by Marc Fisher
When we left the lunch, I shared my thoughts with the publisher, and strongly recommended that he not deliver the 10,000 books UNTIL AFTER he got paid for them.
Surprised, he asked me why I was suspicious of the promoter, whom he had found to be charming and honest beyond his suspicions. He was taken aback to hear such mistrust coming from Marc Fisher, someone who is supposed to be always POSITIVE. I told him exactly what I just told you, about my intuition. We each went our way.
Time passed. The day before the event, still guided by my intuition, I went to Sergio’s bank to have the cheque certified. I had a vague eerie feeling that he might not have the funds in his account. But he did! I breathed easier, and told myself that perhaps my mistrust was unfounded, and that I probably should have ignored my intuition. That same day, the publisher called me to gently tease me because he hadn’t had any problems getting paid for the 10,000 copies before delivery. Obviously, I had been paranoid. I apologised honourably. Well, everybody can be wrong once in a while…
But the day after the event, the phone rang again. It was the publisher, calling to tell me that we had got off “lucky”.
The government the day of the event had seized all of Sergio’s accounts because he owed a fortune in unpaid taxes! The crafty tax officials had waited until Sergio had received all of the money from the participants before striking!
As a result, none of the cheques that the speakers received the day of the event could be honoured!
My intuition hadn’t warned me that Sergio was in trouble with his taxes, but it had warned me that he was a very unusual businessman…
My intuition had warned me of an imminent danger!
And because I listened to it —and thanks to a bit of good luck —I wasn’t affected! I was the only speaker to be paid in full!!
In addition, I had probably prevented my friend the publisher from suffering a heavy loss, because the promoter declared bankruptcy just one week later!
By following my intuition, like any true lazy millionaire, I had avoided a personal loss of $20,000… and helped a friend avoid a loss, too.
So in a way I made $20,000 in what… 5 seconds? 10 seconds? —if we forget the time it took me to go to the bank to have the questionable cheque certified!
How much does it make an hour?
In fact, the work of my intuition generated even more in income because my friend, the publisher, avoided a loss of more then $25,000.
In his brilliant book entitled Blink, Malcom Gladwell writes: “We live in a world that assumes that the quality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into it.”
The talented young New Yorker writer made this insightful reflection after he noted the surprising results of a study that I will explain below.
One day, psychologist Nalini Ambady showed students three ten-second videocassettes of a professor with the sound off, and the opinions of the students were consistent. Ambady then cut the tapes down to five seconds, and the evaluations essentially remained the same. They remained remarkably identical when she showed the students videos that lasted only two seconds. Ambady then compared these “instant” evaluations with evaluations of the same professors that were provided by students who had spent an entire semester in their classes, only to find that the evaluations were all consistent. According to Gladwell, this is representative of the adaptable power of our subconscious mind.
Or in other words, it’s the extraordinarily economical power and wisdom of intuition.
Which is behind the lazy millionaire’s delights —and fortune.
Why do so few people trust their intuition?
Undoubtedly, it’s because we live in a world where the left side of the brain (for righties) is often deemed to be more important: the side that controls rationality and logic…
If it isn’t scientific or empirical, it can’t be trusted —it’s nothing more than an old wives’ tale!!
In his fascinating work entitled The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Freud makes very enlightening comments about intuition and about the degradation of its importance with the advent of scientific thought and “progress”.
“The Roman who gave up an important undertaking because he sighted an ill-omened flock of birds was superstitious. But if he withdrew from an undertaking because he had stumbled on his threshold, he was absolutely superior to us unbelievers. He was a better psychologist than we are striving to become. For his stumbling demonstrate to him the existence of a doubt, an internal counter-current the force of which could weaken the power of his intention at the moment of its execution. For only by concentrating all psychic forces on the desired aim can one be assured of perfect success.”
In other words, when the Lazy Millionaire reads his horoscope —if of course he has the time and inclination to do so! —and he is told, like every other Aries or Leo in the world is told, that he must abstain from making any important decisions on that day because Jupiter is casting a negative influence, he knows that it would be far too superstitious of him to stay home in bed.
However, if by some flukes he takes three wrong turns on the way (even though he knows the area well!) to signing an important contract with a new client, or if he can’t find his keys, he might consider this is his intuition, which is (far more) cleverer than he is, trying to tell him something, sending him a sign to NOT go and sign the contract that may appear to be lucrative, but which could be devastating because the client will never pay or will cause so many problems he wished he’d never signed him up.
You may not have a good “feeling” when you meet someone for the first time, even though you have only heard good things about the person…
A little bird tells you that an employee or a patron has not been honest, so much so that he can’t look you in the eye when he’s speaking to you…
I’m sure that you know what I’m talking about…
In any case, the Lazy Millionaire is always on the lookout for these signs: listening to his intuition saves him time and money.
But make sure you take the time to do your homework and check things out, even if it is just a quick check, before you jump in and invest your last dollar in an adventure you feel good about!
However, I would like to add a proviso: if your intuition ALWAYS tells you that ALL of your projects are pointless, and that EVERY person you meet is dishonest or incompetent, you should question it.
You are probably more negative then you think.
So begin right away your education as a lazy millionaire!
Only then will you be able to rely on your intuition.
CHAPTER 16
GIVE YOURSELF A LAZY MILLIONAIRE’S AGENDA
“Great geniuses often produce more by working less,” Leonardo da Vinci once said.
These sound like the words of a true lazy millionaire!
And because they were uttered by one of the greatest minds of all times, it’s important to listen carefully. Like the advice that he gives in A Treatise on Painting: “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, because by working constantly, you lose the ability to judge effectively….”
So not only should you do what you like to do, but rest often and take frequent vacations!
That’s what the greatest achievers do.
Why do you think Tiger Woods doesn’t play in all the tournaments, just like the great Jack Nicklaus before him?
Because, like his illustrious predecessor, he knows that it is not possible to have the energy, intensity, and concentration necessary to win week after week —and more importantly, to win the major tournaments, which are milestones in his career.
So he takes care of himself.
He manages his efforts and his rest effectively.
Like a lazy millionaire.
Because the Lazy Millionaire knows that his most valuable assets are his time, and his… ENERGY!
Without energy, and especially without the highest,
purest, and most vital form of energy, he will never be able to achieve great things and make money the lazy millionaire way.
Without energy, he will not be able to have clear ideas.
Without energy, he will not be able to come up with a million-dollar idea.
Without energy, he will be like most people, which do not see and seize an opportunity because they are exhausted from work!
Without energy, he will not be able to avoid costly errors in judgement.
Without energy, he will not be able to convince those around him to join him in the direction that he has chosen: that of fortune and success. So he protects his energy like a real treasure.
In a way, instead of managing his time, the lazy millionaire manages his energy.
Mark Twain once said: “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it!”
Couldn’t we make the same comment about work?
Everybody talks (and complains!) about having to work so much, but nobody takes vacation often enough.
The Lazy Millionaire does not complain, because it is part of his life discipline to not exceed his limits and to take care of himself.
Contrary to popular belief, people who worked too much are constantly LACKING IN SELF-DISCIPLINE!
It’s for this very reason, because he is disciplined, that the Lazy Millionaire SERIOUSLY plans his vacations in his agenda…
And seriously means often…
In fact, every time you start to feel stressed, negative, moody, depressed… that means that it’s time to stop! (If you have felt this way for years, then you have a lot of catching up to do!)
Because your body is telling you something.
Your body is telling you that if you don’t take a vacation, it will take one for you!
Without your consent: you will get sick!
If you don’t take care of it, it will take care of you!
Which do you prefer?
Lying tanned on a beach with good company nursing a margarita, or lying in your bed alone nursing a high fever?
So do not waste to much time working unless is a game for you.
Instead live like a lazy millionaire.
PART II
THE ART OF ALWAYS BEING
ON VACATION
CHAPTER 1
TAKE YOUR TIME, BECAUSE… IT’S YOUR TIME!
They say that “time is money”.
If that’s true, then I have bad news for most of you: I get the impression that you don’t have much money because.
Because ten or twenty times a day, I hear people around me complaining: “I don’t have time!”
“I’d like to exercise, read the latest best-seller, or spend more time with my children but… I don’t have time!”
“I’d like to travel more, play more golf, take a vacation, but. I don’t have time!”
“I’d like to see my cousins or aunts more often than once every thee or five years, but… I don’t have time!”
And every time you bury an old uncle or aunt, you promise yourself that you will make an attempt to see your relatives in places other than a funeral home.
But the next time, somewhat amused, and feeling terribly guilty, you remind each other that you made the same promise the last time you saw each other, that these weren’t just empty promises: that you will get together under better circumstances!
Nevertheless, if there are no baptisms or weddings in the family, you don’t see each other: you have to wait until the next funeral! We are all in a Grand Prix race, a Grand Prix that is increasingly more expensive…
That’s normal —it’s a Grand Prix, which can be literally translated as Large Price!
So each day you have to drive faster and faster, right up to the last lap, which sometimes comes sooner than you ever expected!
For all intents and purposes, as they say, you walked into your life at the age of twenty, moved into or prepared to move into your first apartment, because your parents were anxious for you to... get your own life and spread your wings, so that they could spread their wings again and start living again!
You burn the candle at both ends, because you are studying AND working. so that you can pay for your education and cover all of your other expenses. For the first time in your life, you understand why your father yelled at you all through your teenage years to... turn off the lights: the cost of electricity is outrageous!
And you feel that certain sadness when you think of your father, whom you always perceived as a maniac and a penny-pincher.
You drive behind the wheel of a tiny, rusted out Honda that you absolutely love, because it’s your first car, and because it just keeps going, and costs very little in gas…
At the age of twenty-five, you finally have your first “real” job, your first real partner, and your first new car (albeit a small one). You continue to burn the candle at both ends, because you now live in a bigger apartment, and you have to pay back your car loan. Regardless, you are bursting with energy (and debt!), and you tell yourself that you have your whole life ahead of you…
At the age of 30, you start to earn a little more money, and you begin looking at nicer cars, maybe your first Lexus, but, your plans change at the last minute, because you find out that you’re about to have a child. As soon as you get married, (these little events are quite expensive, of course), you set out to buy your first house.
You continue to burn the candle at both ends, and even in the middle, because there are now three mouths to feed.
But you tell yourself that it’s temporary, and that by the time you are forty, you will finally be able to relax, travel, and live a little.
Of course, you don’t relax at the age of forty, because for the first time in your life you have found a truly interesting job, with responsibilities, but also obligations, like the obligation to work sixty hours per week!
You finally start to earn some real money, but you don’t really feel like it, because you have finally purchased your first BMW, and you have a second child, which is far more expensive than the first, because you also have a second spouse: the first one divorced you because you worked sixty hours per week. You have also inherited a huge alimony payment, which unfortunately is not tax-deductible.
At the age of fifty, you begin to feel the symptoms of fatigue (which is normal when you have two children and two marriages!): you often have a sore back, you have the beginnings of a stomach ulcer, and you take glucosamine sulphate because your left knee hurts when you play golf —even when you use the cart!
You sometimes feel sharp pains in your heart, especially after your best friend suffered a heart attack, which killed him.
And you are worried, because your favourite cousin, whom you promised to see more often during your last visit to the funeral home —well, the last time you ever saw him was at the funeral home last week, after he passed away from intestinal cancer!
So you begin to understand that you are not immortal, and that now might be the time to stop burning the candle at both ends, before it’s too late.
For the first time in your life, you feel as though… you no longer have your whole life ahead of you!
You finally understand that comedienne Lily Tomlin was not joking when she said: “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”
Maybe you aren’t a rat, but you are dog-tired, because you have worked like a dog for thirty years.
You may object, and tell me that there is nothing you can do about it, that everyone has the same problem, or has no time, that everyone is in a hurry, that everyone runs all the time, and that, to paraphrase Freud, it’s just one of the ills of our time.
I know.
At the restaurant, at the garage, at the pharmacy, virtually everywhere you go, at every counter, you are told “It won’t be long!,” in order to not lose your clientele or to avoid a possible burst of rage (you are never told this at the hospital, because they know you aren’t that naïve —it will be long)!
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It won’t be long.
You may be tempted to respond: “I hope not, because just think, I don’t have my whole day ahead of me —I have important things to do!”
After you have read this little book, I sincerely hope that you will respond differently…
Perhaps you can answer like I do, because I have nothing really important to do in life, other than living it, of course!
In any case, when I am warned that: “It won’t be long!” I answer: “I’m not in a hurry.”
I don’t say this only to be polite, but also to take some of the pressure off the employee who is serving me.
In reality, and with no exceptions, this is because I am never in a hurry.
I like to take my time.
After all, it’s my right —and it’s my time, isn’t it?
If my time is my own, isn’t it only normal for me to have it and to own it, instead of allowing myself to be owned by it, like most people do?
I am often told —and I’m not sure if this is a compliment or an insult —that not only do I appear to have all the time in the world, but also I look like I’m on vacation, or just returning from vacation…
You know, that’s my favourite compliment.
Let me just say that it’s better to be told that than the opposite: “Hey —you really need a vacation…” especially when it’s your boss who says it to you, and who decides on your behalf that it will be a very long vacation! Shouldn’t we always look like we’re on vacation?
That would be great, because that way, we wouldn’t always be anticipating our two or three weeks of annual vacation by pitifully counting down the days and striking them off on the calendar.
Instead of looking spent, exhausted, and fed up. we could look like we’ve been on vacation all year long!
We’d be in a perpetual good mood!
And when the time came to take our real vacation, we would really benefit, because we wouldn’t be heading into it (and coming out of it) half dead.
At the end of two or three weeks, we wouldn’t feel frustrated at the prospect of returning to the office after just starting to decompress, and starting to feel our good mood returning, and that our best should be kept for ourselves, and not for our boss!