Issue #2199
- WEALTHY: A disgustingly simple way to make more money (Bob Bly)
- HEALTHY: Are you getting enough of this "memory vitamin"? (Dr. Jonny Bowden)
- WISE: Henry Ford on personal independence
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Visualize your success (Michael Masterson)
- 10 little things Charlie’s thankful for
- It’s Good to Know… about harvest festivals
- Add "malcontent" to your vocabulary
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It all happens at The Internet Money Club’s Profit Acceleration Roundtable, an exclusive gathering held in conjunction with ETR’s Annual Info-Marketing Bootcamp. When you become a Charter Member of our new Internet Money Club, you’ll receive complimentary admission to next year’s Profit Acceleration Roundtable AND to the Early to Rise 2008 Info-Marketing Bootcamp.
But here’s the catch…
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The Bootcamp WILL sell out next fall. But as an Internet Money Club member, you’re automatically guaranteed a complimentary, locked-in seat for next year’s event. And it’s the only way to get into the Profit Acceleration Roundtable.
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"If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability."
Henry Ford
The More You Learn, the More You Earn
By Bob Bly
Years ago, a famous rock star returned to her high school to speak at an assembly. Although she had not graduated, she told the kids to stay in school. "The more you learn, the more you earn," she said.
Nowhere is this truer than in the business world.
Your success is likely to be directly proportional to the amount of knowledge you possess. Knowledge about your products… technology… and market. And about your profession.
Yet, though we live in a knowledge-based economy, most of us graduate knowing relatively little of what there is to know of the world. Or even about our college major. And with the dizzying pace at which new knowledge is created, the gap between what we know and what there is to know seems to grow each day.
As Thomas Edison observed, "We don’t know one millionth of one percent about anything."
More recently, Professor Richard Dawkins said in an interview with Scientific American magazine: "All of us are ignorant of most of what there is to know."
So, with all of us knowing next to nothing… what can we do to learn – and thereby earn – more?
First, find a niche – an area of specialization – and concentrate your efforts within that niche. The narrower your specialization, the better your chances of keeping reasonably up to date in the field.
Second, become an "information junkie."
Read constantly:
- The leading trade magazines in your industry.
- A daily newspaper.
- A weekly news magazine such as Newsweek, Time, or U.S. News & World Report.
- One or two of the top e-newsletters or blogs in your area of interest. (ETR fits the bill nicely for entrepreneurial success, as do The Daily Reckoning and Investor’s Daily Edge for investing.)
Third, read widely.
Even though you are a specialist, you need to acquire a solid base of knowledge outside your field.
Of course, your time is limited. So even here, you must choose carefully. What should you read… and why?
MU, a Ph.D. candidate and consultant in the science of innovation, says that to be more creative you must read in "adjacent areas." An adjacent area is something different from but at least peripherally related to your major field.
Example: A systems analyst might read in architecture, because both deal with designing systems.
Why do you need to read in adjacent areas?
Research shows that the ability to be innovative is dependent on possessing a wide storehouse of knowledge from which ideas can be generated. People who are not well read have a limited store of knowledge. They are, therefore, hampered in their ability to come up with new solutions.
Of course, reading is not the only way to learn. Doing things is equally (or, in some cases, even more) valuable.
According to an article in Prevention Magazine, new experiences stimulate the production of dopamine, a chemical involved in learning and memory. In addition, new experiences build brain mass and increase mental agility. Meanwhile, the absence of novelty causes the brain to shrink.
Solution: Take up a new language, hobby, sport, musical instrument, or anything else that offers continual challenges.
When does all this learning stop?
Never.
"School is never out for the pro" is ancient advice, and still true today.
You might protest: "But I am too busy putting out fires at work for all this studying!"
Then do it after hours.
In his book 212: The Extra Degree, S.L. Parker advises, "Add a few hours each month to your professional development outside of the work day." By doing so, you can add the equivalent of a full week of work to your most valuable asset: you.
[Ed. Note: Master copywriter and best-selling author Bob Bly is a contributor to ETR's new business-building program, The Internet Money Club. Not only will this program teach you techniques that copywriting experts use to write sales-boosting copy, it will show you how to pick a product, set up a website, and pull in targeted, qualified traffic. And that's just for starters. Click here to learn more.
Sign up for Bob's free monthly e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and get more than $100 in free bonuses.]
New Health & Wealth Special Reports Address Vital Concerns of People
Health and wealth related issues grab headlines today. It doesn’t matter how much money you have if you cannot enjoy it with good health. Likewise, if you are healthy but have not invested wisely, your retirement enjoyment is apt to be limited. Fidelity Independent Adviser addresses these concerns in new special reports and monthly newsletters. Make sure your retirement fulfills your expectations. Find out more about this exciting offer by clicking here.
Turning Fantasy Into Reality
You can overcome obstacles and sometimes even achieve goals that seem impossible by exercising your imagination. Picturing yourself making that winning shot or accepting a raise or receiving applause for your speech can reduce the anxiety that comes with challenging yourself.
I used this technique to prepare myself for the North American Grappling Association national championship.
Being a fifty-something-year-old in a young man’s sport, I had to delete a lot of scary movies from my head. (Bones broken, humiliating defeats, etc.) And I had to invent some better ones. (MM taking his opponent to the ground, passing his guard, achieving a cross side, and then finishing with a spinning arm bar.)
Guess what? It helped. I came in second in my category. Substituting positive fantasies for negative ones reduced my stress and allowed me to think about possible winning strategies.
Of course, visualization isn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Most of my success comes from doing. And most of my good fortune at the competition was the result of hours and hours of practice. Still, it helps.
There are all sorts of books written about visualization. And in sports, at least, it’s practically a science. In business, visualization is probably best at helping you do things you are afraid to do. Things like preparing for a tough negotiating session or important presentation, for example.
[Ed. Note: Get Michael Masterson's insights into becoming successful in your business and personal life, achieving financial independence, and accomplishing all your goals on his new website. You'll find updates on all of Michael's books, news on upcoming ETR events, Michael's blog, and room to send in your comments and questions. Check it out today.]
2 Tasty Ways to Protect Your Brain
As you age, you may find yourself having lapses of memory, which can be frustrating and alarming. But you can support your brain and protect your memory function just by adding certain foods to your diet. Two foods that contribute to a healthy, robust brain are spinach and eggs.
Spinach is loaded with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds that slow brain aging and preserve memory. It’s one of the few food sources of the powerful brain-protecting antioxidant alpha lipoic acid. A study in the Journal of Experimental Neurology showed that rats eating diets enriched with spinach and blueberries lost far fewer brain cells after a stroke. And they recovered much faster.
Egg yolks are one of nature’s richest sources of choline, a B vitamin. Choline is a building block of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is vital for memory, learning, and thinking. Not for nothing is choline called the "memory vitamin." More than 90 percent of Americans are choline-deficient. Choline is particularly important during pregnancy, because it’s necessary for brain development in the fetus. The choline in egg yolks helps maintain the flexibility of brain cell membranes, which is critical for the quick transmission of thoughts and impulses.
Try combining these two powerhouses in a spinach salad with hard-boiled eggs. The combo maximizes your ability to absorb the nutrients in both foods.
[Ed. Note: Dr. Jonny Bowden, a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition, and health, is the author of the best-selling book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. For more information, go to www.jonnybowden.com. To read more of his articles on healthy living in ETR's new natural health e-letter, click here.]
10 Little Things I’m Thankful For
By Charlie Byrne, ETR’s Editorial Director
With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, we asked the ETR staff to write down some of the things they’re thankful for. Not the big things. The little things. We’ll be sharing their lists with you between now and the holiday weekend. Meanwhile, I’ll kick things off today with my own:
1. Pistachio nuts.
2. My new Audio-Technica active noise-cancelling headphones.
3. Not living in pain and/or poverty every day, unlike much of the world’s population.
4. Tivo. I don’t watch much TV. But when I do, I want to watch what I want, when I want.
5. Two beautiful grown daughters who aren’t alcoholics, druggies, drama queens, phonies, goths, freaks, hippies, or self-absorbed idiots.
6. Autumn weekends in New England.
7. Listening to Americana music – and its many brilliant-but-largely-unheralded singer-songwriters such as John Prine, Steve Forbert, Emmylou Harris, and Ryan Adams – thanks to long-tail music niche "channels" including cable TV’s Music Choice, XM satellite radio’s The Loft, and online radio stations like WXPN.Org and WNCW.Org ("broadcasting out of Isothermal Community College in Spindale, North Carolina"). Now this makes me proud to be an American!
8. Creme brulee for dessert late on a Saturday night.
9. The ability to, when I see or get a good idea, share it with nearly 300,000 people almost instantly.
10. A sweet wife who wouldn’t be upset even if I had left her off this list.
It’s Good to Know: Harvest Festivals
The custom of celebrating a good harvest with a special holiday, such as Thanksgiving, has its origins in ancient times. Here are a few that are still being practiced around the world:
- In China
The Mid-Autumn (or Moon) Festival dates back 3,000 years. It is celebrated in mid to late September. The traditional food for this holiday is the mooncake, a pastry filled with lotus seed paste, sweet bean paste, or mixed nuts and seeds.
- In Korea
Chuseok is a three-day holiday in mid September to late October. Thousands of Koreans travel to their hometowns to pay respect to the spirits of their ancestors with rituals and offerings of food and drink.
- In Germany
Erntedankfest is a religious celebration but not an official national holiday. It is usually celebrated on the first Sunday in October. There is a lengthy (sometimes day-long) church service, followed by food, dancing, and a parade. In recent years, turkey (an American influence) has joined the traditional goose on the Erntedankfest dinner table.
(Source: Wikipedia and About.com)
Turn A Single $100 Investment Into A $2,000-A-Week Profit Machine
In the next seven days, 4,589 people will leave their jobs, never go back… and have all the money they will ever need.
I would tell you that these people are “very lucky,” but the fact of the matter is that there is no luck involved.
It’s happening everywhere. Ordinary people – including people who never finished school – starting their own businesses… and making in the neighborhood of $40,000… $60,000… even $100,000 or more a year.
Even though all these people are “ordinary” in some ways, one thing is certainly “out of the ordinary” about them:
Many used the same secret to start a business on less than $100. You can do it, too. Here’s how.
- Patrick Coffey
Word to the Wise: Malcontent
A "malcontent" (mal-kun-TENT) is someone who’s dissatisfied. The word is derived from an old French term for "bad content."
Example (as used by Robert Nathan in a New York Times book review): "How would you like to be locked in a room for a couple of days with an irritable, depressed malcontent who also happens to be imperiously smart, bored, and more than a little spoiled?"
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Michael Masterson
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2007
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