| Embarrassed by the revelation that they were handing out more than $16 billion in bonuses this year, Goldman Sachs announced that it is coughing up $500 million to "help out" small businesses. The Chairman and CEO of GS actually called this ploy "doing God's work." Happily, none of the newspapers I read took the bait. It's obviously an attempt to buy "good will," The New York Times said. A way of "apologizing to the public," was how The Wall Street Journal saw it. Goldman Sachs, let us remember, was a major culprit in the recent fleecing of the American investor. It was also a major recipient of the taxpayer-funded bailout. Goldman Sachs's job -- and this is true of all investment houses -- is to shake its clients upside-down until all the money falls out of their pockets. That's the way their business works. But when they pick up that money, blow it at the racetrack, and then tell those same investors to fork up more money (through taxes) so they can continue their shakedowns -- well, that doesn't make sense to me. -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended ----------------------------------------------------- Stop Playing Stock Market Games - Spending 12 hours a day on research and obsessing over trades is one way to play the markets. But why not use that time to enjoy your newly earned profits? Learn from one former Wall Street "insider" how to trade with precision and speed instead. Find out more here...
"Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power." Clint Eastwood I see a great deal of self-contempt in many people I encounter. It isn't necessary for a person to tell me he lacks self-respect. You can see it in his facial expressions and body language. You can hear it in his words and in the tone of his voice. People who lack self-respect leave clues. Territorial people, for example -- who saturate the workplace -- always lack self-respect. There are no exceptions. The same is true of people who defile their bodies (e.g., with facial tattoos, piercings adorning inappropriate body parts, and pink/purple hair) in order to attract attention. Bullies -- a group I have studied in some detail -- are also notorious for a lack of self-respect. If a person dislikes himself and has a low regard for his own abilities, he is unlikely to respect others. In all too many cases, such a person harbors resentment -- even hatred -- for people in whom he identifies his own intolerable flaws. This is why self-love (not narcissism) is the foundation of a peaceful society. If you don't love yourself, how can you "love thy neighbor as thyself?" As Joshua Liebman phrased it, "We must have good domestic relations with ourselves before we can have good foreign relations with others." How do you overcome feelings of inadequacy and perhaps even a dislike for yourself? Philosophers and psychologists have been dealing with this question for centuries. In truth, there is no simple answer. But I do believe there are certain ingredients that are guaranteed to help: Ingredient No. 1: Ridding yourself of the delusion that people of great wealth and/or fame are superior to you. I've known my share of rich and famous people. And I have found them, as a group, to be more insecure than the average person. So never allow yourself to be overly impressed by the fame and fortune of others. And never sell yourself short because of someone else's success. You are a unique human being. Without even meeting you, I'm certain you have a number of unique talents. Why? Because the universe is not a cookie-cutter factory. No two stars are alike, no two snowflakes are alike, and no two human beings are alike. Ingredient No. 2: Showing respect for others. You don't have to respect a person's behavior, but you are morally obliged to respect his time. Which means, first and foremost, being on time when it comes to phone calls, meetings, and other commitments. When I was just starting out in business, I was notoriously late for appointments. What I recall most about arriving late was that it made me feel inferior. I felt like I was on the defensive before I even entered the room. On a couple of occasions, when the person with whom I was to meet refused to see me because of my tardiness, I felt like a bug. Thankfully, the pain ultimately became great enough to motivate me to become obsessed with being early instead. These days, I show up for appointments 15-30 minutes early... sometimes an hour early if traffic turns out to be much lighter than I expected. I still miscalculate now and then, but it's rare. And since I usually have a good book or other reading material with me, being early is never a waste of my time. Ingredient No. 3: Dealing only with people who demonstrate -- through their actions -- that they are anxious to deal with you. If someone doesn't return your phone calls, it's the height of rudeness. But the important thing to understand is that he is sending you a message that you are a low priority on his "to do" list. Even worse is when you allow yourself to get maneuvered into a position of having to justify your existence. If you ever find yourself in such a situation, make it clear to the other party that you don't have time to be interrogated. Then make your exit. As an alternative, skip the explanation and just exit immediately. The most important self-respect builder you will ever find is the word "Next!" When you possess self-respect, you recognize that you don't need any one person or any one deal. You know you're independent when you deal with whom you want, when you want, and, to the extent possible, on your terms. Ingredient No. 4: Striving to lead a concentric life. By this I mean making certain that your actions align with what you know, in both your mind and heart, to be right. Pretension and hypocrisy are among the most vile human traits, so be vigilant about always displaying the real you. This means renouncing childish behavior and accepting adult responsibilities (marriage, family, and a profession). It means understanding that your actions affect those around you in ways that are not always obvious. It's much like throwing a pebble into a pond and watching increasingly large ripples form. Every action you take causes ripples that affect many other lives, including those of people you may never even meet. Remember, self-respect comes from within. You do not have the right to demand respect from others, but you do possess the right to refuse to deal with people who do not show you respect. As a general rule, however, the more you demonstrate that you respect yourself, the more likely others are to respect you. [Ed. Note: To learn how to survive and prosper during the turbulent years ahead, check out Robert Ringer's powerful audio series Succeeding in a World of Chaos. And be sure to sign up for a FREE subscription to his one-of-a-kind e-letter A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World.] -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended ----------------------------------------------------- Don't Have Any "Start-Up" Funding? - It's a myth that you need venture capital or loads of your own money to start a business online. Thousands of today's most successful Internet businesses began as very small operations funded by a few thousand dollars and a great game plan. We have that game plan for you. It will give you fast growth. And you'll never have to worry about getting deep in debt.
An Instant (and Overlooked) Income Producer By Yanik Silver
After every single transaction on your website (opt-in, registration, or purchase), you should be controlling where your customer goes next. The concept is simple. Yet, most of the time, overlooked. I see many people missing out on this golden opportunity for additional profits. You could be missing out too. For instance, what does your thank-you page say? If your website is like most of them out there, a customer orders a product and then gets a thank-you page that merely says "Thank you for your order. It will be shipped soon." Where's that customer going to go now? I doubt that it'll be back to another part of your site where he can spend more money with you. The thing is, if a customer just whipped out his credit card, he is far more likely to spend again if you give him some incentive. I know this seems to go against common sense. But it's true. On the thank-you page for my Public Domain Goldmine product, I offer a discount on another product. The customer has already spent $497. And now he's got a $200 discount for a related product. It takes only a few paragraphs to persuade 10.5 percent of my Public Domain Goldmine customers to buy an additional $497 course. Whether you sell physical products or digital information products, you can use this same strategy. [Ed. Note: Testing is just one of the direct-marketing techniques you'll learn in the Internet Money Club. Based on the Early to Rise/Agora business model, it's the premier coaching program for start-up online entrepreneurs. Find out more about it here. Master Internet marketer Yanik Silver breaks new ground online every day. Find out more about Yanik and get a sneak peak at his upcoming Underground Online Seminar here.] You can get a pretty good idea of your fitness level with the following quick self-assessment test. I read about it several years ago in one of Dr. Sears's newsletters. And I still refer to it today. 1. How many push-ups can you do? (a) more than 40, (b) between 10 and 40, (c) 10 or less 2. How many chin-ups can you do? (a) more than 12, (b) between 5 and 12, or (c) 5 or less 3. How long can you hold your breath? (a) more than 1 minute, (b) 30 seconds to 2 minutes, or (c) less than 30 seconds 4. What is your resting heart rate (measured in beats per minute)? (a) less than 60 bpm, (b) 60 to 75 bpm, or (c) more than 75 bpm 5. How far can you reach down when bending at the waist? (a) hands flat on the floor, (b) to your toes, or (c) to your knees 6. Stand on one foot, close your eyes, tilt your head back, and touch your nose. How well did you maintain your balance? (a) no problem, (b) a little unsteady, or (c) began to fall To calculate your score, give yourself 2 points for every (a) answer, 1 point for every (b) answer, and 0 points for every (c) answer. If your score is between 10 and 12, you are in great shape. If your score is between 5 and 9, you are in good shape, but could benefit from further conditioning. If your score is between 0 and 4, you need to get serious about conditioning your body for health. If you want to accomplish your business goals, you need to be able to inspire all sorts of people to work harder and smarter than they would otherwise. To do that, you need to figure out what motivates them. Granted, no one is entirely motivated by one single thing. That said, if you can figure out what motivates the people who are most important to your success, you can do a better job of leading them. Think about those people. What is the primary motivator for each one? It is likely to be one of the following: - money
- status
- popularity
- autonomy
Motivating a money-oriented person is easy if money is available. Motivating a status-conscious person is easy too -- if you have a big enough organization to create a sense of status. It's hard to motivate someone who seeks popularity. And it is generally not something you want people to be focused on. Autonomy is a good motivator. But it has obvious drawbacks. As I said, every person is a gallimaufry of motivations. You'll have to add a pinch of this and a cup of that to come up with the right recipe for each individual. The important thing for the moment is to recognize that people are unique and to treat them that way.
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"Keep up the inspirational thoughts." "Michael, "I appreciate your uplifting, kind words and suggestions on this very special Thanksgiving Day. In particular, during a tough year for most, we should look across the dinner table and take in the conversation and smiles, appreciate the bountiful fresh food, and know, rich or poor, that this is good. "Keep up the inspirational thoughts. Like yourself, 10 miles to the south, I too will enjoy a cigar and adult beverage looking out at the Atlantic. Enjoy." Pat Haller
Boca Raton, FL
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Today's Words That Work: Gallimaufry A Gallimaufry (gal-uh-MAW-free) -- from the French for a kind of sauce or stew -- is a hodgepodge or jumbled assortment. Example (as used by Michael Masterson today): "Every person is a gallimaufry of motivations."
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