Posts by Mark Morgan Ford
5 Business-Building Lessons Re-Learned in Nicaragua
I just returned from my monthly business trip to Nicaragua, where my partners and I are developing 3,000 acres of immensely beautiful land on the Pacific Ocean. It’s been a seven-year project. When we first invested there, our friends and colleagues thought we were crazy. “It’s dangerous,” they warned us. “Isn’t there a civil war…
Read MoreYou’re In Charge – Now What?
You’ve been promoted to a new position that involves greater responsibility and a new group of employees. This is your big chance. What you do in your first 100 days can make you or break you, according to a new book called “You’re In Charge – Now What?” The book’s authors, Thomas J. Neff and…
Read MoreShould a Business Be Run Like an Army?
“You make me look like the bad guy,” Carl told me. We were having drinks after a long day’s work. Although we implemented a strict rule against talking about work after work (and especially when drinking), we were drinking … so we ignored our rule. The problem, Carl explained, was that I was too complimentary…
Read MoreEliminating Stress
You can’t lead a happy, healthy, and productive life when you are feeling crummy. You can’t work very well. You can’t be creative. And you can’t enjoy the company of others. So why is it that so many people, so much of the time, are downright miserable? Is it the existential situation – the psychological…
Read MoreCan A Scientific Breakthrough Help You Overcome Your Fear of Success?
Beth Cox’s acrophobia was on the verge of wrecking her life. She couldn’t drive across bridges in her car, couldn’t stay in hotel rooms higher than three stories, couldn’t enjoy mountain biking, roller coasters, etc. Profiled in a recent issue of US News and World Report, Cox was described as “fearless in all other parts…
Read MoreThe Truth About Getting Rich
Here’s a truth about wealth building that some financial experts and government regulators don’t want you to know: You can’t get rich by scrimping and saving. Despite what so many books tell you, the “miracle” of compound interest works only for the very few – those rare birds who begin investing for retirement when they…
Read MoreReason or Gut Instinct: Which Rules?
REASON OR GUT INSTINCT — WHICH RULES?
Read MoreProfit and Purpose
Do you know exactly where your business will be in five years? Can you tell me its size? Its status? It’s production numbers and it’s profitability? Do you know what kind of good or evil it will be doing? And if you think you know, how can you be sure? There are days when I…
Read MoreHow to Achieve Moral Perfection
Thirteen rules from Ben Franklin that can help you achieve moral perfection, which has more to do with living a good life than being superior to others.
Read MoreOne Very Good Way to Make a Very Nice Living as a Retired Person
The following is an account of how my friend BM is going to be living one day soon. All of the numbers are real. All he has to do to realize his dream is convince himself to let his son and brother run his main business for him . . . Imagine this as your…
Read MoreWhat You Can Learn About Marketing from the Vioxx Debacle
Merck, the company that sold the infamous painkiller Vioxx, will soon be fighting off thousands of class-action suits by Americans who feel they were harmed by the drug. Ever since the announcement that Vioxx could be linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, lawyers have been “trolling for potential clients,” according to…
Read MoreWhat My Speech Coach Taught Me About Success
I love writing ETR. And the larger its readership gets (420,000 now and counting), the better I like it. A growing audience means more income opportunities for the staff and a bigger theater to air my thoughts. Writing for a large group is exciting — but speaking to one fills me with dread. Like most…
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