Ask Altucher

What is doubt?

James says doubts are all in your head. "If I X, then the result of Y may not be great" – that's a doubt.

Don't let doubt control you. Instead, use it as a tool.

Action is the only thing that will make you successful. Living in your head will never get you anywhere.

Listen to today's episode and don't doubt your decision.

Regards,

David Newman

 

PS – James was on Farnoosh Torabi's podcast So Money yesterday. It was a great interview and we thought you might want to listen.

Direct download: AA20Ep20319.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 11:53am EDT

James once played poker for more than 365 days in a row. He was obsessed.

He’d just sold a business and had a ton of cash in his pocket, but he had no friends. He thought he could make both money and friends by taking up poker.

He quickly learned that in poker, psychology is 90% of the battle and understanding the odds is the other 90%.

He loved it and those lessons have stuck with him.

And he learned that he should have kept doing what he was great at. 

Listen to today's episode to find out what he did next.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep20318.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 10:35am EDT

There are about 250,000 podcasts available today, but what's the business model?

Business models don't have to come first, but problems that you solve and your passion to solve them should.

Listen to today's episode and learn why James and Claudia podcast.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep20317.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 1:52pm EDT

Today we're going to have some fun...

James and Claudia share a list of their 11 top TV shows:

1."Arrested Development"

2."Breaking Bad"

3."Better Call Saul"

4."Peep Show"

5."Madmen"

6."Louie"

7."Veep"

8."Silicon Valley"

9."Freaks and Geeks"

10."Rome"

11."House Of Cards"

Listen to today's episode and please send us your suggestions for the best TV show works of art.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep20316.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 10:37am EDT

How can you build your network of influencers? Ignore the obvious. Don't do what everyone else is doing.

Don't send the people congratulations on their birthdays. Everyone else is doing that.

Instead, notice them and acknowledge their work.

James does this about four times a day, every day, and he has built up a huge network.

You can, too.

Listen to today's episode, and start building your network.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep20315.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 9:37am EDT

Your friend's spouse is cheating and you know about it. What should you do?

This exact situation happened to James once and he decided to stay out of it. By saying something, he would have injected himself into his friend's relationship. He thought it was better to let them work it out themselves.

This is a tough question, but you can't be the solution to every problem.

Listen here to today's episode, and...

Be there for your friends.

Regards,

David Newma

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep20314.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 12:21pm EDT

Scott Young spent $2,000 and got a "degree" from MIT... And he never had to leave his house.

He calls it the "MIT Challenge."

Scott believes you might learn better without having to go to college for four years.

He spent four years getting a business degree and he still had a longing to learn computer science. But he didn't want to spend four more years of his life in school and accumulate all that debt.

He wanted the education, but not the school.

He has taken a few classes online before and thought, "If you can learn a class, why not an entire degree?"

But when he was done, would anyone hire him?

Listen today to find out.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep2031320w20Bestseller20ad.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 4:03pm EDT

I can't seem to make new friends...

Today's question is from someone who's recently out of prison and can't find a true friend except his wife.

James and Claudia each define what a true friend is.

To find new friends, you have to put yourself out there.

And you have to be a good friend to get new good friends.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep20312.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 1:12pm EDT

Claudia is upset...

United Airlines grounded all their flights recently due to a computer glitch. This glitch had nothing to do with their airplanes. People just couldn't check in.

United probably has layers and layers, and more layers, of new software laid over old software, millions of lines of code and bug fixes on top of bug fixes.

James says this is the preverbial "canary in the coalmine" problem for United.

Fix this or its end is near.

James relates this to the employee who every two weeks gets his same paycheck. He should always have a plan B and a plan C in place, just in case.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep20311.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 12:56pm EDT

Did mastering chess change James life? 

Yes. It has opened all sorts of doors for him and taught him to look at everything a little differently.

He spent his youth studying everything about chess. 

He learned how to learn, and he learned how to lose.

Regards,

David Newman

P.S. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

 

A great new resource shows a clever way to start a business, get a new job, find a retirement career, publish a book, make extra money in your spare time, and more.

Direct download: AA20Ep2031020final.mp3
Category:business -- posted at: 12:39pm EDT