Articles from 2019
882 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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Readers Write
An email from JK
I met Mark at a WBC lunch and… 15 minutes of sharing with him made me clear on how to be an entrepreneur in a unique way. I had the opportunity to meet up with Mark two more times…. Pool cleaning company, real…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Kernel Of Truth In An Exaggeration
Her argument is an exaggeration, but it's also at some level true.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
The Dreaded Business-Termite Infestation! How to Exterminate This Invisible Threat to Your Continued Growth
Every time I take a walk around a company that I’m working with and talk to employees I hardly know, I discover something interesting about the business. As often as not, that something is a problem. Some of…
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A Word to the Wise
entropy (noun)
Entropy (EN-truh-pee) is the gradual, inevitable decline from order to disorder. As I used it today: “Entropy operates at every level and in every part of every business: customer service, production…
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Fun and/or Interesting
4 Things I Learned About the 4th of July
* The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on the 4th. It was voted in on July 2 (the day John Adams said we should commemorate the day), but most of those that signed it did so on August 2. * The major…
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Worth Quoting
C.S. Spurgeon On Anxiety And Present Strength
“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” – C.S. Spurgeon
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Worth Reading
The latest issue of Independent Healing — July 5, 2019
“Calorie Counting Is Fake News” Studies show you’re more likely to gain weight than to lose it on low-cal diets. Here’s why they don’t work – and here’s what does.
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Fun and/or Interesting
Robin Williams Dressed As The American Flag
Robin Williams as the American Flag...
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Dear Mark…
I'm starting a new company, and I need your advice. I will be selling a line of organic, CBD-based health supplements. My target market is women over 40. From reading Ready, Fire, Aim, I know that I want to…
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A Word to the Wise
assiduous (adjective)
Assiduous (uh-SIJ-oo-us) means constant, persevering, industrious, attentive. As used by William Hurt: “Great risks come in long term, tremendously assiduous, very courageous study.”
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Worth Quoting
Zig Ziglar On Determination And Self-Directed Learning
“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, not one can stop you.” – Zig Ziglar
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Fun and/or Interesting
Three Presidents Died on Independence Day
Three US presidents – John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe –died on the 4thof July.
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Worth Reading
Madwomen: The “Locas Mujeres” Poems of Gabriela Mistral
I discovered Gabriella Mistral through Pablo Neruda. Like her famous countryman, Mistral won the Nobel prize. Also like Neruda, her poems were lyrical and personal. But in this collection (I have a bilingual…
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Fun and/or Interesting
How Your Eyes Trick Your Brain
A fun test, and an interesting explanation of how vision works.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
New Ideas About Building Wealth, Lesson 1
We were touring an old castle, a stone fortress built by the Crusaders from the ruins of a Roman temple built 1000 years earlier. The fortress was built with limestone and marble blocks, half a ton apiece…
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Worth Quoting
Robert A. Heinlein on Human Selfishness
“The greatest productive force is human selfishness.” – Robert A. Heinlein
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A Word to the Wise
balletomane (noun)
A balletomane (bah-LET-uh-mane) is a ballet enthusiast. Example from A Feather on the Breath of Godby Sigrid Nunez: “Balletomanes tend to be critical, their hates are as strong as their loves, and at…
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Fun and/or Interesting
How A War Poem Became America's Anthem
“The Star-Spangled Banner” was originally a patriotic poem written by Frances Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry by the British during the War of 1812. It was set to the…
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Worth Reading
Dear Democrats, Here’s How to Guarantee Trump’s Reelection
I don’t know how many times I’ve had the discussion about whether Trump can be reelected. This piece from POLITICO articulates my arguments better than I’ve been able to. And based on the early debates among…
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Readers Write
Reader Gratitude For Fifteen Years Of Timeless Writing
An email from RK: Dear Mark, It is so nice to find your blog! I have followed your writing since around 2005. ETR was always my first read in the morning. [Your] writing captures my imagination like few…
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Fun and/or Interesting
The Moth Presents Ishmael Beah's Story
The Moth Presents: Ishmael Beah (recommended by Tim Ferris)...
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Notes From My Journal
Conversation Overheard at Breakfast at the Four Seasons in Amman
“He said I should cover up. That I was showing too much skin or something, and it was like distracting!” An American teenager, having breakfast with her parents at the table next to ours. Her parents were…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
7 Politically Incorrect Questions I’m Afraid to Ask
We know that money doesn’t buy happiness. So why do we assume that increasing the income of poor people will make them happier? We know that if someone doesn’t want to learn, it’s impossible to teach them…
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Worth Quoting
Michael Masterson on Experience and Ideology
“Experience and Ideology are enemies.” – Michael Masterson
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A Word to the Wise
flâneur (noun)
A flâneur (flah-NUR) is an idle man-about-town; a casual wanderer and observer of street life. Example from the Norton Museum of Art website: “From the 19th-century flâneur… to today’s social media networkers…
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Fun and/or Interesting
A Few Financial Facts to Think About
* After-tax income of the rich: Between 1979 and 2005, the average after-tax income of the top 1% increased by 176%, compared with an increase of only 6% for the bottom 20%. * Inflation effects on the working…
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Worth Reading
The I Hate to Cook Book
Bracken made her living as a copywriter. She wrote this, her first book, in 1960 when she was 70 years old. I’m reading it for the maturity of her wit, not the recipes. Examples: * “Add flour, salt, paprika…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Hillary Klug: The Fiddle Player Breaking Viral Barriers
One good thing about social media is that it has made it easier to discover talent and performance outside of the main media. Hillary Klug is one such discovery for me.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Is Poverty Necessary?
I hadn’t read Harper’s in years. Like 20 or 30 years. I remembered it as a magazine of intelligently written essays about meaningful subjects. Reading it, I felt like I was using my time wisely. In the Fort…
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Worth Quoting
Michael Masterson On The Paradox Of Perfect Security
“Some believe the perfect society would be one where everyone was guaranteed employment, free comprehensive healthcare, free education, free food, free housing, free clothing, free utilities, and only law…
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A Word to the Wise
vertiginous (adjective)
Something that’s vertiginous (ver-TIH-jih-nus) is unstable – marked by change that is so quick and/or frequent that it gives one the feeling of being disoriented, dizzy. As used by Rebecca Makkai in a NYT…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Welfare Usage Among Non-Citizens Remains Persistently High
In a new analysis of the latest numbers (from 2014), 63% of non-citizens are using a welfare program, and it grows to 70% for those here 10 years or more, confirming the concern that once immigrants tap into…
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Worth Watching
Deadwood
You either loved the series or you didn’t care for it at all. I loved it. I loved the story and the cinematography and the characters and the language. I was a sucker for the psuedo-Shakespearean English that…
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Readers Write
How Ready, Fire, Aim Helped Scale A Million-Dollar Startup
An email from CO: Hey Mark, just wanted to drop you a quick note saying thanks for writing Ready, Fire, Aim. I started a new business that did around $1 million in revenue last year, and your book really laid…
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Fun and/or Interesting
A Culture's True Measure: Women and Life
I sometimes feel that the best way to judge the elevation of a culture is by the value it gives to human life and the respect it accords women.
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Notes From My Journal
A Trick I’ve Been Playing on Myself Since I Had to Make My First Business Speech
Last week Agora had its global publishers meeting in Dubai. We chose Dubai because it was a compromise location for our publishers that travel from Europe, the Americas, and the Far East. And also because it…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Interesting Facts About Dubai
* In 1968, there were only 13 cars registered in Dubai. Today, there are nearly 2 million. * Robot jockeys are replacing children in camel racing. * 39% of the luxury Burj Al Arab hotel (the fifth-tallest…
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Worth Quoting
Gustave Flaubert On Travel's Humbling Effect
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” Gustave Flaubert
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A Word to the Wise
audacious (adjective)
Audacious (aw-DAY-shus) means bold, daring, fearless. As I used it today: “I pick an audacious title – one that is likely to attract attention. Then I challenge myself to write something that measures up to it…
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Worth Reading
The Land Where the Internet Ends” in The New York Times
The range of the Internet is fast expanding. Very soon it will cover just about every square inch of the world. But some people would like the government to preserve areas where cell phones cannot operate. The…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Six Surprising Uses For Windex Beyond Windows
Is Windex safe? I don't know. But here are six ways - aside from windows - to use it.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
An Argument in Favor of College… or Not
Many of my Libertarian colleagues, who are among my smartest friends, don’t believe in going to college. A recent essay by James Altucher on his blog – titled “Seven Reasons Not to Go to College (and a…
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A Word to the Wise
sine qua non
Sine qua non (sih-NAY kwah NOWN) is Latin for “without which, not.” We use the term for something that is absolutely indispensable or essential. As I used it today: “The first of [life’s three essential…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Pythagoras Invented The Word Philosopher For Himself
Pythagoras coined the word philosopher to describe himself as a “lover of wisdom.”
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Worth Quoting
J.D. Salinger on Inconvenient Truths
“No one wants the truth if it is inconvenient.” – J.D. Salinger
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Worth Reading
The Day the Music Burned” in The New York Times
In June 2008, a fire erupted on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot. Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record company, told reporters that nothing much of importance was lost. But the blaze had…
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Fun and/or Interesting
An Amazing Street Drummer
I love watching street musicians, acrobats, and other such performers. And if I can see, at a glance, that they are doing something special or that they have attracted a responsive audience, I cannot resist…
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Notes From My Journal
My Very Anal Daily Routine – Just in Case You’re Interested
Every so often I get a letter asking about my daily routine. As if, I suppose, it would be useful to others. Everyone must find his own routine, but I do understand why someone would ask. I love reading about…
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Worth Quoting
Ernest Hemingway On The Brutal Art Of Writing
“There is nothing to it [writing]. All you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” – Ernest Hemingway
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Worth Reading
The Papa Connection” in Taki’s Magazine
Taki’s Magazine is a regular of mine. It’s extreme in some ways… racist and misogynist. But its writers are smart and its editor, Taki, could be the most interesting man in the world. When he writes, I’m…
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