Safely Prosperous or Really Rich: Choosing Your Personal Financial Heaven

Chapter 14

Getting Rich by Banishing Fear

There are a lot of great products and great business ideas that never become great fortunes. Why? Usually fear. Yielding to fear cost me two fortunes. Here's how to get rich by facing your fears.

A few years ago, after some years of adopting a lower profile, I accepted an invitation to speak at the giant Blanchard investment conference in New Orleans, which I hadn't done for several years. As I rode in the elevator at the hotel that was housing the conference, a woman looked at me and said, “You look just like Howard Ruff.” I responded, “You're the fourth person who has told me that today.” She replied, “That must be a real drag. Whatever happened to Howard Ruff?” I had no answer, but I realized that day how fleeting fame can be. Now I'd like to answer that woman, and hope she reads this embarrassing story.

I have lost two fortunes and ruined my businesses twice by taking counsel of my fears. Back in the early eighties, I was riding high. My newsletter, The Ruff Times, was the biggest, most influential newsletter in the known universe. My book, How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years, had been solidly ensconced at the top of the best-seller list for two years. My cash flow was terrific. I had great political influence in Washington and in Utah because of Ruff PAC and Free the Eagle. We had bought a 10,000-square-foot mansion in Mapleton, Utah, and added 10,000 more feet to contain a near-Olympic-size pool, a racquetball court, a huge ...