MONEY MASTER THE GAME

Robbins owns his own island. Why don’t you?

It’s just a “small island paradise,” mind you, but it doesn’t hurt that Robbins has amassed a considerable chunk of change by building a life-coaching empire. Of course, there’s a certain obnoxiousness attendant in telling an audience that you’re rich, but the promise that the audience can be rich too has its own charms. Robbins seldom ceases to be rah-rah in his belief that if readers just suspend disbelief and follows “the 7 Simple Steps in this book”—the proprietary caps are his—then the big win can’t be far behind. Obnoxiousness aside, the author is no slouch; for this book, he’s interviewed and studied the portfolios of numerous billionaires (ordinary millionaires need not apply) to find out the secrets of their success, many of which fall into his own simple-step septet. It would steal Robbins’ thunder to reveal them, but one bit of general counsel that makes good sense is offered by JP Morgan Chase investment whiz Mary Callahan Erdoes: “You can never be out of balance in taking care of yourself as a person, taking care of your work as a professional, taking care of your family, taking care of your friends, your mind, your body.” On the matter of balance, Robbins offers a seemingly counterintuitive dis-recommendation of the old balanced-portfolio mantra, which, he holds, can put the holder at unnecessary risk; that provocative advice alone is worth the cover price. Of course, the rules vary from billionaire to billionaire; they call to mind Somerset Maugham’s witticism, “There are only three rules for writing a novel. The trouble is, no one knows what they are.” Still, Robbins’ common-sensical, relentlessly positive, often highly specific advice is both useful and inspirational—which is just as advertised.

Great airplane reading on the way to that private island and sure to occasion a few adjustments in one’s portfolio.