Offering wealth-accumulating strategies as they were originally presented to some of the nation's richest people, a guide demonstrates how to implement the "five rituals of wealth." 40,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo. Fortune Main. Tour.
Tod Barnhart comments on The Five Rituals of WealthI just wanted to offer some insight on what The Five Rituals of Wealth has meant to me as an author. I spend a hard-working and focused ten year period on the subject of wealth and money. My initial quest was to uncover exactly what it was that made people financially successful, or not. I learned a great deal, so many surprises and eye-openers that I couldn't even sleep at night without communicating these lessons. Big problem: I wasn't a writer or in TV yet, I spent my days advising wealthy people and conducting interviews. But, I knew that I couldn't keep what I'd learned to myself, so I just started plunking away at the computer, and learning new skills, trying to be as honest with my potential readers as I possibly could - I knew that many, many people are frustrated by money, and they don't have to be.
Next thing I knew, I had an agent who was getting big interest and big offers, Tony Robbins (who I studied under for some years) stepped up to write the foreword, Oprah's people called and invited me on the show, I was offered my own weekly TV program and spent months on the road doing seminars, media appearances and giving interviews on the subject. Anyway, this book has meant a great deal to me because it was one of the first substantial things I can remember doing only for the sake of helping other people. I made a lot of money in the brokerage business and as an advisor, but the biggest rewards came when I just "let go" and put myself at the service of my readers.
Right now, I'm working on a book titled, A Kick in the Assets, that's designed as "wake-up" call to people in their twenties and thirties. It'll be published by Putnam in January, 1999. I've also written a novel, Caveat Emptor: Buyer Beware, about a young financier entangled in corrupt investment banking activities and the film script about the same. This summer, my first feature film, DreamWeaver, is being produced by Maxim Entertainment and I'm having a ball learning to communicate through these different mediums. Anyway, The Five Rituals of Wealth started it all for me, not necessarily the book, but the principles which worked excellently for my wife and I, as well as thousands of readers. Once we'd gotten our finances handled, by practicing these five suggestions, we found a whole new life had opened up for us. I believe it can do the same for you.
I will offer one final note about the book: I went searching for the holy grail of finance and found something far, far more valuable - myself. That's why there are sections in the book devoted to personal improvement, values, and motivation. I couldn't skip the most important lessons I'd learned along the way; after all, they were the secrets to "true" wealth and happiness. So, if you read the book, please, please don't poo-poo these ideas. Try them for yourself. Yes, get the finance stuff down, but don't forget what it is you're really after: Your destiny. In trying to keep up with my responsibilities as an author/advisor, I have desperately tried to communicate these lessons; some get it, some don't. But, life-long prosperity begins with character. I know that now, I just wish I wouldn't have had to suffer for years to understand. Hopefully, with this book - the summarized experience of ten years of my professional life - you won't have to suffer through the same mistakes I made.
