The One Thing You Will Be Able to Control in 2012 (and every year)

Your effort (Well that is if you are not "detained" as a result of NDAA)

Mark Cuban explains in his new book:

In sports, the only thing a player can truly control is effort. The same applies to business. The only thing any entrepreneur, salesperson or anyone in any position can control is their effort.

I had to kick myself in the ass and recommit to getting up early, staying up late and consuming everything I possibly could to get an edge. I had to commit to making the effort to be as productive as I possibly could. It meant making sure that every hour of the day that I could contact a customer was selling time, and when customers were sleeping, I was doing things that prepared me to make more sales and to make my company better.

And finally, I had to make sure I wasn’t lying to myself about how hard I was working. It would have been easy to judge effort by how many hours a day passed while I was at work. That’s the worst way to measure effort.

Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results. What did I need to do to close this account? What did I need to do to win this segment of business? What did I need to do to understand this technology or that business better than anyone? What did I need to do to find an edge? Where does that edge come from, and how was I going to get there?

The one requirement for success in our business lives is effort. Either you make the commitment to get results or you don't.

There's more from Cuban's book here.

(htBusinessInsider)

The Truth About How James Altucher Lost $15 Million Cash and Ended Up Flat Broke

In this week's edition of the Robert Wenzel Show, I interview James Altucher, who explains how he made $15 million cash and how he lost it all.

Find out about his comeback, how much time he spends working on his web site each day, the key to any deal he invests in, what he did when he figured out Facebook was going to be a huge success, and the secret he just learned from billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

It's all on the show.

Note: As promised in the show, here is a link to my review of James' book, The Wall Street Journal Guide to Investing in the Apocalypse.

Here's the direct link to Altcuher Confidential.

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Coming Sunday: Wenzel Interviews James Altucher

Don't miss this Sunday's Robert Wenzel Show. I interview James Altucher, who explains how he made $15 million and lost it all.

Find out about his comeback, how much time he spends working on his web site each day, the key to any deal he invests in,  what he did when he figured out Facebook was going to be a huge success, and the secret he just learned from Mark Cuban.

The show will be posted here on EPJ at 7:00 AM Eastern Time.

Cuban Willing to Pay SEC to Dig Up Dirt

Mark Cuban has won a court ruling which requires the SEC to turn over to him various documents and emails that pertain to an investigation the SEC has been conducting of Cuban. Clearly, Cuban suspects wrongdoing on the part of the SEC.

The SEC's response to the judge's ruling: We are real busy here at the SEC and will start looking for the documents in March 2011 and should have something to you by 2012.

Cuban's response: Knock off the BS, I'll pay to fund staff to do the research now. Naturally, the SEC is against Cuban's offer. NyPo reports:

...the billionaire's lawyer, Stephen Best, told a judge his client would foot the bill to hurry the process....

SEC lawyer Melinda Hardy objected to Best's offer, saying it would send the message that people "with deep pockets would come in and go to the front of the line," according to published reports.

"This is not Mark Cuban wanting to buy his way to the top. This is Mark Cuban offering a solution to their one singular issue regarding why they're not producing, which is lack of resources," Best said in an interview following the court hearing.

"Mark will pay for either the overtime of SEC's attorneys or to hire outside consultants," Best said.