The Balancing Act That’s Up to You
Issue #2243
- WEALTHY: Why the yen matters to your investments (Andrew Gordon)
- HEALTHY: Another "miracle" fat-loss treatment takes a tumble (Jonny Bowden)
- WISE: Paul Boese on keeping yourself on the right track
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- 3 steps to a balanced life (MaryEllen Tribby)
- Your 12th Special Holiday Gift from ETR: Simple solutions for almost every problem - if you know where to look (Patrick Coffey)
- It’s Good to Know… about people power
- Add "cadge" to your vocabulary
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The Canary in the Coal Mine
Investors love to take out their loans in Japan, where the interest rate is 0.5 percent. So why should that matter to you?
Well, spooked by a spate of bad news, they’re now getting out of their trades and flocking back to Japan to close out those loans. Since the loans are yen-denominated, investors have to buy yen to do it. That makes the yen go up. And as it does, the U.S. stock market drops by roughly the same amount. That’s because:
1. Cheap yen loans have funded U.S. investments. The yen is rising partly from the closing of those trades. As this money leaves U.S. markets, they fall.
2. The yen has become the perfect indicator of investor nervousness. The more nervous investors are, the more they step up their selling and closing-out of yen loans. This same nervousness causes more selling in the U.S. stock market - driving the market down.
A lot more yen loans haven’t been closed yet. So the yen should rise even more… and the U.S. stock market should drop even more. This would be a good time to rebalance your portfolio. Reduce your equity holdings by 10-20 percent and put that money in gold or silver or uranium - three commodities that are doing just fine.
When the yen stops appreciating, you’ll know it’s safe to increase your holdings in the U.S. stock market again.
[Ed. Note: ETR’s Investment Director, Andrew Gordon, is the editor of INCOME, a monthly financial advisory service that uncovers income-generating stocks that promise safety (first and foremost), along with much-higher-than-average profit potential.]
"We come into this world head first and go out feet first; in between, it is all a matter of balance."
Paul Boese
Kicking Off 2008 With ETR: The Balancing Act That’s Up to You
By MaryEllen Tribby, ETR’s CEO & Publisher
People ask me all the time how I run a $25,000,000 company, raise three small children, travel all around the world, AND manage a household. Essentially, they want to know how I create and maintain balance in my life.
In my experience, the answer is three-fold. It’s extremely simple, and something you have total control over. You just need to (1) have the right attitude, (2) make smart choices, and (3) develop positive relationships.
Step #1 to a Balanced Life: Having the Right Attitude
Charles Swindoll is famous for his writings about attitude. One of the things he talks about is the fact that attitude can make or break a company, a church, a home. And that we have a choice, every day, regarding the attitude we will embrace.
MJ, one of the acquaintances I’ve made in our info-publishing world, runs a nice little consulting company and has two beautiful, healthy little boys and a wonderful husband.
You would think she considers herself to be extremely fortunate. Yet every time I see MJ at an industry function and ask about her family, she starts in about how hard it is to run a company and raise two children. Not only that, she complains about how much more successful she would be if she did not have to take the kids to school and to soccer practice and to play dates.
I have never looked at my children as a hardship. It is a privilege for me (and my husband) to raise them and build our lives together. I am so much better at everything I do because of them. I am a better leader, a better manager, a better multi-tasker, and a better negotiator.
But this positive attitude is not something that magically happened to me.
Early in my career, I was asked to interview for a management position at Forbes - and the competition was fierce. All the candidates had a good education and work experience. Finally, they narrowed their choices down to two of us: me and Natalie.
Natalie had graduated from Harvard, had an MBA from Columbia, and had a reputation for being tough as nails. And seven years later, she still bragged about her perfect SAT scores.
It was finally the day of reckoning - the day of our last interview. But this was not just any old interview. We were both meeting with Steve Forbes himself.
The HR director made it very clear that Mr. Forbes was a busy man. That he would ask the questions and we would answer them. That he would spend no more than 10 minutes with each of us, and that a final decision would be made shortly after he met with us both.
Now Forbes being the intensely competitive place that it is, Natalie and I both wound up sitting outside of Steve Forbes’ office at the same time. As I looked over at her, sitting there confidently in her St. John suit, I remember thinking, "I know as much as she does. I can do this."
They called her in first. I heard Mr. Forbes’ muffled voice through the door. I heard her muffled reply. This went on for a while, and then I heard laughter. I thought, "How could that be? She was just supposed to answer some questions."
Thirty-five minutes later, Natalie swaggered out, shooting me a grin that said "Don’t even bother."
Then it was my turn. I went in. I answered Mr. Forbes’ questions. After five minutes, he thanked me and I left.
There was no laughter. No pleasant conversation.
As I opened the door to my Columbus Avenue apartment that I could not really afford, my phone was ringing. You guessed it. It was Forbes. They were calling to offer me the job!
After I’d been there a few months, I mustered up the courage to ask my boss how they made the decision to choose me over Natalie. Her answer rings true in my head more than 20 years later: "Mr. Forbes liked your attitude."
That single experience helped me understand what is really important and what is not. It helped me learn not to sweat the small stuff and not to get upset about things I have no control over. And that brings me to my next point…
Step #2 to a Balanced Life: Making the Right Choices
We all have to make hundreds of choices every day. It starts first thing in the morning. Do you eat your healthy high-fiber cereal with blueberries and skim milk? Or do you eat a chocolate chip muffin with a Starbucks specialty loaded with whipped cream?
As the day goes along, our decisions generally get more complicated and difficult to make.
Last summer, a friend in the industry sent out invitations for a huge networking party he was having at his home in Texas. I was honored to have been invited. Everyone who is anyone in our industry was going to be there. My friend Rich Schefren commented that this was the event of the year, the one that everyone who was lucky enough to be invited should attend.
I immediately RSVP’d, memorized the entire guest list, and thought about all the deals I could make that would benefit ETR. (You may remember the article I wrote recently about the importance of meeting everyone you do business with in person… and how cultivating those relationships can facilitate your deal making.)
That evening, while going over my travel dates with my husband, he pointed out that this networking event was being held on the first day of the new school year.
My husband encouraged me to go on the trip. He assured me that he could handle the kids that day. And, of course, I knew he could. But that was not the point. I told him that my daughter was only going to have one first day of fourth grade. And my son was only going to have one first day of first grade. And I wanted to be there for those once-in-a-lifetime occasions.
He told me to think about it for a few days to make sure I was making the right decision. So I did. I thought about what would happen if I missed the kids’ first day of school. I also thought about the business consequences of missing the event.
To help make this decision, I applied my two-two-two rule. I asked myself, "What will be the impact on both sides two weeks from now, two months from now, and two years from now?"
If I missed their first day of school, would my kids still be upset in two weeks? Would they still be upset in two months? And would the disappointment continue to echo in all of our hearts and minds in two years? I knew the answer was yes.
But I couldn’t just blow off the networking event. So I went through the same process. I figured that most of the people at the event would remember I had been there after two weeks. But I also figured that the majority of them would not remember I had been there after two months… and that none of them would remember I had been there after two years.
Guess what I decided to do? I skipped the networking event and took the kids to school. And four months later, my son still laughs about how I almost hit his new teacher’s car in the parking lot that day.
Of course, I did not just blow off the networking event. ETR’s Internet Marketing Director, Patrick Coffey, went and represented ETR proudly. He brought back tons of useful information, and I have since spoken with or met with everyone I would have seen that day.
This dovetails nicely with my final point on creating and maintaining a balanced life…
Step #3 to a Balanced Life: Developing the Right Relationships.
I was fortunate to have someone like Patrick to send to the networking event I missed. Someone who would represent me and ETR, our core values and our policies. I knew Patrick would see it as an opportunity for him - and that is exactly what happened. Many of the people he met there told me what a great job he did.
Now had I not cultivated my relationship with Patrick over the last 19 months, this would have been a lost opportunity for both of us, instead of a win-win situation. Patrick knew exactly what I expected of him, and he over-delivered.
It’s funny. Many high-level executives think that if they cannot be at an important business function, they would rather miss out completely than send a substitute. In fact, one sign of a good leader is that his or her business runs smoothly even when they are not present.
I pride myself on hiring and mentoring people who have as much potential as I do (if not more).
It is the same with my personal relationships.
I have a mother’s helper that my kids love… and she loves my kids. And though my friends and family know how happy this makes me, every once in a while someone asks me: "Doesn’t it bother you that your kids love Nora so much?" My answer: "Hell no!"
I want people in my life who are good for me. Patrick and Nora are two examples. These are positive relationships.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not Super Woman. And I have days at home and at the office that are more challenging than others. Sometimes, the only reason I can accomplish as much as I do is because I have a spouse who is my biggest fan, a spouse who never puts his career before mine.
We decided a long time ago that we could accomplish anything as long as we were in it together, as long as our goals were in alignment, and as long as our philosophies regarding success were the same.
As Michael Masterson has said, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. So when people tell me there is no way they can maintain balance between their business life and their personal life because they have soooo much work to do, I simply don’t buy it.
Everyone can have a balanced life. You just need to want it… and act to achieve it.
[Ed. Note: Discover more strategies for accomplishing all your goals with ETR’s Total Success Achievement Program. You’ll learn specific goal-setting techniques that can help you get out of debt… lose 10 pounds… start a profitable business… and blast through any obstacle along the way. Learn more about the Total Success Achievement Program by clicking here.]
Join Wall Street at the 10-Q Profit Party… And Pocket a Stream of Triple-Digit Winners
There is nothing like an earnings report to send a stock soaring or crashing. And during each quarterly earnings season, hundreds of companies reveal their results to the public.
The opportunities around this event are so great that Wall Street spends BILLIONS on research to maximize their profits. Earnings season begins again on January 8, and now one former insider is prepared to let the secret out.
Recently, he led investors to gains of 149% on Marriott… 85% on Costco… 160% on Qualcomm… 176% on Onyx Pharmaceuticals… and 90% on Hilton Hotels.
Now, it’s YOUR turn to profit!
Your 12th Special Holiday Gift From ETR: The Simple Wisdom That Changes a Problem Into a Triumph
By Patrick Coffey, ETR’s Director of Internet Marketing
A few months back, I spilled a soda on my brand-new white down comforter. Panicked, I grabbed it and threw it in the wash.
As I pulled the comforter out of the washing machine, I could see spots where giant clumps of wet feathers had bunched together. Then I read the label: "Dry clean only." It appeared that in my haste to solve an immediate problem, I had ruined the comforter. So I reached for my phone and called my mom, the only person I know who might be able to help me through this domestic disaster.
When I explained what happened, she laughed and said it wasn’t a problem at all. What I needed to do was place the comforter in the dryer on medium heat with a bunch of tennis balls. The tennis balls would bounce against the comforter and un-clump the feathers as they dried.
Sure enough, when the drying was completed I pulled out a comforter that was as good as new. Mom’s simple solution not only saved the comforter but also saved me the few hundred dollars I would have spent to replace it.
It always amazes me how the wisdom people acquire from years of experience can change everything - turning what appears to be an unsolvable problem into a success.
During my five years with Early to Rise, I’ve had the privilege of being able to call on many people in the business world who have that kind of wisdom. When I run into a problem I can’t solve, I ring them up. And many times the solution is as simple as throwing tennis balls in the dryer.
Today - as your 12th Special Holiday Gift from ETR - I’d like to give you the chance to listen in on some of the business wisdom I’m talking about.
About the same time as I almost ruined my comforter, ETR held a teleconference with info-marketing masters Jay Abraham and Michael Masterson. On this call, they shared not only the best but also the simplest advice I’ve ever heard about the very profitable information-marketing business.
If you’ve been thinking of starting your own info-marketing business, hear what Jay and Michael have to say. I’m betting the simple advice they share with you - based on wisdom acquired through years of personal experience - will give you just what you need to get it going.
Please click here to download your 12th - and final - Free Holiday Gift from ETR.
Lipodissolve: The Latest Fat Breakthrough?
Lipodissolve - and other "miracle" instant fat-reduction treatments - made headlines a while back. Remember? Britney Spears was supposedly seen entering a clinic that offers a lipodissolve-type treatment in Las Vegas. It quickly became a hot topic.
The appeal was easy - no surgery, no down time, just a couple of shots to "dissolve" the fat. Expensive, sure. But compared to liposuction, gastric bypass, or - dare I dream - actual dietary overhaul, it was cheap at twice the price.
In case you were one of those thinking about buying into this instant cure for fat, fret no more. Fig, the most famous of the lipodissolve clinics, closed its doors on December 7 in the wake of dozens of complaints from consumers demanding a refund. According to the company, they ceased operations "for economic reasons."
No kidding.
Fig, originally named Advanced LipoDissolve Center, opened its first office in 2005, and its clinics have performed more than 100,000 anti-fat treatments across the nation at a cost of about $2,000 per body part.
In the last three years, 145 clients of Fig filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau of Greater St. Louis. Their most frequent complaint: It doesn’t work. These clients also cited adverse reactions, including pain and swelling. And now, according to The New York Times, they’ve been joined by an additional 150 consumers who complained to the Better Business Bureau.
My comment? Always remember two things:
1. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
2. If the strongest endorsement for a procedure or pill is that Britney Spears uses it, you might want to think twice about signing up.
[Ed. Note: Dr. Jonny Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition, and health. He’s a board certified nutritionist with a master’s degree in psychology, and the author of the brand new book, The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth. For more information, go to www.jonnybowden.com. To read more of his articles on healthy living in ETR’s natural health e-letter, click here.]
It’s Good to Know: People Power
Windmills and solar panels are so last century. A gym in Hong Kong, collaborating with inventor Lucien Gambarota, is experimenting with a really alternative source of energy: workout machines. Dynamos have been attached to cycling and Stairmaster machines, generating enough electricity to power lights and TVs in the gym. The experiment has been such a success that the company has plans to expand the program to its other locations.
(Source: Wired)
When the CAR gets stuck in a rut you can call AAA - But who do you call when YOU get in a rut?
Feeling like your life has stalled? Wondering where all the excitement has gone? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. All of us get dragged down in a rut now and then.
But you’ll get back out on the highway of life a LOT faster if you have a friendly “towing service” looking out for you 24×7.
So put on your seat belts, rev up those engines… and let’s get going with our motivational kick-in-the-pants program.
- Charlie Byrne
Word to the Wise: Cadge
To "cadge" (KAJ) is to beg or obtain by sponging on someone. The word is derived from the Middle English for a peddler or huckster.
Example (as used by James N. Davidson in Courtesans & Fishcakes): "Another… complains of the hard work involved in cadging an invitation to a fancy dinner."
[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, 2008