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Felix Dennis wrote an interesting book called How to Get Rich. He’s the guy that started Maxim magazine (among many others) and is now worth around $400-800 million. The book is interesting in the fact that it’s an anti-self help book. He basically says that getting rich is a waste of time. If he had to do it all over again, he says he would work at getting around $50-80 million as soon as he could and then retire.

I have to say it’s interesting to hear someone worth half a billion saying that he’s rarely happy except when he’s writing poetry. I mean we all start small businesses to get out of working for the man and in the hopes of striking it big. But to hear someone who made it say that it’s a waste of time and would gladly give it all up to shave a couple decades off his age is quiet eye opening. I mean wouldn’t most people trade five years for several million dollars?

There are tips though on how to succeed in business throughout the book. Like how ownership is the most important factor, never give up a percentage of your business that you don’t have to. Split up the annual profits to create incentive, but if anyone wants a slice of ownership you have to turn them down. Most of the other tips are common stuff: hire people smarter than you, work hard, look for opportunities where the money is, etc.

However, the most interesting part about the book is the constant undertone that getting rich is not really worth while. So maybe next time you get up at 5am to start working take a minute to think… If half a billion doesn’t make you happy, what will.

-Craig Sharkton