Mediocrity-the act of simply existing-can reveal the clock on a ticking time bomb in your life. How long must you run in the rat race while watching others enjoy the lives of your fantasies? Slide 68: 86 Your Current Life and Pursue the Lifestyle You've Been Dreaming Of offers a day-by-day, thought-by-thought illustration of how author Anthony Von Mickle exchanged his comfortable six-figure salary for his dream life. What he sacrificed at first seemed like too much to bear, but in the end, there was no price not worth paying for complete control of one's sanity. He reminds us that the best way to predict the future is to create it. Each chapter provides real-life examples of problems that Von Mickle encountered en route to his dream life and how he overcame them. He demonstrates that the answers to his problems were not unique to his situation and that he had the mindset required to conquer any obstacles he met. He has highlighted important points throughout this guide in slide 68 mindset boxes, which provide essential take-away points. Slide 68 shares a detailed, personal journey that educates, entices, and inspires everyone to settle on not settling.

Slide 68

86 Your Current Life and Pursue the Lifestyle You've Been Dreaming OfBy Anthony Von Mickle

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Anthony Von Mickle
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-6518-6

Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................ixFrom the Mobile Home to Where Moguls Roam, and Then Back to the Mobile Home: Outlasting Success's Fleeting Nature............................................3You've Realized Something Is Missing: Smiling Faces Tell Lies and I've Got Proof.............................................................................21Money May Not Buy Happiness, but It Sure Makes Life a Lot Easier and a Lot More Fun..........................................................................31Lack of Money Never Stopped Me...............................................................................................................................41This Is the Time to Be Perfectly Clear about What You Want Money, Time, or Both..............................................................................53The $40-Million-Dollar Dream Sheet...........................................................................................................................57Don't Let Big Numbers Scare You: The Rich Tend to Overspend..................................................................................................70You Can Live a Dream Life without Creating a Pricey List.....................................................................................................74From "A" to CEO to Power Broker to Billionaire:..............................................................................................................79As You Set Goals, Figure Out Who's Already Reached Them......................................................................................................103J. W. Marriott Jr.—The Hem of His Garment: How I'd Like My Day to Look..................................................................................105R. Donahue Peebles—A Village to Raise a Child, A Family to Raise a Titan................................................................................112Dwight Bush—Wall Street Executive with Presidential Ties................................................................................................122Michael Roberts—"Wynn"ing Big in Vegas..................................................................................................................125Platinum Handcuffs—Hold Tight to Your Dreams Regardless of the Circumstances............................................................................135Alfred Lau—The Voice of Education, Experience, and Wealth...............................................................................................145Don't Focus on the Crops; Just Keep Planting Seeds...........................................................................................................155Education: An Advantage, Not a Guarantee.....................................................................................................................160Private Equity with Tsinghua University and Harvard Business School: A Class in Persistence..................................................................168Fried Macaroni and Cheese: Great Food for Business Meetings..................................................................................................180Finding a Platinum Mine with the Donald's Wharton Club.......................................................................................................185So This Is What I've Been Called to Do!......................................................................................................................191You've Made Key Contacts—Now What? Marriott Introduces a Piece of the Pie, While Steve Wynn and Roger Thomas Shed "Light" on Things.....................196"Just a Man I Met in the Bathroom": Your Reputation May Precede You..........................................................................................207Haterade—Is It in You? The Drink of Choice for the Jealous Population...................................................................................212The Slide 68 Itch: Listen to Your Soul, or Pay the Price.....................................................................................................217Don't Make Your Dream a Nightmare: En"list" Many Avenues.....................................................................................................225Exercising Fiscal Responsibility with Pricey Goals...........................................................................................................231Managing Slide 68 Employees..................................................................................................................................235The Fleetwood: Brief Newsletters That Put People in Motion...................................................................................................242

Chapter One

From the Mobile Home to Where Moguls roam, and then Back to the Mobile Home: Outlasting Success's Fleeting Nature

Sprawling mansions in the suburbs, exotic cars with chrome wheels, private helicopter flight lessons, trips to St. Regis's Monarch Beach resort in Southern California ... doesn't it sound like the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? I certainly thought so. What more could a young, thirty-two-year-old bachelor ask for? I suppose one could ask for more, depending on where you came from in life, but I was never expected to lead this kind of life. In fact, no one from my trailer park was.

We've all seen trailer parks portrayed in the worst way on the television cop shows, but as a former resident, I can assure you fact is stranger than fiction. On television, there's always someone who has poor grammar, a filthy living arrangement, and the trashiest American life possible. In reality, you may or may not have all those elements, but one thing I have found generally speaking is that people who don't live in mobile home parks tend to look down on those who do. Way down.

Perhaps I should not have felt so badly when my mom and I were walking in front of our mobile home park along the Route 1 corridor of Cassatt, South Carolina, in the early eighties when a carload of white men purposely took aim, readied themselves, and just as they got close to us, threw a bag filled with half-empty beer bottles right at me. They screamed racial epithets at the top of their lungs and sped quickly down the highway. Instantly, I was covered in blood, glass, and alcohol. At eight years old, what could I have possibly done to deserve this? My mom was furious! There was absolutely nothing we could do at that point. That could be one reason why I don't drink today, but I doubt it.

And then there were the kids, my school-aged peers, who lived in homes that were not mobile and were brutally demonstrative of their innermost thoughts; they let everyone know if they thought you were poor or on welfare. Thank God my parents never were. They simply didn't have the skills or rich mind-set to do much better, and they lived in a town where opportunities for advancement were few and far between.

So how did I escape? What was the one thing that put me over the top? Did someone see something in me, pull me aside, and invest in my bright future? Did I show superior athletic skills on the basketball court or football field? Was I deemed a child prodigy, who...