ETR: Is there one book?

Issue No. 17 - $1.91	Saturday, November 21, 2009
A former protege of mine -- very successful now -- recently wrote to ask, "Is there one book out there that you read when you didn't have any money (if there was such a time), after which you were much better at making money? "When I was young," he continued, "I would read books like Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and get excited. I've tried to use the ideas in those books, really put them to work. But they never seem to go anywhere." Interesting. The same subject came up during ETR's Bootcamp. This is what I said... When I was poor -- for the first 32 years of my life -- I never read a single book about wealth or business or self-improvement of any kind. The books closest to it that come to mind are Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It was only after I had written my first book on wealth building, Automatic Wealth, in 2005, that I became interested in reading what others had to say. But I had an advantage many people don't have. Early in my career, I took a job with JSN, a natural-born moneymaker. He taught me more about making money in six months than I had learned in the previous 32 years. But there was something else too. The experiences I had as a salesman. For a brief period of time in my twenties, I sold aluminum siding and pots and pans door-to-door. Those temporary jobs put a little money in my pocket. More important, they gave me a respect for face-to-face selling that I still have -- even though I can't do it very well. These days I read (using the speed-reading system I've developed over the years) about one business book a week. I learn something from each of them. It's often something I "knew" at one time but have forgotten or haven't implemented. The novelty of a wealth-building idea is no indication of its power. In fact, the more often you hear it, the more powerful it usually is. The main benefit of reading books on wealth building is the motivation they provide. Critics sometimes deride motivational speakers and writers. In fact, there's nothing more valuable than motivation. It is the spark that sets the fire. Everything else -- all the tricks and techniques books can teach you -- are just fuel. So no. There was no one book for me. And so I can't say there is one book I could recommend to my former protege. But I can recommend that he keep reading. Constant learning is a trait of every wealth builder I know. And if he is really serious about becoming wealthy, I'd make two further recommendations: Start a business -- any business -- so you can learn the "inside" secrets that are seldom contained in books. And get a mentor -- someone who knows how to build wealth and is willing to teach you -- so you can achieve your wealth-building goals quickly and without major setbacks. American Writers & Artists Inc. just honored Mike Palmer -- my friend, colleague, and co-author (of the recently published Copy Logic!) -- with their copywriter of the year award. (You can see the full details -- and a picture of me, Mike, and AWAI's Executive Director -- here.) I was glad to see Mike get this award. I have worked with him since he was a "cub" and have always been impressed with his work ethic. One of Mike's greatest strengths is his ability to analyze copy. When he sees an ad campaign that is working for a competitor, or even a company in another industry, he studies it to discover what is beneath the surface. Then he puts that to work in his copy. Another skill Mike has is the simplicity of his language. His paragraphs are well made. His sentences are clean. Mike and I worked together to create what I think is the best system for critiquing advertising copy since cavemen invented clubs. It's called Copy Logic! You can get the book we wrote about it here. Nearing 60, I'm in the best shape of my life. I love the idea that I can keep up with wrestlers half my age, but what I like best is that I no longer suffer from chronic back pain, mid-afternoon fatigue, fading stamina, and the other supposedly inevitable consequences of age. Physically speaking, I have knocked off 30 years of aging by a combination of diet, yoga, Pilates, and Jiu Jitsu. My exercise routine used to take me a couple hours each day. But I've reduced that time drastically since being introduced to Dr. Al Sears's revolutionary philosophy of physical fitness. To quote the doctor himself: "The quality and intensity of the exercise you do is more important than the quantity. "Researchers at Laval University in Quebec divided men into two groups: long-duration and short-interval exercisers. They had the long-duration group cycle up to 45 minutes without interruption. The short-interval group cycled in bursts of only 15-90 seconds, while resting in between. "The long-duration group burned twice as many calories, so you would assume they would burn more fat. However, when the researchers recorded their body composition measurements, the interval group showed that they lost more fat. In fact, the interval group lost nine times more fat than the endurance group for every calorie burned." Dr Sears has tested this concept on hundreds of his patients at his clinic. And, indeed, most achieved lower body fat by exercising in shorter bursts of higher intensity. Partially based on these findings, he developed his PACE (Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion) program for maximum health and fitness. The PACE program was introduced in his excellent book, "The Doctor's Heart Cure." Briefly, here's how it works: Start with a 2-minute warm-up at a gentle pace. Accelerate to a moderate pace (an intensity of 5 on a 10-point scale) for 1 minute. Recover for 1 minute by working at an easy pace (an intensity level of 3 on a 10-point scale). Repeat this alternating cycle of high- and low-intensity exercise several more times. Gradually increase your intensity during the high-intensity portions of the workout to an intensity of 6, then 7, then 8. Throughout the workout, remind yourself to breathe deeply. Focus on powerfully exhaling all your air. As you inhale, feel your body expanding the oxygen-delivery capacity of your heart and lungs. I've revised my Jiu Jitsu workouts to emulate the PACE system. That has made a huge difference. I no longer have to do separate strength and fitness workouts. All I do is JJ and stretching. I figure I have saved about 300 hours a year by making this change. (If my goal were simply fitness and not to become better at my sport, I would have saved even more time.) You can accomplish a lot in 300 hours. For example, you could: Write a full-length screenplay. Become a passably good speaker of French. Paint six landscapes or 36 abstract/expressionist pieces. Become a Blue Belt in Jiu Jitsu or Taekwondo. Start a small business. Make a good friend. Spend five weeks in the wilderness... doing nothing. All that and still be in the best shape of your life! The great thing about writing to-do lists is that it can be motivating. You are reminded of all the great projects you are working on. You are eager to start. Except when it takes too long. If it takes a half-hour or more to compose a to-do list first thing in the morning, it's fatiguing. When you are tired, you don't want to attack the bigger projects. And the bigger projects are usually the ones that will make the greatest improvement in your life. My solution is to create each daily task list at the end of the previous working day. Then, before I go to sleep, I use a trick Matt Furey taught me. I picture myself starting work by doing the most important task of the day. I imagine myself working energetically. And I try to imagine how good it will feel when I'm done. It works. When I wake, I am usually full of energy and motivated to get going on that important task. I do my weekly and monthly tasks lists early too. I do my weekly list on Sunday afternoon and my monthly list the day before the month begins. FYI: It takes me about 15 minutes to create a daily task list, 30 minutes to create a weekly list, and an hour to create a monthly list. ETR has an excellent time-management program -- the Total Success Achievement Program. It was edited by Bob Cox, who knows more about this subject than anyone I have ever met. It is completely consistent with the techniques I've developed over the years. And it is has helped thousands of people achieve their goals. If you'd like to read more about it right now, go here. Success in business, and in life, depends on making good decisions and avoiding self-destructive behavior. This is especially true when it comes to investing. Most investors lose money because they have bad psychological habits... habits that work against sound trading decisions. You may be making the same mistakes. Ask yourself: Do I sometimes get so excited about the market that I risk more money than I should? Do I have trouble making trading decisions or hesitate closing out losing positions? Do I "bail out" of profitable positions too quickly? Do I get "buy" signals from my trading system -- even some that alert me to a big move -- but feel anxious about getting into the market? Do I frequently miss big trades or investments that I am sure would be winners? If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you will definitely benefit from the new service from Investor's Daily Edge: Sound Profits. IDE's in-house experts in options, dividend stocks, natural resources, and bonds will show you how to trade confidently. Their recommendations are not only timely, they're backed up by decades of hands-on experience and exhaustive up-to-the-minute research. Check out Sound Profits here. Speaking of Bootcamp... We've gotten a lot of great letters from attendees -- the best group we've ever had (as I mentioned last week). Here's one from Kevin Wood: "This is to Mary Ellen, Michael, and everyone else who was involved in putting on the ETR Bootcamp in Delray Beach. "Thank you very much for putting together such a dynamic and informative Bootcamp. I was energized the entire time I was there. In my business career, I've been to more conferences than I care to remember, and yours was absolutely the best event I have ever attended. Not only did your presenters provide nonstop invaluable content, they were some of the nicest, most approachable people I've ever met. "I've already networked with some of the attendees that I connected with at Bootcamp. With everything I learned there, I'm confident that my online business success will be unstoppable." Thanks, Kevin. We do our best. (And it was a pleasure to meet you.) If you want to find out what Kevin is talking about, you can. We've put together a Bootcamp 2009 home-study program. No, you won't be able to meet me or MaryEllen or any of the other expert speakers (like Clayton Makepeace, Rich Schefren, or Mike Koenig)s. But you will be able to watch every groundbreaking presentation. Find out more here. [Ed. Note: Michael Masterson welcomes your questions and comments. Send him a message at AskMichael@ETRFeedback.com.]
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