An Excerpt from the Prologue of
From the Ground Up, It's Not Just Business

"So I was taking a shower and I got to thinking about the last time I was at the beach. I remembered watching the waves. They had an irregular but rhythmic sort of pattern that somehow reminded me of life—always advancing and moving forward as the tide came in, but not without an occasional retreat. My God, how did I get to be forty-nine so quickly? I began to think about my life—I get all my best ideas in the shower. I like to focus on the future, but I wonder sometimes if I’m always advancing towards the future or just running from the past.

Well, it’s certainly been a successful life. I’ve founded several companies, helped out a lot of people and causes, and made millions of dollars—mostly by mowing lawns! But there have also been setbacks and costs to pay. Still, when I think about it, a lot of people would probably think that my life is a sort of miracle. Considering how it all started out, conventional wisdom would suggest that I’d probably wind up as a failure, a child abuser, or worse. Yet that didn’t happen. I wonder what it was—determination, hard work, luck, good friends, the hand of God? Somehow, I suspect that it was a bit of all these.

Well, I’ve got the second half of my life in front of me and I’ve learned some valuable lessons that should help. I’m going to simplify my life. I’m going to apply the 80-20 rule that I’ve always used for business to the rest of my life as well.

I think the first thing I’ll do is write a book and share what I’ve learned. Perhaps it will give me some closure. Perhaps it will encourage someone who thinks they don’t have a chance. Yes, the future looks promising.

But it wasn’t always so…"