Today's question is a tough one and it's from one of our listeners who texted in this question to 203-512-2161.

To paraphrase, his start-up failed, he was in a divorce, he was in a car accident and when he reported it to the police, his license was suspended because he hadn't paid a speeding ticket.

He's incredibly stressed and wondering how to deal with it.

As James recounts, almost the exact same thing has happen to him.

First off, you're not alone...

"Tomorrow is not dictated by yesterday, but tomorrow will be dictated by what you do today."

Take a deep breath, pause, and try to get healthy. Get a good night's sleep, start exercising, and be grateful.

Try to improve just 1% a day – the compounding effect with be amazing.

Then, James tells us what he read recently while he was traveling back and forth from his recent TedX talk in San Diego.

Here's James' latest reading list:

The Art of Stillness: Adventure in Going Nowhere by Pico Iyer

Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan

Everything is Bullshit: The greatest scams on Earth revealed by Priceonomics

The Laughing Monsters: A Novel by Denis Johnson

City of Thieves by David Benioff

Luck... it has been written about for years. Today James tackles both sides... what is luck and why did this person ask this question?

Was Mark Cuban lucky? Who knows? But if you know the back story of Mark's rise to success you'll understand how much work went into his success.

When he made his first few million, he didn't quit. He leveraged his success and "got lucky" again.

And although he's a billionaire (a few times over), he still has not quit. Just tune into Shark Tank and you'll see why he has been so consistently "lucky."

Have you created what you think is the next big idea, but you're afraid to tell anybody because you're afraid they'll steal your idea?

What should you do next? 

Should you send it to LinkedIn, Google, or Zappos? And will they just steal it?

James says, "just send it to them." If they use it, that means your idea was good and it won't be the last good idea you ever have. But that's how you get in.

Give your ideas away for free. You'll be repaid a hundred times over.

 Are you an aspiring artist? Have you always wanted to be an actor, a director or a producer?

If so, what’s the best city to launch your career, N.Y., L.A? 

Today James and Claudia discuss why neither of those are good choices. 

Claudia offers great insight here.  Asking what city should I start in is the wrong question. The right question should be, what scene should I shoot today.

Make the city come to you. 

No matter what you’re aspiring to be…

The only good choice is to Choose Yourself

Some days there's nothing better than a great feel-good story. It just makes you feel good inside.

If you listen to today's episode, you'll know what I mean... 

James and Claudia are relaxing in sunny San Diego today and decided to take the show outside to enjoy the weather and recharge.

If you've listened to James for a while now, you'll know that one of his keys is to keep healthy. He's practicing what he preaches.

Today's question is about being alone.

Yes, it's not an easy place to be, but no matter how bad it seems, there's hope. See if you can figure out how to help other people. Go volunteer, give ideas to others, become a go-giver.

Helping others will help you up off the floor.

Today we’re doing something a bit different…

James is has a question about an industry he really doesn’t know anything about—selling cars.

So, he decides to call up the expert to learn more about his 10 step program to “closing the deal.” Enter, Leonard Kim, car salesman, author and Quora contributor.

This show is longer than usual but we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss anything.

After listening we’d like your opinion.

Do car salesman get a bad rap or are his sales techniques pretty much what you thought went on behind the scenes?

Leave a comment at www.Askaltucher.com  and let us know!

Warning… This episode is a bit explicit and may not be suitable for young children…

If you work for a company, there's a strong chance you don't have a good relationship with your boss.

James decides to put a different spin on this question. Instead of focusing on the problem, his advice is to do the opposite... You don't want to miss his counterintuitive perspective.

A listener asks James how he can be more grateful. It all starts with the “Daily Practice.” James believes being grateful is like a muscle that needs to be flexed daily. 

The critical component to becoming grateful is to stop complaining or comparing yourself to others. 

Claudia adds to the conversation. She exercises her gratitude muscle by letting it compound itself throughout the day. 

Today's Ask Altucher is a difficult one. A listener asks James advice on whether or not he should leave his alcoholic wife and children. 

James lays out a few options he thinks will help. He believes the first course of action to take is to temporarily remove him from the situation. 

Claudia, on the other hand, has some strong advice for the listener based upon things she has been through in the past. You don't want to miss what Claudia has to say.