Dead of a heart attack - tax forms clutched in hand!

Published: Tue, 06/05/18

"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."

-Morpheus
"The Matrix"


The more I watch "The Matrix" the more I dig on it.

It's chock full of great business wisdom.

(And the great David Bullock once said in an interview with the great Glenn Livingston that he watches it once per month and gets ideas for testing his ads. Something to think about if’n you like testing…)

Take the above quote, for example, applied to the businessman:

The world at large hates the business man. The business man is vilified. Lied about. Envied. And, worst of all, attacked for no reason whatsoever.

Attacked by who, you ask?

Your politicians.

Your attorney generals.

Your lawyers.

Your judges.

Your gazillion paper-pushing bureaucrats.

Other businesses who see you as a threat.

And, even your own friends and family who continue to vote against the business man's best interests (i.e. higher taxes, strangling regulations, more stoopid forms to fill out, and other time & money wasting nonsense) even though without the business man they'd have no tax money to fund their silly little utopian dreams.

The point?

Everyone's hand is against the business man.

Yet the business man is who provides their jobs.

The business man is who pays the bulk of the taxes.

And, the business man is the one making things go forward economically in spite of the government always trying to tear him down, place obstacles in his path, and tax him into oblivion.

Reminds me of Dan Kennedy's "No BS Business" book.

There was a business guy overrun by taxes and mind-numbing forms.

Every day was another tax bill to be paid.

Another regulation to be followed.

Another idiotic "rule" to be obeyed.

Until one day...

They find his corpse at the foot of his mailbox dead of a heart attack -- with tax forms clutched in hand!

Yikes.

Now, 'lest you think me a pessimist...

Personally, I see the US like a burning forest.

There are 3 ways to react to it:

1.) Heroically (and exhaustingly) try to put it out using buckets of water filled at the stream "bucket brigade" style -- even though you know it won't stop the forest from burning down since it's too far out of control

2.) Curl up into a fetal position and wait to die

3.) Grab some hot dogs and 'smores and enjoy it

Me?

I'm going with option #3, Alex.

One of the ways I enjoy the burning forest is by following certain principles.

Principles I have written down in my Villains book.

When you follow the principles inside, you not only become automatically more charismatic & influential (which has many benefits), but you bullet-proof yourself against a lot of anxieties, worries, and stress most business owners put up with.

Yes, you’ll still have problems.

You’ll still get attacked by whoever is going to try attacking you.

And, yes, you’ll still have setbacks.

But, I believe the mindset it grants you means you’ll be able to deal with them better.

And, even profit from them at times.

For more on this book, go here:

http://www.VillainsBook.com

Ben Settle