Wed, 19 November 2014
Today, we're mixing it up a bit. Robbie Abed, author of the book Fire Me I Beg You and CTO of Technori, pestered James for four years trying to pin him down to "have coffee together."
James thought he was going to call Robbie's bluff by saying, "Yeah, sure, just drive up to my town eighty miles north of Manhattan and meet me there at 12:10."
Well, Robbie called his bluff and showed up.
So James and Claudia invited Robbie back to their house, turned on the mics, and recorded today's Ask Altucher.
Robbie has about 250 "coffees" a year with people.
He has used these meetings to create a huge network of people helping people. He knows them all and he has used this to create a business-development company.
Relationships take a long time to build. It took Robbie four years to finally connect with James and I think this is going to lead to something much bigger. |
Tue, 18 November 2014
Everyone is allocated a certain amount of energy per day.
Today, James and Claudia talk about how you can "hack" your peak energy. This trick will help you be your most efficient.
For most people, about two to four hours after you wake up are your peak hours, but this is determined by your healthy practices. Healthy eating, getting a good night's sleep, and healthy breathing are very important.
Claudia and James talk about some breathing exercises she teaches. If you're interested in learning more from "The Master," click here.
Use your peak hours to take care of the most important work… the work you love.
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Mon, 17 November 2014
Picking a great business partner is the most important decision you can make. Great partners are critical.
It's like a marriage. There's a contract and an obligation to spend a lot of time together.
Business life is intense...
You have to have good chemistry; you have to really trust the person or you're setting yourself up for failure.
In our second segment, James shares with Claudia his ideas about the big trends coming over the next century. |
Fri, 14 November 2014
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 |
Thu, 13 November 2014
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." |
Wed, 12 November 2014
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. |
Tue, 11 November 2014
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
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Mon, 10 November 2014
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... |
Fri, 7 November 2014
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. |
Thu, 6 November 2014
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! |