I was passionate when I was throwing hard pointed rocks at other little kids. “I hit him!” My friends and I would climb around construction sites, pretending they were forts. And throw rocks at each other until we were caught by parents. By adults. Fun! Einstein found his passion because he wondered what a man… Continue Reading

I hate writing about finance. The most violent, ugly people in the world work in the traditional finance industry. I write something and instead of responding with a well-reasoned argument, they write things like “James Altucher is a wacko” or “James Altucher is a scumbag”. I’ve written for or appeared on the Wall St Journal,… Continue Reading

I used to love my job. Love it. I worked for my favorite entertainment company in the world. I would’ve paid to work there. I made friends at work. And on weekends we’d even get together and play poker. Sometimes we’d even travel on vacations together. My boss would yell at me but I could… Continue Reading

Pierre Levegh killed 88 people in a car race. Even I am not that bad a driver. I’ve only almost killed one person. Maybe two. Pierre tried to get ahead of the Aston Martin in front of his Mercedes, made a sharp turn, flew into a wall, exploded, pieces flying everywhere, his skull crushed on… Continue Reading

I can’t believe how I’ve gotten away with what I’ve gotten away with even though I’m so stupid. I was having a weird argument yesterday with my ex-wife. I was trying to say, “I’m stupid” so she was disagreeing and accusing me of lying. So I kept insisting. “I got bad grades all through high… Continue Reading

“I hate everyone I work with,” I told my astrologer / therapist. “I feel like everything I say is fake just so people can like me.” I had clients calling me at 4 in the morning asking for advice. Then they would forget to pay their bills. Years later I was calling new clients in… Continue Reading

I feel I need to make a post about this. Tell a story. Make it poignant. But it’s really all I want to say: Get. Keep. Grow. It’s really hard to do those three things. It’s three different skills. Like with money. Getting it. Keeping it. Growing it. I’ve succeeded and failed at all three.… Continue Reading

I had to interrupt him. I was too curious. I thought I would die if I didn’t ask. Whenever you are curious about something, don’t forget to ask a question. Curious. Question….Curious ==> Question. The only things you will ever remember are the questions you ask when you are curious. Curiosity is the ONLY technique… Continue Reading

“There are three types of people,” astronaut Chris Hadfield told me, “-1, 0, and +1”. Chris Hadfield spent 166 days in space in the space station ISS. While there he also sang “Space Oddity” and uploaded (or can you say “downloaded” in this case) the video to YouTube where it was viewed 25 million times.… Continue Reading

Rich Roll was having a heart attack on his staircase. He was fat. He hated his work. He was unhappy. A few years later he ran, swam, biked, 703 miles in seven days when he was 45 years old. When he was 40 he had a job he was unhappy at but he was still… Continue Reading

Not everyone can be a Mark Zuckerberg! Not everyone can be an Elizabeth Holmes, who dropped out of Stanford at 19, started a business in a basement, and is now a multi-billionaire. Not everyone can be a Bill Gates. Or a Beyonce (although Claudia wants to be Beyonce in her next life. Which I hope… Continue Reading

My mom told me I looked disgusting. I was eating cereal. Reading a book. In a few minutes I would go to school. She had just woken up. Walked into the kitchen. Saw me. Said her thing. Not the worst thing in the world. Not something you can’t overcome. I was maybe 16. I liked… Continue Reading

I lost my keys and was locked out my apartment. It was the middle of the night and I had nowhere to go. I left a message for the landlady. I tried to climb up the fire escape to see if I could sneak in but I’m afraid of heights. About two stories up, I… Continue Reading

Choosing yourself means taking risk, means not being afraid what people think, or your chances of success or failure. It means doing what you want and hopefully helping the world along the way. Because when you help others, that’s how you get paid in a choose yourself world. Elon Musk is inspirational to many people,… Continue Reading

I want to be under water and float and not move. I love that feeling. Water completely surrounding me, I make every part of my body go limp. Thoughts rise up and create little thought bubbles above me on the surface. I don’t like to think too hard. When I float, I enjoy thinking of… Continue Reading