The Michael Masterson Journal

Issue No. 6 - $1.91
How to Develop a Multimillionaire Mindset A man observes evergreens growing along the roadside and thinks that they look pretty, covered with snow. Another man sees the same trees and thinks, "These trees would look good in people's living rooms at Christmas. I wonder what they would pay for them?" The first man has an ordinary mind. The second, the mind of a natural-born moneymaker. In The Prime Movers, Edwin A. Locke provides some interesting insights into the way moneymakers think: He argues that an active, inquisitive mind is a hallmark of the successful entrepreneur. The most successful entrepreneurs in history, he says, had this sort of mind. Thomas Edison: He was a "virtual thinking machine. Almost until the day he died, his mind poured forth a torrent of ideas, and he might track as many as 60 experiments at a time in his laboratory." Steve Jobs: He bombarded people with his ideas - his investors, his board of directors, his customers, his subordinates, and his CEO. Henry Ford: "He threw himself into every detail, insisting on getting small things abso­lutely right.... But he never lost sight of the ultimate, overall objection. He had a vision of what his new car (the Model T) should look like. From all the improvisation, hard thought, and hard work came a machine that was at once the simplest and the most sophisticated automobile built to date anywhere in the world." Take my friend Bernard... I have a friend, an émigré from Manchester England, who has this kind of moneymaking mind. I have known him for more than twenty years. During that time he has started at least a dozen successful companies. Every company he forms, it seems, becomes successful very quickly. He has become a wealthy man and enjoys a wealthy man's lifestyle, but his interest in making money has never waned. In that respect he is very different from me. I became wealthy by making plans and working my ass off. And once I made more than I needed I stopped paying attention to it. He made his money effortlessly. Or so it always seemed. And he continues to make money because he really enjoys the process. He makes money not just by starting successful businesses and investing in real estate (my primary vehicles) but by buying and selling exotic cars, boats, antiques and expensive watches. Every time I see him he is driving a new car. One month it's a Bentley. The next month it's a Ferrari. He buys slightly used cars and enjoys them and then turns them over for a profit. He has become an expert in barter and countertrade. He never pays full price for anything. He knows how to get the best price for everything. And he loves the game. Bernard may not have my net worth, but he's got more than enough for the rest of his life and he seems to enjoy making money much more than I do. I admire that about him. I like talking to him about all his recent deals. His excitement gets me excited. It also embarrasses me when I discover that he pays a fraction of what I pay for just about everything. What if you don't have the Mind? I have another friend, Jeff, who used to be my partner. He was making $400,000 a year when he suddenly sold his business and retired. Today he makes a living teaching Tai Chi. His income is modest, but he lives in a beautiful house, belongs to a private yacht club and takes vacations every two months. Like Bernard, Jeff enjoys his life. He works when he wants to, rests when he wants to and enjoys the best that life has to offer. Jeff's secret is that he knows how to buy the best of everything for pennies on the dollar. I am always amazed at how he and his wife can meet us in Chicago, Nicaragua or China, stay at fine hotels and do everything we do but on a budget. I'm convinced that Jeff and Bernard both have very special brains minds. Like Edison, Jobs and Ford, they think differently than I do. Raw intelligence is not the issue. These guys are smart but don't think they are any smarter than I am. And anyway, if it were a matter of intelligence, Einstein and a slew of other geniuses would have been wealthy men. I call what Bernard and Jeff have the multimillionaire's mindset. I've also called it the Rich Mind. This is the first of several essays I'll be writing on this point: how to think like a multimillionaire. And here's the goal: to discover exactly how they do what they do by figuring out how they think. If you study this and subsequent essays seriously - and implement the suggestions I'll be making - you may be able to "upgrade" your brain to one that will allow you to have the kind of life they enjoy. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for myself. I've mastered one part of the equation: making money through entrepreneurship. But the other part - enjoying a multimillionaire's lifestyle on a limited budget - has so far eluded me. Some Preliminary Observations To get started, here are some observations I've made from studying my two friends and from reading about great wealth builders like Jobs and Edison and Ford. 1. A "normal" person is concerned with protecting his ego. When dealing with a problem he doesn't really understand, he pretends he understands the contributing factors and doesn't try to find out what anyone else thinks. A person with a multimillionaire mind asks questions inces­santly. He has no ego when it comes to learning. He knows that knowledge is power. 2. A "normal" person has a consumer mentality. He looks at a hot new product and thinks about how he would like to own one. A person with a multimillionaire mind has an entrepreneurial men­tality. He looks at it and thinks, "How can I produce this or something similar in my own industry?" 3. A "normal" person is wish-focused. He daydreams about making gobs of money. A person with a multimillionaire mind is reality-based. He is always analyzing his own success and the suc­cess of others and wondering how he could learn from it. 4. A "normal" person, when confronted with a challenging idea, thinks of all the reasons why it might not work. A person with a multimillionaire mind sees the potential in it and disregards the problems until he has a clear vision of how it might succeed. 5. A "normal" person resists change. A person with a multimillionaire mind embraces it. 6. A "normal" person accepts the status quo. A person with a multimillionaire mind is always looking to make things - even good things - better. 7. A "normal" person reacts. A person with a multimillionaire mind is proactive. 8. A "normal" person looks at a successful business owner and thinks, "That guy's lucky." Or "That guy's a shyster." A person with a multimillionaire mind thinks, "What's his secret?" And, "How can I do that?" Most importantly, a person with a multimillionaire's mind likes living like a multimillionaire. He doesn't shortchange himself when it comes to comfort and luxury. Rather than believing always that pain leads to gain, he thinks, "If I'm smart I can have my cake and eat it too. You can start your mental transformation by studying this list and assessing your own impulses. Be honest. Identify the habits you don't have and try to develop them. Rather than think of this process as work, think of it as fun. I've been talking about this rich mind concept for years. Everybody at ETR has had it drummed into him or her. Charlie Byrne, our senior editor and consultant, has taken a special interest in it. He's been studying my friends and other natural moneymakers for years. He's especially interested - like I am - in not just making the money, but enjoying the process. A while ago, Charlie came to us with a proposal for a new product. He wanted to create the first newsletter that explored wealth building from this particular perspective. "Most of the newsletters out there are about investing in stocks and bonds and futures and so on," he explained. "But there are so many other ways to make money. And so many ways to save money. I want to do a newsletter that's about having fun with it and living the lifestyle. HE got the inspiration when he was visiting Wall Street on a research project. Several blocks from Wall Street is another street called Liberty Street. Charlie decided to name the newsletter after that. He worked with a guy named Charles Newcastle, a bona-fide moneymaker with a multimillionaire's mind. Charles began his career as a commodity and currency Futures trader back in the 1980's. Since then, he has launched 41 successful businesses (and advised on many more). Charles has been successful in real estate, money management, collectibles, Internet ventures, software development and database marketing to name a few. But the most important thing to keep in mind is that he didn't lose one dime in the market in 2008 and 2009.  Together they have been working on the concept for about six months. They beta tested the newsletter as a membership club and have been adding new benefits to it almost every week. Last month, for the first time, I had a chance to see the new working model. It was pretty exciting, I have to say. It incorporated my own ideas and many more. It's something I intend to read in the future, to upgrade my own brain. I want to be able to enjoy the fun of making money and the pleasures that go with it. And I want to be able to get all these good deals that Bernard and Jeff enjoy. I think this club will be able to help me do that. Liberty Street League will cover all sorts of moneymaking opportunities. Not just stocks and bonds and real estate, but commodities, precious metals, bonds, and other "under-the-radar" investments. But it won't be a guru-driven newsletter. Charles will be looking all over the world, starting with my friends, to find out how people are having fun making money today. I've been impressed with the contributions they have secured for the new, revamped issues. Included among the experts are none other than the likes of Doug Casey, Jim Rogers, Charles Newcastle, Marc Faber, Gary North, and Alexander Green, among many other professionals. Here's an example of what they will be offering, base on a sales letter that they are finishing up right now: How to invest in an "undercover" profit opportunity 99 out of 100 people are not aware of - yet one that could generate more than $28,000 in just a few weeks time... The "secret" method the airlines will never tell you for flying around the world for practically nothing (or perhaps just jet off to the Caribbean to escape the cold winter)... How to rake in a 200% return on an investment in "The Green Technology Revolution"... Using your hidden "home equity" to collect an extra $500 by next weekend, repeatable week after week - even if you don't own a house (plus, you don't have to pay this back)... Paying off your Visa or MasterCard thanks to "reclaiming" the $4,302 your family threw away on gasoline last year? (this government "rebate" loophole is closing fast)... How to collect $500 to $1000 in hidden home equity... An insider's guide to building massive wealth (toss away money worries if you follow this simple plan)... The safe (and fun) way to real estate profits (without owning a single property)... How "Digital Farmers" are reaping massive cash crops (without getting their hands dirty)... Buying and selling this can be a lucrative side business (and the start up costs are minimal)... Insider dope: how to profit 15% to 40% from the "Great Diamond Hoax"... How the secret of Baron Rothschild could treat you "royally" too... Invest in "The Other Side Of Gold" safely And watch your portfolio sparkle... The safest way to make 200% in the next two years From the "green" technology revolution... How to collect $1000 to $1 million from Uncle Sam... Buying cars at deep, deep discounts... Never pay in full for magazines... "Chill Weekends" that make buying overseas real estate fun and profitable... Plus they've convinced me to throw in the manuscript I've been writing on the subject...it's not exhaustive, but it does have some good ideas. Like... How to buy a car as good as a Ferrari... at one sixth the price... Easy ways to make a modest, three-bedroom home as comfortable as a king's palace... Warren Buffett's trick for creating the perfect (and ultra-productive) office environment... The secret to adding "stolen moments" of pleasure to your everyday schedule. As I said, I'm going to be joining LSL so that I can be stimulated by all these good ideas. You can do so too with a very small investment.... just ten cents a day...or you can make the change yourself by reading future articles in ETR on the subject and getting to work on changing your mental habits, as I've explained in the first part of this essay. If the newsletter interests you, check out the Liberty Street League here. [Ed. Note: Michael Masterson welcomes your questions and comments. Send him a message at AskMichael@ETRFeedback.com.]
© 2010 Early to Rise, LLC.
NOTE: If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut and paste the full URL into the location or address field of your browser. Disclaimer: Early to Rise only recommends products that we've either personally checked out ourselves, or that come from people we know and trust. For doing so, we receive a commission. We will never recommend any product that does not have a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee. Nothing in this e-mail should be considered personalized Financial Advice. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized Financial Advice. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in any security recommended to our readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after on-line publication or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publication prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended in this letter should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. To unsubscribe from Early to Rise and any associated external offers, Click here. To contact us, please visit... http://www.supportatetr.com/helpdesk To cancel or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Order Processing Center Attn: Customer Service PO Box 7835 Delray Beach, Florida 33482

ETR: How to Live as Well as a Billionaire

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Issue No. 0005 - $1.00
Have you checked out your Early to Rise User's Guide yet? It's an introduction to what Early to Rise is all about. It gives you a rundown on our resident experts -- people like Bob Bly, Clayton Makepeace, and Charles Newcastle. And it tells you exactly how to use the advice and information we give you each day. This is a must-read. Get your Guide here. The Billionaire Lifestyle for Pennies on the Dollar By Jason Holland Managing Editor We tell ourselves that money doesn't buy happiness. But is it true? Wouldn't you prefer flying first class instead of coach? Wouldn't you rather eat New York strip than hamburger? And, given the choice, wouldn't you want to live the life of a billionaire -- always "on vacation" -- instead of constantly worrying about paying your bills? -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Ready, Fire, Aim Is a Must-Have for Any Serious Entrepreneur After just 10 minutes with this Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestselling book, you'll know how to: Start a business from scratch and make it profitable in less than 2 years... Take a developed business that has stalled and get it moving again... Keep a growing business growing as annual revenues climb from millions to hundreds of millions of dollars Get other people to do ALL the HARD WORK for you, so you are free to do only the fun stuff Duplicate your winning strategy in several businesses so you never have to worry about needing any one of them... Putting just a few of these strategies to work could hand you the "best job in the world" - self-employed multimillionaire. Get all the details – and a plan for success – with your own FREE copy of Michael Masterson's Ready, Fire, Aim... "I'm not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful." Marilyn Monroe How to Live as Well as a Billionaire By Michael Masterson When you think about the rich -- the really rich -- you may find yourself marveling at their... well, their money. Take Bill Gates. If you think $10 million is a fortune, consider this: He has 5,000 of them. If he put his money in $1,000 bills, he'd have 50 million of them! But how much better does he live? Sure, he's got a huge house. And a yacht. He's probably got a jet too. But who needs that crap? Really! If you make at least $100,000 a year ($150,000 if you are raising a family), you can live as well as Bill Gates does -- and I'll prove it to you. If you aren't yet making that much, you'll have to put aside this essay until you are. (If you're following ETR, it shouldn't take very long.) Let's start by identifying some of life's basic experiences: sleeping working dressing eating/drinking leisure Now the purpose of becoming rich -- you would think -- would be to make each of these experiences as rewarding as possible. Take sleeping. What does a billionaire want out of his sleep time? I'd say the same thing you do: blissful, uninterrupted unconsciousness. And what will give you that (besides peace of mind, which you can't buy)? Answer: a great mattress. And how much does a great mattress cost? Maybe $1,500. That means you can buy yourself a billion-dollar sleep for no more than $1,500. If you are making $100,000 a year, you can afford it. So get rid of that lumpy thing you are sleeping on and get yourself the best mattress you can find. Then go to sleep every night content that Bill Gates can have it no better. Buying Yourself the Best You can pay almost any price for any thing. But after a certain point, you are no longer paying for quality, you are paying for prestige. Take steak. Ask someone who knows about beef and you will be told that the quality of a steak is mostly a matter of the cut you buy. (Let's face it – there's no great skill in cooking a filet mignon.) Order a filet at Ruth's Chris and, for around $30, you are getting the best steak money can buy. Eat the same thing at Le Cirque and you'll pay $75. What's the difference? Yes -- just prestige. The same is true when it comes to your clothing. Beautiful, comfortable clothes are not cheap, but they don't have to cost a fortune. You can buy the world's best pair of slacks for $150 or you can spend 10 times that amount. The difference will be the label on the waistband. Champagne, anyone? When Consumer Reports asked a group of wine experts to evaluate a variety of Champagnes, the four that came out on top sold for less than $40. Dom Perignon, fifth on their list, will set you back $115. A better bottle of bubbly can be had for only $28. The point is this: The best material things in life are affordable. They are not cheap -- quality never is. But if you buy them selectively and use them with care, you can enjoy a life as materially rich as Bill Gates on an income that wouldn't get him through lunch. Here's how you can live rich, starting today: Your Dream House I have lived in a three-room mud house in Africa and a 5,000-square-foot mansion -- and I can tell you this: The quality of a home has little or nothing to do with how much it costs or how big it is. Think about the houses you most admire. They are probably NOT ostentatious. One of my current favorites is a modest three-bedroom in Cleveland, which has been transformed by the lady who owns it into a museum reflecting her love of travel, dance, and learning. Every room is a gem. I am completely comfortable and endlessly amused in this rich and interesting place. In every important way, her home is worth more than Bill Gates's 40,000-square-foot monstrosity in Seattle -- yet it has a market value of only about $150,000. Your Car I have a friend, a wealthy friend, who loves cars, especially sports cars. He drives a Camaro. Why? Because he says it is as good as a Corvette, a Porsche, or even a Ferrari. Instead of forking out $150,000 plus... he gets his thrills at one-sixth the price. What about prestige? Well, you usually have to pay more for that. But if you are willing to go the classic route... and buy a car whose design doesn't change every year or so... you can buy yourself prestige at an affordable rate. For example, I drive a mint-condition NSX that you couldn't tell from a brand-new one. My car is worth about $30,000. You'd have to pay almost three times that amount for a new one. The same holds true for older Mercedes and BMWs. In fact, in terms of "living rich," you should never buy a new car. You'll save a bundle by purchasing a late model vehicle with low mileage. If you shop around, you can find a five- or 10-year-old car at 25 percent or 30 percent of the new-car price, and it will be just as good. Your Wardrobe What does it cost to dress like the world's richest people? Much less than you think. If you can forget about brand names and focus on quality, you will save thousands. As with cars, you'll do better by going for a classic look. That way, you won't have to discard perfectly good items simply because the width of the lapel or length of the hemline is no longer "in." The other big secret of dressing rich is this: Less is more. Ralph Lauren -- a guy who has the money and resources to dress as rich as can be -- wears the same thing almost every day: classic-cut jeans and a T-shirt. And don't turn up your nose at high-end consignment shops. What could be more elegant than a vintage suit, properly tailored, impeccably clean? There are many books on this subject. They all say pretty much the same thing. Having a few really nice pieces is much better -- more enjoyable for you, more impressive to others - than a wardrobe full of trendy, ordinary stuff. Want specifics? Get yourself two or three pairs of slacks (or skirts). One or two suits (or dresses). Two or three pairs of shoes. Buy only what looks great on you. Make sure your socks are cashmere ($19.50 at Banana Republic) and your T-shirts and underwear are the finest cotton (or silk). Use only one cologne or perfume, and only your favorite personal-care products. The rule is to have much less, but enjoy everything you have. Buy classic. Buy selectively. Insist on quality. Simple is better than complex. Understated is better than flashy. Do this and you will have what Bill Gates can afford to have: a very pleasant feeling each time you pull on your shirt or buckle your belt. Food and Drink Want a billion-dollar meal? Take a good bottle of wine, a baguette of freshly baked bread, some imported cheese, ham, and mustard, and go to the nearest park with a friend or loved one. You need only a knife and a corkscrew -- what you have in your kitchen is fine -- to prepare and serve a truly memorable meal. Le Cirque? Well, I told you what I think about eating there. But if there's an expensive restaurant you are dying to try, go ahead and treat yourself. Don't do it too often, though. As someone who has eaten countless expensive meals, I know how tiring rich food can be. More important, I can remember few expensive meals that surpassed the simple wine and cheese lunches my wife and I have enjoyed when we were lucky enough to have them. Music, Books, Movies, Etc. With today's technology, even a $300 boom box sounds great. So don't even try to tell me you need to spend more than a grand on a sound system for your home. The secret is to select only the best music to play on it. Nobody -- no matter how wealthy -- has more than you to choose from. The great thing about books: the best ones cost no more than the worst ones. Treat yourself richly by spending your money and time only on that which makes you feel richer afterward. The same is true for movies, theater, and just about any other form of entertainment. There is only one extravagance you can't buy reasonably: front-row tickets to professional basketball games. I have made the mistake of becoming a Miami Heat fan. If you are smart, you will learn to love college ball. Your Office Warren Buffett's office doesn't look like it belongs to a multi-billionaire. The walls are paneled plywood. The desk is a tabletop. He doesn't need a cathedral-sized space and an altar-sized desk. He is not God, and he knows it. But the room is uniquely his, with a comfortable chair, good lighting, and a place for everything. The only decorations are souvenirs and other objects that inspire him. Buffett's office looks like no one else's. And it works for him. That's what you want for your office. I'm not saying your office should not be luxurious. I am saying it should be luxurious in a personal way. You will be spending most of your waking life in your office, so put as much thought and care into it as you do your home. Silverware Shopping for a Christmas present for my wife, I wandered into an antique shop that specialized in silver. The proprietor, a genteel, 86-year-old lady from Georgia, showed me this and that. And then, when she sensed I was looking for something very special, took me to the back room and showed me a collection of silverware by the Baltimore-based silversmith Reed & Barton. "If you were a millionaire," she said in her seductive southern drawl, "You could not buy a finer set of silverware than this." It cost me $4,500. Nothing to be sneezed at, but that was for 14 place settings and a lot of serving pieces. Just think about it. You can own the finest silverware that money can buy -- antique silverware, at that -- for $4,500. Such a set of silverware could last you all your life, could give you endless pleasure and make even your ordinary meals elegant. The Queen Mother herself couldn't do better. I'm thinking about getting rid of the rest of our silverware and using only this. That's how much I like it. Reaping the Well-Deserved Rewards of Living Rich If you fill your life with the best of everything, but you are too busy to enjoy it, you've missed the boat. So do this... Think about your schedule and pick yourself a half-hour a day to do nothing but enjoy yourself. (For some people, this is easy. For others, it's tough. If it's tough for you, tell yourself you'll work smarter this way.) During this half-hour, do something a billionaire might do. Sip a cup of espresso. Have a Cognac. Contemplate your good fortune. Breathe deeply. Smile. Then get back to work. It's All Entirely Within Your Reach The way you dress, the way you eat and drink... even the home you live in... can be as good as any billionaire's. Spend time shopping. Limit your possessions. And take a half-hour a day to really appreciate the good things you have. That's all there is to it. (Oh, yes. And don't scrimp on the mattress.) [Ed. Note: For even more advice for how to "live rich" check out Michael Masterson's book Living Rich - How To Enjoy A Billionaire's Lifestyle On A Working Man's Budget. It comes free with your subscription to our Liberty Street League service, which is dedicated to helping you make money in small business, investing on and off Wall Street, real estate, and much more. Find out all about it here.] -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Off Wall Street Investor's Guide Everybody's sick of "The Street," as in Wall Street. But we know a guy who's taken his investments elsewhere. And he's brought his friends. They're quietly making millions in: - Non-stock investments (that make money no matter what the market's doing)... - Overseas retirement havens... - Super-low-cost-of-entry business opportunities... - And much more! Find out more about these "profit pros" here. We want your feedback! Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Email us at: AskETR@ETRFeedback.com
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Copyright © 2010 Early to Rise, LLC. NOTE: If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut and paste the full URL into the location or address field of your browser. Disclaimer: Early to Rise only recommends products that we've either personally checked out ourselves, or that come from people we know and trust. For doing so, we receive a commission. We will never recommend any product that does not have a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee. Nothing in this e-mail should be considered personalized Financial Advice. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized Financial Advice. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in any security recommended to our readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after on-line publication or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publication prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended in this letter should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. To unsubscribe from Early to Rise and any associated external offers, Click here. To contact us, please visit... http://www.supportatetr.com/helpdesk To cancel or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Order Processing Center Attn: Customer Service PO Box 7835 Delray Beach, Florida 33482

ETR: The Only Business Start Up Strategy

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Issue No. 0004 - $1.00
The Entrepreneur Myth By Jason Holland Managing Editor In books, movies, and TV shows, the entrepreneur is portrayed as a brash risk-taker – willing to put millions of dollars (his own money and that of other people) on the line for a crazy idea. It makes for a great story... when the risk pays off. When it doesn't? Just the thought of it is enough to scare most people out of even trying to go into business for themselves. But when I started to work for Early to Rise, I met a new breed of entrepreneurs -- people like Michael Masterson, who had become hugely successful without "betting the farm." As Michael himself explains today, they had a whole different attitude about business... -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Increase Your Wealth by Managing Risk Like the Pros Do You can't take all the risk out of investing. But you can take much of it away. More important, you can remove the worst aspects of risk -- those that cause fear and result in bad investment decisions. ETR'S own Charles Newcastle has developed a quick and simple four-step "risk removal" system that could bring you 132%+ gains in a matter of weeks. "Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself." Katherine Mansfield The Only Business Start-Up Strategy I Recommend By Michael Masterson When Mary Kay Ash retired from her job in 1963, she took her life savings, $5,000, and opened her own business. Boy, did it pay off! Mary Kay Cosmetics is now a billion-dollar company. Or take Hugh Hefner. He financed Playboy with $8,000 in loans from 45 family members, friends, and other investors. Today, he's a mega-millionaire. (His famous mansion, alone, has been appraised at $45 million.) Successful entrepreneurs like Ash and Hefner who risked all their money (and sometimes their family's money) to pursue dreams that others considered foolish get lots of press. And with good reason. Their stories are exciting and inspirational. But they are also misleading. These risk-taking entrepreneurs are actually the exception. Most business builders succeed by taking a far more conservative approach. In his book The Leap, Rick Smith uses Bill Gates as an example. Contrary to popular belief, Gates didn't drop out of Harvard, says Smith. He took a leave of absence -- and relied on his parents' financial support -- while he developed his programming skills and made the contacts that led to Microsoft. If it hadn't worked out, he could have gone back to finish school. Look at Ben and Jerry. The two budding moguls started by selling their ice cream in a converted Vermont gas station. They had thought about opening a bagel shop. But they decided the equipment would be too expensive. Only after two years in business did they expand into wholesaling their products to local stores. Google was a side project of two Stanford grad students. Dell Computer was started in a University of Texas dorm room for just $1,000. Apple's first computers were hand-built in a garage and sold to local computer geeks. Wayne Huizenga started Waste Management with just one garbage truck. And he drove it himself! Read the biographies of successful people and you will discover the truth. Most of them started small and took modest, calculated risks. They were not reckless and brave, as the business magazines would have you believe. Yes, starting your own business is the fastest and surest way to grow wealthy. But you don't have to -- in fact, you shouldn't -- risk everything to claim your slice of the entrepreneurial pie. I have started dozens of multimillion-dollar businesses. But I have never been willing to "bet the farm" on one. I want all the benefits that come from owning a business. But I refuse to risk my hard-earned money or time on an unproven idea. I want my cake. And I want to eat it too. That's why I call myself a "chicken entrepreneur." A chicken entrepreneur is somebody who keeps his day job while he gets his ideal career going in the evenings and on weekends. He is an entrepreneur because he is taking the initiative to start his own business. He is chicken because he's not willing to quit his job and lose the income. By the way, I can't claim credit for coining the term "chicken entrepreneur." I heard it many years ago. I didn't like it at the time, but I recognized that it applied to me. Since then, I have done my best to promote the concept in all the business and self-help books I have written. Because there are thousands and thousands of potential chicken entrepreneurs out there -- dreaming of quitting their jobs and starting their own businesses, but afraid to do so. In fact, anybody with modest intelligence and drive can be a chicken entrepreneur. That's what's so nice about it. You don't have to be a wild and crazy risk taker. Let me tell you about "Alan Silver." (I profiled him in my book Seven Years to Seven Figures.) Alan has a multimillion-dollar health supplement business. Now in his late fifties, he does what he wants when he wants. He spends much of the winter skiing from his vacation home in Park City, Utah. And when he's back home in Florida, you can often find him on the golf course after doing a couple of hours of work in the morning. He started as a chicken entrepreneur. A friend of his, a newsletter publisher, was starting a publication on natural health. One day he mentioned to Alan, quite casually, that he was looking for someone to sell vitamins to his subscribers. Alan, who had been selling office supplies for 15 years, stepped up. With his friend's help and mentorship, he started his own company with a very small initial investment. Mostly, he invested his time and energy. The going was rough at the beginning. He didn't know anything about marketing, supplements, or the health industry. But he was willing to learn. Keeping his sales job while working on the new business meant 10-hour days. But it was worth it. Within six months, this side business had brought in more than $250,000 in sales. Alan reinvested most of the profits back into the business at first. But soon he was making enough to quit selling office supplies. And within a few years, he was bringing in $10 million annually. The Chicken's Guide to Start-Ups As a chicken entrepreneur, you learn about your new business while keeping the safe and steady income of your main job. You start small and build (and invest) gradually. This limits your risk in case your new business fails (as many do). In exchange for taking less risk, you must work harder. You must be dedicated -- willing to come home after a full workday and keep going on your side business. It takes discipline, tenacity, faith, and a very understanding family. It's not easy to work all day at the office and then go home at night to work on your own project. The competition for your time can become intense. But if you create a plan and follow it in an orderly fashion, you have a very good chance of eventually succeeding. Mastering the Essential Skills To succeed in any business, you must know certain things very well. For openers, you must master the fundamentals of direct marketing. Direct marketing is by far the most efficient way to sell products and services profitably. You must also learn about marketing via the Internet. It is the easiest and least risky way to enter any market. And it has global reach. You must learn about the kinds of products the marketplace desires and which price points are "sweet." You must know how those first sales are made -- the specific techniques to employ to generate a sale without spending too much money acquiring the customer. You must understand the "back end" of the business, too (how to upgrade a new customer into buying higher-profit-margin products). Several of these essential skills, I am happy to report, can be acquired before you invest a dime in your new business. You can learn how to become a competent direct marketer by taking ETR's course on direct marketing on the Internet. And you can start developing these skills immediately. Learning about the market you intend to enter can be done while you still have your day job. It is relatively easy to take advantage of the Internet or use flea markets to test new product ideas cheaply. And you can learn the back end of the business by becoming a customer of companies selling products similar to the one you want to sell. Create your back-end strategy by seeing the kind of offers you get from them after you make your first purchase. Avoiding the Most Common Start-Up Perils There are several pitfalls in starting any new business. But as a chicken entrepreneur, you can easily avoid them. The most common is dictating to, rather than listening to, the market. New entrepreneurs often waste precious time and effort hoping to bring something brand-new and exciting to the marketplace. But if the product doesn't already exist, there is usually a good reason for it. It's better to start with a better or cheaper version of a product that has proven to be in demand. The next-biggest mistake new entrepreneurs make is spending too much time and money on non-essentials (like business cards and office furniture). Keep in mind that the fundamental activity of a business is the commercial transaction. Your best chance of success comes when you devote 80 percent of your initial resources to making your first sales. Master the necessary skills, avoid the pitfalls, and your business will grow. But don't quit your job and don't invest your mother-in-law's money. Start small and build gradually. At some point in the future, you may realize that you are making more money from your second income than you are from your first. That's when you may choose to drop your "day job." [Ed. Note: Chicken entrepreneurship is just one of groundbreaking business building secrets Michael Masterson writes about in his book, Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat. Based on Michael's 40 years of business experience, Ready, Fire, Aim is a must-read before starting any business. Find out more about it here.] -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Ready to Become a Chicken entrepreneur... But Don't Know Where to Start? - In ETR's Liberty Street League, you'll learn about dozens of hot business opportunities, niches, and trends from experts, including Michael Masterson, who are making millions in their respective industries. Find out more about the Liberty Street League here. We want your feedback! Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Email us at: AskETR@ETRFeedback.com
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Copyright © 2010 Early to Rise, LLC. NOTE: If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut and paste the full URL into the location or address field of your browser. Disclaimer: Early to Rise only recommends products that we've either personally checked out ourselves, or that come from people we know and trust. For doing so, we receive a commission. We will never recommend any product that does not have a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee. Nothing in this e-mail should be considered personalized Financial Advice. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized Financial Advice. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in any security recommended to our readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after on-line publication or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publication prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended in this letter should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. To unsubscribe from Early to Rise and any associated external offers, Click here. To contact us, please visit... http://www.supportatetr.com/helpdesk To cancel or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Order Processing Center Attn: Customer Service PO Box 7835 Delray Beach, Florida 33482

ETR: Reinvent Your Life

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Issue No. 0003 - $1.00
What Does Ready, Fire, Aim Mean to You? By Jason Holland Managing Editor Michael Masterson credits his Ready, Fire, Aim philosophy as the single most important factor in the success he's had creating and/or helping to create dozens of multimillion-dollar businesses. One example: His largest client's growth from $8 million to $360 million since he came aboard as a consultant. Yet people are often confused by Ready, Fire, Aim. "Doesn't that mean you charge recklessly into a new venture, throwing out every product or advertising idea you can think of and seeing what sticks?" they ask. But that's not it at all. As Michael puts it: You must develop a pragmatic, action-oriented mentality. Rather than spend too much time and money refining theoretical ideas, you develop a prototype quickly and then see if the market will buy it. Whatever you're selling doesn't have to be perfect. But you can't be sloppy or settle for second-rate products. You see, most people are skipping the "getting ready" part. -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Off Wall Street Investor's Guide Everybody's sick of "The Street," as in Wall Street. But we know a guy who's taken his investments elsewhere. And he's brought his friends. They're quietly making millions in: - Non-stock investments (that make money no matter what the market's doing)... - Overseas retirement havens... - Super-low-cost-of-entry business opportunities... - And much more! Find out more about these "profit pros" here. "Dream on it. Let your mind take you to places you would like to go, and then think about it and plan it and celebrate the possibilities." Liza Minelli Reinvent Your Life With a Proven Plan for Success By Michael Masterson My approach to starting new businesses is Ready, Fire, Aim. This is the approach, for example, that I used to direct a real estate development project in Nicaragua. My partners and I bought two thousand acres of farmland on the Pacific Ocean one day, and started selling lots just about a week later. We did quite well from a cash flow point of view. We got back our investment in less than a year. (We got back half of it as a result of one sales letter written to about 600 people. But that's a story for another time.) But flash-forward five years, and I had a mess on my hands. We were running into problems with our local employees, the local government, and our property owners. Every faction wanted something else. And all I could do was give it to them. We were quickly giving away all the profits we had made. That's when I invited an old friend of mine, a very successful real estate investor, to take a look at our project and tell us what he thought. The first thing he said to me was, "Send me the master plan." "What's a master plan?" I asked. "You're in trouble," he said. I still believe that Ready, Fire, Aim is the right way to start any new business. But you need to know what "being ready" means. In the case of real estate development, it means having a comprehensive plan that takes into account such factors as land use, property owners' interests, government regulations, and the project's impact on the local community. With the help of my friend, we instituted a master plan that has made the development the finest residential seaside resort in Nicaragua. But not having the plan at the outset cost us time and money. Not having a master plan for your life can cost you, too. And that brings me to what I want to talk to you about today... When I decided to become an A student in college (after barely doing enough work to get C's in high school), I started working on my goal right away. But I had a plan. It was a plan that had been proven by countless A students ahead of me: Study the curriculum. Figure out which courses you have an aptitude for. Show up with an A-student attitude -- and work your ass off. That's what you should do. Get started on your goals immediately. But don't just go hell-bent in any direction. Follow a strategy that has worked well for others, and ask questions along the way. Introducing the Master Plan Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines "master plan" as something that gives overall guidance for a project, such as the building of a church or school or city. Washington, DC, for example, one of the most beautifully designed cities in the world, was once a swamp. Its transformation was the result of a master plan by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. Master plans are what real estate developers use to transform raw land into suburban subdivisions, urban centers, and waterfront business districts. Master plans are also used to redesign companies. Jack Welch used one to articulate and execute his vision for General Electric. He said it was the key to transforming the corporate giant from a troubled, declining company to a state-of-the-industry business leader. And a master plan is what Warren Buffett and his partner used to turn Berkshire Hathaway into history's greatest financial success story... and themselves into billionaires. On a personal level, my partners and I have used master plans to help dozens of companies grow into multimillion-dollar enterprises. That includes one that went from $100,000 to $135 million in 11 years, and another that went from $8 million to $320 million in 14 years. Master plans don't always work. The former Soviet Union and communist China were famous for their master plans, which continued to project growth as their economies gradually crumbled into dust. For a master plan to be effective, it has to be realistic and flexible. It has to be realistic about resources and capabilities, and it has to be adjusted and/or radically changed when circumstances dictate. But used properly, a master plan can achieve miracles. It can transform deserts into sparkling cities, debt-ridden companies into thriving businesses, and perennially under-achieving people into healthy, wealthy, happy, and wise individuals. The Dynamics of Your Personal Master Plan A personal master plan can help you achieve all your life's goals quickly and with the least amount of trouble, time, and hassle. Using a master plan says you are serious about improving yourself and that you want that improvement to be radical. You want to go from C to A. You will not be satisfied with B. A personal master plan is a formal contract between the person you are today and the person you have decided to be. It will help you reinvent your life because it will force you to transform vague ambitions into specific objectives. It will spell out exactly what you have to learn, what you have to do, and whom you have to work with to turn your dreams into reality. As a result, your dreams may lose a bit of the "romance." But your master plan will compensate for that loss by giving you the exciting, uplifting feeling of progress. As each week goes by, you will be able to see, in very concrete ways, how you are improving. This will make it easier for you to continue making progress. Most people never realize their dreams. Not because they aren't smart or shrewd or motivated enough, but because when they make an effort it is too little and misdirected. You won't have that problem. You have already begun your journey. And, with the help of ETR, you will be using a map that has been proven. I've changed my life three times. First, in 1968, when I went from being a C student in high school to an A student in college. Second, in 1982, when I decided to get rich. And third, in 2000, when I developed and began using a personal master plan for Early to Rise. In every case, the changes were major and the rewards were gratifying. But when I began master planning my success, the improvements came faster and easier. Were it not for the personal master plan I developed, I never would have been able to write and publish nine books (and counting). Or produce two feature-length films. Or write 365 poems in 365 days -- all while keeping my "day job." Using a personal master plan will put you on a new trajectory. It will take a few weeks to get everything in order, but soon after that you will start to notice the progress you are making. And before long (certainly within two months), you'll be amazed at how much you are accomplishing. Finally, you will be doing (and actually finishing!) projects that you have been dreaming about for years. As you knock off one objective after the next, you will feel your confidence growing, your skills strengthening, your wealth building, and your enjoyment of life increasing. One of the two books I wrote last year (thanks to my personal master plan) was called Creating Abundance: Your Master Plan for Living a Richer, Healthier, More Enjoyable Life Starting TODAY. It consists of 52 chapters, each designed to take a week to accomplish. My goal was total life transformation in a single year. It seems ambitious, but it works. Here is the book's outline so you can get a sense of what it entails: Introduction: Why You Can't Get Started Part One: Your Master Plan for an Abundant Life What Does It Really Take to Change Your Life? Reinvent Your Life With a Proven Plan for Success Part Two: How to Turn Your Biggest Dreams Into Reality Are You Setting Goals... or Still Dreaming? The Vocabulary of Accomplishment Figuring Out Your Core Values Setting 7-Year Goals and Shorter-Term Objectives Why You Must Write Down Your Goals Using Daily Task Lists to Accomplish Your Goals How to Make Measurable Progress Toward Your Most-Neglected Goals Tracking Your Success Part Three: Your Abundant Life, Day by Day How to Become an Early Riser A Life-Changing Early Morning Routine Your Perfect Day: How to Allocate Your Hours for Maximum Productivity 3 Steps to Success: Thinking, Acting, and Breaking Up the Day How to Be on Top of Everything A Daily Eating Routine for a Healthy and Productive Life 4 Things You Can Do to Give Yourself Lots More Time to Be Lots More Successful How to Create a Perfectly Organized Office How to Change Your Work Habits and Become a Success Machine Part Four: Creating a Richer, More Enjoyable Life Making Our Lives Golden Rewarding Yourself 5 Strategies for Living a Simpler, Fuller Life Wanting Things Emotional Detachment and the Zen of Golf Put a Little Levity in Your Life Part Five: The Push You Need to Succeed Give Yourself a Kick in the Pants The Junkie's Secret Why Positive Thinking Doesn't Work Too Scared to Try: A Formula for Defeating the Fear of Failure How to Become What You Want to Be When to Doubt Yourself Taking the Big Leap Checking Your Progress Part Six: Skills of the Most Successful Why You Can Learn So Much From a Mentor What Dancing Can Teach You About Leadership The Power of a Simple Question Double Your Personal Power by Mastering One Skill The Right Way to Take a Working Vacation Read to Succeed How to Think Like a Billionaire Part Seven: The Obstacles to Your Success -- and How to Defeat Them When Disaster Strikes Giving Up Your Information Addiction How to Overcome the Worst Self Doubt When to Use Positive Thinking -- and When to Ignore It Information Overload: How to Escape the Crush Information Overload: The E-mail Problem How to Get Out of That Damned Rut When Your Life Suddenly Takes a Turn for the Worse 9 Steps to Defeating Depression Part Eight: Building Your Wealth How Much Are You Worth? What It Really Takes to Become Wealthy Pay Yourself First and Get Rich Automatically The Best Way to Rise to the Top of Any Business 5 Secrets to Doubling Your Money Every 3 Years The Key to Enjoying a Great Retirement (and a Lifetime of Happiness) Part Nine: The Price of Success The Unexpected Side Effects of Making Money Are You Resilient Enough? Criticism Is the Price You Pay for Success How to Defeat the Insidious Green Monster P.S. This book is not yet available for sale on its own. But you can get it as part of our in-house goal setting program, the Epiphany Alliance. You can change your life and accomplish all your goals with simple strategies from success mentor Bob Cox. For dozens more ways to turn your dreams into reality -- plus tons of goal-setting tools and motivation to get going -- sign up for the Epiphany Alliance. To find out more about the program, go here. -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Got It All? – You're grateful for what you have in life... but you still want more right? More success. The ability to provide financial freedom to your family. And you really want to enjoy retirement. An early retirement at that. But how are you going to get there? Do you have a plan? Bob Cox does... We want your feedback! Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Email us at: AskETR@ETRFeedback.com
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Copyright © 2010 Early to Rise, LLC. NOTE: If URLs do not appear as live links in your e-mail program, please cut and paste the full URL into the location or address field of your browser. Disclaimer: Early to Rise only recommends products that we've either personally checked out ourselves, or that come from people we know and trust. For doing so, we receive a commission. We will never recommend any product that does not have a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee. Nothing in this e-mail should be considered personalized Financial Advice. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized Financial Advice. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in any security recommended to our readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after on-line publication or 72 hours after the mailing of printed-only publication prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended in this letter should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. To unsubscribe from Early to Rise and any associated external offers, Click here. To contact us, please visit... http://www.supportatetr.com/helpdesk To cancel or for any other subscription issues, write us at: Order Processing Center Attn: Customer Service PO Box 7835 Delray Beach, Florida 33482

ETR: How to Become What You Want to Be

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Issue No. 0002 - $1.00
Are You Still Dreaming? By Jason Holland Managing Editor Success mentor Bob Cox, the creator of ETR's Epiphany Alliance goal setting program, once told me, "It's wonderful to have dreams. Dreams always end well. But if all you do is dream, you won't accomplish anything." This happens to be one of Michael Masterson's philosophies, as well. And in this essay, he reveals how he turned his dream of becoming a writer into reality... -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Safe and Boring Is the New Sexy and Exciting One of the members of the Liberty Street League likes "boring" investments... ... because they can make you money over and over again...safely and simply. Long before the crash changed everything about making money in the stock market, this "profit pro" created his own strategy for cranking out regular cash payments from these 'boring' investments. He spent 6 years crafting his methods into an almost fool-proof technique that could generate returns of "only" 65%... year in, year out. What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Langston Hughes How to Become What You Want to Be By Michael Masterson "If you want to be a writer, you have to write." I was sixteen years old when my father said those words to me. They were both kind and cruel. And I never forgot them. The first time I can remember wanting to be a writer was several years earlier. I was eleven or twelve years old. It happened in the kitchen on a weekday night. I had written a poem for Sister Mary Something at St. Agnes elementary school. My rhyming quatrain (AABB) was titled, pretentiously, "How do I know the World Is Real?" I was sitting at the kitchen table finishing it off when my father walked up behind. I could feel him reading over my shoulder. I felt anxious, embarrassed. This little thing I was making, this first poem, was being scrutinized by a very serious critic. In addition to being the man who sat at the head of the table at dinner and in the living room thereafter, my father was a credentialed writer, an award-winning playwright, a Shakespearean scholar and a teacher of literature, including poetry. I had seen my father, on Saturday mornings, hunched over student essays, muttering complaints about "virtual illiterates" and mockingly reading out loud passages to my mother that sounded perfectly good to me at the time but elicited derisive laughter from her. My father understood the secret-to-me clues of good writing. I didn't feel at all comfortable having my fragile young poem exposed to the awesome danger of his critical mind. So there I sat, hoping he would be distracted by something and go away but he didn't. It must have only been a minute, but it felt much longer. Then I felt his hand on my shoulder, gentle and warm. "You may have a talent for writing," he said. And then he turned his attention to the refrigerator, took out a beer and went back to his reading chair in the living room. I wrote lots of poetry in the months that followed and I began to think of myself as a writer. I liked that feeling. But soon other interests – touch football, the Junior Police Club, Virginia Lanzo – crowded themselves into my life. Gradually I wrote less and less. I still yearned to be a writer and so I began to feel guilty about not writing. To assuage my guilt, I promised myself that my other activities were life experience and that I needed life experience to become the good writer I wanted to be. In developing this excuse for not writing, I was building a structure of self-deception that so many people live inside when they abandon their dreams. From the outside it looks like you are doing nothing. But from the inside you know that you are in the process of becoming, which, you convince yourself, is the next best thing to being. The truth was I never really understood what it meant to be a writer. I just knew that it was something I wanted to become. And although I had traded in my love of writing for a passion for football and the He Man Woman's Hater Club and for Virginia Lanzo, I told myself that it was okay not to write so long as I spent some time now and then wanting to be a writer. This was the shape of my delusion when, at 16, I asked my father finally, "So how does a person become a writer?" I will never forget his answer. He said, "The way to become a writer is to write." So many people live their lives failing to become what they want. They do so because the "can't find the time" or the opportunity to get started. How many times have you heard someone talk about how one day they will do what they always wanted to do – to practice medicine or to play guitar or to travel the world or paint pictures or write a book? And when you hear people you like expressing sentiments like those what do you feel? Happy because you are confident that one day they will accomplish their long-held goal? Or sort of sad for them because you are pretty sure they never will? And what about you? What is it that you want to be but haven't become? What goal or project or task do you keep talking about accomplishing yet never do? When my father told me that "writers write," he was saying two things: That I had lost the right to call myself a writer when I stopped writing. That I could regain the title the moment I started writing again. If you spend a while ruminating on these thoughts you may find them both disturbing and liberating. In my case, I was disturbed because what I wanted my father to say was that the way to become a writer was to read books about writing and then take courses on writing and then perhaps become an apprentice to a writer and then begin writing little bits here and there and finally, after 3 or 10 years of education, preparation and qualification, I would somehow automatically become a writer. In the meantime, I would be a writer in training – which seemed to carry with it the prestige of being a writer without the responsibility of actually writing. But my father's definition wouldn't allow that. As long as I was studying writing or preparing myself to be a writer and yet not actually writing I wasn't a writer. It was as simple as that. For many years I struggled with this pronouncement and subconsciously resented my father for making it. Why did my father want me to feel bad about not actually writing? Why wouldn't he encourage me to do what I wanted to do, which was to prepare to become a writer? It seemed sort of mean and unnecessary, a fire-and-brimstone approach to career counseling. "Unless thy daily toils comprise the holy act itself, you reside in the valley of the faithless." Lots of people feel this way: that they can keep their dream alive and derive some of the ego satisfaction they hope their dream will give them simply by living in a state of becoming. "I am not yet the person I want to become, but so long as I continue to express a wish to become that person, I keep that possibility alive and deserve credit for doing so." Yes, you'll be a great guitar player one day so it really doesn't matter that you can't play a single chord now. My father was telling me that if I wanted to become a writer the first thing I had to do was to refuse to accept any psychological credit for wanting to be a writer. Unless I was actually writing I would never be a writer. It didn't matter how much I wanted to be one, how much I knew about writing or how many degrees and certificates I would earn. If I wanted to become a writer there was only one thing I could do: start writing. I didn't understand this until many years later, but in that terse definition my father was also telling me that all the formal, official, legal and socially acceptable qualifications for being something that you want to be are ultimately bullshit. If you really want to do something, don't worry about qualifications, credentials and certifications, just do it. Just do it. That's Nike's slogan. And mine too. If you have a dream deferred, it should be your slogan too. Accepting my father's lesson was like learning to swim in cold water -- painful at first but invigorating after I got used to it. After the initial disappointment of giving up the delusion that the state of becoming a writer was as good as being one I had no choice but to jump over the becoming stage and simply be. I did that by writing. Every day. And when I learned the secret of getting up early and writing first thing in the morning – hours before other people trailed into work – then I began to really live my dream. These days I usually get to the office between 6:30 and 7:00 and the first thing I do is brew a cup of coffee and fire up the computer. There is no better feeling for me than to get going, sometimes by writing in my journal but more often by tackling something tougher, like a book chapter, first thing in the morning when the office is dark and quiet. Of all the many pleasures of being a writer – the finishing of the manuscript, the collaboration with editors, seeing the book for the first time and even the best seller lists and parties – the purest and finest for me has always been the first few hours every morning when I am in a writerly groove. What I am saying is that the best part about being a writer, I have discovered, is the writing. To enjoy that best part, you don't need to be working at a certain level nor do you need to have taken so many hours of classes or received any diplomas, certificates or degrees. All you need to do is to do the thing you want to do. Just do it! Here's a bonus thought: the best way to become something special is also the fastest and the easiest: just start doing it. Don't wait for the proper time. Don't wait till you've finished your education. Don't insist on getting all your qualifications first. Just start doing it. That, I realize now, was the other side of what my father was telling me. If a writer is someone who writes – and not someone who has an MFA in Creative Writing or even someone who collets a check for writing – then I could become a writer simply by starting to write! I didn't have to take any courses or complete any qualifications or get someone to pay for my writing. All I had to do was write. I become a writer the moment I start writing and I cease to be a writer the moment I stop. From an existential perspective, this is exactly right. And if you can think existentially, you will see that this is exactly how it should be. If you live by this existential perspective, nobody can stop you from becoming what you want to be and you don't have to wait for anyone's approval or acknowledgement. You just make a decision to become and then you become. Two great American poets, Emily Dickenson and Charles Bukowski, became writers this way. Neither had any formal education in writing or was qualified to write poetry in any way. They just began writing and kept writing and eventually their writing became better (which is really not the point) and recognized as great poets (which is also not the point.) They became writers by writing. Nobody could stop them. And they didn't have to wait. This idea may apply to the dream of becoming a writer, one might argue, but what if your dream were to be a doctor or a lawyer or a professional basketball player? Here is where we run into a little snag. Certain professions require degrees and certifications. And others require extremely high levels of skill. You can't become a doctor simply by doctoring. Can you? I'd say yes you can. If your dream of being a doctor (or a lawyer, etc.) entails getting paid for your work, then you will have to go through the officially sanctioned process that the people in charge, in their infinite wisdom, have established for the good of the community. But if your dream is to do what doctors are supposed to – to help heal people, then you can become a doctor, albeit a non-professional folk doctor, simply by starting to help people heal. In choosing the doctor dream I am purposely pushing this idea to its limits to make a point. I recognize that being a good doctor, as in being a good healer, requires a good deal of knowledge and skill. But I'm not talking about becoming good at something (Just as my dad was not talking about becoming a good writer.), I'm talking about becoming what you want to become, about living your dream. If you want to be a doctor in the sense of healing people then nobody can stop you. You can be thrown in jail if you are prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license, but if you want to heal and are careful about staying legal then you can go ahead and become a healer immediately. Just start healing! Before you write in to tell me how irresponsible I am, let me say that I am not advocating that ETR readers practice medicine without licenses. What I am saying is that if you want to be anything, even something that in the regulated world requires education and certification, you can become that person simply by doing the thing you want. So what is the best way to become a guitar player? Start playing that guitar. And what is the best way to become a lyricist? Just write those songs. And what is the best way to become a basketball player? Start shooting those hoops. Don't worry about not being qualified. And don't worry about not getting paid for it. If you have a dream that's been long deferred, don't spend another day talking about what you will do one day, just do it. [Ed. Note: Having trouble getting motivated? It happens to the best of us. But if procrastination becomes a habit - you're doomed! Let success mentor Bob Cox share with you his strategies for avoiding this pitfall. And that's just a small taste of the techniques he's got on offer in his Epiphany Alliance goal setting program.] -----------------------------------------------------Highly Recommended----------------------------------------------------- Need Help Simplifying Your Life? - Success mentor Bob Cox discovered a secret... it's one that grew his income by 300%, helped him co-found a local start-up that grew into a $2-billion-a-year enterprise, and retire for the first time at age 36. The same secret - which Bob calls the "Hourglass Epiphany" - could be your key to being successful. You can get the full details on the "Hourglass Epiphany" - and find out how to use it to create your own life of relaxed accomplishment - right here. We want your feedback! Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Email us at: AskETR@ETRFeedback.com
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