Masters Series: Honesty Is the Only Way to Make Real Money

Editor's note: If you want to be successful in life and business, you must be trustworthy and honest. As author James Altucher says, honesty is the key to building a positive reputation... and it's the only way to make money in today's world.

In his book Choose Yourself – which Porter calls "an honest guide... to life and happiness" – James details 11 ways you can be more honest in your life. These are our core values at Stansberry & Associates Investment Research, and no one could explain them better...

Honesty Is the Only Way to Make Real Money
By James Altucher, author, Choose Yourself

Honesty is the only way to make money in today's world.

Nobody believes me on this. People laugh at me. "Don't you know anything? Of course dishonest people step on the honest people and have more success."

People want to justify their own failures and use their pretend-goodness to explain why they didn't start Google, or steal $65 billion, or get that last promotion when the backstabbing b---h from aisle 3 got the raise after doing who knows what.

But here's the truth. Dishonesty works... until it doesn't.

Everyone messes up. And when you are dishonest, you are given only one chance and then it's over. You're out of the game – at least until you get your act straight and you have to start from scratch with your tail between your legs.

HONESTY COMPOUNDS. It compounds exponentially. No matter what happens in your bank account, in your career, in your promotions, in your startups.

Honesty compounds exponentially, not over days or weeks, but years and decades. More people trust your word and spread the news that you are a person to be sought out, sought after, given opportunity, given help, or given money. This is what will build your empire.

I know this through countless failures. The more times I fail but communicate about it, the more times I make no money at all but let someone have ideas for free, the more times I try to "get mine" but only end up getting stabbed by those who think it's OK to be dishonest, the greater the number of seeds I've planted and the more money I'll make in the long run.

Be dishonest once, and all of those seeds will be washed away in a thunderstorm of life-killing proportions. A hurricane of despair that will sweep away all of your opportunities forever.

You are left with a desert and will have to start again.

How you can be more honest in your life...

GIVE CREDIT.

BE THE SOURCE.

INTRODUCE TWO PEOPLE.

TAKE THE BLAME.

DON'T LEAD A DOUBLE LIFE.

DON'T BE ANGRY.

NO EXCUSES.

MAKE OTHERS LOOK GOOD.

DON'T GOSSIP.

DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE GOING TO DO.

ENHANCE THE LIVES OF OTHERS.

I haven't always been honest. I try. And I hope I'm getting better. I try every day to improve and to follow the advice I've just given you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have given it. But I've seen it. With people who have been in business for 10, 20, 40 years.

Honesty compounds little by little. And that compounding turns into millions or billions.

The dishonest people disappear. They die. They go to jail. They don't maximize their potential. They run. They are scared.

You will have nobody to run from. Some people will hate you. Some people will doubt your sincerity.

But the people who need someone to call, someone to share with, or someone to give to, these people will know who to call.

They will call you.

– James Altucher

Editor's note: Porter says anyone who follows James Altucher's advice will become vastly more successful. James' book Choose Yourself is a must-read around the office. And he occasionally joins Porter as a guest host on our Stansberry Radio podcast.

Every week on Stansberry Radio, Porter speaks with S&A editors and other top investment professionals about their favorite current investing ideas. To learn more about the premium version of Stansberry Radio – and keep up-to-date with James and other industry leaders – click here.

Stansberry & Associates Top 10 Open Recommendations
(Top 10 highest-returning open positions across all S&A portfolios)

As of 10/11/2013

Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 10 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the model portfolio of any S&A publication. The buy date reflects when the editor recommended the investment in the listed publication, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if a security is still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber to that publication and refer to the most recent portfolio.

Stansberry & Associates Hall of Fame
(Top 10 all-time, highest-returning closed positions across all S&A portfolios)