The Daily Reckoning PRESENTS: If you too busy in your work, you don't
have
time to learn new ideas, to discover new truths, to enjoy life's little
pleasures, or perhaps to pick a winning stock! Beating the market
requires you to look in untroddened paths, and you need the free time
to
do it. Mark Skousen explores...

THE FINE ART OF LIVING
by Dr. Mark Skousen

"Almost any person of reasonable intelligence has the potential
capacity
to master the fine art of living."

-J. Paul Getty

Last month I started my own weekly e-letter, "The Worldly
Philosophers,"
(www.worldlyphilosophers.com), wherein I highlight each week a worldly
wise business leader or teacher, and what lessons we can learn from
them.


One of my favorite worldly philosophers is America's first billionaire,
J.
Paul Getty (1872-1976). He was a 20th century icon. His classic book,
"How to BE Rich," is far different from Donald Trump's ramshackle
alternative, "How to GET Rich." In J. Paul Getty's refined world,
there's
a big difference between "being" rich and "getting" rich. (Sorry, Mr.
Trump doesn't qualify in my book as a worldly philosopher -- worldly
maybe, but a philosopher? I doubt it. Getty's book will be in print
long
after Trump's.)

For Getty, life is much more than simply working for a living. Far too
many Americans are too busy and don't take the time to enjoy all that
life
has to offer. As the wise old Chinese philosopher Lin Yutang says,

"Those who are wise won't be busy, and those who are too busy can't be
wise."

I made the mistake of writing this statement on the blackboard on the
first day of class as a professor at Columbia Business School. A third
of
the students left and dropped the class immediately. (Fortunately, the
majority had an open mind about pursuing other interests than a 24/7
lifestyle, and rated my class in the top 10% of MBA classes at
Columbia.)


Yet there is wisdom in Lin's statement. If you too busy in your work,
you
don't have time to learn new ideas, to discover new truths, to enjoy
life's little pleasures, or perhaps to pick a winning stock! Beating
the
market requires you to look in untroddened paths, and you need the free
time to do it.

J. Paul Getty wrote a whole book, "The Golden Age," on the need for
workaholic Americans to diversify into other gainful pursuits. In
Getty's
case, he developed a taste for paintings and other collectibles. He
states, "I began developing other, non-business interests and engaging
in
a reasonably broad range of 'extracurricular' activities early in my
career. These have all had a profound salutary effect, for each helped
generate enthusiasm for the next, and all added zest to life and, what
is
more, helped me be a better, more energetic and efficient businessman
and
a much more content and happy person." (emphasis added).

Funny how we often don't practice what we preach. In "How to Be Rich,"
Getty confesses that for much of his life was he was workaholic. "I
still
find it's often necessary to work 16 to 18 hours a day, and sometimes
around the clock." His nonstop schedule led to serious personal and
family problems.

Despite tremendous monetary success, J. Paul Getty had one failure. He
was married five times. "I deeply regret these marital failures," he
said, "but a woman doesn't feel secure, contended or happy when she
finds
that her husband is thinking of his business interest first and
foremost,
and that she comes next -- almost as an afterthought."

Sounds like Getty needed to read his own book, The Golden Age, about
the
need to spend more time with his wife and children and less time at the
office.

"Make your money first -- then think about spending it."

Like most of us, Getty focused fearlessly on making money and building
a
fortune early in his career. He lived the life of Ebenezer Scrooge,
working overtime and saving every penny. He learned these traits from
his
father, who didn't give money to his children until after they were old
enough to earn a living. "A sense of thrift is essential to success in
business. The businessman must discipline himself to practice economy
whenever possible, in his personal life as well as his business
affairs."
Getty was famous for installing a pay telephone in his Sutton Place
manor
in England.

Still, there's much to admire in Getty. He was a risk taker
extraordinaire. He started out as a wildcatter in Oklahoma in 1915.
He
was never interested in joining the big oil companies. He was an
independent operator in a high-risk business. "Fortunes were being
made
-- and lost -- daily," he wrote. "It was not unusual for a penniless
wildcatter, down to his last bit and without cash or credit with which
to
buy more, to drill another hundred feet and bring in a well that made
him
a rich man....On the other hand, there were men who invested all they
owned in leases and drilling operations only to find that they had
nothing
to show for their money and efforts but a few dismally dry holes.
Leases
purchased at peak prices one day proved to be utterly valueless the
next."


Fortunately, Getty's lease proved lucky, and he was on the road to
prosperity. But it wasn't just luck that made him successful. Unlike
the
other wildcatters, he relied on geologists to find oil, an uncommon
approach in those days.

Getty also bought oil stocks in the depths of the 1930s, another
unpopular
but shrewd move. Finally, in the 1940s, Getty bought oil concessions
in
the Middle East: "Instinct, hunch, luck -- call it what you will," he
said. "The Middle East was the most promising locale, the best bet,
for
oil exploration."

Yes, Getty was a Wall Street investor too. He warns, "Get-rich-quick
schemes just don't work," advised Getty. "Making money in the stock
market can't be done overnight or by haphazard buying and selling. The
big profits go to the intelligent, careful and patient investor, not to
the reckless and over-eager speculator." He recommended buying
relatively
low-priced stocks in "industries that cannot help but burgeon as time
goes
buy."

Getty's chapter on the stock market in How to Be Rich is the best 12
pages
you will ever read. I made it required reading in my investment class
at
Rollins College and at Columbia Business School.

As a libertarian, I liked Getty's politics. "Taxes are too high -- and
far too numerous....A logical, equitable tax program will have to be
devised to replace the insane hodgepodge of federal, state, county and
city levies that make life a fiscal nightmare for everyone." He would
not
be a fan of Sarbanes-Oxley!

He also favored greater freedom in international trade. "The long-term
solution to our country's economic problems lies in more, not less,
foreign trade." Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, and Pat Buchanan, are you
listening?

Getty liked to travel and live abroad. He moved to England, in part to
manage and get a better view of his international financial affairs.
He
knew the value of diversifying abroad. His interests included oil,
real
estate, fine art and worldwide stocks.

I can second that. In the early 1980s, my family and I moved to the
Bahamas to get away from the rat race, and our two years in the
Bahamas,
and later London, were life changing. It was life in living color!
(To
read my account, see "Easy Living: My Two Years in the Bahamas," at
http://www.mskousen.com/Books/Articles/living.html).

I've followed Getty's advice in taking some time off to learn and have
fun
with my family and friends. Each year I produce a private conference
for
worldly philosophers called FreedomFest.

Certainly John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market (worth $7 billion), is
a
busy executive. Over the past few years, we've become friends. He
takes
off six weeks (!) each year to go hiking somewhere in the world -- to
get
away, think and take a break from work. He is a better entrepreneur
because of it.

He feels the same way about FreedomFest, my private conference for
worldly
philosophers. He told me, "Mark, I turn down hundreds of invitations
to
speak each year, but FreedomFest is one I'd pay to attend. I wouldn't
miss it!" John will speak on "My Personal Philosophy of
Self-Actualization: Leadership Through Personal Growth."

John told me he is bringing three friends with him. If John Mackey and
his worldly wise friends can take 3 days out of their schedule to come
to
FreedomFest, how about you?

Regards,

Mark Skousen
for The Daily Reckoning