Invitation… and Great Advice From Gary Halbert

While serving time in the Boron Federal Prison Camp in 1984, Gary Halbert sent letters to his son Bond with lessons about business and life.

Lots of the the letters encouraged Bond to exercize and eat well.

I don’t disagree. But that advice doesn’t rock my world.

This advice — dispensed in a letter Gary wrote on June 14, 1984 — does:

WARNING! Don’t depend on your mother or anybody else to buy or cut up your vegetables for you. You should instead, develop a tough independent attitude.

You see, when you depend on others, you give yourself an excuse for failure. “It’s not my fault if she forgot to buy my vegetables.” And so on.

Don’t set yourself up like this. Depend on yourself.

Holy words-to-live-by, Batman. That’s good.

“It’s not my fault…” may be the most self-destructive phrase humans have ever whipped up.

I’ve uttered it. I stand accused.

I’ve blamed the other person.

I’ve blamed the forces beyond my control.

When I’ve failed, I’ve occasionally defaulted to the easy excuse…

…instead of asking: “What could I HAVE DONE to improve the outcome.”

With the easy excuse, I wallow and fall backwards.

When I ask, “What could I have done to improve the outcome,” I fail forward.

Gary Halbert isn’t asking us to cut up every vegetable in our businesses. We can’t fly alone.

But he is asking us to control what we can to improve outcomes…

…and not to look for the easy excuse or point fingers when we struggle or fail.

Gary Halbert passed away in 2007.

Bond is still around.

And he’ll join Ted Prodromou and me (and you?) for a special live-on-Zoom event this Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET. to discuss those letters and the lessons we can draw from them.

Those letters were compiled in a book in 2013: “The Boron Letters.”

The best editions of “The Boron Letters” contain an introduction and chapter-by-chater commentaries by Bond.

“The Boron Letters” is this month’s selection for the Mastermind Book Club.

Every month, Ted and I choose a great business book to read. Club Members meet on the fourth Thursday of the month to discuss the book.

Occasionally, the author or publisher joins us.

And you’re invited to join us, too.

Club Membership is free.

If you click here (or on the button below), you’ll automatically save a seat for Thursday’s meeting and secure your free Club membership.