January 2019
15 articles published this month.
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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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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Four Proven Ways That Employees Can Get Big Raises and Retire Rich
It’s commonly said that you can’t get rich working for someone else. That the only way to achieve financial independence is to own your own business. This idea feels true when you are stuck in a thankless job…
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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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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
A Letter From a Man Whose Mother Is a Bank
I received a letter this morning that began as follows: Dear Mark – I hope all is well with you and yours. I want to reach out to you because you can help me… I looked at the signature. A name I didn’t…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Principles of Wealth #24
The banking industry promotes the idea that money stored in cash instruments (such as saving accounts, CDs, and money market funds) is safe money and a riskless financial strategy. But it is not true. Cash…
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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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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
10 “Truths” About Building Wealth That You Won’t Hear from Your Financial Advisor
When I “decided” to get rich, I didn’t know the first thing about creating wealth. I was an editor. I wanted to be a novelist. I’d never taken a course in finance or economics. Plus, I was broke. But I had a…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Timothy Leary, the Psychedelicists, and the Doors of Perception
In August 1960, Timothy Leary (a Harvard professor) traveled to Mexico to explore the ceremonial use of psilocybin mushrooms by the indigenous Aztecs. It was there that he ate the psychedelic mushrooms for the…
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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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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Your Ultimate Productivity Guide for the New Year
Most ambitious and successful people set goals and use task lists. I’ve seen those task lists. They’re usually handwritten on lined paper – pages and pages of “things to do” with no way to sort out what’s…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
So You Don’t Believe in Making New Year’s Resolutions? Why Not?
Ask 10 people if they make New Year’s Resolutions and nine of them will tell you they don’t. So I’m guessing you don’t do it either. And if that’s true, you’ve been squashing an impulse that’s key to success…
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