss says, "The occasional bouts of self-doubt and sadness are an integral part of building anything remarkable."
+If you are upset because of something you did to yourself, forgive yourself.
+It's okay. You screwed up. What matters is what you do next, not what you just did.
+I sometimes get angry when I feel pressured by work obligations. But when I examine the reason for all the work, it's usually because I volunteered to take it on in the first place. When I recognize that my mood is being affected by my own prior actions, I remind myself that I'm lucky. "It's okay that you are angry. But you don't have to be. You can get through today. And you can have better discipline tomorrow." That's what I tell myself, and it helps me feel better instantly.
+If you are upset because of something someone else did to you, take a chill pill.
+Count to 10. Recognize that you can't control the behavior of other people. The only thing you can control is your response to their behavior. Nobody can take that away from you.
+"Between stimulus and response there is a space," said Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning. "In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
+I used to get upset when my family, friends, or colleagues made a mistake. I realize now how stupid that was. It didn't do me any good. And it made me unproductive, unhappy and unpleasant to be around. I changed by learning to turn the other cheek. The moment I stopped resenting others for their shortcomings, I began to feel better about myself.
+It's amazing how well this works.
+Somebody bumps into you on the street and you sprain your ankle. You have a choice. You can be angry at that person. You can be upset with yourself for not being more aware of your surroundings. Or you can forgive the person and yourself and change the way you think about your injury. Rather than rue the inconvenience of being laid up for a week or two, see the recuperation period as a gift - the chance to start a new project or catch up on your reading.
+Don't allow unrealistic expectations to interfere with your relationships.
+(This is a subcategory of not allowing the behaviour of other people to upset you.)
+Instead of being upset by your spouse's habit of (fill in the blank), resolve to accept the fact that she won't be changing and find a way to forgive her and even love her. Instead of being angry that your child is a slob, find a way to love him for his strengths while gently teaching him (by showing, not telling) the advantages of being orderly. Instead of being angry at your business partner because she didn't perform as well as you expected her to, learn to appreciate what she brings to the table and negotiate a new deal with her out of love, not anger.
+Accepting people for who they are does not mean allowing them to make your life miserable. On the contrary, it means being realistic - realizing that 90 percent of the time, a person's fundamental characteristics cannot be changed. If you find a certain behavior unacceptable, you change the way you deal with it (something you can do) instead of trying to change the person (which you can't do).
+If you are upset because of circumstances beyond your control, take a double dose of chill pill.
+If it's one thing psychology has taught us, it's that you can deal with your troubles more effectively if you define them as "problems" (which can be solved) or "predicaments" (which can be coped with).
+Getting caught in a storm or catching a cold is not a reason to get mad at yourself. Neither, by the way, is being caught in a worldwide economic collapse.
+If you are unhappy at work, find a way to care about what you're doing.
+As Albert Camus said, "But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?" You won't experience happiness if you work at a job you hate or if you do poor work on a project you like. But if you learn to care about the work you do, you will find that your energy will improve and you will start to enjoy it.
+Engage in some sport or challenging exercise - something that is so demanding, you can't do it while thinking.
+Walking, stretching, and yoga are great forms of exercise. If you do them with a tranquil mind, they will make you healthy and happy, too. But if you do them when you are sad and feeling sorry for yourself, they will give you no relief. You will forget about the exercise and focus on your negative thoughts. That will make things worse.
+Recognize that the health of your body has a great deal to do with your mood.
+If you are feeling bad much of the time, you probably need to make a few lifestyle changes. To wit:
+Eat healthy. Eating too many carbohydrates will make you crazy, cranky and tired. To have consistent energy all day, use food like fuel. Eat six smallish meals a day, avoiding junk food and favoring organics, lean meats and plenty of protein.
+For specific advice on healthy eating and exercise, read my previous essay, "Maximum Health for a Full-Capacity Life."
+Sleep and rest adequately. For me, adequate sleep is a major contributor to feeling good. Studies show that people who get seven good hours of sleep a night live longer, suffer from fewer illnesses and achieve more because they have more energy. If you get tired during the day, take a short nap.
+Get the advice of a good doctor about antidepressants. I'm generally against putting chemicals in my body. I much prefer natural cures. But antidepressants have helped some people close to me, and may help you, too.
+Take positive steps to focus "outward" instead of "inward" - to pay less attention to yourself and more attention to others.
+A few examples:
+Make your friends happy. Smile when you see them. Listen to their stories. Give them the advice they want and shut up when they don't want any. Become the person they turn to when the chips are down. Learn to love their peccadilloes and encourage them to overcome their faults. Above all, be loyal.
+Be a reliable and steady resource for your business colleagues. Help them achieve their goals - not because you want them to reciprocate in some way, but simply because you care about them and want them to succeed.
+Do something for someone you don't know - a stranger you come upon, a foster child, or a sick or poor person who can benefit from your help. Spend time and money.
+Make this outward focus a natural part of your daily life. Do it purposefully and deliberately until it becomes second nature. You will know when that happens because you'll be feeling happy most of the time - and when you become sad or angry, you'll be able to get over it quickly and easily.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power # 22: Ten Old-School Rules for Raising Great Kids ======
+My wife and I abused our children.
+With Liam, our first, we shared an unspoken ambition of gracing the world with the first perfect child.
+To achieve that goal, we did all that we felt might give him an edge in his pre-toddler years. We fed him the right foods, read him the best books, and kept all but the most intellectually stimulating toys from his grasp.
+As he advanced toward early adolescence, we accelerated our efforts at improving him, despite some hairline cracks in the shell of his youthful perfection. Most of our free time was spent chauffeuring him to and from myriad educational, sporting, and social events.
+And we didn't simply drop him off to fend for himself. We stayed there to "support" him by shouting at him from the sidelines and sometimes offering his teachers, trainers, and coaches the benefit of our amateur opinions.
+We hardly noticed that we were suffocating him with our egocentric intentions. Nor were we aware that we must have looked just as obnoxious and overbearing as all the other parents who were doing pretty much the same thing with their children.
+When Patrick, our second, was born, our goals were less ambitious. We could tell almost as soon as he slid into the world that he had a different personality than his older brother and might likely turn out differently even if our parenting was exactly the same.
+We continued to give Patrick the same basic educational, physical, and social advantages, but we no longer felt compelled to insert ourselves into every activity. We had more faith that other people - his teachers, coaches, tutors... his surrogate parents - would do as well as or better than we would.
+By the time Michael, our third son, was born, we had come to the conclusion that hyper-parenting had little long-term benefit. Some of it was negative.
+So with Michael, we provided most of the same educational, physical, and social opportunities, but we were less insistent that he participate in all of them. And we left the coaching to the coaches.
+Before "Helicopter Parenting"
+This ideal of hyper-parenting is quite recent. It has become common in upwardly mobile, upper-middle-class parents. Today, parents often spend fortunes to give their children early advantages.
+For parents who have the money and the time, I believe it's quite natural for them to lavish so much of it on their first- and even second-born children in the belief that it will contribute to their later success.
+I don't know for certain whether affluent parents in my generation coddled and "abused" their children with attention the way we did. But I doubt it. The great majority of them simply couldn't afford it. And a good percentage of the affluent had more than three children. That's why I think the popular view of parenting back then was less about giving children every possible benefit and more about discipline and benign neglect.
+My parents, for instance, expected all eight of their children to do daily and weekly chores (mine was to clean the bathrooms), walk a half-mile to school each day, and get good marks or there would be penalties to pay. On Saturday mornings, I worked with my father in the yard or fixing the house. On Sundays, after church but before we could go out, we had to memorize and recite a poem of my mother's choosing.
+In terms of sporting options, there were only baseball teams, which only accepted about 20% of the children who tried out. As for other sports, we had to find empty lots and open fields to play them. And we did so without parental involvement or concern.
+Under the roof of our parents' house (it wasn't ours - the kids' - that was clear to us), we were strictly disciplined. Outside, we were largely left to fend for ourselves.
+Some people today might consider this style of parenting abusive. And it's quite possible that many of my generation felt the same way. Or at least felt that it was inadequate. How else to explain the parents we became?
+How to Cure Hyper-Parenting Syndrome
+There is a great deal of media support for this child-centric approach to parenting... in books, in magazine articles, and on television.
+Rude, self-centered children (whose parents are forever trying to satisfy their never-ending, always escalating demands) populate practically every movie made by Steven Spielberg and his ilk.
+It was refreshing, then, to run across a book that takes a different point of view.
+The Over-Scheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap takes the position that it may be better to let your kids control more of their own time.
+Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld, the author, recommends limiting the number of formal activities you put your child in. "Think before you sign your child up for something," he says. "Do the benefits outweigh the sacrifices?"
+Instead of making the child the center of your universe, he suggests, make the family the center. The family starts with the parents but includes the kids. Family activities - things you do together - are good for your kids, even if they don't think so at first.
+This is the approach K and I developed. Not purposefully, but naturally over time. On week-long vacations in Nicaragua, for example, we did crossword puzzles together and took Spanish lessons (in two groups: beginner and intermediate), and played cards, horseshoes, and even charades.
+After some initial whining, the kids' complaints diminished and were gradually replaced with chatter and good-natured banter and even laughter. As one day followed the next, the initial resistance to these low-tech ways of having fun morphed into a restrained interest and finally into unashamed enthusiasm.
+Childhood is preparation, Rosenfeld reminds us, not a performance. Yes, we all want our children to be as wonderful as we know they can be - but a major part of having a good and productive life is learning how to be good and happy in a family situation. Turning off the television and banning video games is a good way to start.
+That said, here are 10 antiquated rules (some from Rosenfeld and some from our own experience) for raising pretty good kids:
+No more than one extracurricular activity at a time. And try not to get too involved. When you go to games or performances, don't cheer more loudly for your child than you do for others. And never, ever complain to their coaches or teachers about how much play time they are getting.
+Give your children plenty of time away from you. You are not supposed to be their best friend, so don't take up all their after-school and weekend hours. Let them make their own friends and find their own places to play. Don't worry so much about how dangerous it is out there. It's no more dangerous than it was when you were a kid. It's just that you are more paranoid than your parents were.
+Make them do chores. Aside from having them clean up after themselves and keep their rooms cleaned (zero-tolerance policies on these), assign them weekly family chores like washing floors or folding laundry. Teach them that family work is shared by all members of the family. The older they get, the more they can do.
+Make their weekly allowances embarrassingly low. My son Michael, when he was 15, got about $3 per week. That seems insane even to me, but my wife K stuck to it and it has had a profound and beneficial effect on our children. They don't hit us up for money.
+Let them earn money. They won't be able to buy much with their allowances, so give them a chance to work for extra cash. Paid jobs take place after the non-paid family chores are done. Wages should be generous but not excessive.
+Make them save half of what they earn. Use the "Seeds of Wealth" system to ensure that your children not only understand the value of saving but actually build the beginnings of their future wealth by putting away 50 cents on every dollar they make or are given.
+No television. We didn't have a TV set while the kids were young - and that was a major blessing. But if you don't want to give up your idiot box, at least restrict its use to an hour or two each weekend day.
+No video game consoles. By now you are thinking that K and I were nuts. But we successfully banned all Game Boys, PlayStations, etc., from the house - and it worked surprisingly well. It forced the kids to focus on other things.
+Not every child is capable of straight As - but unless your child has a learning problem, you should be able to get a solid B average out of him. When the grades fall below that, lay on the penalties. When they meet your modest (B) expectations, give them a modest reward.
+Pay attention to them. Try to be involved in your kids' lives through conversations about their chores, their schooling, and their friends. Know the players, the dramas, and the feelings associated with them. Okay, I never did do much of this. But K did. And it seems to have paid off. Doing these things developed her relationship with the kids into a connection that I'm missing. Don't end up where you look back and think, "Would have... Should have..."
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power # 23: How to Turn Over a New Leaf and Become the Person You Were Meant to Be ======
+We begin our work today with the most important challenge of your wealth-building goal: I am going to ask you to turn over a new leaf.
+Why? Because until now - for whatever reason - you have failed to become wealthy, or at least as wealthy as you want to be. And that is why you joined the Wealth Builders Club - to see if we couldn't help you achieve your financial goals.
+Yesterday, I outlined all the work we'll be doing together in the coming year. Some of that work will require you to develop special skills. Some will require you to develop new habits. Some of it will require you to learn new things. But most importantly, it will challenge you to think about wealth, and your relationship to wealth, in new ways.
+All this takes not only a commitment to work but also a willingness to change.
+Let me to begin by telling you about my own struggle with change...
+"You show up late for class, seldom complete your assignments, and spend much of your class time daydreaming. Yet you produce C+ and B- work. Were you a child with modest potential, I would be happy with such grades. But you, Mr. Ford, are an underachiever."
+I was in tenth grade when Mrs. Growe, my homeroom teacher, called me out in front of my class. I was not surprised or insulted by the assessment. It was accurate. I knew it.
+There were reasons. I was dyslexic. I had ADD (attention deficit disorder), and there were those adolescent hormones. But I always knew I could overcome them if I put my mind to it. Mrs. Growe had my number. I was a slacker.
+I was a slacker and an underachiever, but I wasn't without academic ambitions. I fantasized about being accepted into a prestigious university despite my mediocre grades. Every six months or so I promised myself I would "turn over a new leaf" and spent the next several weeks working hard and making progress.
+But that never lasted. I did manage to score well on the SATs, but my overall academic CV was such that my guidance counselor recommended a local community college or the U.S. Army.
+The community college was happy to take my $400 per year and would have been equally happy to give me the Cs I had been earning in high school. But something changed that summer. I wasn't willing to be the underachiever any longer.
+Going to a C school, I realized, was a benefit in disguise. I was going to be in an academic environment where mediocrity held sway - where I would be competing with mediocre students.
+That thought was motivating. Equally motivating was the realization that this was a genuine second chance. My past was past. If I could do well during my first year, I could apply to a better college to get my degree.
+And then there was a third thing: the thought that none of my new teachers or fellow students would know me. I would be coming into this new environment as an unknown person, not the perennial class clown I had been in high school. I could come into class on time, take a seat in the front of the class, and pay attention.
+In short, it was an opportunity to "impersonate" a good student.
+And that's exactly what I did.
+From Slacker to Diligent Student
+I spent a good bit of time that summer on the college campus, learning everything I could about it - the curriculum, the teachers, the facilities, the extra-curricular activities, etc. My idea was to get ahead of the competition by knowing all the rules and requirements, all the good classes, all the best teachers, and lots of shortcuts.
+I showed up for classes in September on time, prepared with the required texts. I sat in the front row and raised my hand whenever the teacher asked questions. I did my homework assignments and spent my spare time studying. Between attending classes, studying, and running a house-painting business on the side, I worked 16 hours per day, seven days per week.
+From the very first encounter with you, the messages resonated with me, and I knew in my soul that this was RIGHT for me and that I could trust your advice. I am watching our portfolio grow, I stay on task with comparing financial statements from one period to another, and I have learned at a pace that is very comfortable for me. Club member LH.
+By the end of the first semester, I was known as an A student. And not just any A student, but one of the best. It was a very good feeling. I became addicted to it. I went on to a better college and a top-10 graduate school and managed, even with tougher competition, to stay at the top of my class.
+I often think about how I managed to turn over that leaf. After trying and failing so many times, what was it about that last time that worked?
+When I first wrote this essay, my theory was that I had bottomed out emotionally - that I was finally so disgusted with myself that it made a difference. But in thinking about it since then, I can't say that's true. I had been disgusted with myself many times before. No, it was something else.
+I think the real difference was this: As a high school student I had created a persona - the smart slacker/class clown who would never take himself seriously. My fellow students seemed to like it when I played that role, and their approval mattered. This was, of course, a self-destructive character. So long as I believed I was it, I was doomed.
+When I realized I'd be entering college as an unknown person, I also realized that the role I had been playing in high school was a role I didn't have to play in college. I could put on a new face and costume and act a different part.
+Envision Your Best Self
+And this is the idea I want you to consider today.
+Is it possible the person you are being right now is not the person you were meant to be?
+Is it possible that there is a better version of yourself - a more thoughtful, more articulate, more skillful, and more accomplished role you could play?
+Only you can answer those questions, but I have a hunch that you wouldn't be reading this right now if it weren't true.
+When we have spent years struggling but failing in some aspect of our lives, it is normal to believe that we are "simply not good" at this or that.
+But the past is past. It has no effect on your future. Past failures can hold you back only as long as you see yourself as a failure. Past behaviour is addictive only as long as you see yourself as an addict.
+Your current and future behaviour is not linked to its past. It is linked to your mind - the one thing in life you have 100% control over.
+Use your mind. Think about whether you are the person you always wanted to be. Ask yourself, "If I were starring in a movie about my life, what role would I best like to play?"
+Begin with a vision of what you want to be. Then figure out how that person should be. How should he talk? How should he walk? How should he interact with other people?
+When presented with a challenge, how should he respond? At what time does he rise every day? How does he spend his day?
+You get the picture.
+Do what I did that summer before I started college. Figure out the kind of role you want to play. And then start playing that role. Nobody can stop you!
+All the best,
+Mark
+P.S. These thoughts apply to any sort of change you want to make. But we are together for a reason - to achieve financial independence in seven years. That is a possible goal, but it will be impossible for you unless you recognize that what you have been doing has not worked. Not everything. I'm quite sure that many of your decisions have been wise. But the sum of them has left you with less wealth than you need or want. You can change that now. Make a commitment.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power # 24: Your Daily Secret Weapon ======
+I didn't always plan my days. For most of my career, in fact, I didn't.
+I had written goals. And I referred to them regularly. My goals kept me pointed in the right direction, but I was always moving back and forth. Often for no good reason.
+Driving to work in the morning, I would think about my goals. That helped motivate me and often gave me specific ideas about what tasks I should accomplish that day. I'd walk into work meaning to complete those tasks... but by the end of the day, many of them were not done.
+What happened? The same thing that may be happening to you right now. You sit down at your desk, and there is a pile of new mail in your inbox. You pick up the phone, and 15 messages are waiting for you. You open your computer, and find that you've received 50 new e-mails since you last checked. You tell yourself that you will get to your important tasks later. Right now, you have to "clean up" all these little emergencies.
+Before you know it, the day is over and you haven't taken a single step toward achieving your important goals. You make an effort to do something, but you are tired. Tomorrow, you tell yourself, you will do better.
+Does that sound familiar?
+If so, don't feel bad. You are in good company. Most people deal with their work that way. Even people who set goals and achieve them. Over the long term, they get everything done. But on a day-to-day basis, they are constantly frustrated.
+You can be successful without planning your days... but you will have to work a lot longer and harder. The reason? When you don't plan your days, you end up working for other people - not just for yourself. You feel that before you get to your own work, you should first deal with their requests.
+Starting your day by clearing out your inbox, voicemail inbox, and e-mail inbox is just plain dumb. Most of what is waiting for you every morning has nothing to do with your goals and aspirations. It is work that other people want you to do for them.
+If you want to be the captain of your soul and the master of your future, you have to be in charge of your time. And the best way to be in charge of your time is to structure your day around a task list that you, and only you, create.
+As I said, simply writing down my goals helped me accomplish a good deal. But my productivity quadrupled when I started managing my schedule with a daily task list. If you use the system I'm going to recommend, I'll bet you see the same improvement.
+I have used many standard organizing systems over the years, but was never entirely satisfied with any of them. The system I use now is my own - based on the best of what I found elsewhere.
+At the beginning of the year, I lay out my goals for the next 12 months. I ask myself "What do I need to achieve in January, February, etc. to keep myself on track?" Then, at the beginning of each month, I lay out my weekly objectives. Finally, every day, I create a very specific daily task list.
+Here's how I do it...
+My Personal Daily Task List
+I begin each day the day before.
+What I mean by that is that I create my daily task list at the end of the prior day. I create Tuesday's task list at the end of Monday's workday. I create Wednesday's at the end of Tuesday's workday.I begin by reviewing the current day's list. I note which tasks I've done and which I have failed to do. My new list - the next day's task list - begins with those uncompleted tasks. I then look at my weekly objectives to see if there are any other tasks that I want to add. Then I look through my inbox and decide what to do with what's there. I may schedule some of those items for the following day. Most of them, I schedule for later or trash or redirect to someone else.
+I do all this in pen on a 6? x 9? pad of lined paper. I divide the paper vertically to create columns for the tasks, for the time I estimate it will take to do each one, and for the actual time it takes me to complete it. I also create a column for tasks I will delegate to my assistant.
+On most days, I end up with about 20 15-minute to one-hour tasks.
+Here is a typical daily list.
+I like doing this by hand, in pen and ink. You may prefer to do it on your computer. The point is to enjoy the process.
+Because longer tasks tend to be fatiguing, I seldom schedule anything that will take more than an hour. If you have a task that will take several hours, break it up into pieces and do it over a few days. It will be easier to accomplish. Plus, you will probably do a better job because you'll be doing it with more energy and with time to review and revise your work as you go.
+A typical day for me includes two or three one-hour tasks, three or four half-hour tasks, and a dozen or so 15-minute tasks. The kind of work you do may be different, but I like that balance. It gives me flexibility. I can match my energy level throughout the day to my task list.
+Ideally, you should get all of your important tasks and most of your less important tasks done almost every day. You want to accomplish a lot so you can achieve your long-term goals as quickly as possible. But you also want to feel good about yourself at the end of the day.
+You may find, as I did, that when you begin using this system you will be overzealous - scheduling more tasks than you can possibly handle. So set realistic time estimates when you write down your tasks. And double-check them at the end of the day by filling in the actual time you spent on each one.
+When you complete a task, scratch it off your list. One task done! On to the next one! I've been doing this for years, and I still get a little burst of pleasure every time.
+Creating each daily task list should take you less than 15 minutes. The secret is to work from your weekly objectives - which are based on your monthly and yearly goals.
+This system may not work for you, but I urge you to give it a try. I think you'll like it.
+Before your colleagues, competitors, and coworkers are even sipping their first cup of coffee, you'll have figured out everything you need to do that day to make you healthier, wealthier, and wiser. You will know what to do, you will know what your priorities are, and you will already be thinking about some of them. You will not have to worry about forgetting something important. And you will have a strong sense of energy and excitement, confident that your day is going to be a productive one.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power # 25: How to Give Yourself a 97% (or Better) Chance of Accomplishing Your Dreams  ======
+To help you become successful... to get you closer to where you want to be in life, you need to have a Master Plan.
+A Master Plan is what Jack Welch used to communicate and achieve his vision for General Electric. And it's what some professional sports coaches use to lead and motivate their teams when the prospect of winning a league championship that year or even the following one is next to zero. They know that instead of pumping up their players on the impossible dream, it's much more realistic - and can be just as exciting for them - to chart a longer-term success plan that will take them where they can hope to be.
+The same process can help you achieve your personal goals.
+Your personal Master Plan will be not only the foundation but also the blueprint of your success.
+A Master Plan says that you are serious about your life goals. It is a formal contract between the visionary you and the daily, working you that lays out, point by point, what exactly has to be done to achieve all your major objectives over time.
+The ability to concentrate and use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business - or almost anywhere else, for that matter. - Lee Iacocca (Iacocca: An Autobiography)
+The Master Plan works because it takes very large, sometimes very nebulous, ambitions and breaks them down into specific tasks - things you have to learn, things you have to know, and things you have to do. Transforming dreams into tasks may take away some of the romance, but what you're get instead is a growing excitement about how increasingly likely it is that you will accomplish your dreams.
+The reason most people don't achieve their ambitions is NOT that they aren't smart enough, shrewd enough, or complicated enough. It's that they are emotionally too complex, shrewd, and smart. They allow themselves too many subconscious conflicts of interest which stall their progress or derail them.
+Making a Master Plan work is about simplifying your interests and acting upon them in a very simple way. When you get the emotional gratification of taking one forward step toward one cherished goal, it will make it that much easier to take the next step.
+Think of your Master Plan as a behaviour-response system for the ultra-sophisticated (and highly interesting) YOU.
+To perform better than you have in the past (and achieve more than you have so far), you have to act differently now. And if you really want to achieve those dreams you dream about, you have to make sure that what you do today - this very day, not tomorrow - will move you closer to those dreams.
+In order to accomplish all your most important goals, start today by selecting them. The rest is easy.
+Don't be cynical. This can definitely change your life. It has worked for me and for everyone who has tried it, including dozens of individuals I've personal coached. So let's get started.
+Take out a sheet of paper. Title it "Life's Goals" (if you have no shame) or "Stuff to Do Before I Croak" (if you are afraid someone will see it).
+Make a list of everything you want to accomplish. Everything. Life making a lot of money. Writing books. Traveling to Rome. Learning to tap dance. Write till you are done.
+Let it sit for a few hours. Even a day. Then narrow the list down to your top 10 choices.
+Take another rest. Now many another cut. This time, you have to select your top four goals. (If you are having trouble figuring out what is really important to you, do this: Imagine your obituary. What would you want said about you?)
+These are your Life Goals, your ultimate priorities, the objectives that will make you the person you really want to be. Spend some time imagining yourself in the future, as you will be when you've accomplished them.
+Now, pick the one Life Goal that is numero uno.
+On a separate sheet of paper... or perhaps on an index card... write down your four Life Goals with your top choice on top. Highlight that one.
+Now you must make one final and very tough decision.
+Now you have to decide whether achieving your top goal is THE MOST important thing to you. You need to ask yourself if you would sacrifice everything else in order to achieve it. Here's why: There is a 99% chance you will achieve your top goal if you are willing to do anything to achieve it. That may mean compromising one or several of the other three goals. If you don't want to compromise the others, don't fret. You still have a very good (over 80%) chance of achieving all four of your Life Goals with my program.
+So decide: One goal and damn the rest? Or a balanced life?
+OK. Here's what you need to do now. Convert your four Life Goals into five-year objectives. For example, let's say that one of your goals is to have a net worth of $10 million. And let's say that you want to retire in 10 years. You might make "having a $5 million net worth" your five-year goal.
+You are going to use this five-year list to create your one-year list. And you will use your one-year list to create monthly lists. And you will use each monthly list to create your weekly lists. And your weekly lists to create your daily "to-do" lists.
+I know. I know. But it works. It really works.
+Next, I'll show you how to make this conversion from a five-year plan to a daily "to-do" list. One you can get to work on right away.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power # 26: A Morning Routine That Will Make It Highly Probable That You Will Achieve the Four Life Goals You Set for Yourself  ======
+Every successful person I know (or have read about) gets to work early. It's such a universal trait of accomplished individuals, I'm tempted to say it is the first and foremost secret of success. "Early to bed and early to rise," Ben Franklin said, "makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." I used to think that was propaganda from a Puritan. Now I think it's an observation from a very wise man.
+Healthy, wealthy, and wise. Let's start with wealthy - since that's what most people are interested in.
+How does starting early make you rich?
+There is no better time to collect your thoughts and plan your day than early in the morning when the office is quiet. Not only are you undisturbed by phone calls and interruptions, but ahead of you is the potential of an unopened day. The solitude promotes a kind of relaxed, contemplative mood. You feel free to think in an expansive way. Later on, when the place is noisy and the pressure is on, it's difficult to pay attention to what's important. You feel your attention drawn in several directions at once. You feel the pressure of deadlines. And you may be hit with bad news, which could put you in a bad, unproductive mood.
+We must use time as a tool, not as a couch. - John Fitzgerald Kennedy
+A near-perfect morning routine
+Over the years, I've studied and experimented with dozens of time-saving techniques and organizational systems. The simple three-step program that follows is a unique combination of what in my experience is the best of the best.
+Step One: Getting your inputs (5 - 10 minutes)
+Start with your weekly "to-do" list. (This is derived from your monthly "to-do" list, which comes from your yearly "to-do" list, which is a derivative of your five-year Life Goals list.) On a sheet of paper, jot down anything and everything you think needs to get done. Make sure you have at least one task associated with each of your four primary goals.
+Now, scan your email. Don't read the messages. You will get bogged down if you do. Just give them a quick once-over to see if there is anything waiting for you that may need to be taken care of right away and/or will take some extra time.
+Next, check your phone messages, faxes, and in box. Don't respond to anything. Your job for the moment is simply to amass it all.
+When you have done all of this, you will have completed the first step of your morning routine. You will have gathered up all the work you might want to do that day. You will already be thinking about much of it. You will not have to worry about forgetting something important. And you will have a good idea of how much needs to be done.
+Step Two: Sorting and Ordering (5-15 minutes)
+Now comes the fun part. Get out a clean sheet of paper - or an index card - and write the date on top. Referencing all the inputs you have just gathered, categorize each item according to the quadrant developed by Steven Covey (the "Seven Habits" guy) as either:
+Important but urgent
+Important but not urgent
+Unimportant but urgent, or
+Unimportant and not urgent
+Then select the items that you intend to accomplish before the end of the day.
+When you start out, you'll be lucky to complete 15 tasks, so be realistic in your planning. As you become better at time spacing, you will do more. On a good day, I can knock off 35-40 tasks.
+Make sure your daily "to-do" list contains nothing that is Unimportant and Not Urgent and a diminishing number of Unimportant but Urgent items (since they indicate that you are not in control of your schedule).
+Now highlight four or five of the items on your list. These should all be Important and Not Urgent. (The Urgent tasks you HAVE to do. The Important but Not Urgent tasks will advance your Life Goals. They are critical to your success, but you will almost certainly fail to do them unless you make them a priority. That's why you are highlighting them.)
+To the side of each item, you might want to indicate how much time you think it will take. And then you might want to add another column to record the actual time each task took. (I run a subtotal of the cumulating times to the right of that so there is some relationship between what I want to do and how much time I have to do it.)
+As a general rule, it's a good idea to structure all of your tasks so that none lasts more than an hour. Ten-minute, 15-minute, and 30-minute tasks are best. If you have something that takes several hours to do, break it up in pieces and do it over a few days. It will be better for the extra time you give it and you won't get crushed on any one day. Also, be sure to slot in time for relaxing, eating, etc. When you are done, double check to make sure the time you allocated does not exceed the time you have available.
+You will have now finished Step Two. Your day is organized - not according to what others want from you but according to what you want from yourself. If you have never done this before, it will be a major change.
+Step Three: Give your day a boost (30-60 minutes)
+Here's the best step. As your first task, take on one of the highlighted tasks. It might be something you enjoy doing or something you really don't want to do (because it will make you feel so good when it's done).
+Do these three things right away - first thing when you get in (which should be about 90 minutes before everyone else) - and you will have accomplished more by starting time than most people do by lunchtime. (Or all day, for that matter, since most people see most of their day consumed by unimportant emergencies.)
+Very Important: Make sure, as I said above, that you do at least one task each day to advance each of your four Life Goals. Really, you should do more than that. Your day's "to-do" list should roughly reflect, in terms of time devoted to each task, your Life Goals list, with priority given to your top goal, a bit less to your second, and so on.
+Success is what happens when you do a little more each day
+Success can come in a single windfall, but most often it arrives bit by bit. This is a way for you to give yourself a significant advantage over the people you compete with in life.
+It actually gives you three advantages. You get much more done. You have to deal with far fewer unnecessary crises. And, most important, you spend a much greater percentage of your time doing things that you along toward the goals you desire.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #27: The Most Important Thing You Can Do Tomorrow to Start Yourself on a Course to Success, Wealth, and Happiness  ======
+My oldest son has many extraordinary talents and all the peccadilloes you'd expect from a 20-year-old going to school in New Orleans. Every time I see him, as I did recently, I'm impressed by his intelligence and good nature. He is more and has more than I was and had at his age. Still, when I hear that he had to talk his way onto the plane because he lost his identification six weeks earlier and that he's "having trouble" getting to his 10 a.m. math concepts class ("I mean, really. It's ridiculously early"), I feel the urge to advise him.
+OK, I want to do more than advise him. I want to lecture. I want to slam him with a speech like the one Polonius gave to the departing Laertes. Since one of my son's many attributes is consideration toward the aged and feeble, I know he will listen to me. He will nod his head dutifully, but how much attention will be paid?
+There's no point in a lecture of a hundred points - even good ones - so a pragmatic instinct prods me to restrict my advice to a single please. My hope is to get him to do only one thing that will spur him to do all the other things he needs to do.
+Since time is the one immaterial object which we cannot influence - neither speed up nor slow down, add to nor diminish - it is an imponderably valuable gift. - Maya Angelou
+After much consideration, I have discovered what that one piece of advice should be: Get up early.
+There are many big reasons why getting up early can improve your life. It lets you get a jump-start on your competition and approach each day with maximum energy and enthusiasm. It signals to the world that you have high standards and that you are willing to work long and hard to achieve them. It gives you the time to need to plan your days, weeks, months, and years - to make your quotidian life support your long-term goals. And it forces you to get to bed earlier, thus avoiding a lot of activities and behaviours that won't do anything but slow down or impede your natural progress.
+These are the big reasons, but there are other reasons as well. Some of them are mentioned in How to Become CEO by Jeffrey J. Fox. The chapter is short, so I'll give it to you in its entirety here:
+Why Jeffrey Fox says you should arrive at work 45 minutes early and leave 25 minutes late
+If you are going to be first in your corporation, start practicing by being first on the job. People who arrive at work late don't like their jobs - at least that's what senior management thinks. People don't arrive 12 minutes late for the movies. And being early always gives you a psychological edge over the others in your company.
+Don't stay at the office until 10 o'clock every night. You are sending a signal that you can't keep up your personal life is poor. Leave 15 minutes late instead. In those 15 minutes, organize your next day and clean your desk. You will be leaving after 95% of the employees anyway, so your reputation as a hard worker stays intact.
+There are too many times in your career when circumstances like airline schedules, sales meeting, year-end closings, and such will keep you away from home until late. During the normal periods, give more time to your family.
+Plus, 45 minutes early and 15 minutes late is an hour a day. That's 250 hours a year, or 31 days. You can get ahead quickly working one extra month a year.
+There are corporate mentality problems embedded in Fox's argument (e.g., "leave no more than 15 minutes late") that irk me. But I don't argue with his basic advice.
+Transform Your Life with a Pink Highlighter
+Try this trick when you make out your daily "to-do" lists: Make sure that at least one task is something that will get you closer to your ultimate goal. And make sure it is something significant. This will almost automatically make it more difficult in some way. More ballsy. More stressful. But write it down. Then, when you are going over your list and highlighting your priorities, mark this one in a different colour. (I use yellow for my normal, "business-maintenance" priorities and pink for "new growth" activities.)
+Highlight it in a different colour, in any case, and don't... under any circumstances... fail to do it.
+What are you doing?
+Are you getting to work, consistently, at least 15 minutes early?
+Do you stay late?
+Are you spending at least 15 minutes a day planning your schedule?
+Do you start each day with a list of tasks that relate, directly and purposefully, to your Life Goals?
+Are you taking care of your Important but Not Urgent tasks in a timely manner?
+Are you getting to bed earlier than you were when you started my program?
+Are you rising earlier too?
+If you are spending more than an hour relaxing after dinner, think about trading that time in for some sleep. Starting tomorrow, get up one hour earlier than you've been getting up so far. Get up and get right to work, doing something that is important to you.
+Start planning for it now. Do it tomorrow morning.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #28: Take This Quiz to Determine Your Chances of Success ======
+Most people don't work as hard as they think they do. And many hardworking people aren't very productive.
+A study I saw in USA Today a few months ago said that most people rate themselves as "hard" to "very hard" workers. Yet any reference book of statistics will tell you that the average employee puts in fewer than 40 hours a week - including overtime and working at home.
+Please don't send me your personal calendar. I'm sure you are the exception to the rule. But you must sometimes wonder - as I sometimes do - how you stack up against other workers.
+"The most common sort of lie is the one uttered to one's self." - Nietzsche (The Antichrist, 1888)
+Answering the following questions will give you a good idea of your personal productivity.
+How many hours a week do you work on any one of your lifetime goals?
+Less than 10 (8 points)
+to 20 (7 points)
+to 30 (6 points)
+to 40 (5 points)
+to 50 (4 points)
+to 60 (3 points)
+to 70 (2 points)
+to 80 (1 point)
+more than 80 (0 points)
+Do you use a daily task list?
+No (2 points)
+Yes (0 points)
+If you do use a daily task list, what percentage of the tasks that you assign do you finish?
+Less than 20% (4 points)
+% to 50% (3 points)
+% to 75% (2 points)
+% to 90% (1 point)
+more than 90% (0 points)
+Does your daily task list tie into a weekly project list?
+No (2 points)
+Yes (0 points)
+Does your weekly project list tie into a monthly list of objectives?
+No (2 points)
+Yes (0 points)
+Does your monthly list of objectives tie into a yearly goal-and-project agenda?
+No (2 points)
+Yes (0 points)
+Is your yearly agenda tied into four primary life goals?
+No (2 points)
+Yes (0 points)
+How many unscheduled interruptions take place in your typical day?
+One or two (0 points)
+Three to five (1 point)
+Six to ten (2 points)
+More than 10 (3 points)
+How would you define your normal work effort?
+Highly focused (0 points)
+Moderately focused (1 point)
+Mildly distracted (2 points)
+Wildly distracted (3 points)
+During working hours, do you do any of the following? (Give yourself 1 point for each one that applies.)
+Listen to talk radio
+Make personal phone calls
+Take personal phone calls
+Cruise the Internet
+Read newspapers, magazines, or books
+Play computer or other games
+Chat with other employees
+Shop online or read catalogs
+Daydream
+Attend to personal business in any other way
+Scoring: Add up your totals and compare them to the assessment below.
+Zero: If you scored a zero, you are a Work Maniac. You will be definitely be successful and almost certainly unhappy.
+- 5: You are a Very Serious Worker. You will be successful. You may also be happy. You already work hard to be successful. You may have to work harder to be happy.
+- 10: You want to succeed but haven't locked yourself into a serious working pattern. You push yourself to get the job done and try to please your boss - but deep down inside you know you are not seriously committed. Your chances of success are about 50/50.
+- 20: You are willing to work but you are not dedicated. You read about goal setting and successful habits, and you tell yourself you are going to get going "tomorrow". But your performance is lackluster. Your chances of success are less than 50%.
+- 30: You are showing up. Was it Woody Allen who said "Showing up is 90% of the game"? Well, he didn't mean the kind of showing up you are doing. You think you are a good worker, but you are not. Your chances of success are probably less than 10%.
+More than 30: When it comes to work, you are a stone-cold loser. If you think you are a serious worker, you are delusional. Get real. Your chances of achieving your dreams - and for you they are mostly daydreams - are best measured in micrometers. Your best bet for success: Play the lottery.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #29: The Biggest Secret to Getting People to Like and Respect You ======
+Despite what some pundits have said, making people like you is not the secret to success. There are plenty of very rich, very powerful, and very successful S.O.B.s out there. In fact, there may be an inverse relationship between affability and accomplishment. Spend too much time and energy trying to please others, and you won't get your own work done.
+That said, there is no good reason for arrogance and no possible excuse for rudeness. It may take a little extra care and attention, but you can attain everything you want in life, reach all your goals, and accomplish all your objectives without making people dislike you.
+How do you get what you want in life without offending people?
+The answer is simple: good manners.
+Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength. - Eric Hoffer (The Passionate State of Mind)
+Being well-mannered means acknowledging people each time you meet them, remembering their names and something about them, expressing yourself in a thoughtful manner, and saying "please" and "thank you" every time it's called for. (Many employees, for example, never say 'thank you' for their Christmas bonuses. They simple take them for granted.)
+In short, being well-mannered means doing all of the things your mother told you to do (or should have told you to do) when you were a child.
+It's surprisingly easy to forget your manners as you climb the ladder of success.
+With each step up in power and prestige, it's that much easier to ignore a courtesy or to take one without thanks. Eventually, if you don't watch yourself, you can turn into a character you wouldn't like if you saw him on television or in the movies.
+Here's a quick checkup on your manners:
+Do you smile and say 'hello' to everyone you meet each day? Even your assistant?
+Do you listen attentively when your subordinates speak, even if what they are saying makes little or no sense?
+Do you never raise your voice or lose your temper?
+Do you say 'thank you' every time it's warranted?
+Do you criticize people carefully and in private?
+Do you praise people specifically and in public?
+Are you careful about your appearance?
+Do you know the first and last names of all those who report to you?
+How to Make People Like You - Over and Over Again
+As I've already said, while good manners are not a necessary component to success, they certainly won't hurt your progress - and they may even help you by limiting the accidental emotional damage, and its resultant animosity, that can be created by inadvertent rudeness.
+But there is an even more active way to pave your road to achievement: by making people like you over and over again.
+First impressions do count - more than most people realize.
+According to Nicholas Boothman, author of How to Make People Like You, what you do in the first few minutes of every personal encounter determines how people will respond to you later on.
+And it's not just the very first impression. It's the first impression you give each and every time you greet someone.
+Each and every time you encounter a friend, family member, or business associate, do the following:
+The easiest kind of relationship for me is with ten thousand people. The hardest is with one. - Joan Baez
+Be aware of how you feel. Make yourself feel positive and allow that feeling to be reflected in the way you hold yourself.
+Make eye contact: Always look the other person directly in the eye, even if only for a moment.
+Beam. Be the first to smile. Let your smile, as well as your body, show that you're happy to see him/her.
+Make your 'Hi!' or 'Hello!' sound friendly.
+Take the lead: Extend your hand first.
+Shake his/her hand strongly. Shake it like you mean it.
+Lean toward him/her: An almost imperceptible forward tilt will very subtly indicate your interest in and openness to the other person.
+And here's an extra tip: However much you can, know what you want out of every new relationship or new encounter before you begin it. This will allow you to channel that positive first impression into something meaningful and beneficial.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #30: Have You Accomplished Your Wealth Building Goals Yet? Here's How Long You Can Reasonably Expect It to Take  ======
+Accomplishing a goal has three phases: deciding to do it, determining what specific actions are necessary and in what order, and executing those actions.
+If you are following my program, you have chosen your Life Goals and derived from them five-year, one-year, monthly, and even weekly objectives. I have given you a very good system for getting them done. What's left is the doing.
+Ah, there's the rub. Out of every 100 people who choose to do something, about 80 will give up before they begin because they don't have an effective plan. Of those 20 that remain, 16 will fail simply because they stop the doing.
+So how can you increase the likelihood that you will be one of the four who finally succeed?
+You need to begin with a realistic idea of how long your goal will take to accomplish.
+If you decide to become a lawyer to know that it will take you three years of full-time effort after college. If you decide to learn Spanish, you are better off recognizing that a certain sum of hours is necessary to achieve any level of proficiency.
+Time is the longest distance between two places. - Tennessee Williams (The Glass Menagerie)
+I started to think about this when I began learning two new physical skills (ballroom dancing and Jiu Jitsu) and I was interested to find out how long it would take before I would become "good" at them." At the same time, I was coaching some friends and relatives on career choices and wanted to be able to tell them how long specific tasks might take.
+In your case, you might want to know, for example, how long it takes to:
+Learn Spanish
+Become a good public speaker
+Dance well at weddings
+Practice a martial art
+Play a musical instrument
+Learn the secrets of direct marketing
+Become a good copywriter
+Almost as soon as you ask the question, you realize that "good" needs to be defined. To make matters simple, let's say that, broadly speaking, you can have the following three levels of skill:
+Competence
+Mastery
+Virtuosity
+Anything worth doing takes time.
+Let's illustrate this principle with ballroom dancing. You probably know people who move well on the dance floor. Whether it's cha-cha, a fox trot, or a swing number playing, they can go out there and make the moves. They are not professionals - they could not compete favorably in contests - but they are definitely competent. The next level - mastery - is the level of the professional dancer... a teacher or member of a dance troupe. It's easy to see the difference between competence and mastery, isn't it? Virtuosity? That's Fred Astaire.
+If one out of 100 dancers is competent, one out of 100 masters is at the Fred Astaire level.
+As I said, thought about how long it takes to achieve competence and/or mastery in certain areas. I spoke to professional teachers and read books. What I discovered is rather interesting. For most endeavours, it takes roughly the same amount of time to become skillful. More specifically:
+It takes about 1,000 hours to become competent at any worthwhile skill.
+It takes about 5,000 hours to master any skill.
+It takes between 25,000 and 35,000 hours to become world class. (And then, only if you're gifted.)
+Now these are ballpark numbers, admittedly. But they have proven to be remarkably accurate for any number of skills. For example, how many hours would it take you to become a competent speaker of French?
+Based on my experience learning French, here's a good guess:
+hours to learn - cold - the 20 most common irregular verbs in three tenses
+hours to master about 50 prepositions, conjunctions, and articles
+hours to get a good grasp of French grammar
+hours to learn about 1,000 useful nouns
+hours to memorize gender
+hours to acquire passable pronunciation
+What does it all add up to? 950 hours.
+As I said, that would get you to a point of competence where you could speak French "well," but it would hardly qualify you as a French teacher. To get to that level - a master's level - you'd need to do a lot more work. Say you studied two hours a day and practiced for another three hours... and you did this for three years. You'd probably be ready to teach, don't you think? You would have reached a level most would consider fluent.
+Take one more example: Jiu Jitsu (which I have been taking). After three years and with about 700-800 hours of instruction and practice under my belt, I feel "competent". I can easily handle newcomers to the sport, even those bigger, stronger, and more athletic. But I struggle with more experienced players. I am clearly not a master.
+Seven hundred hours is not 1,000, but in my case I've had the advantage of being trained by an excellent coach. That kind of education counts. In this case, it "saved" me about 30% of the time I would have spend otherwise.
+So I would make this adjustment to my theory of competence: Deduct 20-30% for good teaching.
+How you can take advantage of my 1,000-hour theory
+Think about the Life Goals you have set for yourself. Have you allocated enough time to accomplish them? Have you established a clear-cut primary goal for yourself? Have you allocated the hours that it takes?
+If not, do so today.
+Proof Positive: The Case of the Terminal Bachelorette
+Now that I've explained my "1,000-hour theory" in terms of the time it takes to learn things like French, ballroom dancing, and Jiu Jitsu... let's apply it to other areas of life. Can you identify, before-hand, a time commitment for any objective - even a personal one?
+Consider this real-life example:
+A friend of mine - an attractive, intelligent woman - is in the market for "the right man." She is committed to finding a man. And she has read books about how to do it. Yet, nothing has happened.
+The reason? She spends almost no time doing the things she needs to do. She feels as if she spends all her time looking (because she thinks about it a lot and is open to blind dates, etc.) but she seldom actually goes out "there" and makes herself available.
+I wondered if my 1,000-hour theory would apply to her romantic objective. To test it, I put the following proposition to her: If she put in 1,000 hours over the course of one year, she would have her man.
+Since she has a full-time job, in order to spend 1,000 hours a year pursuing this objective she would have to work at it two hours every workday evening and five hours on Saturday and Sunday.
+"Imagine," I said, "that after work each day, you got yourself up and went somewhere - an art class, a charity event, a bar, etc. - and you did it by yourself and with focused energy on your task. And assume that each weekend day you did the same - maybe spending time in pro shops and health clubs, going to special events, etc. - but for five hours each day."
+"What," I asked, "would be the chance that you could do that every day for a year and still not have the relationship you are looking for?"
+"Zero percent," she said.
+Seek and ye shall find. - Bible (Matthew 7:7)
+You can achieve what you want in life. You just have to make the effort, pay attention to what you are doing, and spend the time it requires to get there.
+Now start thinking about what it is that you haven't gotten around to doing. Something important. Something that will really improve your life.
+====== Wealth Through Personal Power #31: A Career Skill You May Be Overlooking  ======
+If you want to optimize your career, you've got to improve your core vocational skill. If you're a trial attorney, for example, you've got to hone your courtroom skills. If you're an engineer, you've got to stay in step with the technological developments of your specialization.
+But there's another thing you should do. You should become a good writer. By good, I don't mean crafty or artful, but clear and persuasive.
+You don't write because you want to say something: You write because you've got something to say. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
+Other than speaking well, no other skill will fuel your career more efficiently than writing. Having advanced technical skills and abilities will earn you a reputation as being a valuable employee. But being able to advance ideas that shape the world around you - that's a skill that will take you to the top.
+When it's about your career, being a good writer means knowing how to (1) clearly express an important idea and (2) persuade the reader that your idea is a good one. To achieve either objective, you don't need to have the literary sensitivity of a Cormac McCarthy. But you do need to do certain things.
+The Three Biggest Secrets of Good Writing
+I've mentored and/or edited dozens of writers - beginners, journeymen, and masters. When the writing is bad, 80% of the time it's attributable to three mistakes: (1) writing about too many ideas, (2) writing fancily, and/or (3) writing vaguely.
+When smart people write about complex ideas, they often get into trouble by trying to say too much. Telling the reader everything you know may persuade him that you are knowledgeable (and possibly pompous). But it won't persuade him to take the action you want.
+The easiest way to make your writing clear and persuasive is to limit your communication to a single good idea. In working with writers, I call this the rule of one.
+By sticking to one good idea, you increase immeasurably the likelihood that your reader will understand it. It also increases the likelihood that you will focus on a truly good idea.
+The second most common mistake writers - beginners and masters alike - make is to use flowery language and complicating phrasing. The result is writing that is unnecessarily difficult to read.
+There have been many books written on the subject of prose style, and the best among them provide guidelines for keeping your writing simple. You can achieve this simplicity by:
+Never using a fancy word when a simple one will do
+Avoiding clauses (complex and compound) and the passive voice
+Keeping your sentences short (usually less than 10 words)
+The Flesch-Kinkaid (FK) online readability checker can help you with this. (You'll find it on the Tools menu of your editing software.) Hone your sentences till you get the FK score to 7.5 or below and you'll be fine.
+The third most common mistake? Laziness. Trying to prove your point without specifics.
+You may have a great idea. And you may be able to express it clearly. But if you can't prove to your reader why it is true, you will persuade only those that don't need persuading. To win over the doubters, you have to do some work - research - to compile plenty of convincing evidence.
+If you can avoid these three mistakes, you'll be a good - i.e., clear and persuasive - writer. But if you want to be better than good, follow this bonus advice:
+Keep your paragraphs shortish and varied. If persuasion is the goal, forget about page-long paragraphs. Half a dozen sentences, as a rule, should be the limit. But mix them with shorter paragraphs of three sentences or two or even the occasion single sentence.
+Occasionally begin or end a paragraph with an extra-short sentence. Or string two or three short sentences together to create cadence.
+Examples:
+Literature is invention. Fiction is faction. To carry a story line a true story is an insult to both art and truth.
+The third most common mistake? Laziness. Trying to prove your point without specifics.
+To give your sentences a quick stop-and-go, use the interruptive dash.
+Examples:
+New York is a city ripe with extremes - of wealth and poverty, of creative energy and rage.
+The second most common mistake writers - beginners and masters alike - make is to use flowery language and complicating phrasing.
+Use commands to grab attention.
+Examples:
+Trek to the tops of mountains, the sources of rivers, and the earth's icebound poles.
+But if you want to be better than good, follow this bonus advice:
+Address your reader directly to make your message personal and compelling.
+Examples:
+As a parent, you want to do everything possible to keep your children from experimenting with drugs.
+The easiest way to make your writing clear and persuasive is to limit your communication to a single good idea. In working with writers, I call this the rule of one.
+These guidelines are very simple. But they are also very effective. Put them to use the next time you write a memo or letter. The clarity and strength of your (one) idea should be immediately apparent. And once you get the swing of it, you will become a more powerful and persuasive person.

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