Notes From My Journal
560 articles filed under Notes From My Journal.
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Notes From My Journal
Jefe
“My little old dog: A heart-beat at my feet.” – Edith Wharton When we entered the butterfly pavilion, the manager approached us and said, “I’m sorry, but we don’t allow dogs in here.” “He’s a service dog,”…
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Notes From My Journal
Monday, April 1, 2019
Delray Beach, FL.- I’m happy to report that I’ve been contacted by a senior curator at the Smithsonian, who has informed me that they want to put all my published works into the institution, seal them in a…
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Notes From My Journal
How Many Laws Do We Really Need?
From Capitol Report: “Despite the slow start while new legislators learned their way around the capitol, over 3,400 bills have been filed by the 2019 deadline that could change state laws in the two months of…
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Notes From My Journal
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Answer these 4 questions: In all low-income countries in the world today, how many girls finish high school? a.- 20% b.- 40% c.- 60% In the last 20 years, the proportion of the world’s population living in…
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Notes From My Journal
What Do You Think? What Would You Do?
So Mike Weirsky, divorced and for 15 years unemployed, wins the $273 million Mega Millions jackpot. And the first thing he does is buy a Ford Raptor. But how much is he going to pay the person that found his…
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Notes From My Journal
10 Things I Would Like to Become…
A better teacher My strengths are insight and caring. I need to be better at giving examples. A more articulate arguer I like to argue. I’m always surprised that I’m not very good at it. The problem is that I…
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Notes From My Journal
Talking Business With Academics
CJ, my partner in the effort to free wrongly convicted felons, and I had a meeting today with a California college that has offered to help us by providing student interns from its Law and Criminal Justice…
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Notes From My Journal
Why I Can’t Read The New York Times Anymore
First I read The New York Times because I believed it was the best newspaper in the world. Then, after my view of economics shifted, I read it for its cultural and literary articles. Now I can’t stand to read…
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Notes From My Journal
A Dinner With the Japanese -What We Don’t Know About Culture Matters
I’d wanted to have a publishing partner in Japan since we went global 20 years ago. I’d gotten close once, with the country’s largest health publisher. But after several meetings and a trip there to meet the…
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Notes From My Journal
I Almost Forgot This Important Truth About Buying Land
Last week, after years of pondering the issue and several weeks of negotiation, we bought the ten-acre lot that is just south of Paradise Palms (my botanical garden in West Delray Beach). You could say it was…
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Notes From My Journal
A Morning Prayer for Non-Believers
I was reading about prayer. I don’t remember where. A chapter of some book. Maybe Sapiens. Virtually every religion and creed since the dawn of man, the book avowed, has practiced praying. That may be true…
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Notes From My Journal
The Stock Market Is Getting Dicey -Here’s What I’m Doing About It
The US stock market gave investors a good scare late last year, with the DOW dropping from a high of 26,562 on September 24 to a low of 22,445 on December 18. The newspapers were full of good reasons. On the…
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Notes From My Journal
Advice From J. Paul Getty on “How to Be Rich
“Contrary to popular modern belief, it is still quite possible for the successful individual to make his million – and more.” Paul Getty wrote these words in 1986 in his book How to Be Rich. I read it first…
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Notes From My Journal
Why “Best Books” Lists Are Sort of Silly… and My “Best Books” List for 2018
When I first read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, I read it quickly. It was the selection of the month for my November book club – and by the time I got to it, I had less than two…
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Notes From My Journal
No, You Didn’t Choose It… And, No, You Can’t Change It… So What Are You Going to Do About It?
You didn’t choose and cannot change the locale of your birth. You didn’t choose and cannot change your ethnicity or your parentage. You didn’t choose and cannot change the color of your skin. But you can…
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Notes From My Journal
The Pain of Climbing Kilimanjaro and Other Humiliations
Sunday, January 20, 2019 Rancho Santana, Nicaragua.- At 43, Bonner Paddock has already accomplished what, at 68, I have failed to accomplish three times: He has retired. I was intrigued by his story, So I…
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Notes From My Journal
Horse Ears
“Do you know how horses communicate?” Beverly asked at the beginning of our riding lesson. My mind trotted back (it cannot race anymore) to the last time I heard Beverly ask this question. I was sitting on…
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Notes From My Journal
If I Were in Charge of These Hills
There is an unwritten rule when building your house on top of a hill: Keep the roofline below the treetops. When you violate this rule by setting a two-story structure at the very crest of the hill, you create…
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Notes From My Journal
Dinner at Mad Dog Pizzeria
Monday, January 14, 2019 Rancho Santana, Nicaragua.- Dinner last night was at Mad Dog’s, located about 20 minutes west of Rancho Santana on the coastal road by the turnoff to Guasacate. It sits in the corner…
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Notes From My Journal
The New Challenge I Give Myself Every Day
I received a note from a former protégé who is using my personal productivity system (my “Goaltending Program”) to accomplish her very demanding schedule as editorial director of a growing publishing company…
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Notes From My Journal
Why You Should Read Poetry… Even If You Don’t Like To
There’s something about the power of poetry… what it can do that other forms of literature cannot. If you don’t know what I mean, read Robert Lowell’s collection Near the Ocean. Harriet Zinnes, a poet…
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Notes From My Journal
Success in the Spotlight: It’s More Rock Than Roll
Sunday, December 16, 2018 Delray Beach, FL.- I was late arriving at Steve and Lori’s annual holiday party last weekend. I’d been working on the outline of a new book, and I wanted to finish it while I still…
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Notes From My Journal
Solo Fliers vs. Quotidian Pilots
Friday, December 7, 2018 Delray Beach, Florida.- In every business, the golden current of wealth and power flows to the rainmakers. This is not a factor of ideology. It is a biological fact of the organism…
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Notes From My Journal
Wilderness Man Survives Again
Thursday, November 29, 2018 Delray Beach, Florida.- After a frenetic week with the extended family in Nicaragua, I was in need of rest. The last thing I wanted to do when we arrived at Miami Airport last…
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Notes From My Journal
Steve Jobs on “Why Companies Fail
Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Sao Paulo.- I’m in Brazil, catching up on email before I get to work – and I came across a video by Steve Jobs that Sean MacIntyre sent me. (See the link to the video, below.) It’s…
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Notes From My Journal
Thanksgiving Morning in Nicaragua
Thursday, November 22, 2018 This year’s to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade featured a musical vignette from Prom, a new Broadway play that opened to great reviews. My niece, Izzy McCalla has a leading role in…
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Notes From My Journal
I’m back at Rancho Santana for Thanksgiving week…
Tuesday, November 20, 2018 Nicaragua - It’s a beautiful time to be here. The ocean is steel blue and the hills are myriads of green. Because of the recent political troubles, I was initially reluctant to bring…
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Notes From My Journal
The One and Only Secret to a Successful Marriage?
Saturday, November 17, 2018 Delray Beach, FL.- Andy and I were in our late 20s and beginning our careers in journalism. Elka was in her late 30s, working part-time as an accountant for our small publishing…
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Notes From My Journal
More on Micro-Cultures, Financial Success, and the “Nature vs. Nurture” Question
Friday, November 9, 2018 Delray Beach, Florida.- On October 18, I posted an essay www.markford.net/success-in-life-its-all-about-micro-culture about the relationship between success in life and something I…
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Notes From My Journal
A “Simple Question” With a “That Depends” Answer
Monday, November 5, 2018 Delray Beach, Florida.- “I have a simple question,” RS wrote. “How can you calculate the odds for losing your money before you start a business or invest your capital? I’ve read what…
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Notes From My Journal
Life Is Good… How Did I Get So Lucky?
Saturday, November 3, 2018 New York City.- I’m at Club Macanudo on 63rd Street, in between Park and Madison in NYC. It’s a stately, turn-of-last century townhouse, not unlike Agora’s offices in Baltimore. The…
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Notes From My Journal
Show Me Your Freak Card
Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Delray Beach.- I liked him the minute he introduced himself. Poised, intelligent, and energetic, he wanted to interview me for his podcast. We did a short, extemporaneous bit on…
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Notes From My Journal
The Perfect Partnership Formula
Saturday, October 27, 2018 Delray Beach, FL– Talk about teamwork… In 1995, a young man named Howard Marks got together with another young man, Bruce Karsh, and the two of them built a $100 billion asset…
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Notes From My Journal
A Fun and Clever Way to Build an Art Collection
Thursday, October 25, 2018 Delray Beach, FL– If you ever want to develop a really great art collection – on the cheap – here’s a clever strategy you can use. I picked it up from an elder statesman in our…
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Notes From My Journal
An Unexpected Gift From My Father
Monday, October 22, 2018 Delray Beach, FL– My friend Steve Leveen and I once had an enjoyable exchange on the question of whether you should write in the books you read. There were good arguments on both sides…
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Notes From My Journal
What Am I Doing Here? What Can I Say?
Saturday, October 20, 2018 Bermuda -I’m in Bermuda this weekend, speaking at an investment conference. I’m here to talk about money — making it, growing it, protecting it. I came in Thursday night at about…
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Notes From My Journal
More On Caring Less: Losing the “Love” of Golf
Thursday, October 18, 2018 Delray Beach, FL– Golf is a miserable way to pass time. Of all the sports and games and hobbies I’ve tried in my life, none provided the level of frustration and self-loathing that…
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Notes From My Journal
Living Through the Premiere of Off the Rails
Tuesday, October 16, 2018 Delray Beach, FL -On Sunday, I gave you a sneak peek at Off the Rails, an autobiographical “coming of age” movie I made a few years ago that only got finished this year. I was in…
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Notes From My Journal
Fake News and Manipulative Advertising
Sunday, October 14, 2018 Liverpool, England – On the way from the Hotel de Rome to the Berlin Airport, the driver, Franz, asked me about the hurricanes in Florida. He wanted to move there, he said, but his…
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Notes From My Journal
Survival of the Least Fit
Friday, October 12, 2018 Berlin, Germany– She had the perfect job, the culmination of her excellent and expensive education: senior executive of diversity something at a high-tech company. It was her big day…
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Notes From My Journal
How to Accept the Death of Your Good Ideas
Wednesday, October 10, 2018 Berlin, Germany– The first time I put on one of these forums in 2014, it was a great success. It was an open conversation between one of our most successful US-based marketers with…
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Notes From My Journal
In Berlin for an Hour and I’m Already in Trouble
Monday, October 8, 2018 Berlin, Germany– The Hotel de Rome, the taxi driver told me, is one of the most “prestigious” in Berlin. It is impressive. It’s housed in what looks like a 17thcentury palazzo, but it’s…
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Notes From My Journal
The Danger of Freedom: People Do What They Want to Do, Not What You Think They Should Want to Do
October 2, 2018 Delray Beach, FL - A Boston-based “people analytics firm” named Humanyze has instituted a mandatory parental leave policy for male employees. The motive is to “equalize” the work/parent…
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Notes From My Journal
Creating a Culture of Profit
Monday, October 1, 2018 Delray Beach, FL - You own four businesses in the same industry. They have the same sort of products. The same access to marketing intelligence. And they have unlimited access to cash…
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Notes From My Journal
An Interesting Angle on Teamwork
Monday, October 1, 2018 Delray Beach, FL– You don’t have to be friends with your teammates. You just need something that Michael Bar-Eli calls task cohesion. According to Bar-Eli, when a team has a high level…
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Notes From My Journal
Get Better by Todd Davis
Friday, September 28, 2018 Delray Beach, FL–I purchased the book because I liked the title – Get Better: 15 Proven Practices to Build Effective Relationships at Work. It seemed like it was going to be the sort…
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Notes From My Journal
The Economy Is Looking Good: Don’t Get Giddy… or Scared
Delray Beach, FL- There are lots of reasons why many people today are excited about the investment markets. For the first time in 10 years, for example, the GDP growth rate is higher than the unemployment rate…
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Notes From My Journal
The Lessons of History
Monday, September 24, 2018 Delray Beach, FL- On the recommendation of Tim Ferriss, I’m reading Will and Ariel Durant’s The Lessons of History. Published in 1962, it contains the occasional paragraph that seems…
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Notes From My Journal
This Actually Happened
Saturday, September 22, 2018 Delray Beach, FL- We were talking about sexual harassment. Sally and Leslie and I. Sally said, “At my age, I could use a bit of it now and then. Leslie laughed, agreeing. “I’m way…
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Notes From My Journal
A Passing Jealousy
Thursday, September 20, 2018 Delray Beach, FL– Walking to my office, a woman passes me, going the other way. She is attractive. Tall, lean, and handsome. And I notice that she is dressed attractively too, in a…
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