The Worst Thing You Can Do When You’re on the Road

When you’re traveling on business, it’s tempting to skip exercise and grab fast food to save time. Bad idea.

You’re on the road for a good reason: There’s something important that requires your attention — and you need to stay mentally alert. The best way to do that is to maintain as healthy a routine as possible.

So make it a point — not just as an option or afterthought — to schedule in exercise and healthy meals. If you do, you’ll be sharper and make better business decisions.


Break Free From the Pack

I recently came across another wrongheaded “business success” article. It advised up-and-comers to “read the same magazines as your peers.”

Certainly, you must keep up on what’s going on within your industry. But you won’t get very far if all you have is the same information as everyone else.

You should be constantly looking for breakthrough ideas by going outside your field. Identify hot trends in other industries. Then think about how they might be adapted to yours.


“Beginning my day with good ideas.”

“First of all, thanks for all the great tips in your newsletters. It took a while, but I now love the new ETR format. By the way, I read it first thing in the morning. I’m a firm believer in beginning my day with good ideas and good thoughts. It sets a pattern for the rest of my day.”

Bruce Weir
Lake Stevens, WA

[Ed. Note: Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]