Rich Habits Word of the Day

Concenter – Focus, concentration.  The concenter of Tom’s work was his passion to end poverty and promote the American Dream.

Rich Habits Fact of the Day

Jack Canfield, best known for his blockbuster book series Chicken Soup for the Soul, spent years focusing on gathering inspirational stories for his books. His incredible ability to focus single-mindedly on has made Jack a household name and allowed him to sell 1/2 billion books.

Rich Habits Lesson of the Day

There are two types of focus. Forced Focus is the type of focus that is driven by responsibilities, obligations and  deadlines. It frequently goes by another name – work. Forced Focus only gets you so far in life. It’s shelf life is typically short-term. One or two hours at most, without breaks. But there is another type of focus with a much longer shelf life. One that can last for not hours but years, decades, a lifetime. It’s known as Unforced Focus.

Unforced Focus is like putting your ability to focus on steroids. It is driven by passion, not obligation. Human beings are unique among all species on earth because of one singular thing. We have the ability to turn intangible thoughts into tangible things like bridges, skyscrapers, the Mona Lisa, a song or a book. In a sense, we are all godlike because of our ability to create. Every human has this unique ability to create. It’s hardwired into our DNA. I call this ability to create the God Gene. When we engage in any creative pursuit, we activate our God Gene. When we activate our God Gene we unleash the incredible powers of Unforced Focus. Unforced Focus allows individuals to focus more intently and for longer periods of time when we are in creative mode. It is because of Unforced Focus that we are able to turn dreams into reality. Only when we turn on our God Gene are we able to turn on the switch to Unforced Focus.

Rich Habits Word of the Day

Solecism – Mistake, blunder.  The solecism of his first start-up taught him lessons that eventually made him a millionaire.

Rich Habits Fact of the Day

His first company was Traf-O-Data, the objective of which was ‘to read the raw data from roadway traffic counters and create reports for traffic engineers‘. In this way, the company would optimize traffic and end road congestion.

The company’s product was the Traf-O-Data 8008, a device which could read traffic tapes and process the data. They first tried to sell the processing service to the local County, but their first demo failed because the machine ‘didn’t work’, recalled Gates. His partner, Paul Allen, summarized the experience for exactly what it was:

‘Even though Traf-O-Data wasn’t a roaring success, it was seminal in preparing us to make Microsoft’s first product a couple of years later’

And happily, that’s exactly what they did. They kept on going and Microsoft became the largest personal-computer software company in the world. But it’s still nice to know that even the richest philanthropist in the world can make business blunders.

Rich Habits Lesson of the Day

What continues to make America unique is the ability for anyone to start a business. You don’t need a college education to start a business in America. You just need to know how to read, write and do some simple math. When you start a business you will make many mistakes. In a small business, when you make a mistake, it costs you time and money. Because it costs you time and money, the lessons stick. You learn what not to do. You learn what works. You become your own mentor through the school of hard knocks. The most successful businesses in America were built on a mountain of mistakes. The more successful you are as a business owner, very likely, the more mistakes you made along the way. Starting a business is the great equalizer in America.

Rich Habits Word of the Day

Voracious – Uncontrolled, avid.  Tom became a voracious reader when he discovered that it was a Rich Habit of successful people.

Rich Habits Fact of the Day

Co-founder of Microsoft and tech icon Bill Gates has made no secret of his passion for books. Gates loves to read, and loves to share what he’s reading with others through the Gates Notes Bookshelf, full of book reviews, books he’s read, and books he wants to share with the world. Beyond recommendations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has made it a mission to bring and keep more useful technology in U.S. libraries and even libraries around the world. On a more personal level, the Gates home stands as a testament to his love of reading, with a 2,100 square foot private library, complete with a domed reading room, and a Leonardo da Vinci notebook valued at nearly $31 million.

Rich Habits Lesson of the Day

ALL successful people were mentored. Some were mentored by their parents, others by teachers and still others by someone who took them under their wing at work. When you find a mentor it is as if someone just deposited $4 million into your bank account. It’s that valuable. But not every successful person has a real-life mentor. Some have no choice  but to find their mentors in books. Books can actually be your mentors in life. Biographies of successful people, self-help books, success books, history books and how to books can take the place of real life mentors. They can lead you down the right path in life, inspire you, motivate you and educate you just like any parent, teacher or career-mentor can. Spending 20-30 minutes a day reading these types of books will open your eyes and pave the road for you in life.

Rich Habits Word of the Day

Confederate – Partner, collaborator.  Jamie Dimon and Sandy Weill were confederates in their efforts to change the face of banking in the U.S.

Rich Habits Fact of the Day

Jamie Dimon is one of the most successful, respected bankers in the world. Dimon was mentored by the legendary broker/banker Sandy Weill. The Weill-Dimon team was legendary for how intensely they worked together and how many mega-deals they struck. It was a far cry from the typical employer/employee pairing. In 1983, Weill, then at American Express (AXP), hired a young, eager Dimon (whose stockbroker father had worked for Weill) when he was just 26 and fresh out of Harvard Business School. Weill left American Express in a huff not two years later, and Dimon followed his mentor.

The two of them worked side-by-side culling deal opportunities until they alighted on a foundering consumer lender in Baltimore called Commercial Credit, took it public, and used it as a base with which to build Citigroup. The string of successful mergers culminated in 1998 when Weill’s Travelers, the former insurance giant, merged with Citibank. As Weill’s detail man, Dimon took care of the day-to-day minutiae of many a merger. And to many observers, their relationship seemed like that of father and son.

Rich Habits Lesson of the Day

If you are not among the lucky few to have been blessed with a parent-mentor all is not lost.Finding someone at work who can act as a mentor is the next best option. A career-mentor will help ensure success in life. How do you go about finding a mentor at work? It’s simple. You look for someone at work that you admire and respect and ask them to be your mentor. Let’s say you find someone at work who fits the bill, here’s how you ask them to be your mentor:

‘John, I’ve been watching you for some time and you are very good at what you do. I would like to follow in your footsteps. Would you be my mentor here at work?’

How could John say no? Unless John’s a jerk, he will be very flattered and say yes. Being a mentor is not a one-way street. Mentoring also helps the mentor become a better teacher. You must really know your area of expertise to be able to teach it to someone. Being a mentor benefits both parties. Over time your relationship with your career-mentor will grow stronger and move beyond the workplace. The lessons your career-mentor will share with you will move beyond the workplace as well. Your career-mentor will teach you about success both inside the workplace and in life. He or she will share with you their morality, success principles and daily habits. They will share with you the mistakes they’ve made and the life lessons they learned from those mistakes in order to help you avoid repeating their mistakes. In this way, career-mentors pave the road to success with a smooth surface. They remove the rocks and potholes. They remove the detour signs. Career-mentoring, outside of parent-mentoring, is the most direct path to financial success.

Rich Habits Word of the Day

Prodigious – Great, abundant.  Tom had a prodigious Rolodex, filled with valuable contacts that he opened up to help family, friends, clients and frequent business associates.

Rich Habits Fact of the Day

How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie, is perhaps the best self-help book ever written on growing strong, valuable relationships in life.

Rich Habits Lesson of the Day

80% of the wealthy use four strategies to grow and strengthen their relationships. These four strategies are:

#1    Hello Call

#2    Happy Birthday Call

#3    Life Event Call and

#4    Networking/Volunteering

The Hello Call is used primarily to gather information on each contact.

The Happy Birthday Call keeps your relationships on life support. At least once a year you are forced to reach out to your contacts to wish them a happy birthday. About 5-10% of these contacts will reciprocate and call you on your birthday, taking your relationship off life support.

The Life Event Call is the most powerful strategy because it puts your relationships on steroids. This is a call you make to acknowledge some life event: birth, death, engagement, marriage, health issue etc

Networking & Volunteering allows you to meet new people and offers the opportunity to showcase your skills in a safe, friendly and stress-free environment.

Rich Habits Word of the Day

Susceptive – Responsible.  Tom was susceptive to all success and failure that accompanied his life.

Rich Habits Fact of the Day

“Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.”
― Confucius

Rich Habits Lesson of the Day

Poverty is a circumstance. It is also a mindset. You must change your thinking in order to change your circumstances in life. If you believe, as many do, that poverty is caused by factors outside your control, you will never break free of the bonds of poverty. Those who are successful in life take full responsibility for their circumstances. They don’t blame anyone but themselves.

Rich Habits Word of the Day

Magnanimity – Generosity.  Tom was surprised by the magnanimity of family members and friends who sent him gifts when his book became a bestseller.

Rich Habits Fact of the Day

Queen of the giveaway, Oprah Winfrey ranked among Businessweek’s 50 most generous Americans from 2004 until 2010 and at last count had given away $400 million to educational and women’s causes.

Rich Habits Lesson of the Day

Gift giving to family, close friends and colleagues can sometimes be tricky. When are you supposed to give gifts? Here’s a rundown:

• Weddings and wedding showers
• Births and baby showers
• Religious milestones (christenings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs)
• Major anniversaries (10th, 25th & 50th- cards are sufficient)
• Graduations (cards are sufficient)
• Birthdays (cards are sufficient)
• Housewarmings
• Retirements (cards are sufficient except if colleague)