"Human beings, who are
almost unique in having the ability to learn from the
experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent
disinclination to do so."
Douglas Adams
TODAY'S MESSAGE:
I've never met anyone who didn't think his life story could be turned into a book. Nor have I ever known anyone who didn't have at least one idea about starting a business or making money.
Most people never even get started. Why?
Is it lack of knowledge? Or lack of action? All great accomplishments are the products of knowledge and action. The secret to making your moneymaking idea come true (or your memories into a book) is having the right mix -- the right combination of knowledge and action.
"And what, exactly, is that mix?" you ask.
Share Early to Rise with a friend.
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KNOWLEDGE AND ACTION: GETTING THE MIX RIGHT
After 30 years of starting businesses and taking account of which failed right away, which lingered and then failed, which puttered along, and which soared, I have come to the conclusion that to be successful, you need a combination of 10% knowledge and 90% action.
Let me give you a few examples.
About a year ago, I told you I was going into the rental-real-estate business. At that time, I had no knowledge of how it works -- although I did have a basic understanding of real estate, having bought and sold properties before, and I had my common sense, such as it is.
I spent about 40 hours learning about the business. I skimmed a few books. I read a half-dozen articles. And I talked to people. Actually, I had been talking to real-estate tycoons for many years. Whenever I meet anyone who is good at anything, I make it a policy to ask as many questions as the person will tolerate. Mostly from those conversations, but also from some of what I read, I was ready to start.
In the course of two months, I bought three properties. All three seemed good on paper. In reality, they were a mixed bag. I made several mistakes in assessing their value that were big mistakes (that I won't make again). I also learned things that I'll never forget about how to write a contract and how to screen rental applications.
What I learned from books and conversations was enough to get me started. But what I learned from experience was the good stuff -- the true inside stuff that has already made me better at this business and will assure my success in the future.
I've said this before, but it bears repeating: The most important knowledge about any individual business is invisible to outsiders. You can pick it up only when you are actively involved in the business on a day-to-day basis. You can't know it any other way.
That kind of knowledge (the ordinarily invisible kind) will determine your ultimate success -- whether you keep going and become rich or stop where you are and do no more.
That's why I advise getting a job working for a successful company (or person) that does what you want to do. Getting paid to discover a business's hidden secrets is having your cake and eating it too.
I didn't get a job working for a real-estate rental business. I simply gathered what advice and information I could and -- when I felt I had a good basic idea of it from the outside perspective -- plunged in. I knew that I'd learn the good stuff soon enough. I didn't want to wait till I was truly and completely "ready," because I understood from my other business experience that such a day would never come.
That's the paradox: The knowledge you need to be successful will come to you only after you've started. Thus, you must be prepared to start before you are ready. Or, as I have put it in several earlier ETR messages: Ready. Fire. Aim.
I had the same experience when we launched Early to Rise. I didn't know exactly how I could make any money sending it out, but I wanted to do it and people were telling me to do it … so, one day, I just plunged in. I knew then about one-tenth of what I do now, but, fortunately, it was just enough to get started. Since then, the ETR team and I have made a thousand changes and improvements as we've learned this "business." Those improvements have made our work easier and more profitable. The future for ETR is very promising.
But if I had waited until I had "enough knowledge," I'd still be waiting.
A third example: I've been wanting to launch an e-zine for men over the age of 40. It will be about … I'm not even sure what … things that would interest men of my age … things about men in a world of men and women.
I've spent about six months fooling around with the idea and trying to get it right. So far, nothing that we've done seems to be working. Just yesterday, I decided enough was enough. We are launching it two weeks from today. We'll just start with what we have and make improvements as we go. Although I had been feeling pretty frustrated with the process all along, I'm feeling optimistic now that I've made the decision to get going. I know that we will learn what we have to learn as we go.
So the formula is this: Spend a reasonable but limited amount of time and money acquiring knowledge -- and then jump in. 10% knowledge. 90% action.
Whenever I see a business-learning program that is good -- one that is written by someone who knows those inside (hidden) secrets -- I'll recommend it to you. When we can't find one that is good, we'll create one ourselves.
Find a business that is fun and for which you feel you have an affinity. Study it intensely -- but not for too long -- and then get to it.
Where are you with your great moneymaking idea? Have you identified it? Have you studied it? Have you gotten started?
The best time to act is today. The sooner you get going, the sooner you'll succeed.
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You can be the greatest manager in the world. You can be a leader with vision or a whiz with numbers. You can even be a genius in creating great products. But unless you know the psychological underpinnings of the sales process you will never really be in charge of your business.
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TODAY'S ACTION PLAN
* If you didn't do it before you left the office Friday, create this week's task list and today's to-do list. Prioritize tasks on the list according to the Steven Covey quadrant -- and then (to make sure they get done today) highlight four or five Important but Not Urgent tasks that will advance your life goals.
* Last Monday, I suggested that you come in on the weekend and spend a few hours cleaning up and rearranging your office and updating your Rolodex (Message #834). Did you do it? If not, schedule the time to do it this week.
* To get a jump-start on your day, do tomorrow's to-do list before you leave the office.
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HOW TO CUT DOWN ON BACK-TO-WORK TIME
You've been out of the office for a week. In addition to the backup of e-mails you haven't had time to answer, there's a 3-foot stack of stuff in your inbox. Your instinct is to close the door for 48 hours and catch up.
The problem: You'll end up doing a lot of unnecessary work -- solving problems that you'll discover have already been solved or researching issues that have already morphed into entirely new and different issues. Plus, you'll be interrupted by innumerable emergencies as colleagues and workers keep poking their heads into your office.
A better idea is to take a walk. One executive interviewed by The Organized Executive says she spends the first few hours upon returning to work (the first few hours after prime time) stopping in to see all the key people she works with. By asking them targeted questions about what happened during her time away, she's able to download the important new information quickly and make any important decisions that have been waiting for her.
She says that two hours of this kind of ambulatory debriefing can save six or eight hours worth of e-mailing and emergency meetings.
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HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR PEOPLE TO RESPOND TO A NEWSPAPER AD?
You will get most of your response to a newspaper ad within seven days. By 21 days, you'll have 95% of it.
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HEALTH TIP: SUNSHINE MAY NOT BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
If you've been convinced that sunlight is pure evil (as many doctors -- not to mention sunscreen manufacturers -- would have us believe), you'll be interested to know about a study I read recently in Dr. William Campbell Douglass's daily e-letter, the Daily Dose. Seems that research from the National Cancer Institute (published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine) found that sunlight actually decreases the mortality rate in cases of colon, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer. The doctors posit that vitamin D (which is manufactured by the skin when exposed to the sun) is responsible for the cancer-protective effect.
My feeling is that you don't want to go out and get sunburned. (Burning your flesh has to be unhealthy.) But it's nice to know that a moderate amount of sunshine may be healthy for you. It certainly feels that way.
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IT'S GOOD TO KNOW: ABOUT BUSINESS GURUS
Don Peppers and Martha Rogers
Before the Internet craze, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers popularized the now-all-too-common idea that customer relations should be considered a one-to-one business.
In their best seller titled "The One to One Future", they talked about how interactive technologies would make it easier for businesses to develop more personal relationships with their customers. Database technology would allow automatic tracking of all sorts of consumer activity, including every sort of buying impulse (how much a person likes to spend, what sort of products he prefers, what time of year -- or month or week or day -- he likes to buy things, etc.).
Peppers and Rogers were among the first to herald Dell Computers and predict that companies that gave good personal service would take over.
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WORD TO THE WISE: GNOSTIC
"Gnostics" (NAHS-tiks) were members of a philosophical and religious sect that began in pre-Christian times and declined after the 2nd century A.D. They believed that salvation comes from secret knowledge ("gnosis") granted to initiates about God, humanity, and the rest of the universe.
You hear the word "gnostic" used frequently in certain conversations (not at O'Connor's pub) and in certain books and magazines. (The New Yorker seems to carry the word in almost every issue.) Today, "gnostic" is used most often to mean someone who has esoteric knowledge of spiritual things -- a spiritualist.
MMF
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2003
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Disclaimer:
The inclusion of an ad in ETR does not constitute an explicit
endorsement. It does mean that as far as I know the product
is not a rip-off. When I really like a product and want
you to buy it I'll tell you explicitly. Otherwise, view
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