Articles from 2019
882 articles · browse by month or scroll through the year.
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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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Fun and/or Interesting
How Parents Shape Their Children's Moral Compass
This is not universally true (you don’t need to remind me) but I’ve always had this theory that in a family with a mother and a father, the mother gives her children the moral core and the father the measure…
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Fun and/or Interesting
Why Gold Is Nature's Only Truly Yellow Metal
Gold is the only metal that is yellow or “golden.” Other metals may develop a yellowish color, but only after they have oxidized or reacted with certain chemicals.
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Worth Reading
The latest issue of Independent Healing
The latest issue of Independent Healing “The Truth Behind Cannabis Marketing Hype” 10 Conditions That CBD and Marijuana Can Effectively Treat… and 5 Others They Can’t
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Worth Quoting
M.M. Ford On Mastering Martial Arts Adaptability
“Anticipating your opponent’s moves and responding to them by moving instantly from offensive to defensive tactics and from hard to gentle moves is the sign of a master martial artist.” – M.M. Ford
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A Word to the Wise
Supplicate (verb)
Supplicate (verb) – To supplicate (SUP-lih-kate) is to make a humble and earnest entreaty or petition. As used by Gabriele D’Annunzio in The Child of Pleasure: “Andrea might writhe and supplicate and despair…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
How to Come Up With the Idea That Will Make You Millions
When people start a business for the first time, they often do so with an idea for a particular product that they believe to be both brand-new and also acutely needed – some sort of “better mousetrap” that…
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Worth Watching
Watch This — February 9, 2019
Watch This: I’ve never done any serious reading about John D Rockefeller. I visited his home in New York a few years ago and that sparked an interest that I’ve maintained. As the professor her points out, he’s…
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Worth Reading
The Story Of English: A Readable Language History
The Story of English by Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil is a readable encyclopedic history of the English language. It is well written and includes as much history of England as it does of…
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Worth Quoting
John D. Rockefeller On True Charitable Giving
“Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient become independent of it” – John D. Rockefeller
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Fun and/or Interesting
How Salt Became The Origin Of Salary
The word “salary” comes from “salt,” the oldest preservative and one of the earliest currencies.
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A Word to the Wise
Word of the Day: Egalitarian
Egalitarian (adjective) – Egalitarian (ih-gal-ih-TAIR-ee-un) means asserting, resulting from, or characterized by belief in the equality of all people. As I used it today: “They were shy and I did my best to…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
The Challenge of Charity: My Failure to Help Marcus and Gabriela
First I felt ashamed. Then I was hopeful. Then I was disappointed. Now I’m resigned. Marcus and Gabriela came to work for us in 1999 after we built a second home in Nicaragua. Marcus tended the landscaping…
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Worth Watching
Watch This — February 7, 2019
Watch This: This Swedish performer adds an extra dimension to magic.
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Who’s the Richest Author in the World?
If your number one goal in life is getting rich, becoming an author is not a great choice of occupation. The average writer in the USA, according to ZipRecruiter, is $39,179. To put that in perspective, it’s…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
Principles of Wealth #25
“Hard money” advocates and precious metals dealers contend that gold is not only the safest way to store wealth but also a very good way to grow wealth. The truth is, gold is a valid way to protect wealth from…
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From My Work-in-Progress Basket
What You Can Learn About Investing From a Las Vegas Casino
The last time I was in Las Vegas for more than a business meeting was when my children, now grown and with children of their own, were in high school. We spent a week there, marveling at the mega-hotels…
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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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