Ep. 239 - Alex Berenson: How to Write a Page-Turner

Ep. 239 - Alex Berenson: How to Write a Page-Turner

Alex Berenson had the dream job. But he was unhappy. And perhaps it even scarred him in some ways. He switched it up. To his true dreams. To the dreams he had for himself since he was a child. I want to do this. First off, Alex has written 11 bestselling thriller novels. Alex knows how to get the reader to turn the page and ask, "What happens next?!" This is an unbelievably hard skill. But it's not the most important skill when you are moving into your dream job. I will tell you the most important skill. And Alex explains more clearly how he did it when we are in the podcast. The most important skill is to have this weird sort of "active arrogance". Here's the gap: The best in your profession have skills, experience, and they know how to sit down and DO something every day. The beginners: they WANT to do something. They PLAN to do something. They SAY they will eventually do it. They THINK they have the skills they need. But they never do it. The ones who succeeed. They have the arrogance to think they can just simply sit down and do it. .Despite not having the skills. Despite being total amataurs. They simply sit down and DO IT. By doing it, you LEARN the skills, you DO the job [a first novel in Alex's case], and you get better. DOING is the only way to succeed. Most poeple stop before this point. Alex didn't. And thank god. Because his 11 bestsellers have been lifesavers for me. A way for me to dream. A way for me to escape. Here's how Alex did it: [6:25] - Create your own universe "In 2003 and 2004, I went to Iraq for the paper," he said (he worked at The New York Times). "The war had ended, supposedly... we deposed Saddam. Most reporters go during the 'active phase,' so The Times said any cub reporter could put their hand up and go. So I put my hand up." Then he came back and realized he had stories. And John Wells was born. Alex has written 11 bestsellers. All page-turners. I wanted to know what made him start writing thrillers. I've always thought of writing fiction. I still wonder if that's what's next. Here's what he told me, "In my universe, nobody lies to me. They can lie to each other, they can even lie to themselves, they cannot lie to me." [11:00] - Some luck goes unnoticed "Coming back to the states was a shock," he said. "The wastefulness of this country really smacks you when you've been away for a while, certainly in a place like that." "What do you mean? What's an example?" "I think the example that struck me is the electrical grid." We take it for granted that the lights go on. And then use them like crazy. I live in NY. The lights are always on. It doesn't matter what time. And I never think about it. "American is a place of abundance," Alex said. "I guess that's a good thing. It's better to be rich than poor but realize that 80% of the world is never going to live in conditions anything like this. It really does just smack you in the face to realize how lucky we are and how little we realize that." [12:00] - Choose yourself I asked Alex if he thinks we're becoming complacent as a society. "Thats a real fear," Alex said. There are two sides. One side is if you give people everything will they stop wanting to work? Will they say they have enough. And give up. But then the other side is you work so hard and go nowhere. "The flip side of that is if you make the system so unfair that nobody believes hard work can get you ahead, they're not going to work either." And I think that's why work should be more than a paycheck. There has to be a vision. And following that vision is how you choose yourself. [15:00] - Have a little arrogance Alex said a lot of reporters want to write novels. He was one of them. But there's something that separates those who write from those who don't... "I did something arrogant," he said. "I wrote a novel." So I wondered if that's... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episoder(1374)

One Billion Users: The Future of Crypto | Tascha @TaschaLabs

One Billion Users: The Future of Crypto | Tascha @TaschaLabs

Is it possible to time the crypto market? I  talked to Tascha from @TashaLabs, one of the smartest people I know in the crypto space. You definitely have to check out her website, Tasha Labs, and sign up for her newsletter.  We talk in great detail, not only about how you value a cryptocurrency, not only how you can time the crypto market, but about what really are some of the future use cases of crypto that will lead to ultimately a billion users, and why this is not just a fad.Back in 1999, 2000, and 2001, everyone was still saying the internet was a fad. Well, it wasn't. Crypto's going to follow the same path and Tasha has the details.Tascha (@TaschaLabs) / TwitterTascha Labs - YouTubeTascha Labs - FREEDOM | CREATIVITY | WEALTH | CONSCIOUSNESS------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe  to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

20 Jan 20231h 2min

He Was So Fed up with Traffic, He Redrew the Map (Literally!) | Uri Levine

He Was So Fed up with Traffic, He Redrew the Map (Literally!) | Uri Levine

Uri Levine was frustrated by traffic jams on his commute and found validation that the problem was widespread. His solution was to co-found Waze, the crowd-sourced GPS navigation platform which became a major competitor to Google Maps before being acquired by Google for $1.4 billion.But Uri's new book,  Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs is not the story of Waze. It's not one story about entrepreneurship. It's completely an A-to-Z handbook for entrepreneurs with so many specific sections, like:How to do a demo,How to build a slide deckHow to make an effective presentationHow do you evaluate a term sheet?What metrics do you use to measure the growth of your company?How do you manage investors, fire people, and hire people?What deal terms need to be negotiated for the exit?This is such a valuable guide, it really is, and today's conversation builds upon these principles. Listen on as Uri & James discuss all of these topics and more, including:Waze built its maps using user GPS data, why did the first 1000 users download Waze? (00:11:22)The 4 Stages of Users: Innovators -> Early Adopters -> Early Majority -> Late Majority (00:13:14)What percentage of successes are problem-based vs innovation-based? (00:15:46)How do you distinguish between your users and your customers? (00:16:50)Did Waze ever consider charging subscriptions to the users? (00:18:37)What metrics do you look at to see if a business is on the right path? (00:39:25)Did Waze ever consider licensing navigation data? (00:47:39)Why is it more valuable to talk to customers who don't like you? (00:48:27)What are some techniques to cement a good first impression? (00:53:30)------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe  to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook  ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

19 Jan 20231h

Steven Pressfield | Writing Lessons from the Master

Steven Pressfield | Writing Lessons from the Master

Steven Pressfield's newest book, Govt Cheese a memoir, must jump to the top of your reading list.  Both gut-wrenching and laugh-out-loud funny, his brutally honest story is a compelling page-turner. Steven's writing career spans many genres and formats, but it almost never materialized. From US Marine to advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout, mental hospital attendant, migrant fruit-picker, and hack screenwriter, his debut novel - The Legend of Bagger Vance - was 30 years in the making before it was published (later to become a major motion picture). Never content with one format, his non-fiction book The War of Art has now sold over a million copies globally & his historical fiction novel Gates of Fire is on the required reading list at West Point.James and Steven touch upon all manner of concepts & credos during today's conversation, among them:What role does advertising play in an author's toolkit? (00:06:10)After writing 3 unpublished novels and 9 failed screenplays, what kept Steven motivated? (00:15:17)Did Steven ever consider suicide? (00:16:43)What breakthrough made Steven's books "publishable"? (00:19:13)The 5 stages of creative development: Desire, Craft, Soft Skills, Finishing, and Killing the Ego (00:29:43)The importance of mentorship (00:31:43)What did Steven learn from re-writing a porn script? (00:47:04)James' two classes of humans: "Writers" & "Birdwatchers" (00:56:02)Belief in the other all-knowing dimension (01:02:08)------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe  to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

17 Jan 20231h 15min

Side Hustle Friday: Build Your Own Real Estate Empire Starting with Zero Dollars! | Rolly Weaver

Side Hustle Friday: Build Your Own Real Estate Empire Starting with Zero Dollars! | Rolly Weaver

Think of this as a step-by-step guide to building literally your own real estate empire! Roy "Rolly" Weaver did his first real estate transaction fresh out of college with ZERO dollars to his name and, leveraging his earnings, built a portfolio including an apartment building, a hotel, and resort-town cabins which continue to earn him hundreds of thousands of dollars in passive income annually!Listen on hear to Rolly describe his business ascent using other people's money and stick around for the details on his ongoing "chess match to the death" with James!https://www.instagram.com/rollyweaver/------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

13 Jan 20231h 20min

Skip the Line, Enter Through the Alley, and Sneak in Through the Kitchen! | Alex Banayan

Skip the Line, Enter Through the Alley, and Sneak in Through the Kitchen! | Alex Banayan

Alex Banayan's story would have made a perfect chapter in Skip the Line: A college student hacks his way onto a game show, uses his wit to win the showcase, sells the prizes, and uses the proceeds to fund his business ambitions!Alex's bestselling book The Third Door takes readers on an unprecedented adventure-from hacking Warren Buffett's shareholders' meeting to chasing Larry King through a grocery store to celebrating in a nightclub with Lady Gaga-as Alex Banayan travels from icon to icon, decoding their success.James and Alex discuss the journey (including the crushing failures along the way), how their strategies and circles have overlapped, and what the next chapter of Alex's journey holds in store.This episode was also brought to you by Wondrium! https://Wondrium.com/james------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

12 Jan 20231h 18min

This Author's Titles Are So Important, I Wrote an Entire Chapter About Them! | Nassim Nicholas Taleb

This Author's Titles Are So Important, I Wrote an Entire Chapter About Them! | Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, joins The James Altucher Show to discuss technology and how different systems handle disorder. As humans evolve, technology is constantly being upgraded and replaced with new concepts and ideas. Today, we use technology in almost every aspect of our lives, but do we really understand the advantages and disadvantages of constantly being computerized?In Nassim's book The Black Swan, he highlighted for readers the unusual and unpredictable events that underlie almost everything about our world.  Now with his book Antifragile, readers are presented with why we should embrace these uncertainties. The ideas and concepts that Nassim presents today for our listeners are beyond anything you have heard before. Nassim and James talk about several ways that disorder in your life will actually make you stronger. As Nassim tells James in the interview, "If you don't have variability in your life, you are not human." The key is to take these shocks and disruptions and become - as Nassim says - antifragile, making you stronger, more creative, and better able to adapt to each new challenge you face.Nothing is certain in this world; this episode will have you questioning everything you thought you knew.------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

10 Jan 20231h 41min

How to Thrive in our Modern Work World with a 70,000-year-old brain! | Martin Seligman, Ph.D. & Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, M.D.

How to Thrive in our Modern Work World with a 70,000-year-old brain! | Martin Seligman, Ph.D. & Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, M.D.

Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, M.D., has served as chief product officer and chief innovation officer at BetterUp, founding CEO of LifeLink, and an advisor to healthcare, coaching, and behavior change technology companies. Martin Seligman, Ph.D. is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, director of the Positive Psychology Center, and former president of the American Psychological Association. Together, they join James today to discuss their new book, Tomorrowmind.Tomorrowmind tackles the challenges of thriving in our modern world of work with a 70,000-year-old brain. How can we not only survive but flourish amidst the never-ending cycles of change and unprecedented uncertainty that threatens to drown us daily?Drawing from their original research, Kellerman and Seligman outline five critical skills that today's professionals need to develop to achieve their potential. They offer guidance for organizational leaders looking to arm their workforce with the capabilities that will future-proof their firm's success.------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

6 Jan 20231h 19min

Google Doesn't Care About Stories! | SmartBlogger's Jon Morrow

Google Doesn't Care About Stories! | SmartBlogger's Jon Morrow

Jon Morrow might be the most successful copywriter on the web, and he's definitely the best indexed on the web. Jon (the owner of Smart Blogger) and James take today's 80 minutes to unravel the current market conditions for getting paid to write content, how to learn to do it, and how rapidly the market is going to shift over the next 5 years.In Jon's words, "The future of AI isn't to replace all writers, I think it's going to replace the word processor. Instead of going into Google Docs or Microsoft Word, you're going to go to an AI prompt and you're going to have a writing assistant who you will feed at your novel ideas and it will express them in super interesting ways that you can then choose from to publish on the web."The pair also discuss:Search-driven content vs. social media-driven contentWhat are content briefs and who are content strategists?Domain authority vs. topical authorityCopywriting vs. content writingAI-assisted SEO keyword generationHow to get paid to write from home with no prior experience!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5 Jan 20231h 16min

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