Posts by Mark Morgan Ford
How To Live To Be 100
I was taught to believe that longevity is 70% determined by your genes. Want to live a long life? Get yourself some long-lived parents! But it turns out that the ratio is actually in reverse. Only 30% of a person’s longevity is determined by genetics. Which means the other 70% is up to you. And…
Read MoreDon’t Worry About Impressing Me and Don’t…Please Don’t…Lay On A Lot of Bullshit
He had been strongly recommended. And so, when I got on the phone with him, I was expecting a sharp, take-charge guy. Instead, I got this: “I’ve been involved in strategically important roles with communications companies for 25 years. Throughout, I’ve focused on my core competencies, building brand recognition and interfaces with key personnel.” To…
Read MoreAre Your Plans Big Enough?
Donald Trump’s most important contribution to my thinking has been his constant mantra: Think big. I’m not – I admit it – a Trump-sized thinker. For me, getting into the real estate business has been a decades-long process of moving from $65,000 condominium speculations to two- and three-million-dollar apartment complexes. But sometimes I think I…
Read MoreHow to Get Noticed
There was a shipping box sitting on my desk when I came into my office this morning. It had a handwritten label on it addressed to me, care of Early to Rise. The return address was for a man from Montana – someone I didn’t know. If it were a letter, it would have been…
Read MoreA Weekend in Las Vegas
You can’t help but like Las Vegas. In terms of size, sumptuousness, and spectacle, there is no other place in the world like it. The vast, opulent malls America pioneered in the early ’90s prepare you for the size of it – and Disney World/Land can give you an idea of how friendly replica environments…
Read MoreDo You Know Someone Like This?
She was a nice looking lady. Gray hair. Antique dress. Maybe 80 years old. She asked me to autograph my book for her two sons. “Soon they’ll be managing the family estate,” she said proudly. “I thought they could get some ideas from ‘Automatic Wealth.’” “I’m sure they could,” I said. I asked her what…
Read MoreWhy You Shouldn’t Worry About Gas Prices, Part 2
On Friday, in Message #1389, I explained that to become wealthy the Michael Masterson way, you have to dramatically increase your income. And that means you have to do some extra work. But I also made the point that work doesn’t have to feel like work. It can be fun. And it can be both…
Read MoreWhy You Shouldn’t Worry About Gas Prices, Part I
Higher-than-ever U.S. gasoline prices are changing the American lifestyle, USA Today reports. One retired stock analyst, for example, is driving less and considering trading in his F-150 for a “mid-size car that will get about 25 miles per gallon.” If you are concerned about gas prices, you have a serious problem – but it’s not…
Read MoreWhy I Sometimes Wish Someone Would Fire Gene
Gene, a senior executive I consult with, doesn’t like to deliver bad news. When talking to me about problems and disappointments he’s encountered, he always finds a way to present them as good news. This is not a good thing for three good reasons: It is dishonest, manipulative, and ineffective. Turning bad news into good…
Read MoreAn Idea For You From Bill Gates That Will Help You Take A Giant Step Forward
Have you ever noticed that some of your best ideas come to you when you are on vacation? It’s a common phenomenon. And there are three good reasons that it happens so frequently: 1. When you are far away from the quotidian emergencies of your busy life, you can begin to see the big picture.…
Read MoreThe Principle of One Step Removed
One of ETR’s “11 Laws of Wealth” is that your chances of success in starting a new business decrease with each step you take away from the business you already know.
Read MoreMaybe You Shouldn’t Fire Your Weakest Link
I’ve been telling you to fire your weakest employees. What I haven’t told you is that I almost never fire mine. Well, that’s not entirely true. As an executive working for a business I didn’t own, I fired employees right and left. It was clear to me that my primary duty was to the business…
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