Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat

AFTERWORD

I am writing this from the deck of a ship at the port of Seattle. We're about to embark on a 10-day journey up and down the Alaskan coast. I have brought my computer, but I will not use the Internet on board. Nor will I activate my cellphone.

My consulting business? I'm not worried about it, because all of my clients' businesses are being run very well without me. I am going to spend a few hours a day writing fiction or poetry or something for my next book on business...but when I do that, I'll be doing it because I want to.

I don't have to work hard anymore. I work only when it's fun and easy.

Like I said in the Introduction to this book, you, too, can have the world's best job. You can work...

• When you want.

• Where you want.

• With whom you want.

• Doing what you want.

That's what having your own business can give you.

Since I'm on my way to Alaska, let me tell you a story about Alaska.

In 1896, a huge hoard of gold was discovered on the Klondike River. Within a year, more than 100,000 Americans, fueled by the desire to get rich, set off for Alaska to stake their claims.

Of this stampeding 100,000, only 40,000 ever reached the Klondike River basin. The rest were incapable of completing the arduous journey. And of the 40,000 who got there, only half actively searched for gold. The rest were discouraged by the number of claims that were already filed and all the work and paperwork needed to set up a new claim.

Out of the 20,000 who did actively mine for gold, only 300 became rich. The ...