Posts by James Altucher
How To Develop An Entrepreneur Mindset
No business sense? No problem.
Read MoreThe Most Common Mistakes Young People Make
I lied, stole from my parents, cheated, scammed, humiliated others and laughed, threw rocks at people with the intent to kill. All by the time I was 10 years old. Later it got much worse. Later I actually thought I was smart. This is the great thing about being young: you’re so arrogant and stupid…
Read MoreThe Secret to Doing What You Love
“I came to LA because I write films,” the Uber driver told me. “I wrote a movie about kids in a ghetto, trying to survive.” We were going just a few blocks. I was lazy and didn’t feel like walking. “So far I had a meeting at CAA, do you know who they are?” he…
Read MoreHow to Create ‘Tiny Advantages’ and Crush Your Opponents
First, let me tell you how you win a game of chess (you’ll see why)… Rule #1: Make sure all of your pieces are protected. There are exceptions to this rule but in general just make sure you aren’t leaving anything hanging, that is, in such a way that the opponent can take it without…
Read MoreWhen the Price is Right You Buy (And You Win)
I wanted to learn how to breakdance, so when I was 14 I paid a kid $15 to teach me how. I paid him out of my hard-earned newspaper route money. I saw him in the street, spinning on a piece of linoleum. He had three friends with him, all of them were good at…
Read MoreHow to Come Up With Business Ideas to Test
I was depressed. And I had about four months before I was dead (meaning: I would run out of money). The idea muscle is like any other: it atrophies without use. Mine had atrophied. Every morning I would leave for “work” (I was unemployed and unemployable at that moment) and go to a cafe. I’d…
Read MoreUsing the 5/25 Rule to Learn to Say ‘No’
When I was 12 I was obsessed with a book on my parents’ shelf. “Don’t Say Yes When You Want to Say No”. A pop psychology book from the 70’s all about sex. I would pretend to be sick. Stay home from school. Read the book over and over again, fascinated by the stories. Too…
Read MoreThe Power of Loneliness
Everyone loves the David Bowie hit, “Starman.” “There’s a starman waiting in the sky, he’d like to come and meet us but he thinks he’d blow our minds.” Only…the song is not about a star man. It’s about the loneliness of two boys. The song starts with a boy late at night listening to the…
Read MoreI Have No Confidence… So This Is What I Do
I am nervous all the time. Going to a party, I always try to back out at last minute. Even a party I threw last year, I tried to not go and three people had to call me and convince me to come. Business deal – I am scared right before every meeting and will…
Read MoreDo You Follow the Law of Magnetism?
Here’s a little lesson on the law of magnetism: Harrison Ford was a carpenter before he was the biggest star in the universe. George Lucas needed carpentry work on a door in the studio. Harrison Ford knew Fred Roos who was working for Lucas. Ford had briefly known Lucas because he played a small role…
Read MoreThe Ten Commandments of Con Men
I told her I would never write about her again. The first time I wrote about her was in 2009. I met her in a bookstore and she was drawing and I was attracted to her. I asked her what she was drawing. She told me her whole story. And then a week later I…
Read MoreI Doubted Everything In My Life… Here’s What Happened
Someone wrote on Quora: “I want to benefit all of humanity as much as possible. But how can I get over all the doubts I have?” My response: You’re going to totally fail. Your doubts are completely correct. I’m not saying this in some reverse psychology way. You’re not a teenager (if you were – I…
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