Eighty-six

“Eighty-six” is diner slang for taking an item off the menu or canceling an order. It’s also used by bars and restaurants when they refuse to serve an unruly or drunk customer. By extension, it can mean rejecting, discarding, or getting rid of anything or anyone (especially gangster style).

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Reflecting on Freedom

Just about everyone claims to be in favor of freedom. But few seem to agree on what it means. One person’s idea of freedom can actually violate another person’s freedom. To one person, it means doing what he wants with his own life. To another, it means doing what he wants with other people’s lives.…

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Don’t Walk Away With Nothing

Important Sales Insight: People often feel guilty about saying “no.” After you’ve spent time trying to persuade them to buy something, they feel bad about just saying “no.” They may say “no,” but there is lingering guilt for having wasted your time.

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Keep It to Yourself

You know those parents who say they want to be their children’s “best friends”? You know the ones I’m talking about. Those obnoxious moms and pops with six-pack abs and designer jeans who have fun smoking pot with their kids and passing them candy-flavored condoms.

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The art of criticism the skill of praise

How can you get your key employees to quickly develop the skills and talents they need? How do you get them to understand what you understand? In short, how do you get them to succeed? These people can make your future immensely richer, fuller, and happier. But much of what they eventually give you depends…

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Are You Taking Statin Drugs? Read This Immediately

Surprise. Surprise. Yet another important bit of information has been swept under the rug by Big Pharma. Turns out that statins, a $20 billion cash cow for the drug industry, have a serious side effect: They can cause a huge drop in the body’s level of CoQ10. And if you’re one of the 13 million…

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Use Your Time to Make Real Money, Not Count Small Change

One of the stupidest and most damaging myths is that you can become wealthy by pinching pennies. Suze Orman and David Bach should be arrested for perpetuating this idiotic idea. And the media powerbrokers who give them a soapbox to stand on — starting with Oprah Winfrey — should be tarred and feathered as accomplices.…

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A Great Sales Letter Formula

Last month, I spent less than one hour adapting a simple one-page sales letter to be e-mailed to 215 people who’d recently done business with one of my clients. The e-mail was simple. Basically, it said: “Thank you for your recent purchase. Now I’d like to give you preferential pricing on a product I think…

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Get Happy by Trying Not To

The secret to more enduring happiness is to do less for yourself and more for others. Happiness comes to you not when you are making yourself the center of your universe but when you forget yourself and look outside. This is a truth I learned late in life. And it is one I have to…

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Fighting Your Way to a Heart Attack

Speaking of making yourself happier and your life easier, there are serious health benefits to both of these good habits. A recent study, for example, has confirmed that stress and anger can be linked to heart disease. The researchers looked at 150 married couples. None of them had ever been diagnosed with heart disease. Each…

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