Alan Cohen Newsletter September 2007

Lifestyles of the

Rich in Spirit

As we roll into September, you may be returning to work or school or starting a new cycle in your career. Before you make any new moves, this might be the perfect time to reevaluate your priorities and set up your mind and heart for the most direct -- and enjoyable -- route to achieve you chosen goals.

In a rare interview, Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the world, revealed some amazing facts about his lifestyle and his philosophy of success. Here is a summary of them, for you to chew on and apply toward you own success:

1. He bought his first share of stock at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3. He still lives in the same, small 3-bedroom house in midtown Omaha that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules.

Rule number 1: Do not lose any of your shareholder's money.

Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His pastime after he gets home is to make himself some popcorn and watch television.

8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man, met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for a half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

His advice to young people:

Stay away from credit cards, invest in yourself and remember:

A. Money doesn't create man, but it is man who created money.

B. Live your life as simple as you are.

C. Don't do what others say. Just listen to them, but do what makes you feel good.

D. Don't go on brand names. Wear those things in which you feel comfortable.

E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things. Spend on those who really are in need.

F. After all, it's your life. Why give others the chance to rule your life?

So here's a great model of how to maintain the riches of your spirit even as you attract material riches. Did you really need all those meetings, or do you just need to line your life up with your passion?

Alan

The best time to practice being rich

is when you're feeling poor.

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The Touch of the Master's Hand

by Myra Brooks Welch

I'd like to share with you one of my favorite inspiring poems. It reminds me that greatness lives in everyone, if we can just tap into the place where it lives bring it forth.

"Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
       Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
       But held it up with a smile.
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
     "Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar. Then two! Only two?
      Two dollars, and who'll make it three?"

"Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
      Going for three..." But no,
From the room, far back, a grey-haired man
      Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
      And tightening the loosened strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
      As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
      With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: "What am I bid for the old violin?"
      And he held it up with the bow.
"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
      Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,
     And going and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,
     "We do not quite understand.
What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply:
     "The touch of the Master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune,
      And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd
      Much like the old violin.

A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine,
     A game -- and he travels on.
He is "going" once, and "going" twice,
    He's "going" and almost "gone."
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
     Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
     By the touch of the Master's hand.

Old friends depart only to make way for new ones. Your real friend is life itself.