Understand Your Ultimate Goal

Several years ago I was living in New York City and taking the subway to work every single day.  Like many young people, I had been taught somewhere along the line that this was “the place” to work and where the most sophisticated work happened, where the highest salaries are paid and where the most important work occurs.  I think this is true to a great extent.  The city is extremely exciting and people work so hard there they cannot help but become incredibly good at their jobs.  The concentration of businesses in New York also creates an abundance of extremely [Read more]

As Seen on TV, P.T. Barnum, Penis Pills and Your Career

I confess that I took no pains to set my enterprising fellow-citizens a better example. I fell in with the world’s way; and if my “puffing” was more persistent, my advertising more audacious, my posters more glaring, my pictures more exaggerated, my flags more patriotic and my transparencies more brilliant than they would have been under the management of my neighbors, it was not because I had less scruple than they, but more energy, far more ingenuity, and a better foundation for such promises.             — P.T. Barnum

One of the greatest marketers of all time was P.T. Barnum who coined the phrase “The Greatest Show on Earth.”  P.T. Barnum was the absolute king of promoting various events during the 1880′s and understood advertising and marketing concepts that are still [Read more]

Use the Power of Contrasts to Drive Yourself Forward

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. Richard P. Feynman, Nobel-Prize Winning Physicist

When my father was growing up, his father used to spend occasional Sunday afternoons driving him through expensive neighborhoods around Detroit and showing him the expensive houses in these neighborhoods.  My grandfather was a newspaper man and never made a lot of money.  When I was growing up, my father also didn’t make a lot of money and did the same thing with me.  It was often uncomfortable cruising three miles an hour down these streets.  A lot of the reason I was uncomfortable with this had to do with the fact that I knew a lot of [Read more]

Finish What You Start

If you drive less than an hour outside of any major city in America, you will very quickly begin to see a different world. Typically, in the best neighborhoods and areas the lawns are well maintained and there is not much to see beyond trees, flowers, and shrubs. When you start getting into poorer neighborhoods outside of major cities, however, you begin to see things like automobiles on blocks rusting in front yards and the landscape looks a lot different. I’ve ridden through these neighborhoods with wealthy people from larger cities. At least once I heard someone say something [Read more]

If You Want to Earn More, You Need to Be Worth More

Your financial requirements and what you would like to earn have nothing to do with what you are worth in the market. In running my various organizations, I have hired superstars from the very best universities with the very best work histories who ended up contributing next to nothing to the organization. I have also hired people who started out making close to minimum wage, and whose contributions were so great their salaries doubled, and in some cases even quadrupled. Several years ago, the contribution of one of our departments, which was then around 10 people, was so great I literally doubled each and every member’s salary in one short 15 minute meeting. Are you someone who contributes so much to your organization your salary merits doubling? Or do you merely have a sense of entitlement and feel you are worth more than you are paid? I cannot tell you how many times I have heard statements like the following: “I made this much four years ago; therefore I should be making more right now.” “My wife told me that I need to get a raise.” “I think it is really important that I get this car because it will show some outward sign of success.” “I know of someone who makes even more money than this in [some other city] and, therefore, I need to make that much as well.” “This is an expensive city, and I need to be paid that much to live well.” “I would like to have some extra spending money for travel and other things, after paying the mortgage on my house.” “I need to make enough money to afford to send my kids to a private [Read more]