Once Upon a Time...

There was a young boy, on his way to the market. He carried a sack filled with home-baked sweets and rolls to sell. He felt very proud to be entrusted by his mother with such an important job. As he walked, he drifted into daydreams of all the money he would make for his family.

Henry enjoyed the warm summer day. Walking on the dirt road, the bees buzzing, the sun shining. He hadn't a care in the world.

Henry's mother worried about him, as he always had his head in the clouds. Henry wasn't very practical at all, didn't take life seriously and was always concocting some strange notion or other on how to make money for the family.

Henry felt bad about this, he tried to be serious and practical... several times he vowed never to think fanciful thoughts again. He wanted to be like his brothers - dour and responsible. But it was difficult. Sometimes he'd forget and for a while, he decided to pinch himself every time he found his thoughts drifting away. This didn't last long, as he quickly got tired of all the bruising.

Along the way, there was a dirty old man sitting by the side of the road under an enormous oak tree, dressed in rags. He was rocking back and forth, muttering to himself. Between his crossed legs sat a box about the size of a shoe.

When the boy, whose name was Henry, got closer, the old man started to sniff the air like a dog picking up a scent.

"Hey... Boy!" shouted the man. "What ya got in the sack? Sure smells good!"

Henry was startled out of his reverie and came to a halt. "Umm, well I've got sweet rolls to sell in the marketplace."

"Oh ho! I thought so... well it looks as if you've been walking for a while, why don't you sit down under this tree and take a few minutes of shade?" The old man invited.

"I really can't - I'm supposed to go straight to the market." Said Henry.

"Ah, but would you like to see some magic?" Cackled the old man.

"Magic? You mean like turning me into a newt or something?" Asked Henry skeptically. The old man certainly didn't look like any kind of magician.

"No, no, no, not at all... unless you want to be a newt. Do you?" The old man inquired.

"Um, I'm not sure my mother would approve." Answered Henry.

"Hmmm, sensible woman." Nodded the old man.

By this time, Henry was really starting to enjoy the coolness of the shade, and he thought to himself, "I'll just stay for a minute or two..."

"No, I'm talking about real magic." The old man cocked his head and looked at Henry sideways.

He patted the soft cool grass beside him and Henry sat down with the ease of a young man's limbs.

"What kind of magic?" Indulged Henry.

"Real magic that changes you from the inside, not the outside."

"I don't understand... besides, I'm sorry to say this - but you don't really look like a magician." Henry said as gently as he could.

"Ahhh, and how many magicians have you met?" Came the pointed reply.

"Not many..." Henry mumbled.

"Any?"

"Well, no." Admitted Henry.

"Then how do you know what a magician is supposed to look like?" Cackled the skinny old man, his eyes twinkling with delight.

"See here Henry, I'm not here by accident. I've been waiting for you. Waiting until you were ready. You are ready, aren't you?"

Henry was bewildered, "Ready? Ready for what? And how do you know my name? Are you really a magician!?!"

"Ha! Heee, hee... I am, but as to knowing your name - well it's embroidered on your shirt. I suspect it's so you don't confuse it with your brother's clothes." The old man's ears waggled with delight.

"Oh." Said Henry in a small voice. It was true, his brothers were forever taking his clothes until he had crudely written his name in thread on them.

To be continued...

Why The World NEEDS You To Be Wealthy

Dear Friends,

I had a funny thought today as I was playing with our dogs (1/2 Wiemaraner 1/2 Yellow Lab) Bella and Loki (named all-to-accurately for the Norse God of Mischief).

As we were tussling with their favorite toy, it occurred to me that most of the world's problems are far better solved by Entrepreneurs than by anybody else.

Lets look at the history of Government do-gooding... not so good after all. To twist the phrase, "The Road to Mediocrity is Paved With Good Intentions and a Bureaucracy".

After 40 years of our best efforts to fight "The War On Poverty" it seems as if all we've done is institutionalize it.

Frankly, it's a fools errand to steal from those that are productive and give it to those that aren't.

This has been amply magnified by our disastrous foreign aid policies... We insist on sending American grain to countries in need; no problem there.

But (and it's a big but) as Buckminster Fuller said, "You can never do just one thing". By dumping all this free grain, we created the unintended consequences of:

• Destroying the entire local agricultural economy.
• Forcing farmers to leave their fields and migrate to already overcrowded cities to find work.
• Creating slums and shantytowns with little to no clean water and sanitation facilities.
• Permanently crippling the capacity of the country to ever feed itself again.
• Artificially boosting the birth rate ( universal biological response to the relief of starvation)
• But because of the population migration, this new influx of people is concentrated in exactly the wrong places.
• Because of little to no opportunity in the city for unskilled, illiterate peasants, they turn to crime, drugs alcohol and violence.
• Meanwhile, the fallow land is taken over by desertification. (Contrary to popular belief, farmed land left idle does NOT regenerate on its own... it quickly degrades into a barren wasteland).
• And finally, to add insult to injury, we have the arrogance, the presumption to ask for their gratitude. I believe that in Japanese the word for "gratitude" can also be translated as "resentment" which is exactly what we get.

All because of a government program.

Now, contrast this with the "Micro-lending" banks of Asia and India. These loans of $50 or so help a mother buy a few chickens and/or rabbits as breeding stock. She raises them for family consumption and sells the excess for cash. The food for the livestock comes from the cullings of the family garden. The earth prospers from the natural fertilizer, people are fed, and villages are maintained.

This is the promise of Entrepreneurship.

Sure it starts small, but this cycle is in harmony with nature and is a perfect example of how wealth is CREATED - not just divvied up.

As each of us CREATES NEW WEALTH, there's more for everyone... without all the suffering, corruption (did you know that most of the grain that we sent over to places like Ethiopia and Somalia was sold on the black market by the very governments we were trying to help?)

Better by far to help others learn to create their own wealth than to strip it from the "Haves".

Here's an idea: let's all become "Haves"...

Yours in Wealth,

Erik

Just Released: Erik's Newest Book!!!

It's been a lot of work, but I'm so excited to finally be able to announce...

My latest book:

"9 Simple Rules for Building a World-Class Business".

Over the last 17 years, I've personally worked with several hundred small business owners and talked to thousands more about doing three major things:

• Make More Money
• Work Less
• Have More Fun

Funny, each and every one of these entrepreneurs starts out saying the exact same thing...

"Gee Erik, I know you've helped all those other people - but my business is different".

And, from one perspective, every single one of them was right. But those differences are never where the problems hide. It's been my iron-clad experience that the vast majority of business problems are ALWAYS the same.

No matter what industry, from Construction, Chiropractic practices, Plumbers, Industrial manufacturing, Restaurants, Printing houses, Newspapers or Retail stores... the problems facing each business are universal.

Which is good news! Because that means by mastering a few key skills, you can prevent, solve or avoid the vast majority of entrepreneurial roadblocks.

I've distilled it down to 9 Simple Rules. Follow these rules and you'll be so far ahead of your competition they'll cease to matter as a practical issue.

You really can Make More Money, Work Less and Have More Fun... all at the same time!

Yours in Wealth,

Erik