Editor's note: In today's edition of the Masters Series, we feature an unusual piece from our friend and mentor, Mark Ford…
Mark is one of the most successful entrepreneurs we know. He has amassed a personal fortune launching an array of businesses in the service, retail, real estate, and publishing industries. Now, he's focused on helping individuals reach financial independence through his Palm Beach Letter advisory.
In today's essay – originally published December 2 in an e-mail update to subscribers – Mark addresses a disgruntled reader, who is demanding "actionable" information...
(Note: The works Mark describes are products provided to members of the Palm Beach Letter's Wealth Builder Club.)
In his response, Mark pinpoints the "bad habits" and mindset that undermine many people's efforts to reach financial security…
"I'm Disappointed in You…"
By Mark Ford, founder of The Palm Beach Letter
Question: I'm disappointed that there has been very little actionable material so far. Much of the material has been repeats of information I've already received through other Palm Beach Letter publications.
Other content has been simply introductory pieces that are, honestly, of little value. A perfect example is the one from Tom today (Income for Life No. 2). It's just another "wait" e-mail.
For those of us further along in the process of creating wealth, we are eager for actionable income-generation ideas/material. I understand that the copywriting idea was one of these, but that, honestly, isn't for me.
I really hope you guys will consider releasing the material for consumption at our own pace, instead of having to wait on it to be trickled out. Club member Chris B.
Mark's Answer: I'm disappointed in you.
You have been a member of the Wealth Builders Club for less than two months. During that time, you have received the following first essays from these series: "Extra Income," "Rental Real Estate 101," "Living Rich," and "Income for Life."
Not to mention my book The Pledge, the e-book 11 Secrets Every Wealth Builder Must Know, and a series of motivational essays to prime you for your wealth-building journey.
And you say you have received no "actionable" advice. I wonder what you mean by "actionable" because you certainly have received plenty of it.
One piece of advice I've given you – and even asked you to make formally – was to acknowledge that you are responsible for the financial situation you are in today… that the fact that you are not wealthy is nobody's fault but yours. I suspect you haven't taken that advice to heart. You haven't "acted" on it.
I suspect that you have been reading investment advice for years and years and have impulsively invested your money here and there, and none of these individual actions has made you rich. The conclusion that you have taken from this is that you haven't yet received the right actionable advice. In other words, your failure is due to other people not giving you the one actionable tip that you've been waiting for.
Because I believe everybody can reclaim themselves, I'm going to give you that advice again. You have to recognize that we've given you – already – plenty of good and valuable actionable advice. The problem is you. You haven't acted on it.
You begrudgingly admit that becoming a copywriter might be a way to create a second income but then say, "That's not for me." I am confounded by how easily you dismissed this opportunity. I have personally helped dozens of people generate six-figure incomes (and million-dollar net worths) by teaching them this powerful and universal skill. And American Writers & Artists Inc. has done the same for probably hundreds of others. It is something anyone can learn on a part-time basis. It is a skill that is hugely in demand. And it is a skill for which you can make a ton of money. But it's not for you.
So that is a second piece of actionable advice you have been given that you have ignored. OK, perhaps you will be more excited about any of about a dozen more "Extra Income" opportunities that you will be receiving over the next 12 months as a member of our club. Every one of these opportunities will be a serious way to make tens of thousands of extra dollars every year on a part-time basis. And perhaps you will "take action" on one of these. But somehow I doubt it.
I doubt it because I bet you have not taken action on another very valuable piece of actionable advice you received.
This was my recommendation that you recognize that the only way you can improve your financial future is to change your existing thoughts and habits about building wealth. I sent you no fewer than seven essays on that subject in your first week as a club member, trying to reach you by talking about it from seven different perspectives. I believe that one of the main reasons you have so far not been successful in becoming wealthy is precisely because you have the wrong idea about wealth and bad financial habits.
The idea you have about getting rich is that you do it by investing in something – some stock or business opportunity – that will take off like a rocket. So you read and read about investment opportunities, hoping to find one that will inspire you to take action.
This is not how people create wealth normally. People create wealth by a persistent effort to take action on as many sensible sounding ideas as you can. You can create wealth by the proper allocation of your resources – both your time and your money. I have already written extensively on the first tactic. And I've just begun writing about asset allocation in The Palm Beach Letter and will be continuing to do so. So you have this advice, too.
But it's not just that you have the wrong idea about how wealth is created. You almost certainly have the wrong habits, too. How do I know that? Because you are not yet wealthy. I believe that it is impossible NOT to become wealthy over time if you have good financial habits. You are not a kid. You have spent many years employing the habits you have. They aren't working. You must change them.
By the way, I have explained these habits in the free book I sent you, The Pledge. And I will continue to talk about good financial habits in the future.
I had dinner recently with a police officer by the name of Michael. About 10 years ago, he was an ordinary working stiff with an idea for a business. For several years, he did nothing with that idea. Then he happened upon Early to Rise (a newsletter I used to write) and read an essay I had written about the power of picking up the phone and pitching your ideas. He didn't remember exactly what I said, but he remembered that my advice was to ignore whatever fear he had about pitching his idea. In that essay, I had somehow convinced him to take action.
He did, and he bought me a very nice steak dinner to tell me that he had just sold his business for $8 million. He had achieved a seven-figure net worth in fewer than seven years. Although I had never coached him or given him any personal direction, he was extremely grateful to me. He attributed his current wealth to that one little piece of advice I had given him. Something that I'm sure you would call merely "motivational" and not "actionable."
Of course, I know that my advice, at best, was only 1% of the story. The other 99% was his willingness to take action and develop good financial habits as he moved his business along, one step at a time. I have, in a file, more than 1,000 letters from people like Mike who have become wealthy and attribute their success to some piece of advice I had given them that they had acted on. Every time I make a speech or do a book signing, dozens of people come up to me and tell me the same thing.
I'm saying this not because it makes me feel good (although it does), but because it proves to me that the advice I've been giving people about wealth-building is very good, very actionable advice. I know that you have already received such advice. But I also know that you have ignored it.
It is entirely up to you what you do next. You can, if you like, be angry at me for telling you this. You can cancel your membership and go out looking for some new guru who will give you the "actionable advice" you are looking for. But before you do that, stop for a moment and think.
I'll bet that you have been acting this way for years, if not decades. You've been moving around from one advisor to another, never finding someone who can give you what you think you need. This, Chris, is a very bad habit. You have to change it. If not now, then when?
Editor's note: Right now, Tom, Mark, and the rest of the Palm Beach Letter team have uncovered an investment that has made thousands of ordinary investors rich over the last 60 years. It's a situation which only occurs once every 20-40 years. To learn more about it – and subscribe to his service – click here.