12 Things Successful People Do Differently

I’ve always been fascinated by people who are consistently successful at what they do; especially those who experience repeated success in many areas of their life throughout their lifetime. In entertainment, I think of Clint Eastwood and Oprah Winfrey. In business, I think of Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett. We all have our own examples of super successful people like these who we admire. But how do they do it?




Over the years I’ve studied the lives of numerous successful people. I’ve read their books, watched their interviews, researched them online, etc. And I’ve learned that most of them were not born into success; they simply did, and continue to do, things that help them realize their full potential. Here are twelve things they do differently that the rest of us can easily emulate.

Little History session for those who think the US is screwed!

Do you think the US glory days are over or, at a minimum, that we're on the verge of a new downturn?



In his weekly note, Raymond James' Jeff Saut offers up a great batch of history for those who think the US is facing some crisis of historic proportions.

The clock is ticking on China's Cinderella Story!

Everyone knows that when the clock strikes midnight for Cinderella, the carriage turns back into a pumpkin, the horse into mice and the jeweled gown into rags. The spell is broken and reality returns. I keep thinking of China in this context.



One of the big questions of the year is whether China blows up or not. Hard landing or soft? When will the clock strike midnight on the Chinese? Things are slowing down, and it feels like it’s getting late.

10 signs that China is in a bubble

In a recent research note Edward Chancellor of GMO gives us 10 ways to know if you’re in a bubble. He says China just so happens to fit the mold:



1. A growth story that is uncritically accepted.

Here's what your paying for in a gallon of fuel

Five Things You Should Stop Doing in 2012

I recently got back from a month's vacation — the longest I've ever taken, and a shocking indulgence for an American. (Earlier this summer, I was still fretting about how to pull off two weeks unplugged.) The distance, though, helped me hone in on what's actually important to my professional career — and which make-work activities merely provide the illusion of progress. Inspired by HBR blogger Peter Bregman's idea of creating a "to ignore" list , here are the activities I'm going to stop cold turkey in 2012 — and perhaps you should, too.

95 Questions to Help You Find Meaning and Happiness

At the cusp of a new day, week, month or year, most of us take a little time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future. We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story. This process of self-reflection helps us maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go. It is pertinent to the organization and preservation of our long-term goals and happiness.

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself

Here are some ideas to get you started:


1.Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true friends.

This Abandoned Theme Park On The Edge Of Shanghai Is Only The First Sign Of A Major Crash

About 45 minutes outside of Shanghai are the deserted ruins of what was supposed to be the world's largest amusement park. Instead, farmers have reclaimed the land planting corn and digging wells next to spires modeled after Disneyland.

Please consider China’s deserted fake Disneyland

Along the road to one of China’s most famous tourist landmarks – the Great Wall of China – sits what could potentially have been another such tourist destination, but now stands as an example of modern-day China and the problems facing it.

Outsider buying is as good an indicator as insider buying

Santosh Nair

moneycontrol.com
What is a good indicator of whether a stock is over-valued or undervalued? Seasoned investors say insider buying or selling tells you much more than profit & loss statements or disclosures to the stock exchanges. Also, promoters or senior management staff buying shares can be seen as a sign of the stock being undervalued. But they selling shares need not always be interpreted as the stock being overvalued. Here is another fairly good indicator of whether a stock offers value: a rival company or its promoter buying stake. This sends a stronger signal to the market than when a high networth investor or a star fund manager backs it. There are two reasons for it.

Heroes of the Taj - All in the hiring?

-by Rohit Deshpandé and Anjali Raina

On November 26, 2008, Harish Manwani, chairman, and Nitin Paranjpe, CEO, of Hindustan Unilever hosted a dinner at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai (Taj Mumbai, for short). Unilever’s directors, senior executives, and their spouses were bidding farewell to Patrick Cescau, the CEO, and welcoming Paul Polman, the CEO-elect. About 35 Taj Mumbai employees, led by a 24-year-old banquet manager, Mallika Jagad, were assigned to manage the event in a second-floor banquet room. Around 9:30, as they served the main course, they heard what they thought were fireworks at a nearby wedding. In reality, these were the first gunshots from terrorists who were storming the Taj.

Facebook Is Making Us Miserable

When Facebook was founded in 2004, it began with a seemingly innocuous mission: to connect friends. Some seven years and 800 million users later, the social network has taken over most aspects of our personal and professional lives, and is fast becoming the dominant communication platform of the future.

Facebook IPO sparks dreams of riches, adventure

San Francisco: Travelling to space or embarking on an expedition to excavate lost Mayan ruins are normally the stuff of adventure novels.

But for employees of Facebook, these and other lavish dreams are moving closer to reality as the world's No 1 online social network prepares for a blockbuster initial public offering that could create at least a thousand millionaires.
The most anticipated stock market debut of 2012 is expected to value Facebook at as much as $100 billion, which would top just about any of Silicon Valley's most celebrated coming-out parties, from Netscape to Google Inc.

How are billionaires thinking - and where do they want to invest - right now

Stock markets are down. Europe is gyrating. Cash generates minuscule returns. Commodities, especially gold, can soar or tumble in an instant. In these perplexing times, Bloomberg Markets magazine in its January issue asked 10 billionaires 14 questions covering their views on the global economy, where they see opportunities and who gave them the best advice.

We found much agreement: The billionaires say traditional indicators have little influence on their investment decisions. In fact, hair-care mogul John Paul DeJoria says beauty salons are better barometers of economic health. The 10 largely agree that the euro will depreciate further and that keeping one’s portfolio in U.S. dollars is smart.
Lawyer Joe Jamail, with the bulk of his fortune in bonds and cash, expresses in colorful language a common tenet: Hedge funds are dangerous.
“I’d buy cocaine rather than buy that s---,” he says.

‘Magic Mushrooms’ Return to Psychology Labs

Cancer survivor Lauri Reamer lived in constant dread that her disease would return, until she took a psychedelic drug in a Johns Hopkins University study.

The 48-year mother of three was given psilocybin, the main ingredient in the “magic mushrooms” of the 1960s, as a remedy to ease anxiety. She spent most of her first “trip” crying, then emerged from the next with less anxiety, better sleep and happier relations with family and friends, she recalled.
The experience “really cracked me open,” said Reamer, an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore before she was diagnosed with leukemia. “It let me be in life again, instead of this place of fear where I had been living.”