October 2019

Just One Thing: How to Get People to Like You

I’m perverted in oh so many ways. One perversity of mine is the habit of being disagreeable with the people I care about. If I don’t care about someone, I’m as agreeable as a sunny day in London. I will laugh…

pragmatic (adjective)

Pragmatic (Prag-MAT-ik) describes a way of dealing with things realistically, in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations. As I used it today: “There’s a pragmatic benefit to…

Charlotte Bronte On True Friendship And Selfless Love

“If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship, we must love friends for their sake rather than for our own.” – Charlotte Bronte

Halloween Spending Reaches Nearly Nine Billion Dollars

Halloween is the second-largest (after Christmas) commercial holiday in the U.S. Last year, Americans spent approximately $9 billion on candy, costumes, etc.

How Fatherhood Should Be” by Tom Dyson

Tom Dyson, a friend, and former protegé/partner of mine, recently made a major change in his life. He’s been on a journey around the world with his reunited family, and it’s given him a lot to think about. In…

People Still Do Loving Things

Amidst all the social animus, there are still stories of people that do loving things.

Please… Don’t Follow My Advice!

There are times when I want people to follow my advice, but not often. Most of the time I want people to listen to what I’m saying with an open mind, and then do whatever they think best. True story… When…

slavish (adjective)

Slavish (SLAY-vish) means like a slave; abjectly submissive. As I used it today: “If I thought that everyone that listened to me would always do exactly what I recommend, slavishly, I’d give no advice at all!”

Oscar Wilde On The Uselessness Of Good Advice

“I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.” – Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband

Organic And Natural Foods Outpace Conventional Sales Growth

The good food movement is growing. In 2018, sales of natural, organic, and functional food and beverages grew 6.6% to $152 billion, while sales of conventional food and beverages contracted 0.2%.

Arrests at MoMA” in ART news

This is an interesting example of how little some leftists understand about the issues they rally against. In this case, they seem to believe that lending money to poor countries is unethical. LINK

Reader Thanks Mark For Life-Changing Guidance And Support

An email from DG: Just wanted to say thanks for everything you've done to help me and so many others. Every day I marvel at how my life is changing for the better... and how others’ lives are too…. Although I…

Dennis Prager Skewers Profiting From Illness

Profiting From Other People's Illness: Dennis Prager is a bit of a fuddy-duddy, but don’t let that bother you when you watch this. He makes good fun of a really stupid idea.

Principles of Wealth #33

The entrepreneur’s five most important jobs are: (1) locating viable markets, (2) creating desirable products for those markets, (3) designing successful sales campaigns, (4) converting new buyers to multiple…

Guy Kawasaki On The Double-Edged Sword Of Entrepreneurship

“The good news about entrepreneurship is that your fate is in your hands. The bad news is that your fate is in your hands! – Guy Kawasaki

abstruse (adjective)

Something that’s abstruse (ab-STROOS) is hard to understand; obscure. As I used it today: “Once we located a fast-growing market, we studied it. But again, we didn’t rely on abstruse market analysis to figure…

Frisbee Creator's Final Flight

The man who created the Frisbee was cremated and turned into a Frisbee.

Why Today’s Best Business Leaders Look to Stoicism” in Entrepreneur Daily

It’s true. Stoicism is all the rage among Internet business gurus. And for good reason, as explained in this essay by Aytekin Tank. LINK

Here's a serious economic problem that's being ignored by the…

Here's a serious economic problem that's being ignored by the mainstream media...

Just One Thing: How to Negotiate in One Lesson

JSN, my ex-boss/then partner, was, in most ways, a great negotiator. He was aggressive, highly intelligent, and charming. That very rare combination of assets allowed him to get pretty much whatever he wanted…

Remembering Harold Bloom

On October 14, one of my heroes died. Harold Bloom was probably the best-known literary critic of my generation. His books and essays were erudite but accessible, insightful and witty, forthright but charming…

Harold Bloom on Solitude's Greatest Pleasure

“Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.” – Harold Bloom

churlish (adjective)

Churlish (CHURL-ish) means rude, vulgar, surly. As used by Christopher Morley: “Happiness is surely the best teacher of good manners: only the unhappy are churlish in deportment.”

The Heart Beats 100,000 Times Daily

The heart beats 35 million times a year, or 100,000 times a day.

An email from RG

Hey Mark, about a year ago you gave me some advice on a promo. Well, we just got final DM results back. We did a split mailing, and my 30,000 test won, doing 127% ROI to front end and 290% ROI to backend…

Turning The Tables On Spam Callers With Humor

Unless it's a family member calling, I rarely answer the phone. But once in a while, when I'm feeling saucy, I'll pick up on a sales call. My favorites come from Mumbai by way of a local area code. I listen to…

Ten Early Decisions That Shaped My Career

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” – Yogi Berra I’ve written several times about the key decisions we make as adults: what we choose to do, where we choose to do it, and with whom. But there are…

predilection (noun)

A predilection (preh-dih-LEK-shun) is a preference or special liking for something. As used by Erik Pevernagie: “All incidents which we experience are warily interpreted and translated in the dark chamber of…

The Longest Word With Letters In Alphabetical Order

“Almost” is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

The Power of Imagining Ten Thousand Dollars

“The Power of Imagining Ten Thousand Dollars” A very funny send-up of the financial industry from The New Yorker LINK

Why Free Products Don't Always Build Business

The Problem With Giving Your Product Away This guy is very good. And this lesson he's talking about it very, very important... not just for business but for almost any activity, including charitable endeavors.

Just One Thing: Mission Statements

You don’t need a mission statement to build your business. I’ve helped build dozens of successful multimillion-dollar businesses without one. The largest company I helped build, which grew from $8 million to…

Tips for Late Sleepers From an Unexpected Source: How to Wake Up Earlier and Accelerate Your Career

There aren’t many decisions in one’s career that are game changing, but the decision to start working earlier was definitely one for me. It was so important, in fact, that I named my first blog Early to Rise…

circadian rhythms (noun)

Circadian (sur-KAY-dee-un) rhythms are natural, internal processes that regulate the body’s 24-hour sleep/wake cycle. They primarily respond to light and dark. As I used it today: “Yes, there are ‘night…

Stephen King On Life's Fundamental Choice

“It always comes down to just two choices. Get busy living or get busy dying.” – Stephen King

Over 1,700 Americans Become Millionaires Daily

More than 1,700 US citizens become millionaires every single day.

Early 1900s Campaign Against Homework Actually Won

In the early 1900s, Ladies' Home Journal took up a crusade against homework, enlisting doctors and parents who said it damages children's health. And in 1901, California passed a law abolishing homework! 

Principles of Wealth #32

Most people fear entrepreneurship because they believe it takes genius, courage, and luck. In fact, these factors are rare contributors to success in start-up business ventures. The factors that matter most…

Michael Masterson On Luck And Hard Work

“Hoping for luck is like hoping to find gold. It may be in them thar hills, but if it is, you are going to have to dig for it.” – Michael Masterson

mundane (adjective)

Mundane (mun-DANE) means common, ordinary, banal, unimaginative. As I used it today: “One out of a thousand startups has the sort of success that makes for a good movie. The rest are mundane.”

IBM Open-Sources Three Cancer-Fighting AI Tools

IBM has three new AI (artificial intelligence) tools to assist in the battle against cancer, and recently decided to make them open-source (i.e., freely available to medical researchers). The hope is that this…

Waxing Your Balls for Social Justice” in Taki’s Magazine

The Human Brain Animated In Stunning Detail

An amazingly detailed animation of the human brain...

An Interesting Speculation

I’m a conservative investor. I own mostly income-producing assets with cash and precious metals as a back-up. The stocks in my portfolio are industry-dominating billion-dollar businesses with consistent…

impediment (noun)

An impediment (im-PED-uh-muhnt) is an obstacle or hindrance; anything that slows or blocks progress. As I used it today: “Meanwhile, keep in mind that there’s a positive side to these impediments. Thanks to…

The Secret Life of Smell and What Dogs Can Teach Us About Accessing Hidden Layers of Reality

“The Secret Life of Smell and What Dogs Can Teach Us About Accessing Hidden Layers of Reality” by Maria Popova in Brain Pickings

Mahatma Gandhi On Living With Urgency And Learning Forever

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if youwill live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi

An email from MF

I'm still ecstatic over your talk and the fact that you came up for the seminar. Many people said your talk was worth the entire price of the event. Wanted you to know that…. I want you to know you touched a…

Rancho Santana Ranks Third In Central America Resorts

Once again, Rancho Santana, our resort in Nicaragua, was voted one of the 10 best in Central America. In fact, with over 600,000 votes received, Conde Nast Traveler rated it #3. LINK

Reparations Debate: One Perspective Worth Considering

"Why I Don't Want and Don't Deserve Reparations" I had missed feelings watching this. Mostly, I felt like saying, "Amen!" But some of it I found to be specious. If it were an agree/disagree vote, I'd vote…