Posts by Mark Morgan Ford
How to Become Wealthier in the Next Year by Creating a Second Income
I have a suggestion for your 2010 wealth goal: To create a second stream of income by starting your own business. This is not the only way to get rich, but it is — far and away — the most reliable way. It’s also the way that most wealthy people got that way. There are…
Read MoreIf You Want to Eat Better, Cook More
According to a recent survey, the typical American spends about 14 minutes preparing breakfast-type foods, 16 minutes making lunchtime salads or sandwiches, and about 22 minutes cooking dinner. Why are the averages so low? Because most Americans eat pre-made (often frozen) convenience foods. I think that is especially true of hardworking entrepreneurs and superstar employees.…
Read MoreA Foolproof Program for Achieving Your Goals in 2010
According to polls, almost all Americans — about 88 percent of us — plan to make New Year’s resolutions this year. That’s good. But this isn’t: More than half of those resolutions are abandoned (or broken) on January 2. Another 10 percent will be forgotten (or broken) on January 3. By April 1, more than…
Read MoreE-Mail and Return Buttons
I used to make this mistake all the time — copy a “sensitive” e-mail to the wrong person. And then try to explain that I didn’t really mean what I had said in black and white. It’s so embarrassing! And so unnecessary. The last time it happened, I belittled a colleague’s proposition, calling it “insane.”…
Read MoreDon’t Read Investing Books
Over at our sister publication, Investor’s Daily Edge, they’ve just interviewed resident bond expert Steve McDonald. And if you’re the type of investor swayed by cable news hype or what’s on the bestseller lists, you should take a look. Here’s an excerpt: Andy: What investment book would you recommend to our readers? Steve: I stopped…
Read MoreYou Don’t Need to Be a Creative Genius
You don’t need to be a marketing genius to have a successful entrepreneurial business. You can get by very well by identifying marketing genius in someone else and leveraging it. I had lunch recently with “John.” He owns and runs one of the most successful direct-marketing jewelry businesses in the country. They sell their products…
Read MoreBoost Your Salary By 10% Next Year
Let’s start with some simple arithmetic. Joe Ordinary is 25 years old, makes $28,000 a year, and gets ordinary 3 percent to 4 percent yearly increases. Over a 40-year career, he makes approximately $2.3 million. Elwood Extraordinary is not satisfied with ordinary. He follows the advice he gets in Early to Rise every morning and…
Read MoreThe Food Pyramid Turned Upside-Down
In his last THB Undercover, Total Health Breakthroughs’ Managing Editor Jon Herring exposed the idiocy of the government-recommended Food Pyramid. If you trust the government for advice about health, this will edify you. If you don’t, it will amuse you. In either case, read it here… In the early 1980s, nutrition expert Luise Light, MS,…
Read MoreA Perfect Way to Spend Christmas Day
As I’ve done every Christmas for several years now, I’ll be spending the day at home with my family. We’re going to have a blast, doing all the traditional things one does on Christmas. The stockings, hung by the chimney, will be opened first thing. I especially like the stocking stuffers — unexpected little trinkets…
Read MoreA Little Christmas Assignment
Christmas week, I spend a lot of time having fun. But I also review the progress I’ve made on my goals during the year. I do that by: Reviewing my journal entries — a full year’s worth of entries. I pay special attention to any promises and commitments I made that haven’t been kept. Reviewing…
Read MoreWhat Should You Be Doing on Your Last Full Workday Before Christmas?
On a normal workday, I try to do something “important-but-not-urgent” first thing in the morning (like writing an Early to Rise article or a chapter for my next book). And if you’ve been reading ETR for any length of time, you know that important-but-not-urgent tasks are the ones that can really make a difference in…
Read MoreThe Power of a Simple Goal
When Joe Mokwa became Chief of Police for St. Louis in 2001, he had a big problem on his hands. Since 1962, St. Louis had been plagued by an average of 145 homicides a year. How did Mokwa handle it? He made it his goal to get the number below 100. And he transmitted that…
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