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The Choose Yourself Guide To Wealth
This is a bold book by James Altucher because he not only gives you a new map for the new financial landscape, but he also has skin in the game. This is the first financial book in which the author REVEALS HOW HE, PERSONALLY, MAKES HIS OWN MONEY.We are living in an epic period of change, danger and opportunity. The economy is crashing and booming every few years. People are getting fired and replaced by computers and Chinese workers. The stock market crashes with regularity. Every "fix" from the government makes things worse. The Old World has been demolished... and people are desperate for answers.James Altucher's "The Choose Yourself Guide To Wealth" contains those answers. This is the field guide to the "New World" we live in. You can play by the old rules and get left behind, or you can use these new ideas and become wealthy.This is not a book for the faint of heart. Read at your own risk, because sometimes the truth is hard to take. But for those who are ready to hear, James provides an updated map of the new territory for generating wealth and freedom.This book is the eye-opener of the century, it is the guide to building, keeping, and investing your money and breaking free from the chains of rusted, old thinking.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2015
1086 people are currently reading
2376 people want to read
About the author
James Altucher
43 books988 followersJames Altucher is a writer, successful entrepreneur, chess master, and investor.
He has founded over 20 companies and sold some of them for large exits. He has also run venture capital funds, hedge funds, angel funds, and currently sits on the boards of many companies.
He has written and been profiled in most major national media publications like the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, CNBC, Forbes, and Business Week.
His blog, which began by detailing Altucher's precipitous fall from wealth and success to absolute rock bottom and then back to wealth, has attracted more than 10 million readers since its launch in 2010, and in 2011 inspired a comic book.
He has founded over 20 companies and sold some of them for large exits. He has also run venture capital funds, hedge funds, angel funds, and currently sits on the boards of many companies.
He has written and been profiled in most major national media publications like the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, CNBC, Forbes, and Business Week.
His blog, which began by detailing Altucher's precipitous fall from wealth and success to absolute rock bottom and then back to wealth, has attracted more than 10 million readers since its launch in 2010, and in 2011 inspired a comic book.
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June 21, 2015
Here's the thing about this book: it's a poorly written rant... but it has some gems in it. Now, you can decide on your own whether you want to take life/business advice from someone who has fluctuated between millionaire and broke (multiple times!), but some of his points certainly ring true. Altucher has some interesting things to say about sales, HR, fundraising, and investing. There's also an interesting section on "myths that ruin peoples' lives". Lucky for you, I've extracted all the pearls so you don't have to dig through the... not pearls.
#######
My only three goals in life are To be happy. To eradicate unhappiness in my life. For every day to be as smooth as possible. No hassles.
Remember this phrase: “Get Paid, Get Laid, Lose Weight”—because those are the three things people will pay for.
Only free time, imagination, creativity, and an ability to disappear will help you deliver value that nobody ever delivered before in the history of humankind.
States of panic are special and have to be revered.
At any given point I have about ten to twenty books on my “to go” list—books that I can just pop into and continue reading. Every day I read at least 10 percent of a nonfiction book that gives me tons of new ideas and similar portions of an inspirational book, a fiction book of high-quality writing, and maybe a book on games (lately I’ve been solving chess puzzles). And then I start writing.
Nobody is going to buy from someone they hate. The buyer has to like you and want to be your friend. People pay for friendship. This sounds sort of whorish and it is.
Often the best way to make friends and customers for life is to direct them to a better service or product than yours.
What you offer is not just your product. Your offering is product, services, your employees, your experiences, your ideas, your other customers, and even (as mentioned above) your competitors. So sell them all. When you are good at what you do, the product or service you offer is just the way people build the first link to you. It’s the top of a huge pyramid.
When you get in the door, do not sell your product. People make a decision on your product in five seconds. Sell the dream. Build up images of the dream. Give a taste of what the dream is like. Let it linger. Let it weave itself. Let the imagination of the buyer take hold and run with it. The dream has up to infinity in value.
But then, you might ask, do I risk under-delivering? Answer: Yes. Don’t do that. Be as good as the dream.
Being a leader doesn’t mean you are the guy who runs things. Being a leader doesn’t mean you created something or you did something great in the past or some other person has given you any kind of authority. Being a leader happens right now, today. It’s something you can do without money, without authority, and without anybody.
Most important by far is that you be able to care about others’ success more than your own. Everyone around you needs to ultimately become better than you. That’s how you lead. The light is in front of you and you take them to the light and then go back. If all the people around you achieve more than you, then life will be good. I’ve seen this happen repeatedly. It doesn’t matter if they are employees, investors, friends, or spouses. If you just focus on this one principle in all of your actions, then you are a leader.
One hundred percent of the time there is a good reason and a real reason for everything.
Don’t do something just for the money. Money is a side effect of persistence. You persist in things you are interested in. Explore your interests. Then persist. Then enjoy all the side effects.
Here’s the operating theory: you don’t need to spend 10,000 hours at anything to be the best. You just need to be pretty good at something (spend a couple of hundred hours) and then you need to know how to give a good talk in public. You will stand out, because so few people want to talk in public.
Comedians are the best public speakers and are up against the most brutal audiences, so you must study them. Learn from them.
Let’s say someone is buying your company. It may seem like all they are doing is buying the assets of your company. But they are also buying your company’s “negative imprint.” In other words, they are buying the fact that nobody else can buy your company.” They can say, “Well, we don’t care about that.” Then fine. See if it’s true. Offer your services to other companies. If you can’t walk away from a negotiation, then you aren’t negotiating. You’re just working out the terms of your slavery.
You can’t get good at something if you are working twenty hours a day. In fact, something is very wrong in your life if that is how much you are working at one thing. The typical answer is “I study four hours a day.” Former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov said the maximum he would study chess is three hours a day. Then, when he wasn’t in tournaments, he’d spend the rest of the day exercising, studying languages, and doing other things to balance out his life..
But when it comes to mastery, there are always big failures.
Never let one company decide your fate. 1000s of businesses have been lost because of this one mistake.
The key is to anticipate what the people you’re aiming to serve might want, show them how it will cost them nothing but they will get huge benefit from it, and then just simply do it. Make it as easy as possible for the other side to say yes before you ask them. If you want someone to say yes, show them exactly what “yes” looks like and show them that it is already made.
Should I pay taxes? No. You should always reinvest your money and operate at a loss. Should I pay dividends? See above. What should the CEO salary be? No more than two times that of your lowest employee if you are not profitable. This even assumes you are funded. If you are not funded your salary should be zero until your revenues can pay your salary last. The CEO salary is the last expense paid in every business.
When should one fire an employee? When they gossip. When they don’t over-deliver constantly. When they ask for a raise because they think they are making below industry standard. When the talk badly about a client. When they have an attitude. When should you give a raise? Rarely. How big should the employee option pool be? Fifteen to 20 percent. How much do advisers get? One-quarter of one percent. Advisers are useless. Don’t even have an advisory board. How much do board members get? Nothing. They should all be investors. If they aren’t an investor, then one-half of one percent
Should I hire a head of sales? No. The founder is the head of sales until at least $10 million in sales.
Thiel’s four attributes for a good business are monopoly, scalability, network effect, and brand.
And the good news is this: if you can become aware of the myths that people hold and the way they manipulate societies and cultures, you can write your own rules and create abundance for yourself.
Myths:
* Owning a home will give you “roots,” and is far better than “flushing money down the toilet with rent.” Most people don’t realize that owning a home has all the attributes of the worst investment possible: it’s highly illiquid, there’s a high leverage, it includes most of your net worth, and provides you with an average return of only 0.2 percent over the past year. And this doesn’t count all your maintenance costs. I’d rather rent, and either invest the extra money in myself and my own ideas.
* Having kids is the purpose of life, and having a purpose in life is important to having a fulfilling life. I like how Scott Adams from Dilbert fame put it: live according to Systems and not Goals. Nobody has a single purpose in life. We are often put into our life circumstances and have to figure out how to do the best. In this book and in Choose Yourself! I try to give a system to develop great ideas and build abundance.
* My family is my “family.”
* Humans are smarter now than they were 40,000 years ago. Sometimes wars can be justified.
Tip #1: Never invest big chunks of your money. A big chunk is more than 2 percent of your money. So if you have $10,000, don’t buy a TV that costs more than two hundred dollars. Don’t buy an iPad. Don’t buy a car. Definitely don’t buy a car. Just be happy with the money in the bank. But if you have even more money here’s what it means: Don’t go to college. Don’t own a home. Don’t invest more than 2 percent in any private company. Don’t invest more than 2 percent in any stock or any bunch of stocks in the same sector (don’t put more than 10 percent overall in stocks). Don’t invest in your own company.
Tip #2. The whole point. Stop paying your debt. Let me clarify. If you borrowed from a friend, pay your friend back. Be a good person. But all other debt is a contract, and there are several situations where you can stop paying debt. “Ethics” is a government-made term to try and induce you to pay back your debt when you don’t have to. But you can ignore that.
Well, Who Makes Money In The Market Then? Three types of people: People who hold stocks FOREVER. Think: Warren Buffett (has never sold a share of Berkshire Hathaway since 1967) or Bill Gates (he sells shares but for 20 years basically held onto his MSFT stock). People who hold stocks for a millionth of a second (see Michael Lewis’s book “Flash Boys” which I highly recommend.) This is borderline illegal and I don’t recommend it. People who cheat.
Reading is the best return on investment. You have to live your entire life in order to know one life. But with reading you can know 1000s of people’s lives for almost no cost. What a great return!
2. Remember that cash is king. Having a lot of cash leads to a stress free life. Invest as little as possible.
7. The S&P 500 index is proven to be the best hedge against inflation except for hyperinflation.
8. Investing in you is the best hedge against hyperinflation. If you have a good business, you collect all the money.
9. Never invest in anyone else’s ideas of investing: mutual funds, ETFs, bank advisors, hedge funds, venture capital funds.
10. Never invest because of tax reasons: 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, 529 Plans, insurance annuities, etc. These are taxes against the middle class where the money goes straight from your employer into the hands of the rich.
I choose public over private school. I moved about eighty miles out of NYC so I could send my kids to a good public school and pull them out of the BS private school they are in. I’m in favor of “unschooling”—no school education at all. I trust that kids want to learn and if they don’t, then school is even a worse way to get them to learn. School is intended as babysitting so I don’t let a BS private school charge college-like prices to babysit my kids.
Inheritance. Nobody should inherit more than the minimal they need monthly to get by but still have motivation to go out and make something for themselves. I set up trusts for my kids, not just to guarantee that they’ll never have to lie on the floor scared (like I have) but that their kids and their grandkids will hopefully have money to spend.
Uncertainty is your best friend. A hundred percent of opportunities in life are created because people are uncertain about almost everything in their lives. We are constantly trying to close the enormous gap between the things we are certain about and the things we are uncertain about, and almost every invention, product, Internet service, book, whatever has been created to help us close that gap.
“Help me” is the most powerful, and most forgotten, prayer.
Laughter is essential. The only way to survive is to laugh. There’s that saying: “Man plans, God laughs.” Well, you might as well be on the same side as God.
I only care about you. And you’re effin’ crazy if you thought the world was going to line up any other way than the way it lined up. Tough on you. I know that when I feel like, “ugh, this situation is insane,” the first place I need to look is at me. I am insane.
Nobody ever forgets the guy with a roll of two-dollar bills.
#######
My only three goals in life are To be happy. To eradicate unhappiness in my life. For every day to be as smooth as possible. No hassles.
Remember this phrase: “Get Paid, Get Laid, Lose Weight”—because those are the three things people will pay for.
Only free time, imagination, creativity, and an ability to disappear will help you deliver value that nobody ever delivered before in the history of humankind.
States of panic are special and have to be revered.
At any given point I have about ten to twenty books on my “to go” list—books that I can just pop into and continue reading. Every day I read at least 10 percent of a nonfiction book that gives me tons of new ideas and similar portions of an inspirational book, a fiction book of high-quality writing, and maybe a book on games (lately I’ve been solving chess puzzles). And then I start writing.
Nobody is going to buy from someone they hate. The buyer has to like you and want to be your friend. People pay for friendship. This sounds sort of whorish and it is.
Often the best way to make friends and customers for life is to direct them to a better service or product than yours.
What you offer is not just your product. Your offering is product, services, your employees, your experiences, your ideas, your other customers, and even (as mentioned above) your competitors. So sell them all. When you are good at what you do, the product or service you offer is just the way people build the first link to you. It’s the top of a huge pyramid.
When you get in the door, do not sell your product. People make a decision on your product in five seconds. Sell the dream. Build up images of the dream. Give a taste of what the dream is like. Let it linger. Let it weave itself. Let the imagination of the buyer take hold and run with it. The dream has up to infinity in value.
But then, you might ask, do I risk under-delivering? Answer: Yes. Don’t do that. Be as good as the dream.
Being a leader doesn’t mean you are the guy who runs things. Being a leader doesn’t mean you created something or you did something great in the past or some other person has given you any kind of authority. Being a leader happens right now, today. It’s something you can do without money, without authority, and without anybody.
Most important by far is that you be able to care about others’ success more than your own. Everyone around you needs to ultimately become better than you. That’s how you lead. The light is in front of you and you take them to the light and then go back. If all the people around you achieve more than you, then life will be good. I’ve seen this happen repeatedly. It doesn’t matter if they are employees, investors, friends, or spouses. If you just focus on this one principle in all of your actions, then you are a leader.
One hundred percent of the time there is a good reason and a real reason for everything.
Don’t do something just for the money. Money is a side effect of persistence. You persist in things you are interested in. Explore your interests. Then persist. Then enjoy all the side effects.
Here’s the operating theory: you don’t need to spend 10,000 hours at anything to be the best. You just need to be pretty good at something (spend a couple of hundred hours) and then you need to know how to give a good talk in public. You will stand out, because so few people want to talk in public.
Comedians are the best public speakers and are up against the most brutal audiences, so you must study them. Learn from them.
Let’s say someone is buying your company. It may seem like all they are doing is buying the assets of your company. But they are also buying your company’s “negative imprint.” In other words, they are buying the fact that nobody else can buy your company.” They can say, “Well, we don’t care about that.” Then fine. See if it’s true. Offer your services to other companies. If you can’t walk away from a negotiation, then you aren’t negotiating. You’re just working out the terms of your slavery.
You can’t get good at something if you are working twenty hours a day. In fact, something is very wrong in your life if that is how much you are working at one thing. The typical answer is “I study four hours a day.” Former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov said the maximum he would study chess is three hours a day. Then, when he wasn’t in tournaments, he’d spend the rest of the day exercising, studying languages, and doing other things to balance out his life..
But when it comes to mastery, there are always big failures.
Never let one company decide your fate. 1000s of businesses have been lost because of this one mistake.
The key is to anticipate what the people you’re aiming to serve might want, show them how it will cost them nothing but they will get huge benefit from it, and then just simply do it. Make it as easy as possible for the other side to say yes before you ask them. If you want someone to say yes, show them exactly what “yes” looks like and show them that it is already made.
Should I pay taxes? No. You should always reinvest your money and operate at a loss. Should I pay dividends? See above. What should the CEO salary be? No more than two times that of your lowest employee if you are not profitable. This even assumes you are funded. If you are not funded your salary should be zero until your revenues can pay your salary last. The CEO salary is the last expense paid in every business.
When should one fire an employee? When they gossip. When they don’t over-deliver constantly. When they ask for a raise because they think they are making below industry standard. When the talk badly about a client. When they have an attitude. When should you give a raise? Rarely. How big should the employee option pool be? Fifteen to 20 percent. How much do advisers get? One-quarter of one percent. Advisers are useless. Don’t even have an advisory board. How much do board members get? Nothing. They should all be investors. If they aren’t an investor, then one-half of one percent
Should I hire a head of sales? No. The founder is the head of sales until at least $10 million in sales.
Thiel’s four attributes for a good business are monopoly, scalability, network effect, and brand.
And the good news is this: if you can become aware of the myths that people hold and the way they manipulate societies and cultures, you can write your own rules and create abundance for yourself.
Myths:
* Owning a home will give you “roots,” and is far better than “flushing money down the toilet with rent.” Most people don’t realize that owning a home has all the attributes of the worst investment possible: it’s highly illiquid, there’s a high leverage, it includes most of your net worth, and provides you with an average return of only 0.2 percent over the past year. And this doesn’t count all your maintenance costs. I’d rather rent, and either invest the extra money in myself and my own ideas.
* Having kids is the purpose of life, and having a purpose in life is important to having a fulfilling life. I like how Scott Adams from Dilbert fame put it: live according to Systems and not Goals. Nobody has a single purpose in life. We are often put into our life circumstances and have to figure out how to do the best. In this book and in Choose Yourself! I try to give a system to develop great ideas and build abundance.
* My family is my “family.”
* Humans are smarter now than they were 40,000 years ago. Sometimes wars can be justified.
Tip #1: Never invest big chunks of your money. A big chunk is more than 2 percent of your money. So if you have $10,000, don’t buy a TV that costs more than two hundred dollars. Don’t buy an iPad. Don’t buy a car. Definitely don’t buy a car. Just be happy with the money in the bank. But if you have even more money here’s what it means: Don’t go to college. Don’t own a home. Don’t invest more than 2 percent in any private company. Don’t invest more than 2 percent in any stock or any bunch of stocks in the same sector (don’t put more than 10 percent overall in stocks). Don’t invest in your own company.
Tip #2. The whole point. Stop paying your debt. Let me clarify. If you borrowed from a friend, pay your friend back. Be a good person. But all other debt is a contract, and there are several situations where you can stop paying debt. “Ethics” is a government-made term to try and induce you to pay back your debt when you don’t have to. But you can ignore that.
Well, Who Makes Money In The Market Then? Three types of people: People who hold stocks FOREVER. Think: Warren Buffett (has never sold a share of Berkshire Hathaway since 1967) or Bill Gates (he sells shares but for 20 years basically held onto his MSFT stock). People who hold stocks for a millionth of a second (see Michael Lewis’s book “Flash Boys” which I highly recommend.) This is borderline illegal and I don’t recommend it. People who cheat.
Reading is the best return on investment. You have to live your entire life in order to know one life. But with reading you can know 1000s of people’s lives for almost no cost. What a great return!
2. Remember that cash is king. Having a lot of cash leads to a stress free life. Invest as little as possible.
7. The S&P 500 index is proven to be the best hedge against inflation except for hyperinflation.
8. Investing in you is the best hedge against hyperinflation. If you have a good business, you collect all the money.
9. Never invest in anyone else’s ideas of investing: mutual funds, ETFs, bank advisors, hedge funds, venture capital funds.
10. Never invest because of tax reasons: 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, 529 Plans, insurance annuities, etc. These are taxes against the middle class where the money goes straight from your employer into the hands of the rich.
I choose public over private school. I moved about eighty miles out of NYC so I could send my kids to a good public school and pull them out of the BS private school they are in. I’m in favor of “unschooling”—no school education at all. I trust that kids want to learn and if they don’t, then school is even a worse way to get them to learn. School is intended as babysitting so I don’t let a BS private school charge college-like prices to babysit my kids.
Inheritance. Nobody should inherit more than the minimal they need monthly to get by but still have motivation to go out and make something for themselves. I set up trusts for my kids, not just to guarantee that they’ll never have to lie on the floor scared (like I have) but that their kids and their grandkids will hopefully have money to spend.
Uncertainty is your best friend. A hundred percent of opportunities in life are created because people are uncertain about almost everything in their lives. We are constantly trying to close the enormous gap between the things we are certain about and the things we are uncertain about, and almost every invention, product, Internet service, book, whatever has been created to help us close that gap.
“Help me” is the most powerful, and most forgotten, prayer.
Laughter is essential. The only way to survive is to laugh. There’s that saying: “Man plans, God laughs.” Well, you might as well be on the same side as God.
I only care about you. And you’re effin’ crazy if you thought the world was going to line up any other way than the way it lined up. Tough on you. I know that when I feel like, “ugh, this situation is insane,” the first place I need to look is at me. I am insane.
Nobody ever forgets the guy with a roll of two-dollar bills.
May 12, 2015
Well, I'll give this to Altucher: he knows how to market. I read a blog post with a link to the marketing pitch he made for this book, which compelled me to buy it (not on his site, for $40+ but on Amazon for 99 cents, thank you very much). There are useful nuggets sprinkled among the steaming piles of conventional wisdom, but to find them, you are forced to read some of the worst-written sentences on the planet, and worse still, you have to spend time with a self-obsessed guy who is convinced you care about his life, the things he says to his wife (wives), and other filler. His premise is simple: we live in a society where nine-to-five jobs and all that goes into making that lifestyle work are a fraud and don't work. Duh. Like all self-help guru's, he gives his suggestions a nimbus of unique transcendence, and by extension, himself a godly role, despite his incessant humble-bragging. Become an idea machine, indeed.
October 5, 2015
James knows how to market, and he made me buy his book even before I started with the "Chose yourself" book. When I found out "Choose yourself" is not really the thing I was hoped for my expectations for this book went down. But seriously... it was a huge disappointment. He repeated a lot of content from "Choose yourself" and added some examples. If you read his blog then there is nothing new for you. It's always the same things he mentions: college is stupid, the world changes, and you need to take your life in your own hands. Yeah, got it. I found it very funny when he complains that some books should be chapters. I thought the same of some of his writing too. Unfortunately James is one of the authors of whom I feel they never write new things when they found something which works.
In general, overhyped by his fan community. If you don't know that you are in charge of your life on your own, you might find some gems here. But if you have read other motivational, marketing or life-help books already, you will not find anything of interest.
In general, overhyped by his fan community. If you don't know that you are in charge of your life on your own, you might find some gems here. But if you have read other motivational, marketing or life-help books already, you will not find anything of interest.
July 24, 2015
After reading some other comments on this book, I've got to add my brief take on it.
I love James Altucher, but as someone else mentioned you probably either love him (and his writing) or you hate him.
This book much like the initial Choose Yourself book is one part motivational, one part timely wisdom, and one part crazy... I mean entertaining :) And that's why I love it.
James takes on a serious topic without taking himself or the topic too seriously, which I think is what I love about all his writing. Will it be everyone's favorite style? No, but that's the point - it's meant to provoke thought and encourage a new outlook - and that I think James does very well for those that fit his audience.
I'd recommend Choose Yourself or his blog first before you take on this one as it's a bit longer. But for those wondering if it's worth reading? It is. I think you'll either be inspired or frustrated but either way you'll be challenged on the important topic of wealth - after all, maybe true wealth isn't really what you always thought it was.
What I've learned from choosing myself is that how I spend and save my time is the most important currency to me. Having control over that is what makes me wealthy.
This book is about that type of wealth, and how to better create and invest the other type of wealth too. All this in James' own quirky style that I love flowing back and forth between self-deprecating and humble-bragging (as someone else mentioned). It's a good thing, most people writing books pretend they have it all together. James comes clean, while showing he still can add value.
Keep writing James, but if you are on Quora you already know there's no stopping him. He's everywhere :)
I love James Altucher, but as someone else mentioned you probably either love him (and his writing) or you hate him.
This book much like the initial Choose Yourself book is one part motivational, one part timely wisdom, and one part crazy... I mean entertaining :) And that's why I love it.
James takes on a serious topic without taking himself or the topic too seriously, which I think is what I love about all his writing. Will it be everyone's favorite style? No, but that's the point - it's meant to provoke thought and encourage a new outlook - and that I think James does very well for those that fit his audience.
I'd recommend Choose Yourself or his blog first before you take on this one as it's a bit longer. But for those wondering if it's worth reading? It is. I think you'll either be inspired or frustrated but either way you'll be challenged on the important topic of wealth - after all, maybe true wealth isn't really what you always thought it was.
What I've learned from choosing myself is that how I spend and save my time is the most important currency to me. Having control over that is what makes me wealthy.
This book is about that type of wealth, and how to better create and invest the other type of wealth too. All this in James' own quirky style that I love flowing back and forth between self-deprecating and humble-bragging (as someone else mentioned). It's a good thing, most people writing books pretend they have it all together. James comes clean, while showing he still can add value.
Keep writing James, but if you are on Quora you already know there's no stopping him. He's everywhere :)
May 4, 2017
Some good advice but really feels mostly like ramblings of a guy who made it clear he's only writing this book to add an extra source of revenue. I've got a lot of good ideas from this book which is why I gave it two stars, but it felt like he was just throwing his ideas out while telling you they might or might not work. While that is akin to reality, it really created the sense that he doesn't have any real, quantified evidence to any of his ideas, only his personal anecdotes which he reassures you was just luck for him. So basically, while he was smart and had good ideas, the book is basically him giving you a bunch of ideas while telling you that he's just writing a bunch of books to have diversified revenue.
January 17, 2018
2.5 stars - James Altucher always fascinates me. He has had a ton of financial success and has interviewed top performers from every imaginable field on his podcast. He shares what he’s learned from his guests’ experiences as well as his own in the hopes that it helps someone, and his worldview is so different from the norm that it makes you question whether his approaches are crazy, brilliant, or both.
The content in this book is pretty fun and thought-provoking at times and seemingly hacky at others. There are too many typos and stream-of-consciousness tangents for me to believe that this went through an editor even once, and that makes me feel like this book is nothing more than a money grab.
I’d recommend listening to Altucher’s podcast and reading his blog to see if you like them. If you do, check out his books
The content in this book is pretty fun and thought-provoking at times and seemingly hacky at others. There are too many typos and stream-of-consciousness tangents for me to believe that this went through an editor even once, and that makes me feel like this book is nothing more than a money grab.
I’d recommend listening to Altucher’s podcast and reading his blog to see if you like them. If you do, check out his books
March 25, 2015
James Altucher is a a real genius or a real nutter and I'm yet to make up my mind on which one. The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth, like its predecessor, Choose Yourself is a philosophy and ideas that Altucher claims to have worked to make him have a happier and more fulfilling life. The first part of the book doesn't really tie in to the title - it seems like a random collection of essays centered around the principle of becoming an "idea machine" through the daily practice. The sections dedicated to wealth have some contrarian thinking around career progression, investing etc. I'm not about to go out and practice whatever he is preaching but it did make for some food for thought.
October 3, 2015
Really informative book by Altucther. As usual, he does repeat some themes from previous books/blog posts (i.e. The Daily Practice, don't buy a house, college is a waste of time, etc), but there are some really awesome ideas that I got from reading this book. He gets into a lot of detail about starting a business, and how to invest. Some specifics and some mindset stuff. And, I love his casual writing style and humor (although there were a few typos in the book). If you haven't or have read Altucher in the past, I recommend this one.
July 8, 2021
"My previous book, Choose Yourself!, gave the basics of how you can free yourself—how to get physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy.
This book takes it one step further and reveals what I’ve done to create actual abundance for myself—to turn my life around in ways that still surprise me. To change my life completely, still, every six months."
I don’t remember exactly when I became a fan of James Altucher.
I’m pretty sure I was reading his blog called “Altucher Confidential” before he became social-media famous with his Choose Yourself brand. Even though his first book [Choose Yourself] didn’t move me much, I could immediately see its value and have recommended James to many people since — so even though I got back the $5 he offered to return to all readers, James made much more from my suggestions to others than he would ever make off of just me. The CYGTW is another book that I’ll be spreading around for a long time, after reading it in 4 days.
I first heard of James’ book around the day of its release, when James retweeted some people who had received the physical book at their homes. I knew James had a new book coming but didn’t know when. I immediately searched for the book on iBooks (my preferred reading medium) and didn’t see it, so I tweeted James.
I went to the site where the CYGTW is being sold and read one of the best sales pages I’ve ever seen (not paid to say that). I bought the package that came with a physical book, and digital versions for every device (i.e., PDF, Word, and ePub). James also gave away a subscription to his Altucher Report site, which offers his books, premium podcasts, “private” (not anymore) letters, and some other cool stuff — all just for getting the book. James practices the principles of creating value over seeking money that he oft preaches.
Now to the book. The CYGTW is better than Choose Yourself — at least it is for me, since I’d already “chosen” myself, many times over, by the time I read Choose Yourself. But many of you, and a lot of people I know personally, need to read BOTH books. Now. Like, yesterday. James gets it. And even better, he can explain “it” to people in a way they can understand — an underrated skill which is what his true value is an an author.
The Choose Yourself brand is essentially about power, but not in the conventional sense that people think of it. This power is taking control of your own life and your definition of success, how you define it. So many people are waiting — on bosses, superiors, decision-makers before they can be happy or consider themselves successful.
A few weeks ago, someone told me she was “miserable” at her job. I asked her what she was going to do about it. She said she would keep working there, pay her bills, and raise her kids: It was OK for her to be miserable as long as her kids were OK. She would look at other jobs, and make her decision on which to apply for based on what age she could retire at (she’s in her mid-30s). I tempered myself as to expressing how ridiculous her plan was ignored to preserve the relationship. When I saw that CYGTW came with a physical copy of the book, she was the first person I thought of sending it to. James Altucher’s books gives people like her the talking-to that she and many others desperately need.
CYGTW is all about abundance, which is not necessarily money. James emphasizes that money is simply a byproduct of successful living: Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, and Social well-being are his four pillars of said success. This books goes deep into money, though — ways to make it, how to create and execute your ideas, what not to do (like buy a house or go to college) and a ton of personal stories that show that James is more than qualified to write what he writes.
What’s great about James Altucher is that he doesn’t have the self-important aura of a person who’s had the successes he has had — and that it would be hard to get the stories of his successes out of him since he puts so much emphasis on his failures in his writing.
My final statement on this book: If you are, in any area of your life, waiting for someone’s decision in order to make you either a failure or a success, you need to start reading James Altucher. Get the CYGTW package and all the books come with it (again, not being paid to say that, nor if/when you buy it. Just offering my opinion).
This book takes it one step further and reveals what I’ve done to create actual abundance for myself—to turn my life around in ways that still surprise me. To change my life completely, still, every six months."
I don’t remember exactly when I became a fan of James Altucher.
I’m pretty sure I was reading his blog called “Altucher Confidential” before he became social-media famous with his Choose Yourself brand. Even though his first book [Choose Yourself] didn’t move me much, I could immediately see its value and have recommended James to many people since — so even though I got back the $5 he offered to return to all readers, James made much more from my suggestions to others than he would ever make off of just me. The CYGTW is another book that I’ll be spreading around for a long time, after reading it in 4 days.
I first heard of James’ book around the day of its release, when James retweeted some people who had received the physical book at their homes. I knew James had a new book coming but didn’t know when. I immediately searched for the book on iBooks (my preferred reading medium) and didn’t see it, so I tweeted James.
I went to the site where the CYGTW is being sold and read one of the best sales pages I’ve ever seen (not paid to say that). I bought the package that came with a physical book, and digital versions for every device (i.e., PDF, Word, and ePub). James also gave away a subscription to his Altucher Report site, which offers his books, premium podcasts, “private” (not anymore) letters, and some other cool stuff — all just for getting the book. James practices the principles of creating value over seeking money that he oft preaches.
Now to the book. The CYGTW is better than Choose Yourself — at least it is for me, since I’d already “chosen” myself, many times over, by the time I read Choose Yourself. But many of you, and a lot of people I know personally, need to read BOTH books. Now. Like, yesterday. James gets it. And even better, he can explain “it” to people in a way they can understand — an underrated skill which is what his true value is an an author.
The Choose Yourself brand is essentially about power, but not in the conventional sense that people think of it. This power is taking control of your own life and your definition of success, how you define it. So many people are waiting — on bosses, superiors, decision-makers before they can be happy or consider themselves successful.
A few weeks ago, someone told me she was “miserable” at her job. I asked her what she was going to do about it. She said she would keep working there, pay her bills, and raise her kids: It was OK for her to be miserable as long as her kids were OK. She would look at other jobs, and make her decision on which to apply for based on what age she could retire at (she’s in her mid-30s). I tempered myself as to expressing how ridiculous her plan was ignored to preserve the relationship. When I saw that CYGTW came with a physical copy of the book, she was the first person I thought of sending it to. James Altucher’s books gives people like her the talking-to that she and many others desperately need.
CYGTW is all about abundance, which is not necessarily money. James emphasizes that money is simply a byproduct of successful living: Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, and Social well-being are his four pillars of said success. This books goes deep into money, though — ways to make it, how to create and execute your ideas, what not to do (like buy a house or go to college) and a ton of personal stories that show that James is more than qualified to write what he writes.
What’s great about James Altucher is that he doesn’t have the self-important aura of a person who’s had the successes he has had — and that it would be hard to get the stories of his successes out of him since he puts so much emphasis on his failures in his writing.
My final statement on this book: If you are, in any area of your life, waiting for someone’s decision in order to make you either a failure or a success, you need to start reading James Altucher. Get the CYGTW package and all the books come with it (again, not being paid to say that, nor if/when you buy it. Just offering my opinion).
February 20, 2019
I was first exposed to James Altucher by Tim Ferriss in "Tools for Titans" and was encouraged to exercise my "Idea Muscle." Since reading that chapter, I have been writing down at least 10 ideas per day; I'm now on week five and it has been an enlightening experience. Most of my ideas are bad and I will never act on them. However, Altucher would say, "The ideas themselves don't matter. Exercising the idea muscle is what matters most."
Regarding "The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth," Altucher is all over the place. First, the negatives. In a way, it's kind of refreshing to read his thoughts because it gives me hope that I'm not all that crazy, especially compared to him! He is definitely off his rocker (my wife would say he's "bat-$hit crazy) and I don't agree with everything he recommends. The book must not have been proofread or professionally copy-edited because there are misspellings, format mistakes and grammatical errors throughout.
Now for the positives. Despite my disagreement with Altucher on many of his recommendations, mostly regarding investments, the proof is in the pudding. In other words, the guy is a multi-millionaire and comes up with brilliant ideas. I've never been a millionaire, I've never written a book on Warren Buffett and I've never managed a multi-million dollar hedge fund before. Altucher has done all these things and more. While I would not go so far as to call him an expert, he likely would not claim this either. His style is self-effacing, humorous and passionate. He comes across as sincerely wanting to help others and often uses himself as an example of what NOT to do. Additionally, the spelling and grammatical errors mentioned above do not dramatically detract from the book's overall message of hope and encouragement.
Overall. You need to know what you're getting into before you read this book. Expect to be entertained more than to become enlightened. There are some practical applications to be found, but you need to dig for them. When you find those golden nuggets, they still might not be appropriate for you.
Conclusion. If there's one thing to remember from this book, it's the idea list. Forget everything else. Not because everything else is garbage or fluff. Rather, it's that exercising the idea muscle is so important it makes all the rest seem insignificant. I wholeheartedly endorse and recommend utilizing Altucher's technique. This practice has encouraged me to look at my business, my family and other aspects of my life in entirely new ways.
Regarding "The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth," Altucher is all over the place. First, the negatives. In a way, it's kind of refreshing to read his thoughts because it gives me hope that I'm not all that crazy, especially compared to him! He is definitely off his rocker (my wife would say he's "bat-$hit crazy) and I don't agree with everything he recommends. The book must not have been proofread or professionally copy-edited because there are misspellings, format mistakes and grammatical errors throughout.
Now for the positives. Despite my disagreement with Altucher on many of his recommendations, mostly regarding investments, the proof is in the pudding. In other words, the guy is a multi-millionaire and comes up with brilliant ideas. I've never been a millionaire, I've never written a book on Warren Buffett and I've never managed a multi-million dollar hedge fund before. Altucher has done all these things and more. While I would not go so far as to call him an expert, he likely would not claim this either. His style is self-effacing, humorous and passionate. He comes across as sincerely wanting to help others and often uses himself as an example of what NOT to do. Additionally, the spelling and grammatical errors mentioned above do not dramatically detract from the book's overall message of hope and encouragement.
Overall. You need to know what you're getting into before you read this book. Expect to be entertained more than to become enlightened. There are some practical applications to be found, but you need to dig for them. When you find those golden nuggets, they still might not be appropriate for you.
Conclusion. If there's one thing to remember from this book, it's the idea list. Forget everything else. Not because everything else is garbage or fluff. Rather, it's that exercising the idea muscle is so important it makes all the rest seem insignificant. I wholeheartedly endorse and recommend utilizing Altucher's technique. This practice has encouraged me to look at my business, my family and other aspects of my life in entirely new ways.
February 8, 2024
James Altucher's "The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth" is a refreshing take on personal finance and self-improvement. Altucher challenges traditional notions of success and offers unconventional yet practical advice on how to achieve financial independence in today's rapidly changing world.
One of the book's strengths lies in Altucher's candid and conversational writing style. He shares personal anecdotes and lessons learned from his own successes and failures, making the content relatable and engaging. Altucher emphasizes the importance of self-reliance and creativity in creating wealth, urging readers to embrace uncertainty and take calculated risks.
Throughout the book, Altucher emphasizes the value of investing in oneself through continuous learning and skill development. He advocates for building multiple streams of income and encourages readers to explore unconventional career paths such as entrepreneurship and freelancing.
Altucher also provides practical strategies for generating income, including investing in alternative assets like cryptocurrencies and starting a side hustle. He emphasizes the importance of cultivating resilience and adaptability in the face of inevitable setbacks.
While some of Altucher's ideas may seem radical or unconventional, his overall message is empowering and actionable. "The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth" serves as a manifesto for those looking to break free from the constraints of traditional employment and take control of their financial future.
In conclusion, James Altucher's "The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth" offers a refreshing perspective on wealth creation and personal fulfillment. With its practical advice and candid insights, this book is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to achieve financial independence on their own terms.
One of the book's strengths lies in Altucher's candid and conversational writing style. He shares personal anecdotes and lessons learned from his own successes and failures, making the content relatable and engaging. Altucher emphasizes the importance of self-reliance and creativity in creating wealth, urging readers to embrace uncertainty and take calculated risks.
Throughout the book, Altucher emphasizes the value of investing in oneself through continuous learning and skill development. He advocates for building multiple streams of income and encourages readers to explore unconventional career paths such as entrepreneurship and freelancing.
Altucher also provides practical strategies for generating income, including investing in alternative assets like cryptocurrencies and starting a side hustle. He emphasizes the importance of cultivating resilience and adaptability in the face of inevitable setbacks.
While some of Altucher's ideas may seem radical or unconventional, his overall message is empowering and actionable. "The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth" serves as a manifesto for those looking to break free from the constraints of traditional employment and take control of their financial future.
In conclusion, James Altucher's "The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth" offers a refreshing perspective on wealth creation and personal fulfillment. With its practical advice and candid insights, this book is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to achieve financial independence on their own terms.
December 27, 2017
A Bit Haphazard, But Has It's Charm
Maybe not directed to my age group and written in the aftermath of the Great Recession , the book has it's salient points. But, it's a lot of throw a boatload of ideas against the wall and hope something sticks. Most people need consistency and order to pay the rent or mortgage and save for old age. That has not changed in a millennium and will continue as the broken economy slowly repairs itself. The book does have a nice human touch due to the author's up and down life experiences, but they are not experiences most of us will pass through on our trail. Hyperkinetic and a bit manic risk taker is he. I also disagree with his anti mutual funds bias. That investing technique has pushed my family into the upper middle class over time, even through the bad recession and housing collapse of 2008. His rent vs. own position seems a bit dated now as the millennials ease into family formation and home ownership.
Maybe not directed to my age group and written in the aftermath of the Great Recession , the book has it's salient points. But, it's a lot of throw a boatload of ideas against the wall and hope something sticks. Most people need consistency and order to pay the rent or mortgage and save for old age. That has not changed in a millennium and will continue as the broken economy slowly repairs itself. The book does have a nice human touch due to the author's up and down life experiences, but they are not experiences most of us will pass through on our trail. Hyperkinetic and a bit manic risk taker is he. I also disagree with his anti mutual funds bias. That investing technique has pushed my family into the upper middle class over time, even through the bad recession and housing collapse of 2008. His rent vs. own position seems a bit dated now as the millennials ease into family formation and home ownership.
Read
October 4, 2019This book is filled with anecdotes from the author’s own time working as a hedge fund manager, being an entrepreneur and a chess player, giving out tips he picked up along the way and marking them with titles like Be Ridiculous, Why You Have to Quit Your Job This Year, and Don’t Be a Child.
Even someone who usually shies away from self help book and get wealthy guides will find this one a fun and refreshing read, if only for the anecdotes and interesting outlook on things.
Altucher talks about going broke, being arrested in kindergarten, not saving for retirement and watching standup comedy before going on a date. He gives insight into how Bobby Fischer, despite not being exceptionally talented, changed what could have been an above average career into a spectacular one with a few simple moves. (No pun intended...)
I received this book through the goodreads/ librarything giveaway, can’t figure out which one
October 6, 2017
I read two back to back books of James Altucher. The one I am writing the review and Choose Yourself: Be Happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream. Reading Choose Yourself impressed me a lot and made me read this one. I must say James is one of the most practical authors I have ever came across. This books highlights clear steps and methodologies to de-clutter your mind from various belief that are followed from ages.
At some stages in the book it looks a dragging one, but otherwise it is a gem to read. If someone follows the advise shared in this book it will definitely help him/her to improve as a person.
Some of the cases like Eminem story is wonderfully presented and can help entrepreneurs/employees to place their best case in front of their customer/bosses.
I recommend this book specially to someone who is facing dilemma about life and future.
At some stages in the book it looks a dragging one, but otherwise it is a gem to read. If someone follows the advise shared in this book it will definitely help him/her to improve as a person.
Some of the cases like Eminem story is wonderfully presented and can help entrepreneurs/employees to place their best case in front of their customer/bosses.
I recommend this book specially to someone who is facing dilemma about life and future.
September 12, 2017
I like Altucher's ideas and believe that many I've never tried in my life are at least worth giving serious consideration. He talks a lot about becoming an Idea Machine which could have considerable benefits. Especially for younger people, this book is a good primer for surviving and thriving in today's environment.
What is detracting, for me, is Altuchers unrestrained enthusiasm for his ideas, his appearance and the fact that his book contains numerous typographical and grammatical errors. Of course, given the accomplishments he has attained, he is entitled to more license than other writers, and these do not diminish the practical value of what he has to say ... it just makes it more difficult to latch on to.
What is detracting, for me, is Altuchers unrestrained enthusiasm for his ideas, his appearance and the fact that his book contains numerous typographical and grammatical errors. Of course, given the accomplishments he has attained, he is entitled to more license than other writers, and these do not diminish the practical value of what he has to say ... it just makes it more difficult to latch on to.
January 1, 2021
This is one of the best self-help books I've read. There are so many really great insights in here. I wrote down lots of parts I marked on my first read that I am sure I am going to apply to my life. What I like most about Altucher's writing is his complete honesty. He shares his accomplishments as well as his failings. I found the whole book interesting and couldn't put it down on most parts.
The only thing I didn't like is that it appears to be poorly edited, and thus there are many mistakes, mostly in grammar and spelling. It almost seems like he put the book together out of blog posts that he didn't edit before publishing the book. That's why I had to reduce the rating by one star.
The only thing I didn't like is that it appears to be poorly edited, and thus there are many mistakes, mostly in grammar and spelling. It almost seems like he put the book together out of blog posts that he didn't edit before publishing the book. That's why I had to reduce the rating by one star.
February 12, 2021
This book is amazing. I really enjoy learning from his successes and failures. James Altucher is very direct while explaining them. And I am sure that everyone can learn form him. For sure I will now start with the training of my « Idea Muscle » in order to improve my creativity and develop new ideas. Finally the last part of the book, where James analyzes Eminem final rap battle enables us to get a deeper understanding of how cognitive biais work and how marketing campaigns use it. That’s definitely a book that I will recommend
February 2, 2018
This book is scatterbrained, disjointed, and painful to read. There are a few nuggets of good information but unfortunately they are surrounded by rants. The author flits from one topic to the next with very little cohesion. I can't say I'm really surprised, since he mentions selling businesses within months of creating them and being broke multiple times. For those who are steadfast and considered in their lives, this book provides little value.
August 9, 2018
Choose Yourself Financial Edition.
I really like James Altucher’s writing style. He is brutally honest about his life, and i feel that this makes him better to listen to than someone who seems “perfect.”
In this book he reviews the concepts from Choose Yourself, and adds more information regarding business and finances. There is a wealth of information that can be put to use.
I really like James Altucher’s writing style. He is brutally honest about his life, and i feel that this makes him better to listen to than someone who seems “perfect.”
In this book he reviews the concepts from Choose Yourself, and adds more information regarding business and finances. There is a wealth of information that can be put to use.
January 10, 2022
"Yes" and "No"
There were parts I could take and parts I could leave. That may be the entire intent of the book. Content jumped around too much for me so I couldn't tell if the author endorsed investing or not, among other things (home ownership!) I was near the end of the book before I got what the author was trying to say (maybe it was just me). The summary - choose what works for you, makes you happy and that will be your wealth!
There were parts I could take and parts I could leave. That may be the entire intent of the book. Content jumped around too much for me so I couldn't tell if the author endorsed investing or not, among other things (home ownership!) I was near the end of the book before I got what the author was trying to say (maybe it was just me). The summary - choose what works for you, makes you happy and that will be your wealth!
May 30, 2023
This book continues what James shared in the original title Choose yourself, only he looks at it from the perspective of wealth. It’s filled with James sense of humor but also provides some valuable insights on how to explore the generation of wealth through ideas, networking, and being of service to other people. I found it helpful in terms of mindset and changing how I approach my own wealth generation strategies.
January 5, 2018
Fun easy read. Wish I would have read this when I was much younger. The author tells you not to follow his advice many times. However you would probably do your self a disservice if you didn’t. The author has lived a
Iife of extreme up and downs that most of us will never know, but we can learn from these experiences. A lot of simple advice that you can change your life for the better.
Iife of extreme up and downs that most of us will never know, but we can learn from these experiences. A lot of simple advice that you can change your life for the better.
March 13, 2018
What an amazing book.
It worked perfectly into my new mindset and it made me realise that it's not a bad thing that I'm having - as I recently called it - "too many ideas".
The chapter on Investing seemed a little too obviously frankensteined together from blog posts. But that's easily forgiven.
Highly recommended and I'll definitely go for other books of the author in the future!
It worked perfectly into my new mindset and it made me realise that it's not a bad thing that I'm having - as I recently called it - "too many ideas".
The chapter on Investing seemed a little too obviously frankensteined together from blog posts. But that's easily forgiven.
Highly recommended and I'll definitely go for other books of the author in the future!
August 1, 2018
The book has lots of useful ideas and strategies and James has a quirky way of getting his points across. He also makes it easy and entertaining to get through what some could view as very dry or uninteresting subject material. I read it on a Kindle but ordered a physical copy to make notes and use it as a resource.
February 18, 2017
I like the author, he has an interesting podcast and does crazy experiments where he sold everything and lived out of AirBnB's and mooched off friends for a year. The book was a little lacking. Not enough detail for a business book. Has great ideas but not a lot of how to in my opinion.
May 29, 2017
Inspiring read
It was inspiring in a way that made me believe that despite only an undergrad degree I can make my dreams come true. May be a bit naive though in how it portrays ease but will be trying.
It was inspiring in a way that made me believe that despite only an undergrad degree I can make my dreams come true. May be a bit naive though in how it portrays ease but will be trying.
July 7, 2017
Motivating read...
This book is very good, but it certainly isn't for everyone. Not everyone wants the life James has created for himself, but everyone can find something helpful from reading this book.
This book is very good, but it certainly isn't for everyone. Not everyone wants the life James has created for himself, but everyone can find something helpful from reading this book.
March 22, 2018
Choose Yourself
So much insightful advice in a single book. Written in a manner that enables anybody to stick it to memory and follow. Recommend this book to all your friends, young adults, and anybody you care about. It's that important.
So much insightful advice in a single book. Written in a manner that enables anybody to stick it to memory and follow. Recommend this book to all your friends, young adults, and anybody you care about. It's that important.
December 3, 2018
This book is a great blend of humor, motivation and practical advice. It is entertaining. Some advice is good some not so much. Read it and make up your own mind. I found value in it. Hopefully you will too. Just don’t pay full price for it. ( I didn’t, and neither should you.)
December 11, 2018
Lived the idea machine.. lack of blue collar advice.
I love the idea machine premise, but would have loved a little shout out to blue collar workers and some advice to general population of shift work. Great ideas, and will out these into practice.
I love the idea machine premise, but would have loved a little shout out to blue collar workers and some advice to general population of shift work. Great ideas, and will out these into practice.
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