EDITOR”SLETTER
ON OUR MINDS
THIS MONTH
INSIGHTS AND ADVICE FROM
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Keep Running
At various times in my life—the economic collapse of the early 1990s,
when I was broke; after my divorce in 2001, when I was broke
(again); and in the aftermath of that divorce, when rebuilding my
relationship with my children seemed like an impossible task—I’ve
been able to coax myself out of despair with a simple mantra: It’s a
marathon, not a sprint. Sure, taking the lead in the race feels good,
just as eating others’ dust can put a catch in your throat, but where
you are right now is only for right now. Success isn’t about always
being in the lead; success is about running a good race and recognizing that the lead position
changes from moment to moment.
Right now, a lot of men who have considered themselves successful are suddenly feeling as if
they’ve fallen behind, perhaps irredeemably so. As Jeff Csatari and Mike Zimmerman report
in “The CEO Suicides” (page 90), many executives are dealing with the sudden economic
downturn by taking out their frustrations on themselves—working harder, stressing more,
and in some cases, simply giving up. Too many of us identify our self-worth with the material
trappings of our success, and when the foundation of that success begins to crumble, so do we.
In this, our second-annual Success Issue, we’re taking a look at success from a different
angle—not as a finish line, but as a race in and of itself. We’ll provide you with plenty of tools to
beat stress before it becomes chronic and paralyzing. And you’ll find hard-knock wisdom from
entertainment mogul Jay-Z and best-selling author Nassim Taleb, who tells us how he predicted
the market crash and how to prepare for the next one. As the financial world came apart at the
seams in 2008, Taleb’s gut instinct earned him an eight-figure payoff.
In the panic that has engulfed us during the current economic climate—when so many of
us find ourselves much further from our
moment at the podium than we expected—
it’s easy to forget that being a winner isn’t
about the place you are right now. It’s about
the choices you made to get where you are
and the path you’re following to the next
stage in the race. This race may have a finish
line, but we don’t know where it is. We can
only keep moving forward.
It’s not a sprint, gentlemen.
It’s a marathon.
“If you want
your child to
value truth, don’t
tell white lies.”
Writer Mark Adams,
“The Art of Compromise,” page 66
“Growth
doesn’t stop
when you’ve
become
successful.
That’s when it
starts.”
Rapper and entrepreneur
Jay-Z, “Not a Businessman—
a Business, Man,” page 74
“I miss the days
when I’d hear
the UPS truck
in the driveway
and think, Oh,
goody! I wonder
what I bought! ”
Writer David Owen,
“How to Buy…Anything,” page 82
STEPHEN PERRINE
“The trick
is to learn to
benefit from
the fact that
the markets
are manic-
depressive.”
Investor and best-selling
author Nassim Taleb,
“Swan Dive,” page 96
