Archives for August 2017

Best Success Biographies

August 18, 2017 by 9 Comments

tip-o-the-morning

Tom Corley boats - crop

I’ve received numerous emails and comments requesting that I provide a list of recommended biographies. Before I do, I thought I’d share the daily routine that enables me to do my daily reading.

DAILY BOOK-READING ROUTINE

  • Wake between 3:30am – 5am.
  • Read for 20 minutes at desk in home office during workweek. During weekend: 30 – 60 minutes.
  • Read for 5-10 minutes on toilet – I keep 2 or more books in my bathroom for this purpose.
  • Listen 90 – 120 minutes to audiobooks while commuting to and from my CPA job. I subscribe to Simply Audiobooks. My subscription = max of 2 audio books. I read one, then mail it back to them. They send me a new book in about 4 days. I also buy about 5-10 audio books a year from Barnes and Noble or Amazon. I will go through 1-2 audio books a week. I give each book about 30 minutes. If it sucks, I stop listening and return it immediately to get another book. 75% of the books I listen I return immediately. Don’t waste your time reading or listening to books that suck.
  • Read 15 – 30 minutes at night, prior to sleep. 50% of the time, this = entertainment reading. My entertainment reading includes Science Fiction/UFO books/Pre-history books.
  • I maintain a BOOK BINDER.  In my BOOK BINDER I summarize every book worth summarizing. One to ten pages is the average. I do this for all of my books, but it is especially beneficial for the audiobooks that I return. It gives me a record of audiobooks I listen to which I must return. I stack my books to summarize. Once a month I spend about a week summarizing the books I’ve read.
  • At last count, I own approximately 1,600 books. Some hardcopy, some audio.
  • I read about 50 books a year. I listen to about 50 books a year.

BIOGRAPHIES I RECOMMEND

  • THE LAST LION – WINSTON CHURCHILL
  • SAM WALTON – MADE IN AMERICA
  • RICHARD BRANSON – THE INSIDE STORY (MICK BROWN)
  • TESLA (MARGARET CHENEY)
  • CARNEGIE (KRASS)
  • WINSTON CHURCHILL – AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT
  • THE LAST AMERICAN – THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
  • THE OUTSIDER (JIMMY CONNORS)
  • THEODORE REX
  • MORGAN (JEAN STROUSE)
  • GANGIS KHAN – CONQUEROR OF THE WORLD
  • EINSTEIN (RONALD CLARK)
  • THE SAM WALTON STORY
  • BE MY GUEST (CONRAD HILTON)
  • GHANDI (FISCHER)
  • THE UNIVERSE AND DR. EINSTEIN (LINCOLN BARNETT)
  • JOHN ADAMS (McCULLOUGH)
  • MAESTRO (WOODWARD)
  • ELON MUSK (VANCE)
  • GENERAL PATTON – A SOLDIERS LIFE (HIRSHON)
  • IOCOCCA – AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (IOCOCCA)
  • COLUMBUS (BERGREEN)
  • DUTCH
  • NAPOLEON (MARKHAM)
  • COOLIDGE (AMITY SHALES)
  • CHURCHILL & ORWELL (THOMAS RICKS)
  • COACH WOODEN AND ME (JABBAR)
  • EINSTEIN – HIS LIFE AND UNIVERSE (ISAACSON)
  • ALEXANDER HAMILTON (CHERNOW)
  • BEYOND BASKETBALL – COACH K’S KEYWORDS FOR SUCCESS (MIKE KRZYZEWSKI)
  • HIS EXCELLENCY – GEORGE WASHINGTON (JOSEPH ELLIS)
  • ADAMS VS. JEFFERSON (FERLING)
  • THOMAS JEFFERSON – THE ART OF POWER
  • ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND HIS TIME (SAVILL)
  • NAMATH – A BIOGRAPHY (KRIEGEL)
  • REAGAN (H. W. BRANDS)
  • FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT (JENKINS)
  • TEH RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT (EDMUND MORRIS)
  • THE SOUL OF A BUTTERFLY – MUHAMMAD ALI
  • STEVE JOBS
  • THE FIRST TYCOON = THE EPIC LIFE OF CORNELIUS VANDERBILT
  • EINSTEIN (ISAACSON)
  • FOUNDING RIVALS (CHRIS DEROSE)
  • ON WRITING (STEPHEN KING)
  • RENEE DECARTES
  • HARRY HOUDINI (SLOMAN)
  • A LIFE OF RICHES – THE BIOGRAPHY OF NAPOLEON HISS (RITT & LANDERS)
  • THE MATCH (FROST)
  • SIR ISAAC NEWTON
  • GALILEO’S DAUGHTER
  • ONE NATION (BEN CARSON)
  • LEONARDO DEVINCI
  • PISTOL PETE
  • MILTON FRIEDMAN – FREE TO CHOOSE
  • THE ROAD TO SERFDOM (F. A. HAYEK)
  • THE AMERICAN CREED – BIOGRAPHY OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ( CHURCH)
  • KEYNES HAYEK (NICHOLAS WAPSHOTT)
  • LINCOLN (DAVID HERBERT DONALD)
  • MARRIOT
  • E=MC2 – A BIOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS EQUATION (DAVID BODANIS)
  • JOHN JACOB ASTOR – AMERICA’S FIRST MULTIMILLIONAIRE (MADSEN)
  • THE LAST FOUNDING FATHER (UNGER)
  • ST. THOMAS ACQUINAS (McINERNY)

 

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

Rich People Study Rich People

August 17, 2017 by 7 Comments

tip-o-the-morning

Tom Corley boats - crop

In my Rich Habits Study I identified 334 data points on the habits, thinking and traits of 361 rich people and poor people and then compared those data points to each other. I found one set of data points very interesting:

68% of the self-made millionaires read biographies of other successful people

VS.

91% of poor people did not read biographies of other successful people.

Why was this important, I wondered? 

After some thought, the answer became obvious – history is the study of other people’s mistakes. What better way to avoid mistakes, then to read about the mistakes of other notable, historical figures so you can see those mistakes in advance of making them yourself?

When you read biographies of other successful people, you become a student of their mistakes.

Why is this important?

Wealth and success are typically built upon a foundation of mistakes. The more mistakes you make, the more you learn what works and what doesn’t work. This is growth. The more you grow, the stronger your foundation. The stronger your foundation, the greater your chance for wealth and success.

Making mistakes, however, is very costly. The costs = time and money.

Those biography-reading, self-made millionaires were smart. They decided it would be less costly to learn from the mistakes of others, saving themselves time and money.

Studying other successful people is, therefore, one of the cost efficient shortcuts to creating success and building wealth. Studying the mistakes of others, allows you to see in advance, the mistakes to avoid in life.

When you become a student of other successful people, you are able to anticipate mistakes in advance of making them. Avoiding mistakes is critical to success. Too many mistakes and you can run out of money, resulting in failure. Individuals who make the fewest mistakes, therefore, save time and money, which keeps them in the game. Since success takes a long time, the key is to stay in the game as long as you can.

Everyone who is serious about pursuing success, should be reading biographies of other successful people.

What books are you reading right now?

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

Believe in Belief

August 16, 2017 by 4 Comments

tip-o-the-morning

Tom Corley boats - crop

Belief creates miracles. Belief transforms the impossible into the possible. Beliefs transforms ordinary individuals into extraordinary individuals.

It was the power of belief that created Steve Jobs.

It was the power of belief that created Elon Musk.

It was the power of belief that created Thomas Edison.

It was the power of belief that gave 145 of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study the courage, energy and persistence to pursue and realize their individual dreams.

It is this same power of belief that will transform your life from ordinary to extraordinary.

There is virtually nothing the human mind cannot conceive and then create. But in order to create, you must first believe. Belief marshals all of the resources of the human brain. We are the only creatures on earth that possess this God-like quality to create. But the power to create depends on the power of belief. Belief is the path to making the impossible possible.

To achieve great things in life, you need to believe in belief. Belief allows you to overcome all doubts. It makes you unstoppable.

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

Pursue Discomfort

August 15, 2017 by 1 Comment

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Tom Corley boats - crop

The only time you are truly growing is when you are uncomfortable.

Discomfort forces growth:

  • Doing something different, forces growth
  • Acquiring new knowledge, forces growth
  • Practicing a new skill, forces growth
  • Developing new relationships, forces growth
  • Abandoning old, toxic relationships, forces growth
  • Forging new, good habits, forces growth
  • Abandoning old, bad habits, forces growth

Why is growth so important?

Becoming rich requires success and the prerequisite for success is ALWAYS growth.

Without growth you stagnate. You become stuck. You know when you’re stuck. You feel it in your bones:

  • Boredom – When you are stuck, you experience boredom.
  • Hopeless – When you are stuck, you experience hopelessness.
  • Discontent – When you are stuck, your life is not in balance. You have a feeling of discontent.
  • Chronic Stress – When you are stuck, you experience long-term stress.
  • Doubt – When you are stuck, you become filled with doubt.
  • Helpless – When you are stuck, you feel helpless.
  • Depression – When you are stuck, you become depressed.
  • Treadmill – When you are stuck, you feel as if you are on a treadmill, getting no where in life.

Growth is the antidote to being stuck.

Growth is, however, uncomfortable. It requires that you step outside your comfort zone. It requires that you challenge your ideology, your thinking, your existing knowledge and your beliefs. It forces you to do things that are different from the way you have been doing them for years.

Only through discomfort is growth possible. If you want to succeed in life you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

Ideology is Anti-Growth, Anti-Success and, Thus, Anti-Wealth

August 14, 2017 by Leave a Comment

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Tom Corley boats - crop

Ideology is group-think. It requires embracing the thinking of others. This herding, provides protection. So, ideology provides protection. It is human nature to seek the safety of herds. 

While herds provide protection, they also act as a stopgap on achievement and success.

Wealth is a byproduct of success. Success is a byproduct of growth. Growth is only possible by embracing new and different ideas, new and different information, new and different practices and new and different opinions. Anything new or different leads to growth. Growth leads to success and success leads to wealth.

Ideological bias is a bane on achievement. It forces you to close your mind to ideas, information, ways of doing things and opinions that conflict with your ideology. When you close your mind, you cease to grow. 

Those who are ideologically biased close their minds to anything which challenges their ideology. Thus, they become stuck in life and do not grow. Any success they do achieve, is therefore, limited.

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

Rich Habits Poor Habits Episode 36 | The 4 Paths to Wealth

August 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Becoming rich means taking risk or making sacrifices, you get out what you put in.

In Tom Corley’s five-year Rich Habits study of 233 rich people and 128 poor people he discovered that your habits dictate your circumstances in life.

He discovered that daily habits dictate how successful or unsuccessful you will be in life.

There are four ways to become rich:

  • Live Below Your Means
  • Expand Your Means
  • Do Both
  • Getting Lucky

1. Living Below Your Means

Living below your means and investing your savings prudently is the only guaranteed way to become rich.

But, this approach requires enormous sacrifices – you must manage your spending your entire life and that requires making sacrifices: small house in an inexpensive neighborhood, no vacations, no restaurants, no kids. lose saving

If you do have kids your kids are forced to sacrifice along with you.

They have to buy their own stuff: iPhones, movie tickets, toys, cars, college education, etc.

Most are unwilling to make those sacrifices.

We want the nice home in the safe neighborhood, we want the nice vacations, we want to give our kids their iPhones and a college education.

So, for the vast majority, living below your means requires too much sacrifice.

But, for those willing to make the sacrifice, wealth is virtually guaranteed.

So, the question is, how bad do you want to be rich? Is being rich so important to you that you are willing to make the sacrifices that are required?

2. Expand Your Means farm seed soil grow wealth

Expanding your means usually requires taking on risk and working long hours, by pursuing a dream or starting a business.

According to my research and many other studies on wealth creation, about 80% of the multi-millionaires and billionaires make their money this way.

The upside is enormous wealth where everyone in your family benefits from your risk taking and hard work.

The downsides include time away from family due to long work hours or poverty, you could fail.

3. Doing Both

Living below your means and expanding your means requires the most sacrifice.

4. Getting Lucky

Getting lucky means you fall into money somehow without any real effort. success

Examples of this are big gambling wins such as hitting the lottery, the slots, horses, etc.

Or, you you inherit your wealth – you’re born into a rich family or inherit money from a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother or sister.

The reason so many gamble is because they are unwilling to make the long-term sacrifices required.

Almost everyone wants to be rich, but they want that wealth without having to take on risk, work long hours, or make sacrifices for themselves or their family.

Becoming rich is not easy.

 

 

Filed Under: Featured Articles

The Mindset of Millionaires

August 11, 2017 by 1 Comment

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Tom Corley boats - crop

Since most are poor or stuck in the middle-class, clearly the way they are thinking is not working for them. The precursor for success and wealth accumulation, at least according to my Rich Habits research, is forging a Growth Mindset.

A Growth Mindset is a daily habit in which you pursue and acquire knowledge every day.

Sounds simple, right?

Well, it’s not. In fact, for most it’s unattainable. Here’s why.

Forging a Growth Mindset requires the following two things:

#1 Challenging Your Ideologies

Ideologies represent fixed categorical thinking we typically inherit from our parents or from our environment. It is dogma we accept without reflecting upon why we accept it. Ideologies represent foundational thinking that are more like tunnels. These tunnels keep us isolated from understanding or acceptance of other ideologies that might differ from our own. We simply accept our ideologies and dismiss any other ideologies that contradict them. Thus, our ideologies, when unchallenged, stunt our growth.

Some ideologies are religious. Your parents were Catholic, so you are Catholic. Catholics believe they will enter the Kingdom of God. Catholics believe if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ you will not enter the Kingdom of God. I should know, I was raised a Catholic. I was taught our Catholic religion was superior to all other religions. Jewish people disagree. So too do Muslims and Buddhists and many other religions. Who’s right? Your religious ideology says, you’re right.

Some ideologies are political. Your parents were Democrats and, thus, you are a Democrat. Why are you a Democrat? What is it about being a Democrat that makes it right? What is the Democratic agenda or platform? Do you even know? Maybe you’re a Republican. Why?

Some are racial. Many in Germany, during the Nazi era, believed white people, or the arian race, was superior. Then, in the 1936 Olympics, Jesse Owens won four gold medals. Did that change the thinking of millions of Germans? No. Why? Because ideology fixes your thinking. And facts that interfere with ideology, are ignored.

Some are socioeconomic. Until America entered the world’s stage in the late 1700’s, it was a widely held belief that those born into royalty were superior. The royal blood line was fanatically protected. Kings and Queens ruled most of the “modern” world. These royal dictators controlled most of the resources in the kingdom. They created the laws under which millions lived.

Then America, threw a wrench into everything. There was no royalty in America. Capitalism, thrift, hard work and merit dictated who controlled the country’s resources. Soon after, many countries around the world followed suit, embraced capitalism, and eliminated the need for dictatorships.

#2 Challenging Every One of Your Beliefs

Beliefs represent the acceptance of something without any proof. They are inherited unconscious programming. We adopt the beliefs of our parents, family, mentors culture and our environment (neighborhood, town, city, state, country).

Your beliefs cause you to develop habits. Some beliefs hold us back in our adult lives. Most people are not even aware of the negative and limiting beliefs they have. These beliefs prevent us from becoming successful in life and in many cases they act like an anchor dragging us down into failure, poverty and a life of misery.

If you’re struggling in life, your beliefs are likely the culprit. What are your beliefs? Do you even know?

The key to growth is to have an open mind. Those with an open mind challenge their ideologies and beliefs. This fosters growth through learning. You can’t learn and, thus grow, if your mind is closed by your ideology and your beliefs.

 

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

Bad Parenting Produces Poverty

August 10, 2017 by Leave a Comment

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Tom Corley boats - crop

One of the most controversial aspects of my Rich Habits Study was the direct correlation between bad parenting and poverty.

What I discovered in researching the habits of poor people was that bad parenting, irrespective of childhood socioeconomic status, resulted in poverty. In simple English, I found bad parents were far more to blame for poverty as they passed along Poor Habits to their children.

Bad parents come in many varieties:

  • Alcoholic parents
  • Drug addicted parents
  • Incarcerated parents
  • Gambling addicted parents
  • Abusive parents (physical or mental or both)
  • Toxic parents (negative, angry or emotionally out of control parents)
  • Combative parents (parents who fight with one another)
  • Invisible parents (parents who ignore their children)
  • Untrustworthy parents (infidelity)
  • Parents with bad habits

Conversely, I learned from my research that good parenting, irrespective of childhood socioeconomic status, had far more to do with creating wealth than anything else in society.

Good parents also come in many varieties:

  • Compassionate parents
  • Mentoring parents (parents who mentor their children to succeed)
  • Positive parents (upbeat, enthusiastic, optimistic parents)
  • Trustworthy parents (parents devoted to one another)
  • Harmonious parents (parents who greatly care for one another)
  • Parents with good habits

Many who become poor adults continue to blame their parents throughout their lives for their poverty. While this might help rationalize poverty in the minds of the poor, it does nothing to fix it.

For those born into households with bad parents, the great elixir or remedy for this, is mentorship. Finding a success mentor in life, I learned from my research, mitigated the impact of growing up in a bad parent household.

This is why it is so important to find a success mentor in life. Success mentors erase much of the damage caused by bad parenting. They provide the template for a successful, wealthy life.

In my book Rich Kids, I share the success mentoring strategies and Rich Habits 177 self-made millionaires learned from their parents. Most of the parents of those self-made millionaires (76%) were poor or middle-class, highlighting the fact being raised poor or middle-class is unimportant. What is important, however, is being raised by good parents – parents who are success mentors to their children.

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

We Are Hardwired to Focus on One Thing at a Time

August 9, 2017 by Leave a Comment

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Since 2004, I’ve been studying the wealthy. I’ve found two core ways self-made millionaires rose from poverty or the middle-class:

  1. Live Below Your Means and Wisely Invest Your Savings or
  2. Pursue Something You are Passionate About

In all of my years of studying the wealthy, I learned a lot about number two – passion. One of the most important things I’ve learned about the wealthy who pursue some dream or passion, is that they focus single-mindedly on one thing for many, many years. They devote those years to learning, growing and practicing until they become expert in whatever it is they are pursuing. They avoid any distractions that prevent them from their single-minded pursuit. Eventually, they become expert in what they do. Only after they become an expert, do they then begin to realize financial success. And this, I found, takes a long time.

Based on my research, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s impossible to become an expert when you are pursuing more than one thing at a time. Our brains do not operate that way. We are neurologically hardwired for single-minded focus. When we embrace this neurological template, success becomes inevitable.

When you pursue something you are passionate about, your brain enters something called flow. Flow is a mental state that marshals all of the resources of the brain. In a state of flow, the left hemisphere, right hemisphere, limbic system, brain stem and cerebellum all work in unison, like a well-trained orchestra. When your brain is in a state of flow, you are able to see solutions to the problems and obstacles that get in your way. Flow can only be achieved through singular focus.

Most don’t understand this and that is why so many fail. They mistakenly believe they can pursue more than one thing at a time. When you pursue more than one initiative, one passion or one dream at a time, at best you will gain mediocrity. At worst, you will fail. Most voluntarily fail before they lose everything, which is known as quitting. Others involuntarily fail by losing everything. 

Single-minded focus leads to flow. Flow leads to success. Success leads to wealth.

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

The Longer Success Takes The Longer it Lasts

August 8, 2017 by Leave a Comment

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Success is built upon a mountain of mistakes. The higher that mountain, the greater your success.

As crazy as it may sound, you want success to take a long time. The longer you pursue success, the more you will learn from your mistakes and failures and the more expert you become in whatever you do.

Those who pursue success for a long time, build a very strong foundation for success. Thus, the longer success takes, the greater and more permanent the foundation upon which your success will be built.

We live in a world of instant gratification. This desire to achieve immediate success can make people impatient. Patience is a very important Rich Habit that self-made millionaires possess. Without patience, most will quit on themselves and on their dreams.

In my Rich Habits Study, it took the average self-made millionaire, who was pursuing a dream, twelve years to become rich and successful. That’s along time and a lot of patience. Why did it take so long?

Success takes a long time because there is so much that must be learned. Learning what to do and what not to do takes many years. When you finally begin to figure things out, you make fewer and fewer mistakes. Through repetitive practice, you eventually become more proficient in what you do – you become an expert. Expertise takes a long time.

Those who seek instant success realize little success because the foundation upon which their success is built is weak and shallow and they never develop an expertise in what they do. These individuals suffer from Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, a Poor Habit in which you are easily distracted, lose focus and move on to any new thing which grabs your attention.

What makes any great idea great, is success. And success requires a laser-like focus along with relentless persistence. This takes time. According to my research, this focus and persistence begins to pay dividends after about twelve years.

Never quit on your dreams and your goals. At some point you will figure out what to do and what not to do. But you will never succeed if you quit on yourself and your dreams. You will never devote enough time to figure things out and you will never grow into the person you need to be in order for success to visit you.

The longer success takes, the longer it lasts.

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips
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