How To Think Like A Futurist

You want to know how to be a futurist? January 2, 2019 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [Altucher Confidential] “You want to know how to be a futurist?” [James Altucher Podcast with George Gilder]( PENDING ANNOUNCEMENT: A true breakthrough in the battle against Alzheimer’s Disease? [Brain](Big Pharma led us all on a wild goose chase for years. But now, [stunning new images have revealed the REAL ENEMY in the battle against Alzheimer's – and its simple treatment](. (It’s called the TREM-2 protein – [click here to see it now](.) One unknown West Coast “startup” could soon announce their new breakthrough to the world. A world without Alzheimer’s. And no one will see it coming, except you. [Click here now to get the details before the stock of this tiny neuro-tech lab goes through the roof...]( "How does someone become smart enough to know what's coming?" I asked. I was talking to George Gilder. He's a 79 year old super futurist. And somehow, he's been able to predict the future for decades. In 1990 he said, "The computer of the future will be as portable as your watch, as personal as your wallet, it will recognize speech, it will navigate streets, collect your mail and your news." And he'd joke, "It might not do windows, but it will open doors to your future." How did he know that? I have no idea what tomorrow looks like. Nonetheless, 20 years from now. "You want to know how to be a futurist?" he said. "Yes!" Then he told me… A) START SOMETHING NEW (OVER AND OVER AGAIN) George is a generalist. He's written 19 books. All on different subjects: politics, sex, poverty, wealth. He wrote an economics book and it became Ronald Reagan's favorite. "I was Reagan's most quoted living author," George said. The book sold millions of copies all around the world. He could've stopped there. And said, "I am an economist." He could've put his identity into the subject. That's what most people do. Not George. He'd go to the bottom of some other subject. Learn it. Write it. And move forward. That's part of being a generalist. Always move forward. B) FIND WHAT ACTIVATES YOU Steve Jobs read one of George's book in 1990 (the one where he predicted smartphones). He gave it to his friends. "So I believe I had some vague influence on the evolution of the iPhone," George said. Now he has a new book, "Life after Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy." And it's #2 in China. So George went and did 40 appearances in 9 days. FORTY! "How do you have the energy?" I said. "I barely have the energy to do more than one podcast in a day. How did you do 40 appearances in 9 days?" "Well, I run five miles a day, roughly," he said. "You run five miles a day?! At 80?" "I ran ten miles on Sunday." "Do you think it's genetics?" "I do have good genes," he said. "My mother is 100. But I just love running. It's how I keep myself alert and awake. It's how I rev myself up." He told me about his half marathons, 10Ks, cross-country skiing. He told me he runs up mountains. The activity gives him energy. And that propels him forward in every way. Physically, mentally, futuristically. C) ASK QUESTIONS At every step of every interest he had, George would ask, "What does this mean?" D) MEET WITH PEOPLE In 1994, nobody knew what the "World Wide Web" was. It didn't exist. The only people who knew it was coming were the people working on it. That's it. "Most of the key figures in technology don't write," he said. "And if they do write, it's relatively meager technical documents." So George goes to them. That's how he'd get the news first. But not everyone can travel. But that's OK. Because there are so many experts doing talks, going on podcasts, doing interviews, etc. Media is changing. Anyone can have a TV show now (IGTV or Facebook Live). Or a podcast. Or "journalist" (medium.com, Quora, or you can have a newsletter with an email list). I have friends who started their own magazines and "Top 40" lists for the sole purpose of getting the chance to speak to the experts they wanted to learn from. Your $50 Ticket to the “$100 Billion Pot Stock Bonanza” [Gavel](The $100 billion marijuana industry is dominated by penny stocks… With legalization sweeping the United States and Canada… these penny stocks have already begun skyrocketing in price… Take action TODAY and you have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to [turn a tiny $50 investment into an absolute fortune](. [Click here to find out how](. E) GET A TEACHER Your teacher can be real or virtual. George had a real-life teacher. He studied with Carver Mead, the researcher for Gordon Moore. They did the research for Moore's law (which basically suggests that computing power doubles every two years). I get teachers from books and on my podcasts. Before I met George, his books were my teachers. Then I met him, and for 90 minutes, he became my teacher. F) FUTURISTS AREN'T SCARED OF CHANGE When cars replaced horses, people working on horses got jobs working on cars. When ATMS came out, everyone thought, "Oh that will be the end of bank tellers." But it wasn't. ATMS increased the profits of banks. So they opened more branches and hired more people. Right now, people think that robots shelving Walmart will lead to massive joblessness. But that's not what history says. History says innovation = newer and better opportunities for humans. "Right now, shelving products at Walmart must be one of the dreariest jobs on Earth," George said. "All throughout the history of economics, technologies have emerged and replaced the worst jobs and released human beings to do better things." If robots shelve Walmart, then their profit will increase by billions of dollars. And that billion dollars will find its way into new companies and employ people. "In a much wealthier society, there will be more projects, and thus, more creative and exciting jobs." I kept trying to reverse-engineer the mind of a futurist. But I'll add some of my own thoughts, too. G) CUT OUT THINGS THAT TAKE AWAY ENERGY Here's everywhere I DON'T look to learn about the future: - Schools - Government (national or international) - Any news outlet - Talking heads on TV - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any social media I look at futurists. And their ideas. 2019's world wide web is AI, robotics, automation. People are afraid. And whenever I asked George about this, he'd laugh. And explain. That's why I wanted to reverse-engineer his mind. Because I want to laugh. Laughter is the medicine for fear. [James Altucher Podcast with George Gilder]( Sincerely, [James Altucher] James Altucher P.S. The innovation economy is here… We are no longer the country that makes goods and physical products. We make ideas. We capitalize on the human brain better than any other country in the world. If you find yourself searching for a teacher, [read this report on the Innovation Economy.]( It's a free report, just [click here to see how to claim it.]( ALTUCHER: The Best “Drug” You’ll Ever Take (NEW) [Cartoon tongue](I call this success strategy a DRUG… I do it every single day (it’s 100% safe)… It gets me high… It makes me money while I sleep… And, starting now, I’m showing THOUSANDS of people how to do it. I’m spilling my secret. [Click here to read more.]( Add james@jamesaltucher.com to your address book: [Whitelist us]( Additional Articles & Commentary: [The James Altucher Website]( Join the conversation! Follow me on social media: [Facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [instagram]( [Read & comment on site]( ["The James Altucher Show" on iTunes]( Since I launched my top-10 rated podcast back in 2014, it has more than 200,000 listeners and has gotten more than 12 million downloads. 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