How to Create Personal Wealth
Donald and Mildred Othmer were ordinary Americans. Don was a chemical engineering professor in Brooklyn. Mildred was a teacher. They never did anything extraordinary and never had great luck at anything, yet they did amass a $750 million fortune before they died. They did it by following two principles that…
READ MOREGet A Realistic View Of Your Productivity
Successful people are usually those that spend most of their time in productive pastimes. From least productive to most productive, there are four types of activity: 1. Destructive: fighting, drinking, suing, being angry, etc. 2. Fun but wasteful: watching television, reading fiction, shopping, drinking late 3. Knowledge building: learning almost…
READ MOREWhat I Learned About Leadership From Dance Lessons
Several years ago, I reluctantly agreed to take ballroom dance lessons. Im glad I did. When you begin a modern marriage (listen up, young ‘uns), you both go into it as partners. The arrangement you presume is that you are going to be in charge of some things and she…
READ MORELive The Second Half Of Your Life Better
I turned 50 this year. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. My body didn’t disintegrate. My mind still makes the roll call. It has been the occasion of some trifling contemplation. At 50, you are at the crest of your life. That means you can,…
READ MOREThe Fastest and Easiest Way to Improve Your Customer Service
“I became a policeman because I wanted to be in a business where the customer is always wrong.” – Author Unknown This just came to me tonight. Its very simple. Tell your customer service people that their primary job is NOT to process each phone call within a certain number…
READ MOREMore on Trusting Employees
The piece I wrote about trusting employees (Message #274) — about the kind of safeguards you should effect against pilferage — provoked a lot of objections. KM, a corporate trainer and a good friend, took exception to my attack on academics. “That was such crap,” she said. “You have to…
READ MORELiving Rich: Fake It Till You Make It: How To Tour An Art Museum
Nothing will enrich your life as much as the appreciation of art. By art, I mean the fine arts — painting, sculpture, and all that — but also the crafts (woodworking, needlepoint, masonry, etc.) and sports. If you want to Live Rich, you have to — absolutely have to —…
READ MOREHow Often Should You Change Things?
You know how bad I think most small-business periodicals are. Fortune Small Business might be the worst. Staffed by a boatload of (I’m sure) very smart and capable (mostly) young women, it is full of feel-good stories and equal opportunity reporting. There is also an inexcusable level of innocence when…
READ MOREGood Manners Are Critical At Business-Related Social Functions
When you are attending a business dinner (or some other business-related social function) with your customers and colleagues, you have an opportunity to improve or degrade the opinion others have of you. Only a foolish person would ignore this fact. Here are a few recommendations, all based on very recent…
READ MORELiving Rich: Becoming A Collector
Last week (in Message #291), we talked about how important it is to reward yourself whenever you’ve taken a significant step toward your wealth-building goals. If you secure a new line of income, get a new account, get paid for a freelance consulting assignment, or even get a big raise…
READ MOREDon’t Betray Your Partner/Boss
What do you do when someone who works for you walks into your office and says, “I have something I want to tell you, but you must promise you wont tell your partner/boss?” If you agree to listen, you have made a serious mistake. You have betrayed the fundamental relationship…
READ MORELiving Rich: PS’s Story
On the subject of how much of your income you can realistically save, PS writes, “It’s not very hard to make $100,000 and save $50,000 a year. I’ve been saving half of my income above $50,000 and it’s really easy. This year, I’ll make around $75,000 and I’ve saved over…
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