It’s hard to believe that Tim Russert has been dead nearly a month. I try to learn from everyone, and the main thing I learned from Russert is that you can have strong opinions, yet be respectful in your discussions with those of opposing views.

When I was young, I was convinced that all so-called liberals were evil. It was an immature assumption on my part. Over the years, I came to realize that there are millions of liberals who, while they may be confused or uninformed, have good intentions.

Unfortunately, there are many liberal newscasters whose ideology is deeply rooted in the soil of guiltism and angerism. Fortunately, however, there are many other liberal commentators who really do mean well, and who show it by being both reasonable and civil on the air. I would include in this group Juan Williams, Kirsten Powers, Lanny Davis, Marc Ginsberg, Gov. Bill Richardson, and Mike Wallace.

Which brings me to Tim Russert. They say the camera never lies, and, based on my experience, I have always believed that to be true. So much so that I am convinced that most Americans "know" TV commentators on an almost personal level.

I can say without exception that I have never been surprised by the personality of anyone who has interviewed me on TV. I was fortunate enough to appear on The Merv Griffin Show twice, and Merv was the same kind and gracious guy in person that you saw on your television screen. I found the same to be true of Mike Douglas and David Hartman, among others.

On the other side of the coin, based on what I had seen of him on TV over the years, I felt like I was going to an execution (mine!) when led into Tom Brokaw’s office for a "pre-interview" discussion many years ago. I said hello to Brokaw, but he pretended not to hear me (or see me), didn’t look up, and continued to work (or pretend to work) on some papers on his desk.

The interview itself was short and ugly. He had obviously never even bothered to thumb through my book, and he was clearly agitated by the fact that he had to lower himself to being on camera with me. Needless to say, when it was over, we didn’t shake hands or share goodbyes.

In fairness to Brokaw, I will say that he not only was a master at his craft, I also believe he mellowed over the years and tried to become more evenhanded in his approach to interviews. If you read his book The Greatest Generation, you could tell that the man had matured a great deal and changed for the better. And Brokaw handled the tribute that NBC aired for Tim Russert the Friday after he passed away in a superb and touching manner.

As to Russert, like everyone else, I was stunned that he checked out so suddenly, without warning, at such a young age. In that respect, I rank the shock of his death right up there with Princess Diana’s and John F. Kennedy Jr.’s. The difference was that you felt, unlike Princess Diana and Kennedy, that you kind of knew Tim Russert, because he was on television every week, much of the time talking directly to you.

I always thought I would like to be interviewed by Russert, even knowing that he would be tough as nails. But I also knew he would be fair. That was his trademark. I admired him for being a lifelong liberal who was fair and polite even with the hardest of the hard-line conservatives who appeared on Meet the Press.

What really won me over to Tim Russert, however, was his unabashed love for his father and son. He never concealed his devotion to his wife, but it was the way he magnified the special bond between grandfather, son, and grandson that became a hallmark for him after the success of his book Big Russ & Me. When he said on the air (to his son), "I love you, Luke," every father had to be moved by it. I’ve always been turned off by celebrities who act as though they don’t have a family.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Tim Russert, but I can honestly say that I’m one of the millions whose lives he touched – with the way he handled himself on television, with his outward affection for his father and son, and with the memories of all that he stood for as a man. It makes the silliness over such abstracts as "conservatism" and liberalism" seem pretty irrelevant.

The truth is that being kind, gracious, polite, and civil have nothing whatsoever to do with most of the stuff people babble about these days – especially politicians and media folks.

In your own life, whatever you believe on the political front, make sure that you aim for the qualities that make you a good human being. Be fair. Be kind. Don’t be afraid to show your love for your family. You’ll win admiration and respect from people everywhere.

[Ed. Note: Becoming more likable is one of the most under-appreciated keys to success. It can garner admiration and respect from colleagues and potential partners alike. Follow Robert Ringer's suggestions today, and you could increase your income many times over. For a treasure chest of proven ideas, strategies, and techniques, check out Robert's best-selling dealmaking audio series.

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The story 20/20 did on Jack Whittaker, winner of $315 million in the Powerball multi-state lottery in 2002, was heavy, to say the least. (Since he opted to take a one-time payout, Whittaker actually received "only" a little over $113 million after taxes.) His is yet another in a long line of tales about people who suddenly find themselves immensely wealthy – and subsequently miserable.

The first reality of newfound wealth that Whittaker was confronted with was an endless parade of people with requests for money. Some folks didn’t even bother to ask for a handout in person. They just sent letters – 50,000 of them! – telling him they needed some of his green stuff.

Whittaker forked over about $50 million before he came to his senses. But when he backed away from his role as year-round Santa Claus, the moochers became angry. A number of them even threatened him.

When their threats failed, many of the good folks in West Virginia started suing Deep Pockets Whittaker for a variety of alleged torts. (He’s counted about 400 legal claims against him since he won the lottery.)

Confused and intensely unhappy, Whittaker began carousing, drinking, and propositioning young gals in strip clubs. His wife of 44 years threw him out, and, after giving away millions, he found himself with no friends.

But there was one glowing light in his life – his beloved granddaughter, 17-year-old Brandi. Whittaker gave her four new cars and an allowance of $2,000 a week. It was a real-life Beverly Hillbillies saga, only played out in West Virginia instead of California.

As one might have predicted, having that kind of cash in her pocket led Whittaker’s granddaughter to drugs. Soon after that, in September 2003, her boyfriend, Jesse Tribble, died of a drug overdose in Whittaker’s home. Then, a little over a year later, Brandi, too, was found dead of an overdose.

Stating the obvious in his tearful 20/20 interview, Jack Whittaker said, "Money is not what makes people happy." Of course, every half-sober, mature adult already knows that. But it’s also important to understand that money doesn’t automatically saddle a wealthy person with unhappiness.

Money, contrary to the popular aphorism, is not "the root of all evil." And, in fact, that’s not what the source of those words – The New Testament (Timothy, 6:10) – actually says. Rather, it states, "For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil." (My emphasis.)

What makes money (and, I would suggest, fame) appear to be evil is the way some people react to it. From Marilyn to Anna Nicole to Britney, it’s as though money is a demon that brings certain people to their knees.

It seems to me that the trouble begins when people who find themselves with instant riches relate to it in a way that causes them to reflect on that age-old question, "Is that all there is?" And the answer to that question is always, "No, that is not all there is." As Jack Whittaker discovered, money cannot buy friendship, money cannot buy love, and money cannot buy a meaningful purpose in life.

I think the reason we see so much of the lost-soul syndrome among Hollywoodites is because the odds of achieving success in the world of glitz and glitter borders on the same odds as winning the lottery. When you’re suddenly making $10 million to $25 million for memorizing someone else’s words and mouthing them in front of a camera, it’s not difficult to understand why it might have a detrimental effect on your psyche. In all honesty, I’d probably feel guilty, too, if I got paid that kind of money just for pretending to be someone else for a few weeks. (I’d take it, of course, but I’d feel guilty.)

This, I believe, is what causes so many celluloid stars to desperately search for meaning in half-baked causes, redistribution-of-the-wealth politics, or adopting needy children halfway around the world (when they could do just as much good by adopting needy children right in their own hometowns). To paraphrase Richard Bach in The Bridge Across Forever, when you suddenly come into a lot of money, it’s like being handed a glass sword, blade first. You had better handle it very carefully while you take the time to figure out what in the heck you’re supposed to do with it.

Bach should know. He went from journeyman writer to author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull (which was then the biggest-selling non-fiction book of all time) to bankruptcy! In other words, he’s been there. He took the bait and grabbed the glass sword by the blade.

If you are fortunate enough to one day find yourself the recipient of great wealth, heed Bach’s warning about money. Handle it carefully. And before doing anything foolish, ponder long and hard what it’s for.

Even better, start pondering that right now. By doing so, you not only will be ready for the glass sword if and when it makes its appearance, but, should it never get around to showing up, life without money will be much more meaningful to you.

My heart goes out to Jack Whittaker. May he find meaning in his travails with his windfall fortune… and a meaningful purpose in his life.

[Ed. Note: If you’re ready for a treasure chest of proven ideas, strategies, and techniques that are guaranteed to dramatically improve your dealmaking skills — and, in the process, increase your income many times over — you won’t want to miss out on Robert Ringer’s best-selling dealmaking audio series, A Dealmaker’s Dream.

And sign up for his Voice of Sanity e-letter here.]

A 30-year winning streak of not missing a flight came to an end for me last week at Dulles International Airport. My flight was scheduled to depart at 8:25 a.m. As is customary for me, I planned to arrive at the airport about an hour-and-a-half early.

My early arrival habit makes it possible for me to obtain my boarding pass, make my way through security, hop a shuttle to my concourse, and arrive at the gate with plenty of time to spare. If all goes well, I can relax and get in some good reading time while waiting to board.

On this particular morning, however, I had been a bit lackadaisical about getting out of the house, and I knew I was cutting it close when I arrived at the airport at 7:30 a.m. Still, I figured 55 minutes should give me plenty of time to make my flight.

After obtaining my boarding pass from an automated kiosk, I marched resolutely toward the security area. But as I approached it, I was confronted with what appeared to be at least a thousand people herded together in the roped-off lanes.

After standing in line for a while, I glanced at my watch and realized that my flight was scheduled to depart in 25 minutes. Given that it was the only flight that could get me to my appointment on time, I decided to do something I’ve never done before. I went up to one of the security people and explained that I was going to miss my flight if I remained in line with the rest of the cattle.

I then asked her if it would be possible for me to take a shortcut and move to the front of the line. In a language that most definitely was not English, she talked it over with a bored-looking security guy.

I was in luck. He gave her a nod of approval and – Presto! – I was led to the front of the line. Well, almost to the front. There were still a half-dozen passengers ahead of me, and, unfortunately, one couple was stripping down in slow motion – and laughing hysterically as they explained to their small children why they had to temporarily give up their toys. Grrr!

Finally, my turn. I tossed my personal belongings into two filthy plastic containers and pushed them onto the conveyor belt to be scanned. Surprise! I had no weapons. And neither did the 90-something woman in front of me. Even her cane passed muster. What a relief. And here I thought she might be one of those granny-bombers I’ve seen so often on television.

Now I could begin my long walk down the stairs, through the tunnel, back up the stairs, and wait for a shuttle to take me to my concourse. When it finally arrived, I got on and waited for the card-carrying union driver to stroll aboard, sipping what was probably his tenth cup of coffee for the day. He sleepwalked into his cozy driving compartment, pulled away, and drove slowly to the concourse.

On arriving, I hustled off the shuttle, breaking into a trot toward my gate. Two minutes before flight departure time, but… hey… planes are always late, right?

As I hurried up to the check-in desk, I asked the agent where my flight was boarding. Answer: "It’s already left." Faking a warm smile, I responded, "But it’s just now 8:25." Agent’s gleeful answer: "That’s right. And 8:25 is when the flight departs (heh, heh, heh)."

(Note: Not all husbands and wives murder their spouses when they wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Some have the self-discipline to wait until they get to work, where they can take out their anger on the real enemy – their company’s customers.)

I thanked Mr. Heh-Heh for his graciousness, walked calmly away, then did what I always do in bad situations: I asked myself what I did wrong that brought my 30-year winning streak to an end. Sure, airport security may be a colossal waste of time and money. It may be outrageously intrusive. It may be absurd. Nevertheless, it’s a reality of a world where nonsensical exercises are the norm.

The lesson I relearned? When you have to be somewhere at a certain time, take into account the realities of life – not the realities of the perfect world you long for. Things are what they are, and will be what they will be, so what is to be gained by deceiving yourself?

Perhaps you’re a sympathetic soul who is thinking, "But how could a person possibly have known there would be a thousand people trying to get through security all at once on that particular day?" Answer: It’s not my job – or yours – to know such things in advance. Most people aren’t clairvoyant, but everyone can be prudent.

And prudence means factoring in plenty of time for unforeseen circumstances. Everyone reading this article knows exactly what I’m talking about – an accident that backs up traffic for an hour… not being able to find a parking space at the airport… and, yes, being confronted with a thousand people waiting to get through security.

The reality is that unforeseen circumstances are an integral part of everyday life. And the only way you can exert any degree of control over them is to make the necessary allowances in advance.

I aim to profit from the frustrating end to my 30-year winning streak. Not only will it be at least another 30 years before I miss a flight, I am now refocused on operating my life on the assumption that unforeseen circumstances have a way of jumping in one’s path at the worst moment… something to do with a guy named Murphy, if my memory serves me correctly.

[Ed. Note: In Robert Ringer's powerful personal-development package, The Magic of Synchronicity, you'll find out how to achieve prosperity, purpose, and peace of mind by getting all areas of your life in synch. Plus, get The Best of Robert Ringer, Volumes I & II - absolutely free. Learn more here.    

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Detachment is an incredibly powerful tool that I wish I had understood much earlier in life. There are many things from which you can detach yourself, and one of the most important is the habit of judging people, actions, and circumstances as being right or wrong, good or bad.

As Deepak Chopra says in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, when you are constantly classifying, labeling, and evaluating, you "create a lot of turbulence in your internal dialogue." The more internal bickering that takes place, the less time and room (in your mind) for constructive thinking.

Worry, irrelevant thoughts, and fears only add to this internal bickering. All of these are abstracts from which you should make a conscious effort to detach yourself. Even more important is the necessity to detach yourself from needing the approval of others. When you are attached to peer approval, you tend to make bad decisions.

Then there is the pain and discomfort of your present situation. The more you struggle against the unpleasant circumstances of the moment, the more time and energy you waste. It’s okay to want things to get better down the road, but don’t waste time and energy wishing things were different than they are right now.

Accepting your present situation means detaching yourself from the pain it is causing you. Philosophically, you should learn to accept pain as a normal part of life. Which means, paradoxically, that the best way to eliminate pain is to not try to eliminate it. The more you fight pain, the more it is likely to persist.

Above all, learn to detach yourself from specific results. Practice the art of being flexible. Understand that circumstances constantly change and that things rarely work out precisely as planned. The results you end up with may be much different from the results you were after, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be less satisfying. If you are too attached to a specific result, it shuts down your creativity.

As with peer approval, when you are too attached to a specific result, you have a tendency to force decisions. And forced decisions are most often bad decisions.

The quickest and most certain way to achieve a goal is to mentally focus on what you want, and attach very strong feeling to wanting it. If you picture a result without attaching strong feelings to it, it’s no more than a thought. And that’s where the subtle connection between desire and letting go comes in.

Having strong feelings about wanting something in your life is a good thing. The stronger your feelings, the better. But, at the same time, you have to let go and allow it to come to you – perhaps in a different form than you expected.

If a specific objective becomes an obsession – if you believe that you can’t be happy without achieving it – your feelings pass the point of diminishing returns and your focus becomes counterproductive.

All this does not mean that you should permanently resign yourself to the circumstances of your currently bad situation. Nor does it mean that you should give up your desire or intention for a specific result. What you should give up is your attachment to that result. Or, as Chopra puts it, you should "accept the present and intend the future."

When you become adept at detachment – from pain, from evaluating and classifying everything that crosses your path, from precise results – it gives you the time, energy, and mental clarity to focus on the single most important activity for overcoming an impossibly bad situation: exploiting opportunities.

What opportunities? The opportunities that are part and parcel of every "impossible" situation.

Based on personal experience, I am convinced that the greatest opportunities lie in the eye of the storm – at the very center of your worst problems.

Use your will to detach yourself from your impossible situation and, instead, spend your time cultivating the opportunities it has brought into your life – keeping in mind that such opportunities may be heavily camouflaged.

[Ed. Note: If you're ready for a treasure chest of proven ideas, strategies, and techniques that are guaranteed to dramatically improve your dealmaking skills - and, in the process, increase your income many times over - you won't want to miss out on Robert Ringer's best-selling dealmaking audio series, A Dealmaker's Dream.

And sign up for his Voice of Sanity e-letter here.]

I rarely watch a football game on TV from start to finish anymore, but this year’s Super Bowl was an exception. I really got caught up in the excitement of the miracle that unfolded before my eyes. Make that, Giant miracle.

But as I watched the multimillionaire Giant players celebrating their Super Bowl victory after the game, for some reason my thoughts drifted to how far removed we Americans are from the day-to-day realities of most of the world’s six billion+ people. With few exceptions, they will never experience the lifestyle of even the poorest Americans, let alone the fame and fortune enjoyed by professional athletes. For a majority of them, in fact, pain, suffering, and fear are a way of life.

A few days after those drifting thoughts of mine, my wife succeeded in dragging me to the movies for the first time in years. It was such an exhilarating experience that I plan on doing it again sometime in the next 10 years or so – provided I can save up enough money to afford both the tickets and the popcorn.

The movie was none other than the latest Rambo (starring, of course, the aging Sylvester Stallone), a grim reminder of the never-ending genocide in Burma (a.k.a. the Union of Myanmar). Part of the movie’s weak plot is based on Rambo’s warnings to a group of well-meaning but naive missionaries to go home… because their efforts in Burma were a waste of time.

Burma ’s brutal, repressive military regime continues to systematically rape, pillage, torture, and murder the country’s minorities, particularly the Karen and Shan people. These military thugs have been in power since 1962, and I’d have to agree with Old Man Rambo that things aren’t about to change anytime soon.

Burma is also a reminder that when most of us think of the word holocaust, we mistakenly associate it only with the Jews who were exterminated by Germany ’s Nazi regime during World War II. And when we think of the word slavery, our myopic American view focuses only on pre-Civil War African slaves in the U.S.

Unfortunately, both genocide and slavery are, and always have been, widespread. They have, in fact, been staples of human existence since at least the days of the ancient Greeks, and probably much earlier. Whether it’s Rwanda, Darfur, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, or any one of the nameless towns and villages throughout black Africa that are terrorized by thugs brandishing weapons made in Iran, North Korea, and China, genocide and slavery are alive and well.

I’m not suggesting that the U.S., or any other Western country, should intervene in any of these ongoing human tragedies. Thousands of years of recorded history have clearly demonstrated that well-meaning people don’t have the power to permanently end Third World suffering. We can’t even afford to repair our own infrastructure, let alone save victims of terror and oppression in other countries.

While pondering the continued existence of slavery and genocide throughout the world, I also thought about the current batch of scoundrels running for the highest office in the land. They all have at least one thing in common: They employ their favorite euphemisms (e.g., "change") to hide their intent to further increase government power over ordinary citizens.

Amazingly, these masters of deceit are revered by millions. Especially by those politically sedated humanoids who cheer wildly and pump signs into the air as their political heroes work them into a frenzy with the same tired platitudes that have been used by politicians throughout recorded history.

The airlines warn us to put on our own oxygen masks first so we will be in a better position to help our children. Good analogy, because as I watch those ecstatic sign holders on TV dutifully playing out their roles as political sheep, it occurs to me that folks who are interested in lessening pain and suffering in the world might do well to first concentrate on what is happening right here in America. Most Americans are so lost that they have come to actually love their servitude.

The war against tyranny is never-ending. We may never become another Burma or Bosnia, but, aside from the varying degrees of violence, slavery by any other name is still slavery. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World painted a pretty stark picture of that reality.

New York Giants Eli Manning, David Tyree (who made the now-famous "helmet catch" on the winning Super Bowl drive), and Michael Strahan are great athletes who excel at playing a great game. And for that, they deserve the applause they receive. But they are not heroes. And no matter how great the game of football is, it is still only a game.

How to be a real hero?

Learn all you can about the concept of liberty. By educating yourself about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the true intent of our founding fathers. And by sharing your knowledge with as many people as possible.

Gradualism and lethargy have worked in tandem over the past hundred years to make the odds against steering America back to its original foundation almost impossible to overcome. Almost - but not completely. To the extent you work at spreading the gospel of liberty to others – explaining to as many people as possible why liberty must be given a higher priority than all other objectives – you are a hero.

By all means, enjoy sports and other forms of entertainment as a respite from the daily cares of life. But, for the sake of your children and grandchildren, keep those things in perspective and don’t allow them to distract you from what is happening in the real world. Allocating a portion of your time and energy resources to help prevent a further slide toward totalitarianism in the U.S. is a good investment.

And the nice thing is that it doesn’t even require a license to become a bona fide hero… yet.

[Ed. Note: If you're ready for a treasure chest of proven ideas, strategies, and techniques that are guaranteed to dramatically improve your dealmaking skills - and, in the process, increase your income many times over - you won't want to miss out on Robert Ringer's best-selling dealmaking audio series, A Dealmaker's Dream.

And sign up for his Voice of Sanity e-letter here.]

New Zealand hero Sir Edmund Hillary and his climbing partner, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to conquer Mt. Everest. An amazing feat! But Hillary isn’t the only New Zealander whose accomplishments still inspire me.

I am referring, here, to my one-time neighbor John Britten, who was born with a serious learning disability that made reading extremely difficult. Not able to learn in conventional schools, Britten attended night school and eventually earned an engineering degree from Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. His determination to earn a degree – and, more important, gain precious knowledge – was a sign of things to come.

Britten was a quiet, unassuming, totally focused individual. Some years before I met him, he began building, of all things, a futuristic motorcycle in his garage. His stated goal was to win the prestigious Battle of the Twins international cycle race in Daytona Beach, FL.

His cutting-edge cycle involved over 6,000 parts, most of which Britten made by hand. With the notable exception of the engine, his extraordinary machine was constructed primarily of carbon fiber, a first for the motorcycle industry.

He had dedicated helpers who worked for free, mostly at night, while holding down full-time jobs during the day. Incredibly, the actual cost of Britten’s masterpiece was not more than a few hundred dollars. Meanwhile, many large corporate sponsors spent several million on their entries.

Working while others slept was a Britten norm that was accepted by those who agreed to become involved in his projects. Toiling around the clock was his trademark. Anything short of a superhuman pace would have made it impossible for him to build his one-of-a-kind cycle from scratch in just under 11 months, barely finishing in time for the Battle of the Twins.

With just three weeks to go before the big race, Britten’s carbon-fiber cycle crashed while being tested. It was a cruel blow, a bad break that everyone agreed Britten didn’t deserve. The task of locating and correcting the problem, then repairing the bike, seemed insurmountable. But Britten and his crew again managed to overcome all obstacles, and arrived in Daytona just in time.

Then, during the qualifying run, disaster again struck. Just 12 hours before race time, a hairline crack in a cylinder sleeve – one of the few parts Britten had not built himself – threatened to end his bid for the unofficial world championship for twin-cylinder motorcycles. His reaction? After tireless but fruitless efforts to find the part in the Daytona area, Britten, who had no previous experience welding cylinder sleeves, repaired it himself.

By race time, Britten had been awake 47 hours straight. But, as events unfolded, it looked as though the monumental effort by him and his team would finally pay off. Once again, however, bad luck reared its ugly head. With Britten’s cycle leading the pack, rain forced an end to the race one lap from the finish. The entire race had to be run over.

In the restarted race, Britten’s cycle again led the pack most of the way, until – you guessed it – yet another non-Britten-built part, a faulty rectifier, halted his bid for victory once and for all. John Britten had captured the admiration of the racing world, but had failed to come home with a trophy.

But when he returned to New Zealand, he didn’t waste time focusing on the bad breaks he had experienced in Daytona. Instead, he went right back to work, rebuilt his handcrafted motorcycle, and returned to Daytona the next year. This time, he won the Battle of the Twins, a Rocky Balboa finish if there ever was one.

The victory doesn’t end there. The first commercial version of the Britten motorcycle sold for a record $140,000. Not a bad return on the few hundred dollars he had spent on the design and construction of the original model.

The moral to this story is that most bad breaks, particularly those that do not involve life-changing injury, terminal illness, or death, are no match for human intervention. As Benjamin Disraeli once said, "Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creature of man. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter."

Intangibles such as focus, commitment, and action, all of which John Britten displayed in abundance, have a way of rearranging the playing field, notwithstanding injustices harsh enough to bring most of us to our mental knees. John Britten proved that a determined individual can overcome most of the bad breaks life puts in his path.

Ironically, though Britten was a master at overcoming adversity, shortly after winning the Daytona title – in the prime of his life at age 44 and hard at work on a revolutionary new airplane – he was diagnosed with cancer and passed on quickly. It was a sad ending for those of us who knew him.

Britten’s story is a grim reminder that the typical injustices we encounter in our day-to-day lives are rarely of major importance. They could be more properly categorized as the "little irritants" that gave birth to Murphy’s Law, especially the part that states, "If anything can go wrong, it will – at the worst possible moment."

It’s nice to know that these little irritants can be overcome by anyone who is intensely focused on a goal and determined to attain that goal. And that, in a nutshell, describes John Britten. He is one of the few people I can say I feel truly honored to have known.

[Ed. Note: If you're ready for a treasure chest of proven ideas, strategies, and techniques that are guaranteed to dramatically improve your dealmaking skills - and, in the process, increase your income many times over - you won't want to miss out on Robert Ringer's best-selling dealmaking audio series, A Dealmaker's Dream.

And sign up for his Voice of Sanity e-letter here.]