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	<title>Free Newsletter &#187; Productivity</title>
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		<title>Deliberate or Decide?</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/17/deliberate-or-decide.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/17/deliberate-or-decide.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Masterson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Daily Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9403</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here&#8217;s  a statement worth thinking about:
&#8220;The  percentage of mistakes in quick decisions is no greater than in the long,  drawn-out vacillations, and the effect of decisiveness itself makes things go  and creates confidence.&#8221;
That&#8217;s  from Ann O&#8217;Hare McCormick, a writer who understood how easy it is to waste time  deliberating.
You [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Here&#8217;s  a statement worth thinking about:</p>
<p>&#8220;The  percentage of mistakes in quick decisions is no greater than in the long,  drawn-out vacillations, and the effect of decisiveness itself makes things go  and creates confidence.&#8221;<span id="more-9403"></span></p>
<p>That&#8217;s  from Ann O&#8217;Hare McCormick, a writer who understood how easy it is to waste time  deliberating.</p>
<p>You  need to think through important decisions. You need to seek counsel. But don&#8217;t  keep deliberating out of fear of not finding the perfect answer.</p>
<p>In  making any important decision:</p>
<ul>
<li>First, be aware of your initial, gut instinct.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Then, ask questions. But only of people whose opinions you respect and only for  a predetermined period of time.</li>
</ul>
<p>If  both processes (one subconscious and instantaneous and the other conscious and  calculated) point to the same answer, act without hesitation.</p>
<p>If  they disagree, act according to your gut.</p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<span style="font-size: x-small;">Highly Recommended </span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;The  Cholesterol Theory of heart disease<em> is quite possibly the largest cover up  in medical history</em>,&#8221; says cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Dwight Lundell.</strong></p>
<p>Get ready to discover:</p>
<ul>
<li>How an entire nation was lured into believing cholesterol  causes heart disease, a theory that lacks scientific proof.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>How &#8220;no fat dieting&#8221; and the propaganda against  saturated fats actually <em>caused </em>an epidemic of inflammation.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Simple, natural ways to reduce the effects of  inflammation by attacking its cause.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Proof that lowering inflammation is the best way to  reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><a style="color:#15528b; font-weight:bold" href="http://ae746-uox6ci4d73m3wshm9qbw.hop.clickbank.net/" target="_blank">It is time to stop the cholesterol madness.</a></strong></p>
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		<title>Heard of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission?</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/05/heard-of-the-equal-employment-opportunity-commission.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/05/heard-of-the-equal-employment-opportunity-commission.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:17:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Masterson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9291</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The EEOC&#8217;s mission? To make sure workers are not unfairly  terminated, harassed, or discriminated against.
Good in theory.
But many bad workers are using the agency to get money they  don&#8217;t deserve. Employee &#8220;retaliation&#8221; lawsuits were up 23 percent in  2008.

It&#8217;s supposed to work like this: An employee complains about  unsafe working conditions. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The EEOC&#8217;s mission? To make sure workers are not unfairly  terminated, harassed, or discriminated against.</p>
<p>Good in theory.</p>
<p>But many bad workers are using the agency to get money they  don&#8217;t deserve. Employee &#8220;retaliation&#8221; lawsuits were up 23 percent in  2008.</p>
<p><span id="more-9291"></span></p>
<p>It&#8217;s supposed to work like this: An employee complains about  unsafe working conditions. They get fired. They sue their employer. But many  workers, fired for bad performance or violations, are claiming the same  protection. The government doesn&#8217;t see through the scheme. So they often win.</p>
<p>How do you protect your business from these revenge  lawsuits? </p>
<p>Hire new employees for a six-month trial period. That should  give you plenty of time to determine their character before you hire them  permanently.</p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<font size="2">Highly Recommended </font>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-</p>
<p align="center"><strong>When was the last time you slept (uninterrupted) </strong><strong><br />
  <strong>for 8 straight hours?</strong></strong></p>
<p>Dr. Jim LaValle (known as the  &#8220;Doctors&#8217; Doctor&#8221; because of his packed educational lectures for  doctors) has just released a report with the secrets to getting you back to  sleeping through the night&#8230; without drugs&#8230; in just 14 days.</p>
<p>In it, you&#8217;ll discover:</p>
<ul>
<li>How to eliminate the #1 reason why you toss  and turn for hours (Your spouse will thank you too!)</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Tested psychological &#8220;tricks&#8221;  that are guaranteed to knock you out cold! </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>How to &#8220;burn off&#8221; the hormones  that are keeping you wide awake at night (and half asleep during the day) </li>
</ul>
<p>If you&#8217;re ready to sleep like a baby  all night&#8230; and wake up bursting with energy&#8230; <strong><a href="https://web-purchases.com/700SSAS/M700KBB2/landing.html" title="http://clicks.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com//t/AQ/L1Q/Mxw/WV0/AQ/AUh0HQ/pK4g" target="_blank" style="color:#15528b; font-weight:bold">click  here</a></strong> for your report.</p>
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		<title>5 Ways to Make Your Meetings More Productive</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/04/5-ways-to-make-your-meetings-more-productive.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/04/5-ways-to-make-your-meetings-more-productive.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Masterson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/04/5-ways-to-make-your-meetings-more-productive.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[1. Start on time.
2. If there&#8217;s someone with a reputation for tardiness without whom the meeting can&#8217;t take place, schedule a briefing with him 15 minutes beforehand. If he gets there on time, use that 15 minutes to discuss the big issues. If he&#8217;s 15 minutes late, he won&#8217;t hold things up.
3. Distribute a short [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>1. Start on time.</p>
<p>2. If there&#8217;s someone with a reputation for tardiness without whom the meeting can&#8217;t take place, schedule a briefing with him 15 minutes beforehand. If he gets there on time, use that 15 minutes to discuss the big issues. If he&#8217;s 15 minutes late, he won&#8217;t hold things up.</p>
<p>3. Distribute a short agenda to all participants the day before the meeting.</p>
<p>4. Set and enforce a strict time limit for each agenda item. Discussion should end when a specific action has been determined, written down, and assigned.</p>
<p>5. Every five or six meetings, ask for suggestions to improve the way you&#8217;re  running the proceedings.<br />
<span id="more-9273"></span></p>
<hr />
<h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Latest News</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>David Cross is a little on edge. He&#8217;s Senior Internet  Consultant to Agora Inc. And Editor of ETR&#8217;s <em>Internet Rant</em> newsletter. He works hard to make sure marketing produces sales for his clients and readers. So it disturbs him to see so many &#8220;gurus&#8221; &#8212; who have no idea what they&#8217;re talking about &#8212; spouting wrong-headed strategies all over the Web. And they charge a bundle for it! In each issue of the <em>Rant</em>, David exposes  another Internet marketing myth &#8212; and tells you what to do instead. <strong><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/IRN/EIRNKB02/landing.html" target="_blank">Find out  more about it here</a></strong>.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h3><strong>&#8220;Initially, I felt discomfort every time I read ETR.&#8221;</strong></h3>
<p>&#8220;I want to first of all thank you immensely for the wonderful advice I get from you and your team daily. It&#8217;s been tremendously helpful, and I appreciate it very much.</p>
<p>&#8220;You may find what I&#8217;m going to say a bit funny. Lately, I&#8217;ve been referring to ETR as the ZERO, as in the Japanese WWII fighter plane. I don&#8217;t know if the English phrase &#8216;to zero in on&#8217; something came from this WWII plane. But ETR has the uncanny ability to take a seemingly simple business problem and then zero in hard on it to expose its very essence. Usually, before you even finish the process of zeroing in, the solution simply begins to reveal itself.</p>
<p>&#8220;Initially, I felt discomfort every time I read ETR, because it wasn&#8217;t always easy having to admit and face some rather brutal home truths. Then I started implementing your advice and learned to turn all that firepower to my advantage. I look forward to ETR every new day now. It is changing the way I do many things.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thanks again, and keep up the very good work.&#8221;</p>
<p>Emmanuel Wainchom Kijem<br />
Douala, Cameroon</p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<span style="font-size: x-small;">Highly Recommended </span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p><strong><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700STBU/E700KB06/landing.html" target="_blank">What Separates Billionaires From  Everybody Else?</a></strong> &#8211; It&#8217;s time management. They jealously guard their time. They know that every minute they spend in a long-winded meeting&#8230; is a minute when they&#8217;re not making money. <strong><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700STBU/E700KB06/landing.html" target="_blank">Find out what else makes up the Billionaire  Mindset here.</a></strong></p>
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		<title>Lost at Work? Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Directions</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/03/lost-at-work-don%e2%80%99t-be-afraid-to-ask-for-directions.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/11/03/lost-at-work-don%e2%80%99t-be-afraid-to-ask-for-directions.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Masterson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9258</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like the stereotypical male who won’t ask for directions when lost, many  workers clam up when they get stuck on a job.
It’s an avoidable mistake.
Getting a hand from others is an important part of being a member of any team. You’ll be better off if you mention your difficulty to a colleague. Chances are [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Like the stereotypical male who won’t ask for directions when lost, many  workers clam up when they get stuck on a job.</p>
<p>It’s an avoidable mistake.</p>
<p>Getting a hand from others is an important part of being a member of any team. You’ll be better off if you mention your difficulty to a colleague. Chances are good that either of two things will happen:</p>
<p>1. He’ll offer a helpful hint to get you back on track.</p>
<p>2. Just talking about the obstacle will get you moving in the right  direction.</p>
<p>Don’t be ashamed or afraid to ask for help from your mates. Taking a small amount of time to refocus is likely to save you a lot of time in the long run.<br />
<span id="more-9258"></span></p>
<hr />
<h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Latest News</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>Everybody’s sick of “The Street” — as in <em>Wall</em> Street. But we know a guy who’s taken his investments elsewhere. And he’s brought his friends. They’re quietly making millions in:- Non-stock investments (that make money no matter what the  market’s doing)…- Overseas retirement havens…
<p>- Super-low-cost-of-entry business opportunities…</p>
<p>- And much more!</p>
<p>Find out more about  these “profit pros” <strong><a href="https://web-purchases.com/LSL/ELSLKB02/landing.html" target="_blank">here</a></strong>.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h3><strong>“Inspire the  world.”</strong></h3>
<p>“The article by Michael Masterson about <strong><a href="../2009/10/15/how-much-envisioning-should-you-do.html" target="_blank">‘envisioning,’</a></strong> combined with Dr. Rao’s <strong><a href="../2009/10/15/your-constant-companion.html" target="_blank">‘Constant Companion’</a></strong> essay, made me more calm about my well-being and confident in my efforts to revive my business. Thank you for such plain wisdom.</p>
<p>“I enjoy especially the philosophical aspects of ETR’s articles, mainly those concerning human nature and/or behavior. Thank you for your attention. Keep up the good work. Inspire the world.”</p>
<p>Pericles Konidaris</p>
<p>Komotini, Greece</p>
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<p>It may be the most successful weight-loss compound ever  tested.</p>
<p>The people in the study lost an average of 28 pounds and 6 inches off their bellies in only 10 weeks. And they didn’t change their diets or exercise habits.</p>
<p>Now you can start using this little-known discovery to drop  pounds — <strong><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.on2url.com/app/adtrack.asp?MerchantID=95874&amp;AdID=464326" target="_blank">and lose inches — immediately!</a></strong><!--more--></p>
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		<title>My Heart Went Out to Her&#8230; and Then Came Back!</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/30/my-heart-went-out-to-her-and-then-came-back.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/30/my-heart-went-out-to-her-and-then-came-back.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Masterson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9212</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Profiled in The Wall Street Journal the other day: A single mother,  hit hard by the recession. She can barely keep a roof over her family&#8217;s head.  Her salary was cut by 60 percent. And buying even the basics is a struggle. A  story we&#8217;ve heard again and again.
&#8220;How sad,&#8221; I thought [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Profiled in <em>The Wall Street Journal</em> the other day: A single mother,  hit hard by the recession. She can barely keep a roof over her family&#8217;s head.  Her salary was cut by 60 percent. And buying even the basics is a struggle. A  story we&#8217;ve heard again and again.</p>
<p>&#8220;How sad,&#8221; I thought to myself, as I read the article. &#8220;How can somebody  possibly be expected to live on &#8230; $150,000 a year? Wait! What?&#8221;</p>
<p>That&#8217;s right. This woman, a Hollywood realtor, is bitching about making more  than 95 percent of Americans.<span id="more-9212"></span></p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know her personally, of course. But I bet I can guess the problem.  She spends too much. Expensive house. Designer clothes. Four-star dinners.  Vacations galore. She may have felt rich. But she was just making herself poorer  with every purchase.</p>
<p>As I say in <em><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700SAW/E700KA0D/landing.html" target="_blank"><strong>Automatic Wealth</strong></a></em>:</p>
<p>&#8220;Having the things you desire &#8212; say, a big house and fancy cars &#8212; does not  make you materially wealthy if you don&#8217;t have the wherewithal to keep those  goods over a protracted period of time.&#8221;</p>
<p>The money this lady has gives her an amazing opportunity. If she would only  follow the simple plan I outline in <em>Automatic Wealth</em>.</p>
<p>She can reduce her expenses. She can save. She can put that extra money to  work to create multiple streams of income. She can start a side business. She  can invest in rental real estate. She can make smart investments &#8212; the kind she  could read about in <em><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.investorsdailyedge.com/promos/soundprofits.html" target="_blank"><strong>Sound Profits</strong></a></em>.</p>
<p>If she does that, she&#8217;ll have more than enough to live on and retire very  comfortably at an early age. And without bitching.</p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<span style="font-size: x-small;">Highly Recommended </span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p><strong>The $1,000-a-Day Internet Cash Generator</strong></p>
<p>Bob Bly isn&#8217;t the biggest Internet marketing operator out there. &#8220;I&#8217;m just a  copywriter,&#8221; he says, &#8220;with a little business on the side.&#8221;</p>
<p>Three years ago, Bob put down $263 to fund that &#8220;little business.&#8221;</p>
<p>And guess what? That little business is adding an average of $1,000 to his  bank account&#8230; <span style="text-decoration: underline;">every single day</span>.</p>
<p>That works out to an annual income of <em>several hundred thousand dollars a  year</em>.</p>
<p>&#8220;My Internet Cash Generator doesn&#8217;t make me millions,&#8221; he says. &#8220;But I don&#8217;t  work on it very hard either. It takes about an hour a day.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bob&#8217;s one of the best there is at <em>breaking down what it takes to complete  any task</em>. And now he&#8217;s applied this skill to show you exactly how he  created his business.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700SW2W/E700KA90/landing.html" target="_blank"><strong>Find out more about his income-boosting secret right  here</strong></a></span>.</p>
<hr />
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		<title>Happiness</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/29/happiness.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/29/happiness.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dr. Srikumar Rao</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Lifestyle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self Improvement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9200</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We seek it here, we seek it there. We seek happiness everywhere.
Yet it eludes us. All of our activities &#8212; our pursuit of fame and fortune, our quest for meaningful relationships, our drive to build or change things &#8212; are directed searches for this ephemeral state. We get there, but we can never heave a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We seek it here, we seek it there. We seek <strong>happiness </strong>everywhere.</p>
<p>Yet it eludes us. All of our activities &#8212; our pursuit of fame and fortune, our quest for meaningful relationships, our drive to build or change things &#8212; are directed searches for this ephemeral state. We get there, but we can never heave a lasting sigh of relief because the feeling is gone almost immediately.<span id="more-9200"></span></p>
<p>Can happiness be a permanent member of our household rather  than an occasional and erratic visitor?</p>
<p>Think on this parable from psychotherapist and Jesuit priest  Anthony de Mello:</p>
<p>&#8220;A group of tourists sits in a bus that is passing through gorgeously beautiful country; lakes and mountains and green fields and rivers. But the shades of the bus are pulled down. They do not have the slightest idea of what lies beyond the windows of the bus. And all the time of their journey is spent in squabbling over who will have the seat of honor in the bus, who will be applauded, who will be well considered. And so they remain till the journey&#8217;s end.&#8221;</p>
<p>Too many of us are like those tourists, engaged in petty power struggles while the true beauty of life lies all round us, unobserved and unappreciated.</p>
<p>I see this all the time in the seminars I conduct. I have the participants call out things that would make them happy, and I write them on a flip chart. The list grows to 50 or 100 items in minutes.</p>
<p>Wealth is a common desire. Not run-of-the-mill, garden-variety wealth but a fabulous fortune. A trophy spouse is also popular, though people rarely label it as such. Instead the ideal spouse is described as extraordinarily good-looking and, as a self-justifying afterthought, intelligent to boot.</p>
<p>Lots of other items come up, too, including travel, good  health, great sex, friends, loving relatives, and interesting work.</p>
<p>The truth is, none of those things is necessary for  happiness. None of them.</p>
<p>This is an extremely important point. Because all of those things are dependent on outside circumstances that will never be in your control. And doesn&#8217;t that make the quest for them an extremely frail reed to lean on?</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t confuse true <strong>happiness</strong> and soul-satisfying joy with the temporary satisfaction you get when you gratify your ego. Your happiness is not dependent on your wealth, your intelligence, or your abilities. Your happiness is not even contingent on your continued good health or having loving friends, relatives, or significant others.</p>
<p>In fact, happiness is already a part of your nature. There  is nothing you have to <em>get</em> in order  to be happy. All you have to do is allow your inner happiness to surface.</p>
<p>When I get to this point in my seminars, I generally have a revolution on my hands. How can people be <strong>happy</strong> if they live in extreme poverty? Or if they are afflicted with a painful disease? Or if they have no friends or loved ones? Or if they&#8217;re in any other hypothetical situation along those lines?</p>
<p>Yet the statement holds. There is nothing you have to get in  order to be happy.</p>
<p>One question remains. If happiness is our nature, why do we not experience it more often? Why are our lives filled with angst and sorrow?</p>
<p>The answer is simple: We have constructed mental models for ourselves in which happiness comes as a result of getting something &#8212; money, power, fame, etc. In the reality that we have created and that we live in, our achievements define us. We are &#8220;better&#8221; if we are &#8220;successful.&#8221;</p>
<p>The media reinforces those beliefs, subtly painting pictures of what successful and happy people have and look like. Your parents reinforced them too, imprinting on your mind that what they found valuable was what you should value. In all probability, they got their beliefs from their parents and accepted them without question. Your friends, relatives, teachers, classmates, and coaches all played a role. So did the movies and TV programs you watched, the books and magazines you read, the music you listened to, and what you observed in the world around you.</p>
<p>They all contributed to your mental model. And they succeeded because you did not question the beliefs and values they presented to you. But now, in your quest for happiness and freedom, you must question them.</p>
<p>When you want something &#8212; and you get it &#8212; there is a brief moment when you are content, when you are not your habitual wanting self. And in that moment, you experience the happiness that is always a part of you. You are content. And full. But the very next moment, some other desire raises its ugly head and you are off on another fruitless quest for <strong>happiness</strong>. It is a never-ending cycle.</p>
<p>The problem is that you do not realize why you experience that moment of happiness. You do not recognize that it is because, at that moment, you are free from want. The <strong>happiness </strong>springs from an acceptance of the Universe as it is. It is your innate nature bubbling forth in the absence of the bonds you put on it with your incessant demands.</p>
<p>Instead, you attribute the happiness you briefly felt to the acquisition of whatever it was that you got. And so you try to get the next thing, and the next thing, and the next thing.</p>
<p>If you go barreling through life, desperately doing things to make yourself &#8220;happy,&#8221; happiness will elude you. It is like a puppy that runs away when you try to entice it to come to you. But as soon as you ignore it and start reading your newspaper, you feel its cold nose in your hand.</p>
<p>It really does work that way. You are bound by the things you own as long as you need them emotionally. The moment you sever this psychological link, you will experience freedom, a marvelous sense of liberation that cannot be described.</p>
<p>Think back to your life 10 years ago. You had a list of wants at that time, things you thought would bring you lasting happiness. Odds are, you now have many of them. Have they made you happier than you were back then? Probably not.</p>
<p>Pick any item you currently desire. Now imagine yourself as a 95-year-old person about to leave this world. From that perspective, does having that item really matter? Again, probably not.</p>
<p>Enjoy, truly enjoy, what you have. Strive for what you do not have but want. But strive joyfully, knowing that the pleasure is in the doing, not in the getting. If you succeed, wonderful. If you do not, still wonderful.</p>
<p>P.S. Finding true happiness won&#8217;t happen overnight. With my  <strong><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700SPMP/E700KA98/landing.html" target="_blank">Personal Mastery Success Program</a></strong>, you&#8217;ll get all the tools you need to make a break with negativity, sadness, and disappointment. Soon you&#8217;ll be living your life to its true potential.</p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<span style="font-size: x-small;">Highly Recommended </span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p><em><strong><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700STBU/E700KA89/landing.html" target="_blank">&#8220;If a picture  truly is worth a thousand words, we&#8217;re about to make a hell of a lot of money!&#8221;</a> </strong></em>- The multi-billion dollar &#8220;home shopping&#8221; industry got its start on cable access. It was a low-budget public access &#8220;operation&#8221; run by three guys in Clearwater, Florida. Before they had even made their first dollar their success was a sure thing. <strong><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700STBU/E700KA89/landing.html" target="_blank">They had the &#8220;Billionaire Mindset&#8221;&#8230;</a></strong></p>
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		<title>Go After Your Goals&#8230; Like a Shark</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/29/go-after-your-goals-like-a-shark.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/29/go-after-your-goals-like-a-shark.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Masterson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self Improvement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9198</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sharks are said to be the most efficient eating machines on the planet. They are perfectly equipped to hunt and kill. The shape of their bodies&#8230; the way they propel themselves through the water&#8230; the sensitivity of their hearing and smell&#8230; and the construction of their jaws.
Perhaps  most important, scientists say, is that they [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Sharks are said to be the most efficient eating machines on the planet. They are perfectly equipped to hunt and kill. The shape of their bodies&#8230; the way they propel themselves through the water&#8230; the sensitivity of their hearing and smell&#8230; and the construction of their jaws.<span id="more-9198"></span></p>
<p>Perhaps  most important, scientists say, is that they never stop moving.</p>
<p>Think of that in relationship to your lifetime objectives. How often are you actively moving toward your goals? How many of today&#8217;s <strong>important-but-not-urgent</strong> tasks have you accomplished so far?</p>
<p>Most days, I wake up brimming with expectation. And I carry  that energy throughout the day.</p>
<p>How are you doing? Have you let your inner shark out today?</p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<span style="font-size: x-small;">Highly Recommended </span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p><strong>The Relaxation  Technique that Eases Stress in Seconds</strong></p>
<p>You&#8217;re stuck in a boring meeting&#8230; a long line at the bank&#8230; or bumper-to-bumper traffic&#8230; Your blood pressure is rising. Your stress is through the roof&#8230;</p>
<p>But with one unconventional (and often misunderstood) technique, your frustration, anxiety, and stress simply slip away. You&#8217;ll feel peaceful, in control, and happy within seconds. Any time. <strong><a style="color: #15528b; font-weight: bold;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700SPMP/E700KA82/landing.html" target="_blank">Anywhere.</a></strong></p>
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		<title>Go for It!</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/27/go-for-it-2.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/27/go-for-it-2.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Robert Ringer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self Improvement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9174</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s a serious mistake to allow yourself to get caught up in the &#8220;what-if&#8221;  and &#8220;how-to&#8221; trap before taking action. The reality is that no one can ever hope  to know all the problems in advance, let alone all the solutions.
Further, most of the things people worry about never even come to pass. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s a serious mistake to allow yourself to get caught up in the &#8220;what-if&#8221;  and &#8220;how-to&#8221; trap before taking action. The reality is that no one can ever hope  to know all the problems in advance, let alone all the solutions.<span id="more-9174"></span></p>
<p>Further, most of the things people worry about never even come to pass. Or,  if they do, they end up being not nearly as bad as envisioned. Even better, some  of the most minatory circumstances often turn out to be nothing more than  disguises for great opportunities.</p>
<p>I thought about this a couple of weeks ago when my son asked me to take him  to a University of Maryland football game on a perfect-weather Saturday.</p>
<p>It was quite a request, considering:</p>
<p>1. I had never been to Maryland&#8217;s Byrd Stadium, and was not certain how to  get there.<br />
2. I estimated that the University was at least an hour away in  modest traffic.<br />
3. It would take us about an hour to get ready to leave the  house.<br />
4. It was 10:00 a.m. &#8212; two hours before kickoff.<br />
5. We had no  tickets.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, seeing a chance to be anointed Father of the Week, I replied,  without hesitation, &#8220;Sure. Let&#8217;s do it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Some might call this impulsive. Others might refer to it as abject stupidity.  I would argue that a fair and enlightened individual would recognize it as  nothing more than temporary insanity.</p>
<p>But something just felt right about it. It was a beautiful, sunny day. I felt  like I could run a marathon backward. And I saw it as one of those great Steve  Martin-type bonding opportunities (as in <em>Father of the Bride</em>).</p>
<p>We pulled out of the driveway at 11:00 a.m., an hour before game time.  Surprisingly, traffic was light, even as we began to near the campus. Even more  surprising, the stadium came into view about 40 minutes after we left the house.  I still haven&#8217;t figured out how that was mathematically possible.</p>
<p>Now for the not-so-small matter of parking. Cars were jammed into every  square inch of space on the side of every road anywhere within sight of the  stadium, so I frantically looked for a parking garage. But before I could locate  one, would you believe that a parking space suddenly appeared on the side of the  road &#8212; about a five-minute walk from the stadium?</p>
<p>After I parked the car, my son and I jumped out and joined the crowd walking  toward Byrd Stadium. At this point, I was thinking what a shame it would be if  it were a sellout and we&#8217;d have to turn around and go home.</p>
<p>Amazingly, however, as we approached the front gate, two men were standing  right in front of us, one of them holding up a pair of tickets. He said they  were his season tickets, but that he was going to be sitting elsewhere with his  friend that day, so he just wanted to &#8220;get rid of them.&#8221;</p>
<p>He told me they were on the 50-yard line, and I braced myself for his asking  price &#8212; $75? $100? $150? Another surprise: Almost apologetically, he asked if  $20 a ticket sounded reasonable to me. I refrained from hugging him, and quickly  peeled off two $20 bills from the cash stash in my pocket.</p>
<p>Thus far, I had been wrong about every dire thought that had crossed my mind  before agreeing to take my son to the game. But I felt certain I would be right  about one thing: No way was I holding 50-yard-line seats in my hand. Scalpers  are hardworking entrepreneurs, but they have been known to shade the truth a  bit.</p>
<p>Surprise again: Our seats were, indeed, smack-dab on the 50!</p>
<p>At halftime, since we hadn&#8217;t had time to eat lunch before leaving the house,  we were starving. Perusing the menu board at a garbage&#8230; er, concession&#8230;  stand, it became evident that our substitute lunch was going to be a hotdog, an  ice cream sandwich, and a Pepsi.</p>
<p>To avoid apoplexy, I reminded myself that what we were about to eat was at  least healthier than cyanide-laced Kool-Aid&#8230; though not by much. Besides, the  dogs were only $2.50 apiece, which wouldn&#8217;t even buy you a bun at a pro football  game.</p>
<p>After we finished &#8220;lunch,&#8221; we stopped by one of the restrooms for a little  relief. How pleasant. It made the restrooms at Washington, DC&#8217;s RFK Stadium look  like the Ritz-Carlton. Shows how easy it is to please college kids.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that it was a great day, a day when everything that seemed  like a problem ended up being a plus. I guess I shouldn&#8217;t be surprised that  things turned out so well, because I&#8217;ve witnessed the playing out of this type  of scenario so often over the years.</p>
<p>The moral is that when you really want to do something &#8212; but are  apprehensive because you see so many &#8220;problems&#8221; on the horizon &#8212; do it anyway!  Don&#8217;t worry about it. You won&#8217;t bat 1,000 percent. But if you continually fail  to take action, you&#8217;re guaranteed to bat <em>zero</em>.</p>
<p>And even when things don&#8217;t work out, you&#8217;ll find that, in a vast majority of  cases, the fallout won&#8217;t be nearly as bad as you&#8217;d imagined.</p>
<p>The many wonderful, unexpected things that will come into your life as a  result of taking action will more than offset any pain you might endure from  your few missteps.</p>
<p>[Ed. Note: To learn how to survive and prosper during the turbulent years  ahead, check out Robert Ringer's powerful audio series <strong><a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="http://www.tortoisepressinc.com/lp/Offer-Succeeding-in-a-World-of-Chaos.htm" target="_blank">Succeeding in a World of Chaos</a></strong><em>. </em>And be sure  to sign up for a FREE subscription to his one-of-a-kind e-letter <strong><em><a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="http://www.robertringer.com/" target="_blank">A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World</a></em></strong>.]</p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<span style="font-size: x-small;">Highly Recommended </span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p><strong><a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700SMVE/E700KA83/landing.html" target="_blank">Become the Next Depression Millionaire</a> </strong>- The only  condition we ask when using the “Multiplier Effect” is that you limit your  profits to $10,000 a week. We don&#8217;t want the “good old boys” <strong><a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700SMVE/E700KA83/landing.html" target="_blank">to  get wise and change the rules again. </a></strong></p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
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		<title>The Cow in the Ditch</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/27/the-cow-in-the-ditch.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/27/the-cow-in-the-ditch.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Masterson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self Improvement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9178</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What do you do when you see a cow in a ditch?
Well, first, you get it out. Next, you figure out how it got there in the  first place. Then, you make darn sure it doesn&#8217;t fall into the ditch again.
In other words, when faced with a problem, deal with the immediate situation  [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What do you do when you see a cow in a ditch?</p>
<p>Well, first, you get it out. Next, you figure out how it got there in the  first place. Then, you make darn sure it doesn&#8217;t fall into the ditch again.<span id="more-9178"></span></p>
<p>In other words, when faced with a problem, deal with the immediate situation  before you do anything else. Once that&#8217;s been taken care of, find out what  caused the problem so you can take steps to prevent it from happening again.</p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Latest News</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>Bootcamp&#8230; Bootcamp&#8230; Bootcamp. With less than two weeks before our  biggest event of the year, the office is buzzing. Are you joining us? There&#8217;s  still time to sign up. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="https://web-purchases.com/CKA700A/E700KA93/landing.html" target="_blank"><strong>But not much&#8230;</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Over at <em>Total Health Breakthroughs</em>, they&#8217;ve just profiled one of  the world&#8217;s greatest cancer researchers. You&#8217;ve never heard of him. The medical  establishment buried his work. But what he discovered could help you and your  family. In tomorrow&#8217;s issue, they have even more on effective natural  alternatives to traditional cancer treatments. <a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Sign up for  THB today</strong></a><em> </em>to make sure you don&#8217;t miss it.</li>
</ul>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<h3><strong>&#8220;Extremely useful.&#8221;</strong></h3>
<p>&#8220;Today&#8217;s issue is great! Every issue is good, but Michael&#8217;s <strong><a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="../2009/10/15/i-hate-sleeping-in.html" target="_blank">&#8216;early to bed, early to rise&#8217;</a></strong> section really  resonated with me.</p>
<p>&#8220;And Dr. Rao&#8217;s <strong><a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="../2009/10/15/your-constant-companion.html" target="_blank">&#8216;mental chatter&#8217;</a></strong> article is extremely useful.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thanks for all your good work, ETR!&#8221;</p>
<p>Shelby Beckett</p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- <span style="font-size: x-small;">Highly  Recommended</span>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p><strong>Should Making Money Online Be This Easy?</strong></p>
<p>I hear stories of budding Internet entrepreneurs jumping through hoops to  make a buck. And sure, many times building a solid, long term business does take  real effort. But you can also quietly pocket some decent dough online for much  less work.</p>
<p>In this case, you can copy the exact steps one man used to make $187,296 in  one day. No, that&#8217;s not a misprint.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s stopping you from doing the same? The program is called Instant  Internet Income and I guarantee it works exactly as it says. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="https://web-purchases.com/700STIII/E700KA84/landing.html" target="_blank">Take a look and see just how easy making money online can  be.</a></strong></span></p>
<p align="center">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
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		<title>The Junkie&#8217;s Secret</title>
		<link>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/26/the-junkies-secret.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.earlytorise.com/2009/10/26/the-junkies-secret.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:10:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Masterson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wealth Building]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.earlytorise.com/?p=9159</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a teenager, I had the impulses of a junkyard dog. If someone looked at me  the &#8220;wrong&#8221; way, I started barking. This resulted in many scraps &#8212; most of them  with bigger and more skillful fighters. I managed to &#8220;win&#8221; a great many of them,  however, because I was able to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As a teenager, I had the impulses of a junkyard dog. If someone looked at me  the &#8220;wrong&#8221; way, I started barking. This resulted in many scraps &#8212; most of them  with bigger and more skillful fighters. I managed to &#8220;win&#8221; a great many of them,  however, because I was able to tap into something inside me that fueled my  aggression.<span id="more-9159"></span></p>
<p>Something like that exists in the realm of wealth building.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m talking about something inside you that can transform you into a  money-making megalomaniac (MMM).</p>
<p>As an MMM, you will never:</p>
<ul>
<li>have another sluggish moment</li>
<li>feel confused about what you need to do</li>
<li>doubt your ability to make money &#8212; or hesitate to go after it</li>
</ul>
<p>I have used this secret (I call it <em>the Junkie&#8217;s Secret</em>) to fuel my  entrepreneurial ambitions in the past and I use it now to motivate myself to  write books and make movies. Today, I pass it on to you&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>Consider the Humble Coke Addict</strong></p>
<p>Take an ambitionless, aimless young man in his 20s. He&#8217;s a high-school  dropout, which means he&#8217;s functionally illiterate. Having been deprived of a  good family, he is also angry. To make matters worse, he&#8217;s no &#8220;Good Will  Hunting.&#8221; He&#8217;s dumb as a dishrag.</p>
<p>Let me ask you: What is this young man likely to do for a living?</p>
<p>You guessed right. Nothing.</p>
<p>But if he <em>were</em> to work&#8230; if he could be forced to work through some  amazingly successful government program&#8230; how much money could he make?</p>
<p>You guessed right again. Minimum wage &#8212; $7.25 an hour or about $50 a day,  before taxes.</p>
<p>Now take that same stupid, lazy kid and give him a crack-cocaine addiction.</p>
<p>How much money could he make then?</p>
<p>You guessed it again. He could make a freaking fortune!</p>
<p>In the 1980s, I lived in what is sometimes referred to as a &#8220;transitional&#8221;  neighborhood in Washington, DC. For several years, I had the opportunity to  observe the incessant, almost compulsive, money-making activities of junkies.  Day in and day out, these uneducated, drugged-out, degenerates would go out into  a very unfriendly world and hustle.</p>
<p>They panhandled. They stole. They ran cons of every possible variety. And  they made lots of money.</p>
<p>Many of these jokers, according to an article I read in <em>The Washington  Post</em> at the time, were making $300 to $400 a day to feed their habits.  (These days, they&#8217;d probably have to pull in $600 to $900.)</p>
<p>That made an impression on me. I mean, hell! They were making a lot more than  I was. And I had two degrees and three jobs.</p>
<p><strong>An Impressive Accomplishment</strong></p>
<p>The more I thought about it, the more amazing it seemed.</p>
<p>These were total losers whose primary desire in life was to <em>numb  themselves into a stupor</em>. Yet they were making more money on the streets of  DC than anyone I knew who worked in a fancy office.</p>
<p>I had a good idea of how junkies earned their money. But I couldn&#8217;t for the  life of me figure out where they got the emotional wherewithal to do it.</p>
<p>So I decided to talk to some of them.</p>
<p>It wasn&#8217;t hard. A dollar would buy me five minutes of conversation. A dollar  and a cup of coffee would buy me 15.</p>
<p>I eventually befriended three of the neighborhood junkies. An old man named  George who had once worked for the post office. A young man named Dean who had  never worked a legitimate day in his life. And a mother of three named Desiree.  (At least that&#8217;s what they told me their names were.)</p>
<p>They all &#8220;worked&#8221; on 14th Street, the main corridor for hookers and drug  addicts.</p>
<p>Before I went to work every day, I would walk over to 14th Street and spend a  few minutes with George, Dean, or Desiree.</p>
<p>Gradually, I figured out their money-making secret. It was a combination of  three very old-fashioned and virtuous habits.</p>
<p><strong>Three Habits of Highly Successful Crackheads</strong></p>
<p>George, Dean, and Desiree worked even longer hours than I did. Back then, I  was working 12 hours a day. These three worked every waking hour &#8212; 18 to 20  hours a day.</p>
<p>Each of them worked with a single-minded purpose. Although there were moments  when they nodded off, 90 percent of their conscious time was focused on getting  the money they needed for the next fix. I had a dozen interests and alternate  ambitions. They had only one objective.</p>
<p>But the most important difference between them and me had to do with  something deeper. Their addiction was much stronger than my ambition. They would  do WHATEVER IT TOOK to achieve their goal.</p>
<p>If you study the lives of America&#8217;s most successful people, you will discover  that they too:</p>
<p>1. worked long and hard<br />
2. stayed focused on one goal<br />
3. made  sacrifices to achieve that goal</p>
<p>Read the biography of Andrew Carnegie and you will see these three habits  repeated throughout his life. Watch a documentary about Warren Buffett or Bill  Gates and you will find the same thing.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s something to think about, isn&#8217;t it?</p>
<p>Working long and hard is important to success. Having determination and focus  is important too. But to achieve really big goals&#8230; to climb into a whole new  category&#8230; you have to do more. You have to have the willingness to do whatever  it takes, including things that are risky, uncomfortable, new, worrisome, or  even dangerous.</p>
<p>Junkies don&#8217;t get the respect they deserve.</p>
<p>Imagine what the addict&#8217;s life is like. You wake up on a park bench smelling  of urine. You stretch, rub the sores on your face and forearms, and say to  yourself, &#8220;Up and at &#8216;em, boy. Today you are going to go out there &#8212; to that  cold and unfriendly city &#8212; and get your hands on six hundred bucks.&#8221;</p>
<p>Could you do that? Day after day? I couldn&#8217;t. Not unless I was addicted to  something.</p>
<p><strong>How to Tap Into the Unappreciated Power of the Junkie </strong></p>
<p>You can have the junkie&#8217;s gift. And you don&#8217;t even have to smoke crack to get  it.</p>
<p>Somewhere inside you a fire is smoldering &#8212; the desire to break away from  the past, start your own business, and take charge of your future. If you leave  this fire alone, it will eventually burn itself out. Your life will slip by  meaninglessly. When you die, your dreams will die too.</p>
<p>But if you fan the flames of your desire, the fire will grow. And that will  turn you into a money-making megalomaniac.</p>
<p>As a wealth-building entrepreneur, you will be unstoppable!</p>
<p>It is damn hard to get a new venture going. It is difficult because it is  different. And because it requires you to go beyond your &#8220;comfort zone.&#8221;</p>
<p>Take a look at your &#8220;to-do&#8221; list for today. There is probably something on it  that has something to do with that business you&#8217;ve been wanting to start. You  know it is important to your future. You have highlighted it. Yet you are  reluctant to do it.</p>
<p>But if you want to achieve more than you have ever achieved, you have to be  willing to do more than you have ever done before. You need to commit yourself,  put in the hours, stay focused &#8212; and, yes, do those unpleasant but very  necessary tasks.</p>
<p>So do this right now. Pretend for a moment that you ARE a junkie and that you  absolutely, positively must achieve that goal.</p>
<p>Failure is not an option.</p>
<p>Set aside your qualms. Ignore your fears.</p>
<p>What is it that you would do to succeed?</p>
<p>Got it? Good.</p>
<p>Now ask yourself, &#8220;Why am I <em>not</em> doing that?&#8221;</p>
<p>Do you have a moral objection to what needs to be done? A fear of failing?</p>
<p>Face your feelings squarely. Think about how they are blocking you. If you do  that fully and honestly today, you will have accomplished a lot.</p>
<p>P.S. The &#8220;Junkie&#8217;s Secret&#8221; is one of those things you won&#8217;t pick up in  business school. But it is an essential trait of any entrepreneur who wants to  have a business that brings in life-changing profits. For more of my contrarian,  &#8220;off the cuff&#8221; secrets, come to <strong><a style="font-weight: bold; color: #15528b;" href="https://web-purchases.com/CKA700A/E700KA79/landing.html" target="_blank">Info-Marketing Bootcamp</a></strong> this November. I don&#8217;t  lecture. I share with my fellow success-seekers the tricks I&#8217;ve picked up over  my four-decade career. Bootcamp is coming up in just a few weeks and seats are  going fast&#8230;</p>
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