Classifying wealthy people

In his book The Rich, William Davis describes how Great Britain's wealth management industry classifies rich people:

1. The mass affluent people: have US$300,000 to invest, over and beyond the value of their home.
2. The high net worth people: have $1,320,000 (over and above the value of their home)
3. The ultra-high net worth people: have $13.2M
4. The super-rich people: have $120M

Note: the numbers were originally in British pounds, I just roughly converted to US dollars by multiplying by two.

Davis' book is worth reading, if only for inspirational purposes. It talks about Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos -- you know, the usual suspects.

A lot of interesting stories about these folks who, after all, started from very modest positions in life.

Did you know, for instance, that Steve Jobs discovered, at age 49, that he had only six months to live, due to pancreatic cancer? However, they eventually discovered that his was a very rare kind of cancer that was amenable to treatment by surgery.

This has led Jobs to develop a philosophy of "I don't worry, I know I'll be dead soon" which enables him to do things fearlessly.

Of course, I don't recommend that you tell your friends, who may be stressed and worried about their jobs or money: "Oh, don't worry! You'll be dead soon enough! Just relax, take it easy!"

But in fact, that's the underlying message I try to transmit to participants at the three flagship workshops we give at Talentelle. I tell people that there is ONE piece of knowledge that they should NEVER forget: "Life ends."

This is singularly the shortest, yet most meaningful sentence that I have ever come up with. (I should pat myself on the back for this discovery).

Here's how I use that expression:

• Given the fact that life ends, should I be sitting here, on this sofa, and watch formulaic sitcoms? Or even CSI? (Trust me, the REAL crime is that those TV shows are killing people's lives one hour per day! Horatio Kane will never investigate THAT!)
• Given the fact that life ends, should I (again) postpone the implementation of that idea I had yesterday? Or should I just take a risk and email it to friends and family, then make a go of it and see what happens?
• Given the fact that life ends, should I take a chance and call that pretty girl and ask her out?

Note: I did precisely that 2 years ago, around this time, and asked an incredibly beautiful girl to go out on New Year's Eve. Oh, this is too good, I have to share this story with you.

She said something like: "Sure."

I was surprised. For a moment there, I thought I heard angels sing!

So anyways, a few days later, I walked into that French nightclub called "Cabaret" and everybody, absolutely everybody, was staring at the breathtakingly beautiful girl in the red dress who was walking beside me. The amazed looks on people's face said something like: "My God, what a goddess! This guy probably has a Ferrari parked outside, to have a girl like that!"

Well, I don't have a Ferrari, but I've had, since age 7, a marked preference for dating extremely beautiful girls. I can't tell you my secret, because it would cost you an arm and a leg. :-)

I should probably stop here since this is a family blogzine, and also, I'm too afraid my mother might somehow discover this blog.

That romantic experience, as well as numerous business experiences I've had in my entrepreneurial life since 1990, taught me one thing:

"When in doubt, go all out!"