The 800-pound gorilla -- aka The connection we're not making...

Wonderfully said Bob...

As I posted in...

'Last lecture' professor dies of cancer... Definitely inspirational...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=21903

Live Life to the Fullest and Treat each day like it's your last...
http://www.wikihow.com/Live-Life-to-the-Fullest

Phil

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by -TW

I saw a documentary in the UK about the "Millionaire Mind."

They made the point that the millionaire mind is almost identical to the criminal mind, in many ways.

I believe that is true.

Hi TW,

Wow, that's a very interesting thought...!

I don't know if it's true, but if it is, maybe this is why...?

It seems to me that something in common is many entrepreneurs, as well as many criminals, look for "loopholes"...

A criminal might be looking for "loopholes" in security, for example. Such as any "loophole" in bank security, store security, credit card transaction security, etc.

Many entrepreneurs look for "loopholes" too... Of course, it could be a "hole" in the market that isn't yet being fulfilled. However, it could also be "loopholes" in the law, or "loopholes" in a contract.

Bill Gates made practically all his wealth from a "loophole" he created in his contract with IBM, allowing Microsoft to sell their operating system independently to third parties. That single "loophole" brought down IBM from being the "superpower" of computers, and helped Microsoft to take over!

Of course, many of the wealthy actively look for "loopholes" in tax law, to allow them to pay less tax. (Or they have people on payroll, looking for these loopholes for them.) It's a fact that many of the very wealthy pay a lower percentage of their income in tax than the middle-class do. That's because every law has loopholes, and people can find the loopholes in the law and exploit them.

I recently read about a business which provides low-cost treatment for recovering alcoholics (called simply, "The Retreat", located in Wayzata, Minnesota). Many alcohol and drug addiction treatment facilities are very expensive, because of the medical teams they legally need to have on hand. This business doesn't have those medical teams, so they cut their costs, and can charge much less. It means that a treatment facility is available to those who can't afford the usual exhorbitant fees. The "loophole" this business uses to do this is that, they are not legally registered as a treatment facility. Instead, they are only registered to provide "board and lodging". You can read the article about them here - http://www.startribune.com/business/26187774.html

I don't know if that's the kind of thing the program you saw was referring to, but that's what came to my mind. It'd be interesting to find out more about this British documentary you saw...

Cheers,

Dien

But it doesn't say much...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/tv/millionaire/

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by -TW

But it doesn't say much...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/tv/millionaire/

Hi TW,

Thanks for the link!

I found an article which might shed some light on how millionaires can be like criminals, according to that show you referred to, "Mind of a Millionaire"...

The article is "Moneyed words" - http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/fe...160323,00.html

To quote from the article...

This enthralling series seems to prove that there is a type. Successful entrepreneurs are maniacally energetic, self-confident, self-centred gamblers. A striking 73 per cent don't notice or care what other people think of them. It is a positive asset to be poor and poorly educated. They have, essentially, all the characteristics of the criminal. As Ivan Massow (one O-level in metalwork and £30m) said to the young prisoners he was trying to motivate: "The skills you need to get into trouble are very similar to the skills you need to be businessmen." They were all, he said, entrepreneurs. "Failed, obviously."

I thought this quote near the start of the article was interesting too...

Much the most entertaining [millionaire] was 18-year-old Dominic McVey. He was the essence of Kevin. He responded to conversational gambits with grunts. He flopped in a corner looking filleted. One long, bleached strand of hair suggested the stuffing was coming out of his head. His mouth hung open. He has been a multimillionaire since he was 15, when America gave him the European distribution rights to that scooter that used to get under your feet everywhere. His headmaster noticed he was playing truant again when he saw him on TV in Tokyo, exploring the possibility of importing Japanese lavatories. "I don't think Dominic feels he needs a safety net," said this much-tried man. "He believed in himself to a degree that most people find quite irritating." Dominic agreed. "You have to be so confident in yourself it can make you cringe. But if you're not, you ain't gonna do it."

It's an interesting article...

Dien

Risk taking, paying no attention to the 'rules,' super confidence, the ability to persuade others, charm, pushing the envelope, creativity, taking advantage on untapped resources (!), competitiveness, pioneer spirit, occasional genius, seeing the whole picture, zigging when others are zagging, lone wolf syndrome, unemployable, etc.

When you're faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem.

Solutions are positive, problems are negative.

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.

[Ankesh]

Has any one seen this 2 and a half minute video: Music & Life by Alan Watts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4

Yes, Ankesh, I do understand life is a journey -- and one must enjoy it ALONG THE WAY.

In fact, I recently wrote, in another forum, this (two posts)...

The Happiness Trail...

A series of events and reflective thoughts have led me to this idea...

"The Happiness Trail" (if there is one) is not a 'trail' one tries to
put oneself ON.

Let me clarify that -- during my previous 48 years, I had assumed
that, if I took a left here, and a right there, I could strive to get
myself ON "The Happiness Trail." Like some yellow brick road.

In fact, it is impossible to put oneself 'on' the happiness trail,
because the happiness trail doesn't even exist as a trail that is *in
front of* oneself.

No.

The real "Happiness Trail" is a trail one leaves *behind* oneself.

That is, it is a trail one *creates* and leaves behind, just as a boat
leaves a 'wake.'

It is created in the form of one's legacy -- even if one's 'legacy' is
minute, or unremarkable.

It is the 'trail' of happiness one leaves behind, that is created via
the living of one's life. Minute by minute, day by day, year by year.

You can do it by accident, or you can do it on purpose -- doesn't matter.

The point remains -- the goal is not to ATTAIN happiness (as in
'reaching' for it). The best goal, as one travels through time, is to
CREATE happiness -- for the purposes of increasing the happiness RATIO
of *the 'trail' one leaves behind* -- one's 'wake.'

I came upon this idea on my own -- but I'm sure it must have
connections to already-existing philosophies out there.

I think being a father has a lot to do with it. But there are other
things that have happened to me recently (plus I'm getting older) that
have turned this light on in my mind.

In any case, this light becomes brighter every day for me -- and I'm
glad about it!

Can anyone else in the group relate?

______________________________________

Basically I was saying my eureka (which is a 180 degree 'phase shift'
to what I used to think)...

Happiness should not be looked for in the 'incoming' box. It can be
found in the 'outgoing' box.

It is not something that is *in front* of you (to be reached), it is
something that is *behind* you -- something that is *produced* by you,
to be left for you and others to realize.

It is not something you 'ingest' or 'absorb' (from without) -- it is
something that emanates *from* you.

It is thinking about death + mortality (among other things) that has
led me to this 'new' philosophy.

How much 'happiness' will each of *produce* during the 30 or so years
we have left?

When you realize happiness is something we each can PRODUCE (as seen
in this philosophy), then we must ask ourselves how much + when will
we produce, in the time we have left (and none of us knows how much
time that will really be).

We must also realize, the answer to the question of how much happiness
we will PRODUCE (each day or even hour), is entirely up to us!

______________________________________

However, that "Life's a Journey" idea doesn't EXCUSE us if we become WANDERING GENERALITIES, either.

We still must have GOALS -- and the means by which to measure those goals -- benchmarks.

"Life's a Journey" is NOT the same as "Que Sera Sera!!!"

Great video clip though -- thanks!

-- TW