Re the Mar. 14 issue in which I talked about one of my experiences in Japan: 

MS sent in an amusing short video about some Japanese rules of social etiquette. Click here to watch it.

Re Ready, Fire, Aim

“Ready, Fire, Aim is the best book I’ve ever read on how to build a profitable business from scratch. My partners and I used it as a blueprint for taking our business to $10+ million in revenue. Now I make all my employees read it.” – MM

Re the Mar. 28 issue on stress: 

“I thought your piece on the ‘upside of stress’ was a good one. It makes sense to me that it’s not the stress that hurts you, but how you react to it.” – JP

“I feel the same way when I’m preparing for my competitions. I’m going to try that protocol next time I do. Oh, and good luck. I’m sure you’ll kick butt!” – PL

Re the Mar. 23 issue on Ben Carson:

“Good piece on Ben Carson. I thought he was the most composed of the candidates and stayed composed during his tenure as Secretary of Housing under Trump. It’s crazy that he’s been so demeaned by the mainstream media.” – PL

Re my interview with Charles Mizrahi:

“I watched the interview you did with Charles Mizrahi. You were good when you were looking at the camera, but when you were looking away, which was often, it was very distracting. You should get someone to coach you when you do interviews.”
– AS

Re my review of Kill Your Darlings:

“Thanks for the recommendation of Kill Your Darlings. I had never heard of it. Watched it last night. It was really so interesting. Made me want to learn more about Ginsberg and that crew.” – EG

A book recommendation from JW: 

“Mark, have you read the book Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton? I’ve been reading it and found myself wondering what you’d think. I always appreciate your rare intersection of wealth building, philosophy, and art. Let me know if I can gift you a copy if there’s any interest!

“With gratitude for your many years of shared wisdom.”

My response: 

Thanks for the recommendation. No, I haven’t read Status Anxiety, but I’ve read a fair amount of Alain de Botton, and I’m roughly acquainted with his arguments in the book. I covered much of the same ground in Living Rich, but from a more pragmatic (how to live rich without necessarily being rich) perspective. I will put it on my reading list.

A letter from a young, determined-to-become-wealthy, nephew: 

“I’ve been looking at a lot of art recently as I would like to expand on what I already have. I’ve found this piece and would like to know your opinion on it and if you think it would be a good investment. I have the link below and a picture of it in case the link doesn’t work.”

My response: 

Thanks for asking. No, I don’t think it’s a good investment.

As near as I can tell, this artist has no reputation in the world of “serious” art. He’s not collected by museums. Or institutions. Or wealthy people. He’s just an old fart like me trying to make money selling his art on Artsy.

If you absolutely love his work, buy the least expensive piece you can find (that you like). But expect the value of it to drop by 70% the moment you purchase it. I will explain more by sending you chapters of the book Im writing on this subject. Working title: The Art and Science of Investing in Art. Stay tuned!

– Your Uncle and Art Advisor

Re Critical Race Theory:

“Have you read How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi or White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo?” – AG

My response: 

Yes. I read both of them. And I’ve mentioned both of them here on the blog.

They are… how shall I put it? Just plain dumb.

CRT attributes all racial inequities to racism. Not work. Not study. Not integrity. Not ambition. The only reason one ethnic group is richer or poorer than another is because of institutional racism.

But don’t ask a proponent of CRT why it is that Blacks from Nigeria or many parts of the Caribbean outperform African Americans, Hispanics, and even White Americans in many important financial metrics. Just asking the question, they will tell you, means you are racist.

Click here for John Stossel’s comments on these two books.

Re my Mar. 9 essay “Becoming a Writer… in Spite of Myself”:

“Thank you for such an honest and candid essay about achieving a childhood dream. It is refreshing to hear a personal anecdote that rings true!” – BP

Re my Mar. 7 essay on Group Decision-Making:

“Thanks Mark. The Decision-Making article defines you perfectly. It also defines an executive I’ve been working with at my biz. Some of your articles I keep. This is one of them.” – MF

Re my Goal-Setting System:

Several readers wrote in to ask if I still use the same system. If you remember, I begin with yearly goals, which I convert to monthly goals and then to weekly objectives and daily task lists.

The short answer: I do… but with some refinements. I’ll explain in an essay I’m working on for next week.

Re the P.S. in the Mar. 7 issue:

“I have followed your writings from back when you started ETR. Your latest YouTube link to videos of people in embarrassing situations really turned me off. I grew up through most of grade school and some high school being bullied…. I have worked through most of the pain but I don’t have any desire to see others in those situations.

“I don’t understand the fascination that people have watching others suffer. Seems to me to be a sign of what is wrong with our society at the present moment. A severe lack of empathy for our fellow citizens and all the inhabitants of Earth.

“I hope we as a species find a way to improve our compassion or we may be doomed to our own extinction and perhaps that of the planet also. We do not seem to be anywhere near as smart as we think we are.” – RK

Re my Mar. 9 essay “Becoming a Writer… in Spite of Myself”:

“My son wants to improve his writing skills. He asked what books would you recommend?” – AS

My Answer: Three that come quickly to mind are The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, On Writing Well by William Zinsser, and On Writing by Stephen King. But I’ll give you a longer list on Friday.

Re my Mar. 2 essay on “Why Good Advice Usually Doesn’t Work”:

“I so get your experience with getting your ideas accepted. I guess there’s no solution but to keep pushing.” – JR

“Maybe the problem is that your good advice isn’t so good!” – PJ

Why I keep doing what I do:

“I learned a lot from Automatic Wealth [LINK]when it came out years ago. Now that my kids are in their teens I went online looking for it, thinking it would be good for them to read now that they are nearing adulthood. But then I came across the book you wrote based on it, which was even better: Automatic Wealth for Grads and Others Starting Out. [LINK]I’ve ordered a three copies, one for each, and I’ll give them to each when they graduate. Thanks!” – SS