Lazy Week Reading List

His motto: "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve with PMA." PMA stands for positive mental attitude. And if you read his book, you'll learn how to create your own positive approach to life. Then, good fortune seems to find you.

Another legendary billionaire, Chicago real estate tycoon Sam Zell, said almost the same thing to me last week. I asked about his outlook for 2006 and he responded with a wide grin: "I'm very optimistic, very positive." When I pointed out that there are many global and economic worries that threaten America, he calmly explained that none of that mattered as long as "America remains the only country where you can succeed based on your own talents. And where you can fail, and be allowed to start over." He notes that other countries rarely give the second chances that Americans take as their birthright. It is this entrepreneurial encouragement that draws people from around the world to create businesses here.

For the year ahead, Zell says American government should concentrate its efforts on the global protection of intellectual property. As long as people can expect to create new enterprises, and receive the rewards of their intellectual capital, Zell predicts America will flourish.

It was a strange coincidence to be writing this column and hear Zell's words of optimism. He and Stone are two self-made American billionaires who are living proof that optimism -- and brains -- can work wonders.

The other book for your holiday week reading list is Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart, by Gordon Livingston.

America is full of books that purport to guide you to a life well-lived. I think this is one of the best. Subtitled "Thirty Things You Need to Know Now," it is direct and almost shockingly pertinent to so many aspects of your life. The $18 cost, plus the time you spend to read -- and re-read -- it is worth many expensive hours in a psychiatrist's chair.