Hoard, not gold or cash, but health, instructs The Richest Man in Town: The twelve commandments of wealth by W. Randall Jones >(www.landmarkonthenet.com ). Emphasising that good health is critical to great wealth creation, he declares that high energy is essential to becoming the richest man or woman in town. “Success takes both mental and physical energy. High-octane ambition requires it.”

Among the many insights cited in the book is this, from Bob Stiller, the Green Mountain Coffee king, who believes that meditation is to the mind what exercise is to the body; and that you cannot have total fitness without the balance of both mental and physical stamina. Success, like life, is a marathon, not a sprint, reads the advice of David McDonald, the main man of Fresno, California. “And as anyone who has ever had the courage to train for and run in a marathon surely knows, you can't do it unless you have discipline and energy. Being physically and fiscally fit requires both. No health, no wealth.”

Lifestyle tips

Another lifestyle tip for the rich is to enjoy the adventure of the voyage, be it in the businesses or in personal time. Take, for example, Bob Gillam of Anchorage, Alaska, whose favourite books are those about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn because they taught him about adventure. “He likes to floatplane into the wilds of Alaska, where he has fished every major stream. He navigates his way through virtually all three million lakes in the remote regions and uses them as his personal water runways.”

To Jonathan Nelson, the founder and CEO of Providence Equity Partners, Inc., who completed a large leveraged buyout, purchasing Bell Canada for $50 billion, adventure is heli-skiing, on the virgin snow of Greenland, where ‘brave souls can ski right down to the ocean because it snows at sea level there.'

Then, there is Bob Jepson, the founder of the Jepson Corporation, in the business of buying undervalued, distressed companies, successfully turning them around, and selling them at handsome profits. He loves to shoot sporting clays when he is not flying his L-39 fighter plane, one learns. Shooting sporting clays requires real concentration, and it helps develop quick reflexes, patience, and at times a healthy dose of humility, notes Jepson.

In his view, shooting sporting clays is a lot like running a business. “You wait for each opportunity to present itself. Then you lead the target: You anticipate where the clay is going to be, swing through it, and then take your shot. You get one chance to put your shot pattern and the target together. Accuracy and timing are important, and you have to work for every point you score. It's like business. It's like life.”

The happiness choice

Choose to be happy, and whistle a happy tune, urges a fervent message in the book. Whining about your circumstances, waiting for something to happen to change your lives, waiting for the government to improve your condition – all that is not going to help, because happiness is not the by-product of circumstances; happiness is in your range of choices, reminds Virginia's RJ Kirk.

An optimistic attitude is not a luxury, it is a necessity, observes Richard DeVos, the founder of Amway. His book ‘Believe!' mentioned optimism and persistence as the two most important ingredients of success in life, adds Jones. “As the maven of multi-level marketing, he saw literally thousands of success stories — and not once did he see someone succeed without an optimistic view of life and a positive attitude about their abilities.”

Minding the subconscious mind is a definite key to success, avers Alex Hartzler, a real estate developer, technology wizard, and co-founder of Webclients. He explains that when the mind focuses positively, it is easier to envision a truly successful future. And, affirming that is a quote of Leighton Cubbage of Greenville, who built more than thirty companies since graduating in 1976: “Many people think having a positive attitude is not intellectual. I say it is the ultimate intellectual thought process.”

Inspiring takeaways for those looking for direction in the labyrinthine woods of wealth creation.

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