- WEALTHY: The difference between the market and your favorite wine
- HEALTHY: Test your manhood! (Dr. Al Sears)
- WISE: Anais Nin on the interdependence of dreams and action
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- A physics lesson on personal achievement (Paul Lawrence)
- 9 ways to de-stress the holidays (Michael Masterson)
- Add "farrago" to your vocabulary
The Billionaire Way
I would recommend "The Billionaire Way" program to anyone who is contemplating a new enterprise or business start-up, or is already in business for themselves. It enabled me to look at my life, attributes, and habits in a refreshing new way. I was delighted to discover that I too have a number of the traits and qualities that many who are successful in business possess, which I hadn’t realized. I am very excited to apply the principles that were presented in the program to my new business ventures.
A tremendous benefit was to be able to talk with the author of the program, Bob Cox, about my own business strategies and ideas. Bob spent an hour on the phone with me after I finished the program, and his personal insights and suggestions were very helpful and inspiring.
I know that I will often refer back to the information provided in "The Billionaire Way"
- Catherine McNeil, Monte Vista, Colorado
It’s About Time You Looked at Trends
By Andrew M. Gordon
Be careful about asking your investments "What have you done for me lately?" The answer could lead to some very bad investment decisions if you don’t understand the question. And many investors don’t.
With markets, investors usually focus on what they’ve done so far in a year (year to date) and what they’re doing today. With stocks, it’s more about the last quarter.
But buying into markets and companies isn’t like buying wine. We can buy a familiar 1998 Cabernet and know it’s good. Stocks don’t work like that. You shouldn’t buy a stock (or market) because it’s had a good year or 18 months or eight months.
Timeframes can be misleading. They can make the same investment look dazzling or frightening. Take the Dow, for example. If you had invested in it at the beginning of 2000, you would now be looking at all of a five percent return on your investment. But if you’d invested in the Dow at the beginning of 1996, you would have made a dazzling 85 percent.
So, which growth figure is more accurate? Five percent … or 85 percent? They’re BOTH 100 percent accurate.
The lesson? Take quarterly growth, year-to-date growth, one-, three-, or five-year growth figures – ANY growth timeframe – with a grain of salt. Instead, look at the fundamentals driving the trend. The good (and bad) times have to end sometime … and that "sometime" could have been yesterday.
[Ed. Note: Andrew Gordon, ETR's financial expert, is the editor of our new investment service, Income. Each month, he uncovers specific stocks that promise safety (first and foremost), along with much-higher-than-average profit potential.]
"Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living."
Anais Nin
Taking Personal Inventory
By Paul Lawrence
As 2006 wraps up, JL has something to smile about. He lives in a beautiful home, complete with a swimming pool. And he is well on his way to success as a partner in a profitable (and rapidly growing) talent booking agency. That is an extraordinary change, considering how dire his circumstances were just one year ago. He had just been evicted from his apartment, had lost his job, his truck needed a repair that he couldn’t afford (and that would cost more than the truck was worth), and he wasn’t even close to achieving his professional goals.
JL took the first critical step toward getting himself out of this mess by performing something I call a "Cumulative Appraisal" of his situation. After doing so, he had to accept the fact that he hadn’t lost his apartment because of a mean landlord. He’d lost it because he hadn’t saved any money when he had a good job. And he wasn’t anywhere near his dream of being successful in the entertainment business because he hadn’t done much to make it happen.
Once JL saw his situation with clarity, he was able to formulate a plan to change it.
Making an accurate appraisal of where you are right now in regard to actually living your dreams takes more than simply saying, "Well, let’s see … I work in an office as a clerk, but my dream is to be president of a Fortune 500 company. So I guess I’m not
there yet."
That’s simply not enough information to enable you to make meaningful changes in your life. In order to truly change direction, you must take some radical actions.
Momentum is a powerful force in physics … and also in your life. If, for example, you are on course to work in a large company as a low-level administrator, you continue to be propelled in that direction by momentum. Factors in that momentum include the way you get supervisors to perceive you, the set of skills you acquire, and your behavior patterns.
In order to break out of this path and get yourself headed toward a higher goal, you must recognize how you got started in that direction in the first place. Once you determine how you got started, it will be easier to see what you need to do in order to change course.
That is why the Cumulative Appraisal is so important. It compels you to dig deeper and identify the true reasons your life has taken the wrong direction. Facing those reasons isn’t a lot of fun … but it is necessary.
When I was very young, one of my strong interests was to become an actor/comedian. Yet, by the time I was in my 30s, I hadn’t done anything about it. It would have been easy for me to tell myself that it was because I was so busy with other goals. But that wasn’t the truth. The truth was that I was afraid of going on stage and having people not like me.
Once I accepted that reality, I was able to find a solution to my problem. I created a "comedic character" for myself that made it easier for me to give comedy a try. When I had enough experience and confidence, I gave up the character and revealed my true self to the audience. Since then (I’m proud to say), I’ve appeared as an actor in several large movies, on stage as a stand-up comedian, and as a member of a sketch comedy group.
Now, your circumstances are probably entirely different from what mine were. But if you don’t identify the true reasons that have prevented you from living your dreams, you won’t be able to overcome the tremendous force of momentum pushing you down the wrong life path.
Are you ready to make your own Cumulative Appraisal and start turning your life around? Here’s how to get started.
Step #1: Determine Your Actual Life Position
This step is not easy for most people, because it’s natural for us to minimize our
shortcomings. Let me share an example.
My close friend DM spent his mid-20s telling himself that he was just one step away from catching that big break … or moments away from being able to jump into another career or a business of his own.
But that wasn’t the case. He was just in a job that he hated – a job with no future. He had no specific life goal, much less a well-planned strategy to change his situation. Until he took a realistic look at where he was and where he was headed, he was stuck treading water.
Once DM finally realized that he was staying with his job because he had a lack of self-confidence, he was able to change things for the better.
After completing the Cumulative Appraisal, he realized that he’d built up some substantial managerial skills. With a new perception of himself, DM found the courage to launch his own business. Now, instead of punching a time card and making just enough to get by, he owns two very successful companies, an exotic sports car, and several properties (including a luxury home in an exclusive neighborhood). And he and his wife enjoy traveling all over the world.
While there are times to put a "positive spin" on things, you don’t want to sugarcoat your Cumulative Appraisal. You need to be brutally honest with yourself. It’s not always easy to accept reality – but console yourself by remembering that any negative life circumstance can be changed.
Step #2: Identify Your Dreams
When you’ve determined where you truly are, you’ve got to figure out where it is you want to go. It’s easy for some people to pinpoint their dreams. But others may not know for sure what would make them happy. All they know is that they don’t like what they’re currently doing.
To determine what you would really like to do, ask yourself, "If I had a $50 million windfall – and never again had to work to support myself – what would I like to do?" The answer to that question is very likely the dream that you should pursue.
Be very specific – and realistic – about your dream. The first part of your Cumulative Appraisal will give you an accurate picture of your strengths and weaknesses. So if, for example, you’re a heavy-set man in your late 40s, don’t say, "I’d like to be a leading man in action movies." That’s not realistic.
But you can still be a movie star. You just need to "tweak" your dream a bit. Perhaps you could say, "I want to be a character actor who works regularly in film and television." That’s possible. And then, with this specific goal in mind, you could figure out what specific actions you need to take to achieve it. You might, for example, decide you need to move to Los Angeles and enroll in acting school.
The point is, you’ve got to take action based on an understanding of who you are now, how and why you got here, and your (very specific) dream. Completing these two steps will make that possible.
Time is the one commodity you have that is truly limited. If you aren’t living your dreams now, I strongly urge you to change your life for the better. Believe me … I’m living proof that it can be done.
[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence truly is living his dreams. He is a produced screenwriter who has written a multimillion-dollar film. He's signed a development deal with one of the entertainment industry's largest producers to executive-produce a television show, has sold another feature film script slated for a 2007 theatrical release, and is the president of a successful direct-mail company .
Learn about Paul's "Dare to Live Your Dreams" program on his website]
Start Collecting and Banking Fat Income Checks Next Month With These Little-Known Dividend-Payers
While most people only have bills to look forward to — YOU could be pulling out a fistful of new cash and getting richer every time you open your mailbox–– if you make the right move NOW.
Three dividend-paying stocks in particular BELONG in every income-generating portfolio!
Get the names of these three income-generating stocks right now — names, history, stock symbols, everything — and you could begin seeing your first check in the next 90 days.
Stop Dying Like a Man
By Al Sears, MD
RH, who is 69 years old, just got married. He came to my office before leaving on his honeymoon. "Dr. Sears," he said, "I want to live a little before I make my wife a widow." He was only half-joking … because men, as a group, die younger than women do.
Women are out-living men by an average of six years – a gap that’s grown considerably since 1920, when the difference was only one year. Why is this gap widening? Take a look at the leading causes of death for American men:
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Accident
- COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
When I look at this list, one thing jumps out at me: All five of these causes are linked to changes we’ve made in our environment. And I can correlate increases in the rates of heart disease, cancer, strokes, and lung disease to those changes.
For men, one of the most problematic environmental changes is that synthetic chemicals used in many products have a structure that closely resembles estrogen. These products include pesticides, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and the hormones given to farm animals to fatten them.
Clinical tests show that high concentrations of estrogen not only cause problems in the bedroom for men, they also weaken their immune system and lead to chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease – the top two killers of men in the U.S.
The right blood tests can be an easy and reliable way to counter these environmental threats. Yet very few doctors order them. Here’s where your awareness plays a critical role in your health. I recommend that you ask your doctor for the following tests at least once a year:
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[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears, a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor's Heart Cure and 12 Secrets to Virility, is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness, and heart health.]
Notes From Michael Masterson’s Blog: Slow Down and Smell the Gingerbread
Some of my friends, Jewish and Christian alike, say they hate the holiday season because of all the stress it causes. Making those endless shopping lists … looking for "perfect" presents … writing poignant phrases on 116 cards. Who wants to do that?
Add to that the worries about forgetting and therefore insulting someone … about what Uncle Harry will think if you don’t invite him over … about getting a gift from someone you didn’t send one to … about being caught "re-gifting." And so on.
No wonder so many people get stressed out, angry, and depressed.
I’ve been thinking about ways to overcome this. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far …
[Ed. Note: Read the rest of this article on Michael Masterson's blog.]
- Michael Masterson
You Can Import Goods From Overseas For Pennies On the Dollar!
It may have been hard in the past for small entrepreneurs to import cheap products from countries like China, but things have drastically changed.
For example, In 1986, total trade between the United States and China was $7.9 billion. By 2005, this total has reached over $170 billion, making China the United States’ third largest trading partner.
You can’t believe how easy this is. With the right information, you just find products that cost a couple of dollars each and sell them for 1000%+ mark-ups by the thousands with your own Internet sites.
Please click here to read this urgent report.
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Farrago
"Farrago" (fuh-RAH-go) – from the Latin for "a mixed fodder for cattle" – is another way of saying "hodgepodge."
Example (as used by Roy Greenslade in The Guardian): "From the moment the story of the Countess of Wessex and the Sheikh of Wapping broke, there has been a farrago of rumour, speculation, and fantasy of which virtually every newspaper should be ashamed."
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2006
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