I got a huge response to my previous post about dealing with critics. They come in all shapes and sizes, and the most formidable critics never attack head-on. Instead, they say things like “Are you sure about that?” or “I’m just worried about you…”

So I wanted to go into more depth to go beyond just “handling” critics — and go into the deeper area of building a POSITIVE support system.

This week, I’m giving a live presentation on How to Overcome Critics and Build a Powerful Support System this Wednesday night.

You’ll learn:

• The subtle ways critics cut people down
• Unconventional ways to handle critics (beyond just ignoring them)
• How to build a positive support system of people who WANT to help you and hold you accountable

This event is online and free:

• Wednesday, 5/22, at 9:00pm Eastern
• This is invite-only. To pre-register and save you spot, click here: http://live.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/

And, to the 5,000 people who live in Siberia, or have kids, or have a dog with a runny nose: This is live. There will be no transcript or recording. Again, for the illiterate people who are not reading this and will email me anyway — I said sorry but no, I will not record this.

TO ATTEND:

Register for the webinar here: http://live.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/

-Ramit

P.S. Once you register, leave a comment and share:

1. A subtle way that someone close to you gave you unsolicited, negative feedback
2. What it would mean to have a POSITIVE support system around you, who would constantly hold you accountable, support you, and wouldn’t let you fail.

New presentation: How to overcome critics & build a powerful support system is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

One of my most popular concepts is “Invisible Scripts,” or the guiding beliefs we have that are so deeply embedded, they’re often invisible.

For example:

• “Everyone should get a college degree”
• “I don’t have any money, so I can’t go to college”
• “Marry someone you love”
• “If you rent, you’re throwing money away”
• “Online courses are SCAMS”

Here’s an overview of the Invisible Scripts concept, which many of my readers told me changed their lives more than anything else I’ve written.

One of our Invisible Scripts is almost overwhelmingly powerful, causing people to make life-altering decisions for reasons they often cannot even grasp.

It is: “Buying a house is the next step!”

You see, you go to college…get a good job…buy a car…meet a nice guy/girl…then buy a house!

Right?

Interestingly, at least 30% of the “I have a horrible financial problem” emails I get are directly related to people’s mortgages.

And if you’ve read my book, you know that in Chapter 9, I’m critical of people buying real estate because it’s a “good investment” or because they’re “throwing money away on rent” — both of which are rarely true. I also cover some of the numbers on the “Buying a House” section of my site.

It turns out that Americans HATE to hear this.

In a recent article by James Altucher, one of the best writers anywhere, he writes about why entrepreneurs should not buy a house. What I really liked was how he dug into the psychology of owning a house. Predictably, the commenters hate him.

How often do we do something or want something without considering WHY we really want it? For example, if I were to say, “Why do you want to buy a house?” and you replied, “I’m tired of throwing money away on rent,” I would reply: How exactly are you doing that? Can you show me the numbers? If you cannot do that, you are not ready to make the biggest purchase of your life, jackasses.

If you say “Leverage,” and I point out that leverage works both ways, you need to have an answer for that before you drop several hundred thousand dollars.

Finally, if you say “For the tax benefits,” then I would like to invite you to join to a community college class on financial math so that you can understand how the tax benefit really works.

Guys, I don’t think I’m asking too much. If you’re about to make the biggest purchase of your lives, you need to understand the basic concepts of real estate. In fact, I hold you to a higher standard: You need to be at least intermediate, if not expert, for this expenditure that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So while others (especially parents) might urge you to buy a house — “rates are so low right now!” — I hold you to a higher standard. I insist you do more than take catch phrases (“I hate paying my landlord’s rent every month”) and truly understand how real estate works.

For example — if you pay $2,000/month for a mortgage, how much TCO (total cost of ownership) will you actually pay? Would it surprise you to learn that you’ll pay 50% more than your monthly mortgage in additional costs?

Most people would be shocked. But they take their shock out in the form of denial, not further digging. And 3 years from now, they’re saddled with a purchase that they feel cheated about…because they never took the time to learn how it works.

I’m not saying real estate is a bad purchase for everyone. But the vast majority of buyers do not understand how the math works…on the biggest purchase of their lives.

Which brings me to today’s Ask Ramit question from Naomi in New Zealand:

“I would like to know about property. I’m nearly thirty, and feel like I SHOULD own some property – an apartment, or something. I have 38K saved up, so I could buy something, and possibly rent it out to cover the mortgage. Stocks don’t feel so real to me, while property does. (Probably comes along with being an architect.) I’m curious about how you would decide to buy property – or not.” 

Here’s my response to Naomi:

Real estate might be right for you. It might not. But do not make the largest decision of your life because it’s something you “should” do.

Question: Out of curiosity, who here has gotten pressure to buy a house? What’s the subtle ways you’ve felt pressured? Was it a throwaway phrase, or a subtle intonation, or did someone outright blurt out, “You’re wasting money renting”? Leave a comment below — I’m curious.

P.S. I’m hiring an experienced and detail-oriented webinar producer. To learn more and apply, click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T52WKNG

The surprising myth about investing in real estate (PS – I’m hiring) is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

Two months ago, I ran a giveaway for two plane tickets anywhere in the US.

Robyn won! She’s planning to fly to her coin-collecting grandfather to Philadelphia to see how coins are made.

Last month, I gave away $1,001 on Amazon.

Meghan won! She’s using her prize to buy the “most luxurious, highest quality bedding she can find.”

THIS IS DOPE. I think you guys are okay, but not that cool. But this is awesome.

Today I’m kicking off another giveaway…and I tweaked the rules to give away even more.

Win dinner out for two — for a YEAR
As you know, I love Taco Bell, and when I was a kid, my mom used to take us there sometimes. But we could NEVER order a Mexican Pizza — it was too expensive ($3.29, I still remember the price).

The funny thing is, I could buy all the Mexican Pizzas I want today, but I’ve still never bought ONE. What is wrong with me??

But I love love love the feeling of being able to go to a restaurant and order what I want…WITHOUT WORRYING about the price. Appetizers? Sure. Not sure I want X or Y? I can do both. Is this heaven?

This is one of the most overlooked parts of living a Rich Life. You can eat out with your friends, pick awesome restaurants, and instead of worrying about the price, you can create awesome memories.

And now, I’m giving that away to you — for a year.

Today, I’m giving one lucky person “Dinner for Two” with guest of your choice, once a month for an entire year.

That’s 12 meals…wherever you want. (Don’t be an ass, please. I’m limiting the price to $125/meal.)

All I ask is that you send me pictures of where you eat so I can share them with the list.

To win, it only takes 5 seconds to enter:
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/rich-life/

-Ramit

P.S. I added a new way for you to win. If you refer the person who ends up winning via Facebook/Twitter/blog/etc, you BOTH win. BOOM.

Win “Dinner for Two” for a year is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

Too many weirdos think that to start a business, they have to quit their job, raise millions in venture capital, and start the next Google.

Uh, that sounds pretty risky to me.

Is there another way? Can you start something slowly? What if you want to quit your job and start your own thing, but you have bills and you don’t want to take on a huge risk?

What do you do?

I made the leap to running my own business, and then I taught a bunch of my students how to do it, too. So I wanted to share my answer to today’s “Ask Ramit” question, which comes from Jacquie in Atlanta:

“Financially, is it wiser to work for yourself (freelance/contractor) or to work for a company (who offers healthcare benefits, 401K, etc.)? I am at a crossroad, and the thought of leaving my company both thrills and terrifies me”

Here’s my framework of thinking about when to stay…when to quit…and the best way to do it. All in a short video for you:

When should you make the jump to work for yourself? is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

On Monday, I introduced you to Ben, a circus performer who used my Earn1K course to go from $0 to $60/hour in side income.

Now I want to show you how he found his Dream Job — a job that offered “more money than I’d ever received” — in 3 weeks.

Starving Artist Syndrome

In college, Ben had an interesting experience. “A bunch of cute girls asked me if I wanted to lift them up in a circus show, a partners acrobatics act, and I said ‘sure, sounds like fun!’”

After he graduated with a degree in philosophy but no job prospects, Ben moved to Seattle and started working part time with the circus as a coach and performer. This opened him up to other opportunities, “like getting involved in the Seattle burlesque scene and modelling for art classes. At one point I was a professional ninja for a cosmetics company.”

But there was one problem. Ben wasn’t making much money. He wanted more, but the classic invisible script for artists — Starving Artist Syndrome — was holding him back: “There was a ceiling on how high you could go financially. And with performers there is a belief that we are always going to be poor, and that is the trade off.”

Then he got my email about Dream Job.

Not “qualified” for your Dream Job? Try this.

After succeeding with Earn1K, Ben trusted my courses, but he wasn’t sure Dream Job was the right fit. “The first time I saw it, I thought it didn’t apply to me. I was a circus performer. What does Ramit know about that? But this time around I wanted to break the mentality of ‘I’m a circus artist and I can’t do any other work.’”

He signed up for the program and within two days was on a car ride to NYC. “Literally because of Dream Job. I knew if I could work through this program, I could get some work in New York.”

Ben dug into the material. “It was enlightening to say the least. I’ve never had a real job in my entire life. Ramit’s material started addressing that directly. Even if you don’t feel like you have experience in the field you want to get into, you can at least window shop.”

Ben followed my step-by-step LinkedIn tutorial to start the process. “I saw things that could potentially interest me. I realized I could actually move forward despite my lack of formal credentials. It was like a slow hacking away of these limiting beliefs I had. And I wasn’t allowed to jump ahead. I started feeling pretty confident and I liked the progression of it all.”

In NYC, Ben started natural networking with the techniques he learned in Dream Job. “I completely botched and burned on a few talks, but I ended up having no interest in certain areas after hearing direct accounts of what it was like.” He kept practicing and soon made a connection. “She seemed to like where my head was at and who I was. I used the Briefcase Technique, and I’m pretty sure she started drooling just a little bit.”

Ben landed a job doing operations and marketing for a private school within three weeks of starting Dream Job. “I got a position that I’m pretty sure on paper I have no right to be doing. I’m capable, but in no way technically qualified. It reinforced Ramit’s tenet that if you understand a person’s problems and offer up solutions you can do a lot.”

I thought there was no way anyone was going to hire me

“It was this feeling of elation. I have a real job, and I’m being offered more money than I’ve ever received.”

“Just knowing I can get a job whenever I want, even without qualifications, that was the main thing. My resume is littered with circus this, circus that, model, personal trainer, ninja. I thought there was no way anyone was going to hire me based on that, and here I am. Job. Salary.”

How does Ben sum up Find Your Dream Job?

“It’s fundamentally what the real process is for finding a job. It wasn’t something like you tweak your resume, shotgun it out to everyone, and hope that the job gods look down upon you favorably. It was about the real process of finding a job, how to turn the odds in your favor, and how to get more control than you previously thought. You do have options. You aren’t limited to what your current situation is.”

12 minutes 17 seconds of premium Dream Job content for FREE

I’m giving away 12 minutes 17 seconds of original Dream Job video — how to use Natural Networking to cut through the “traditional job search” — for free. Just sign up for my newsletter to get instant access.

Case Study: How Ben quit the circus and proved he could get a “real” job (Part 2) is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

Here are some “classic” ideas for earning income on the side:

• business consultant (like Megha, who went from $0 to $2000 per month in 3 weeks)
• web designer (like Robert, who used my Briefcase Technique to increase his income from $42,000 to $90,200 per year)
• internet marketer (like Kentaro who built a $250,000/year business using Earn1K’s qualification theory)

And here are some more novel ones.

• selling original artwork online (like Ben, who made $28,139 selling art on Etsy)
• martial arts lessons (like Johnny, who raised his rates from $40 to $80 per hour and got BETTER clients)
• drawing caricatures (like Julia who used the skill that made her $8/hour at her day job to earn $125 per hour on the side)

I’m excited to add a new title to the list of jobs my Earn1K graduates have done: circus performer.

You might not think being a circus performer has anything in common with a web designer, but the same principles apply for verifying its earning potential, generating leads and growing your business.

Today, part 1 of a 2-part series on how one of my students, Ben, turned his life around twice using my material.

First, learn how Ben went from earning exactly $0 in side income to $300 to $400 a week using tactics in my Earn1K course.

“I’m pretty sure this is a scam, but nobody has to know.”

A couple years back, Ben found I Will Teach You To be Rich via Tim Ferriss’ blog. “I picked up Ramit’s book and read through it. Applied what I could. I kind of liked not having to pay bank fees and having a savings account with ING.”

Ben had been trying to supplement his income as a circus performer by teaching his skills to private clients, but wasn’t getting anywhere. “Literally $0, nobody wanted to work with me.”

When he got to the sales page for Earn1K, Ben thought it could help him but he had a major hesitation. “The financial difficulty of taking the program. I thought if anyone finds out I spent this much on a guy with a book titled I Will Teach You To Be Rich, I’m pretty sure I’ll be ostracized from all social circles.”

He thought it over and signed up. “I knew I could return it if necessary, but I wanted to at least try it out. I’d give it a test run rather than trying to invalidate it based on the sales page alone.”

From $0 to $60 per hour.

Ben told me how he tried to sell before Earn1K. See if you can figure out why it wasn’t working: “I wrote this paragraph, trying to do a personal training bootcamp. The whole thing was composed of ‘I, me and my’. It was ‘I am X. I have trained with so-and-so. I have trained in this modality and that modality. In retrospect it was stuff that no one would give a damn about. It was language and jargon that was irrelevant to what their needs were.”

What’s really interesting is why he did it that way.

“It just seemed like the norm. That’s how you did it. You impressed people with fancy language, and they’ll be like ‘oh wow, this person knows what they are talking about. I will work with them.’ That was my basic assumption.”

Then Ben watched the video for Module 2: Lesson 1 of Earn1K (How to get inside your clients’ heads) and completely changed his approach. “That totally shifted my mindset from ‘what are my credentials and how can I prove to people I’m very capable’ to what it is now, ‘forget yourself for a moment and think about the potential client. What do they really want?’ That forever changed how I approached potential clients.”

Instead of selling himself, Ben started listening to people he met. “I’d talk with them and get a sense of what they wanted. Sometimes I’d approach people without the intent to work with them, and they’d end up asking me to train them. So it was less trying to sell them. Instead I’d see if we were a good fit for each other, and if not I could refer them to someone else.”

It worked.

“That made a dramatic difference in how people responded to me. I was making $0 before hand, and afterward it varied. In the beginning $200 per week, and depending how many clients I had it would peak at $300 or $400.” Ben started making $60 per hour, enough to supplement his performance income and live comfortably.

How to work less and travel more.

Once you learn how to earn more money, you unlock options in your life. For Ben, that meant travel. “The private clients I had were the backbone of my income. It was how I made money, was able to survive in Seattle, afford a trip to France, Germany, Sweden, and move to Montreal.”

It was in Montreal that Ben decided to end his career in the circus. But he had another debilitating script, “How does a circus performer go out and get a real job?” (Spoiler: Not only did Ben tear down this barrier and change industries, he is now making more money than he ever has before.) I’ll post the second half of Ben’s story in a couple of days. For now, I want to give you a sneak peak of my Earn1K program so you can see exactly how the course helped Ben bring in hundreds a week on the side.

I’m giving away 48 minutes and 34 seconds of actual Earn1K video content — free. You’ll learn how to define your target market and start earning real side income.

Just sign up for my free newsletter below.

Case Study: How did this circus trainer go from $0 to $60 per hour? (Part 1) is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

When I was doing a lot of TV, I would take questions from viewers. Literally 99% of questions would fall into the same 5 categories:

1. I’m in debt. How do I pay it off?
2. My credit card company did X to me. What should I do?
3. I want to buy X. Can I afford it?
4. I just had kids. How should I save for them?
5. I want to retire. Do I have enough?

Here’s the funny thing: To them, their questions were unique. They actually believed they had a special question that applied to just them!

But to anyone else, they were formulaic and easy to answer.

We all nod and smile, saying Ha Ha Those Funny People Who Call In To TV/Radio Shows…yet we do the same thing!

How many of us believe our situations are truly unique?

Take one of the most popular areas of psychology in the last 10 years: happiness.

How many of us have turned 30, thinking we should be flying around on jets, living in a penthouse, only to realize we’re stuck doing yet another Excel model?

What do we do? We think, “If only I got X, I’d be happy.” Another promotion, a bigger apartment, that vacation so we could post our pictures on FB.

Funny that I mention FB. How many of us have feeds FULL of pictures of friends in exotic locations? Posted on a Tuesday or Wednesday? We start to say, wait a second. How are they taking vacations ALL THE TIME? What do they know that I don’t? How come I’m not doing that?

We keep it to ourselves. Sometimes, we just stay in over a weekend. It’s not that we’re depressed…but we wonder, “How come my friends don’t call me to hang out? Why am I doing all the work?”

And on the rare occasions where we share how we feel with friends, there’s always one presumptuous jackass who says, “You should be happy! Do you know how many kids are starving in Africa?”

It’s true, nobody expects to be happy ALL the time. And it’s not that we’re depressed. In fact, rationally, we live in the best time in history. But happiness isn’t rational. It’s a different feeling…a feeling of wondering if we should be doing more…traveling more….having more…even living a different life. We wonder: Am I happy? Should I be happy?

We go through the motions. How many of these sound familiar?

• Having too many choices and, as a result, being unsatisfied with every one because of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
• Going to a blah job, through the motions, then realizing the guy who’s 30 years older than us has been here for decades…doing the same thing we’re doing!
• Making a bunch of resolutions each year, pumping ourselves up, then rationalizing why we didn’t do them — again
• Hitting the snooze button several times every morning
• Feeling lonely and socially awkward but thinking we can’t improve — that somehow, social “skills” are only for people who were blessed with them when they were born

Overall, it’s not a sharp pain — it’s a nagging feeling in the back of our mind that we’re not living up to our full potential.

So what do we do? In the midst of this cognitive dissonance, we have two real options:

1. Admit that we want MORE, and change our behavior
2. Rationalize, rationalize, rationalize

Which do you think we do? Check out these rationalization phrases we use:

• “I should just be happy to have _____”
• “I’ll work on this later”
• “I’m tired. I earned the right to veg out this weekend”
• “I’m just not that type of person” (fit, starts a business, works from home on Fridays, etc)
• “Rich people are scam artists and cheaters”
• “Everybody else is unhappy, too”

Honestly, I find these haunting. And I’ve used every one of these phrases myself!

The fact is, it’s easier to rationalize our behavior — changing nothing — than to change our BEHAVIOR.

It’s scary to admit that we’re not happy…especially because everyone in society tells us we SHOULD be happy…ALL THE TIME!

How happy are you? 1-10?

Out of curiosity…on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your happiness?

If you’re not happy with your response — or you know you can improve — then I’d like to introduce you to Gretchen Rubin. Gretchen is the author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, and she’s one of the sharpest minds on the psychology of happiness.

I like her because she is incredibly relatable — yet she also presents an incredibly strong framework to view happiness through. How happy am I? How do I get happier? Should I even pursue happiness?

Recently, I invited her to be a guest in my Brain Trust program, where I interview my mentors, confidants, and the most interesting people I know. 

I brought her into my studio and asked her my toughest questions on happiness. Now, as you know, I’m not the most “woo woo” guy — so I didn’t want to get someone who spent an hour talking about the meditation practice + tea ritual she does every morning.

That’s why I LOVE this interview. It’s a non-judgmental way to figure out (1) WHAT makes you happy, guilt-free, and (2) HOW to get it.

In this new video, you’ll learn:

• How to differentiate between a real passion and “I should like _____”  so you can focus on what really matters to you
• How you can make new friends as an adult
• The simple test to determine what your real joys are
• The powerful “lie detector” that instantly demonstrates the gap between your values and your daily actions
• The hidden value of ENVY — and how it can show you when to focus your efforts
• The trouble with spontaneity and how it can reduce your overall happiness (plus what to do about it)
• Gretchen’s strategies for keeping work and leisure time separate so you can enjoy each, guilt-free
• What to do when “what feels good” and “what feels right” conflict
• The alarm you should set everyday and why. (Hint: it’s not to get up early)

This is an excerpt of the full interview from my “Brain Trust” program, where each month I unveil a new interview with my personal mentors, advisors, and confidants each month. Each month, you get access to these private interviews.

This program is closed right now. If you’re interested in getting on the wait list, you can add yourself here: www.ramitsbraintrust.com

How to be happy is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

Foreign people don’t give a damn about calling you fat. Go find any Spanish/Indian/Asian person and ask them if their foreign relatives have ever called them fat.

They will look at you bewildered. “Of course. Every time I visit.”

White people are speechless upon hearing this. But it happens.

When I went to visit India a few years ago, I had moved on from being a skinny Indian dude to actually gaining a little muscle. One of my uncles took one look at me and said, “You have become very fat.”

Another uncle saw me, squeezed my bicep, and said, “Aray! Been working out?”

Here’s the difference: The first uncle who called me fat…is overweight! The second uncle, who knew I’d been working out, is ultra-fit.

Who do you want to listen to?

Everyone has an opinion. One of the keys to mastering my personal psychology has been choosing who to listen to — and who can be smiled at, then ignored.

Guy calls me “scammy”

Look at this:

This is from a frugality blog. Imagine someone said this about you. In the past, I would read a comment like this over and over, getting depressed, debating whether to respond, and feeling a knot in the pit of my stomach all day. Now, I see it and move on.

Do I really care what a frugalista says about my “expensive” courses?

This power to control my reactions to unpleasant comments has taken years. And in fact, he’s right! My courses ARE expensive! I don’t care about producing $9 ebooks. I don’t play in a $9 sandbox, nor do I create simple material for people who will never read it.

One way I look at it is, I’d rather spend a lot on something that works than get something for free that doesn’t.

Wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you rather spend $1,000 on something that works than $29 on something that doesn’t?

And I would rather stretch myself to write about all the different facets of living a rich life — careers, entrepreneurship, productivity, and more — instead of writing yet another post about interest rates and lattes. Just kill me.

Why do people criticize?

There are many reasons, but one of the most interesting comes from an example called “bike-shedding”: Basically, if you have a meeting about an atomic reactor, most people won’t speak up, because it’s way too complicated for them to have any meaningful input. But when confronted with a simpler choice — which color should we paint the bikeshed? — EVERYONE has an opinion.

Interestingly, I still get about 15 comments/week about my headshot. “Ramit, you should really change your headshot,” etc. Why? Because they probably can’t comment on my psychological techniques or email funnels…but anyone can say your photo sucks.

So, back to you.

How to handle critics

If there is one thing I’ve learned writing for IWT, it’s that 30% of the people who email me don’t need a tactic or technique. They need therapy. Maybe I’ll get into that in a future post.

I’ve learned you’re ALWAYS going to get unsolicited advice from people. But your reaction to it is what counts. Novices get really frustrated, then try to fight back against it: “Mom, let me do what I WANT to do! I’m a GROWNUP now!”

Life isn’t a Huggies commercial. Top performers plan for feedback. They actively solicit it. Plan for doubters, concern trolls, and outright skeptics. For example, I’ve been writing this site since 2004 and people are STILL skeptical! They continue to leave comments like this!

The truth is, some people are determined to be offended, or play the victim role, or be adversarial towards you.

But always ask yourself: Is this person in the position I want to be? Am I getting relationship advice from my girl friend who can’t hold down a relationship more than 3 months? Am I buying a “Make a million dollars” course from some info-product joker who, if I Googled around for 5 minutes, I’d discover he has severe credit-card debt and cashflow issues?

Or am I working on mastering my own psychology, recognizing negative feedback (not simply trying to ignore it), and improving my response to it?

This is why I don’t even bother selling stuff from my blog. If you don’t like what I see, leave. If you do, at some point you’ll join my newsletter, where you can see the 8+ master courses I’ve created over the last few years.

But I recommend you remind yourself of this: Opinions are cheap. Everyone will have them, because it’s easy to point out things you’re doing wrong, or ways you “should” think about things.

• “Just follow your passion!”
• “A Dream Job? You should be lucky to have ANY job in this economy!”
• “You need to track your spending”
• “Buying a house is the best investment you can ever make”
• “Your first step needs to be social media”

All of these sound logical and are well-intended pieces of advice, yet are ultimately useless. Always ask yourself: Is this advice-giver in the situation I want to be in? Are they giving surface-level advice (“social media!!”) or, if I pressed them, would they be able to back it up and give examples?

You don’t have to listen to everyone.

You don’t have to give equal weight to critics.

And that goes for me, too! Question my background. Question what I’m telling you! In fact, you should do your research on me (Google around, or you can find a 6-page profile that Fortune did on me) before listening to anything I have to say.

And if you like what you see, check out my newsletter — where I post my best material — for more.

Just remember, everyone has an opinion. Not everyone deserves your full attention.

Now you tell me: What kind of BAD feedback have you gotten — feedback that you ignored? Share your story in the comments.

Be careful who you listen to is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

The best places to people-watch are airports, clubs, and the subway. The amount of concentrated ridiculous human behavior on display is amazing. If you’re wondering why I have my sunglasses on at 2:30am at Marquee…now you know.

One of the things I like looking at is something I call “Competence Triggers.” These are telltale behavioral signs of someone with high competence — who’s good at what they do — or low competence.

For example, someone who speaks slowly is perceived very differently than someone who speaks quickly, with his eyes darting around.

And you can actually MASTER these Competence Triggers — changing not only how others perceive you, but you perceive yourself!

That’s why I love today’s question from IWT reader Guro W.:

“How do I discover the job’s pay rate and is it ok to ask at all? Lots of time they do not mention anything about pay.”

This sounds like a tactical question, but it’s actually about Competence Triggers. Because would a Top Performer ever ask that question?

Check out my video response:

Now, I’m curious: Think about the last social interaction you had. Could be a party, hanging out with your friends, even dinner with your parents.

Did anyone give off any noticeable low- or high-competence triggers? What specifically? Leave a comment below.

VIDEO: How to use “Competence Triggers” in a salary negotiation is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

When I was in college, I had a scholarship that let me buy any books I wanted. I would walk into the bookstore, see literally any book I wanted, and buy it. There was a credit with the store so I wouldn’t even take out my credit card. So I had books about psychology, decision-making, cons, deception, seduction, risk, and all kinds of other weird stuff piled up in my dorm room.

It’s funny — those books in total probably only cost a few thousand dollars, but I truly felt rich knowing I could buy any book I wanted without having to think about it. And until this day, one of the greatest feelings I have is not having to worry when I buy something small: “Should I take a taxi? Can I afford an appetizer? Medium or large drink?” I can just get what I want…guilt-free.

It’s less about the freedom than the constant worrying of “Can I afford this?”

Today, I want to share that feeling with you.

This month, I want to give one of you a taste of that freedom as part of my “Rich Life Giveaway.” In the past, I’ve given away free roundtrip airfares, luxury hotel stays around the world, even paid someone’s rent for a month.

Today, I’m giving one lucky person a $1,001 shopping spree at Amazon.com. All I ask is that, if you win, you write me a note telling me what you used the money for.

It takes 5 seconds to enter right below. And to be totally transparent, I hope you share this with your friends so we can grow the audience of IWT and teach more people about living rich lives.

Click here:
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/rich-life

Win a $1,001 shopping spree is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.