A Different Way to Think About Wealth
By Michael Masterson
If you were to ask me "What's the best investment you ever made?" you might expect me to say my home in Florida. Or Rancho Santana in Nicaragua. Or even ETR.
But you'd be wrong.
My best investment - without a doubt - was the investment of time I put into about a dozen human beings.
The great thing about investing in great people is that the return compounds geometrically. I mean that literally. Because great people, well taught and motivated, hire and train and motivate other good people. And that enlarges a business in a geometric fashion.
Great people will not only make you rich, they will make you happy. They will make you happy by simplifying your life. After some early years of spending a lot of time on them, they will become independent. Yet, because they appreciate what you did for them (assuming you did, indeed, do something substantial for them), they are happy to help you out forever in the future.
Let me put this another way: I am completely sure that more than 70 percent or 80 percent of the wealth I have acquired was created not directly by me but by people I believed in and mentored. Put differently: If I had spent my career trying only to make myself rich, I'd be a much poorer person today. And, yes, poorer in every sense of the word.
How are you doing when it comes to investing in people? If you had to make a list right now... create a list of people you are mentoring... how many names would be on it?
Not everyone is in a position to mentor as many people as I am, but everyone can invest in someone. Who are you investing in?
______________________________
3 Major Misconceptions About Taking Time Off
By Robert L. Cox
It's summer. Time for a break, right?
If you just said "No way," you're part of a sad American trend. According to Business 2.0, American workers collectively reject a staggering 1.6 million years' worth of vacation time every year. And between 20 and 50 percent of those who do cash in a few vacation days bring work with them.
Here are three major misconceptions that are keeping many workers from enjoying a vacation:
1. If I'm not here... the work won't get done.
WRONG.
It is a poorly structured business plan if the plan relies solely on your endeavors and cannot continue for a week without your attention. And you can do your part to override this problem by planning ahead for your absence. If necessary, add an extra 30 minutes to an hour to your schedule each day for a few weeks before your trip. Use that time to complete projects that must be done before you leave and take care of tasks that would otherwise need to be handled during the time you'll be gone.
2. If I'm not here... I'll lose my clients.
WRONG.
Clients understand that there will be blocks of time when you cannot be available. (Keep in mind that clients schedule vacation time for themselves.) Make your absence easy on them by letting them know ahead of time when you'll be gone and for how long.
3. If I'm not here... something will come up that only I can fix.
WRONG.
It's not productive to run around like Chicken Little, yelling "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" The sky will not fall the week of your vacation. You may be invaluable at your job, but if the fate of the company truly rests on your shoulders, you need to make some serious changes.
You don't have to sacrifice your work life to make time for yourself. You CAN have both.
______________________________
As If You Needed Another Reason to Quit Smoking...
By Suzanne Richardson
Your boss wants you to quit smoking.
You see, your little habit is costing her money. Not only is she shouldering indirect health-care costs (smoking costs the U.S. $75 billion each year in direct medical expenditures, according to the American Lung Association), she's also aware of how little you actually get done!
A new study of over 14,000 Swedish workers shows that smokers aren't as productive as their smoke-free counterparts. Plus, they call in sick an average of nearly eight more days than non-smokers.
Another study, this one of 5,500 women enlisted in the U.S. Navy, found that the job performance of regular smokers lags behind that of non-smokers. Dr. Terri Conway of San Diego State University said that smoking has been linked to "decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and long and more frequent work breaks."
If you care about your career - not to mention your health - you might want to consider just how much your nicotine obsession is costing you.
If you're having trouble stopping, check out the American Lung Association's website, which has lots of resources to help you.
______________________________
Word to the Wise: Bugbear
A "bugbear" is an imaginary monster (like the boogeyman) used to scare children. The word is often used for an object of dread or apprehension.
Example (as used by Gunter Grass in The New Yorker): "Try as I might to turn [my father] into a bugbear, he was not made for the role."
Michael Masterson
__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2088, 07-07-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.
If you were to ask me "What's the best investment you ever made?" you might expect me to say my home in Florida. Or Rancho Santana in Nicaragua. Or even ETR.
But you'd be wrong.
My best investment - without a doubt - was the investment of time I put into about a dozen human beings.
The great thing about investing in great people is that the return compounds geometrically. I mean that literally. Because great people, well taught and motivated, hire and train and motivate other good people. And that enlarges a business in a geometric fashion.
Great people will not only make you rich, they will make you happy. They will make you happy by simplifying your life. After some early years of spending a lot of time on them, they will become independent. Yet, because they appreciate what you did for them (assuming you did, indeed, do something substantial for them), they are happy to help you out forever in the future.
Let me put this another way: I am completely sure that more than 70 percent or 80 percent of the wealth I have acquired was created not directly by me but by people I believed in and mentored. Put differently: If I had spent my career trying only to make myself rich, I'd be a much poorer person today. And, yes, poorer in every sense of the word.
How are you doing when it comes to investing in people? If you had to make a list right now... create a list of people you are mentoring... how many names would be on it?
Not everyone is in a position to mentor as many people as I am, but everyone can invest in someone. Who are you investing in?
______________________________
3 Major Misconceptions About Taking Time Off
By Robert L. Cox
It's summer. Time for a break, right?
If you just said "No way," you're part of a sad American trend. According to Business 2.0, American workers collectively reject a staggering 1.6 million years' worth of vacation time every year. And between 20 and 50 percent of those who do cash in a few vacation days bring work with them.
Here are three major misconceptions that are keeping many workers from enjoying a vacation:
1. If I'm not here... the work won't get done.
WRONG.
It is a poorly structured business plan if the plan relies solely on your endeavors and cannot continue for a week without your attention. And you can do your part to override this problem by planning ahead for your absence. If necessary, add an extra 30 minutes to an hour to your schedule each day for a few weeks before your trip. Use that time to complete projects that must be done before you leave and take care of tasks that would otherwise need to be handled during the time you'll be gone.
2. If I'm not here... I'll lose my clients.
WRONG.
Clients understand that there will be blocks of time when you cannot be available. (Keep in mind that clients schedule vacation time for themselves.) Make your absence easy on them by letting them know ahead of time when you'll be gone and for how long.
3. If I'm not here... something will come up that only I can fix.
WRONG.
It's not productive to run around like Chicken Little, yelling "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" The sky will not fall the week of your vacation. You may be invaluable at your job, but if the fate of the company truly rests on your shoulders, you need to make some serious changes.
You don't have to sacrifice your work life to make time for yourself. You CAN have both.
______________________________
As If You Needed Another Reason to Quit Smoking...
By Suzanne Richardson
Your boss wants you to quit smoking.
You see, your little habit is costing her money. Not only is she shouldering indirect health-care costs (smoking costs the U.S. $75 billion each year in direct medical expenditures, according to the American Lung Association), she's also aware of how little you actually get done!
A new study of over 14,000 Swedish workers shows that smokers aren't as productive as their smoke-free counterparts. Plus, they call in sick an average of nearly eight more days than non-smokers.
Another study, this one of 5,500 women enlisted in the U.S. Navy, found that the job performance of regular smokers lags behind that of non-smokers. Dr. Terri Conway of San Diego State University said that smoking has been linked to "decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and long and more frequent work breaks."
If you care about your career - not to mention your health - you might want to consider just how much your nicotine obsession is costing you.
If you're having trouble stopping, check out the American Lung Association's website, which has lots of resources to help you.
______________________________
Word to the Wise: Bugbear
A "bugbear" is an imaginary monster (like the boogeyman) used to scare children. The word is often used for an object of dread or apprehension.
Example (as used by Gunter Grass in The New Yorker): "Try as I might to turn [my father] into a bugbear, he was not made for the role."
Michael Masterson
__________________________________________________
These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2088, 07-07-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.
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