A great many people (perhaps some who are reading this) have displayed their erudition by pointing out that a single edition of the New York Times contains more information to be processed than an inhabitant of 15th Century Europe encountered in a lifetime. That is astounding of course.
If it were true. It is not.
The statement assumes only written information, and back then the information was more commonly spoken and/or demonstrated. Gutenberg had a working, commercial printing press finalized in 1450, as reading was in its most nascent availability outside of the royalty and the church. (The Bible is based on the codification of centuries of oral tradition and story-telling.)
One of the greatest lines ever written in my view was Jefferson’s “We hold these truths to be self-evident….” from the preamble of the US Constitution, referring to the people’s individual rights and the right to form new governments. I’m starting to wonder how true that is when we have Senators and Representatives serving longer than European monarchs and exempted from salary loss while they stubbornly force that loss on the people they purportedly represent. Is that classic line now a myth?
You may have cited the “Napolean complex” about short men overcompensating, but at 5’2” Napolean was average or slightly above average for his times. Of course, we all know that a fish loses its memory every four seconds, except our memory is incorrect because that’s simply not true. Studies indicate that fish can remember for months, sometimes up to a year.
Don’t mistake quick access to a universe of data as actually useful information, let alone knowledge, and forget about wisdom altogether. The best among us realize that things change, stories aren’t always true, and constant learning and growth are essential.
Lies and falsifications are often superincumbent on deeply buried truths that are misinterpreted.
President Reagan is often cited by political scientists as a President who won by fulfilling three simple promises: reduce the debt, reduce the size of government, and stop the spread of Communism. He was successful on the third but highly inadequate on the first two.
However, I will end with his wise admonition: Trust, but then verify.
2026 Zoom Workshops
January 6 Maximizing the coaching/advisory dynamic
February 3 Maximizing speaking spin-off business
March 3 Role-playing tough conversations
April 7 Maximizing workshop effectiveness spin-off
May 5 Maximizing current events potential
June 9 Role-playing tougher conversations
July 7 Maximizing low project labor practices
August 13 Maximizing panels—participant/moderator
September 8 Role-playing toughest conversations
October 6 Maximizing publishing potential
November 2 Maximizing lifestyle potential
December 8 Maximizing 2027 personally and professionally
All sessions are approximately 90 minutes beginning at 10:30 US eastern time. These sessions are $450 each, or the entire year for $5,000. Add three months of weekly 30-minute coaching for $2,500, a total of $7,500. (My cards are accepted for the full-year, and for the full-year and coaching options, not for individual sessions.) All sessions will include video recording, visual photos, and Zoom Companion summary.
Register before December 1 and receive a fourth month of weekly, 30-minute calls.
Register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
The Fishbowl: In January I’ll be starting a year-long, monthly, “live” coaching session whereby one member of the group will be coached by me for 45 minutes on a current issue of theirs, we’ll deconstruct what happened, and then have 45 minutes of Q&A. This is a variation of the very popular “fishbowl” technique I ran a few years ago.
You may volunteer to be the person coached or simply watch. You needn’t attend every session and I will provide video to everyone afterwards along with written commentary. This should build your coaching prowess considerably.
This will be $500 for the year and I’m offering it to you, here, first, because I’ll obviously have limited participation. My offer to you is $400. (An hour of my “situational coaching” on my site is $2,500, so this is a hell of a deal if you choose to be coached or even just observe.)
You can register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/
I can only accept a few more and I’ll cut off registration on December 1, but if you wait and we’re filled, I can only put you on a waiting list.
AI: Alan Intelligence
My unique AI resource which will direct you to the relevant aspects of my entire body of work to answer your “real time” questions about proposals, value based fees, conceptual agreement, avoiding “ghosting,” and thousands of other issues with text, audio, and video resources, all of which you can download. Please go here to gain lifelong, constantly growing access to my work, including referral to specific pages in my books which you can access online: https://alanweiss.com/ai-alan-intelligence/ If you decide at any time to engage in one of my two elite, personal coaching relationships, I'll deduct the full fee you've paid for this resource.
BOOK SPRINT begins Nov. 3, 60-minute weekly call to create a completed, professional book proposal in the following 60 days. I have an 80%+ record placing these books with publishers for the last five years. I will introduce the proposal to agents and publishers (and so can you) and provide an additional 30 days of support for the book. The fee is only $4,500. Stop procrastinating and produce your first (or next) book, which is how I’ve attracted well over 90% of my business over the years. Register here and I’ll send the simple prep work: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ Note: I can take one more person and we begin in less than two weeks.
Zoom Workshops 2025: Join me on December 9 for our final installment, Business Growth Forecasts for 2026. You’ll receive the video and the AI Companion transcript, as well. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/zoom-workshops-2025/ Investment for this single and final edition is only $450.
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World: I’ve provided 14 modules with videos from me, from your colleagues globally, slides, and text. They include everything from launch to self-esteem, proposals to fees, closing business to creating a brand. No upsells! It’s only $115. What do you think about a 10,000:1 ROI? We have over 500 people from 47 countries. https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World ADVANCED: The new program contains over 60 videos and has 15 modules focusing on what to do in the buyer’s office, overcoming crises, financial planning, and much, much more. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/
Million Dollar Consulting® for the World GRADUATE: Another 12 modules with videos by me and your peers on contemporary issues such as Raising Fees Aggressively, How to Be Consistently Interviewed, Maximizing Happiness, and Managing Multiple projects. Join the people from 57 countries who are availing themselves of this inexpensive way to dramatically grow their businesses in any economic times. How does 100:1 ROI sound? https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com/graduate-learning-program/
London: For those of you who read down here, a special offer. I'm planning to be in London in late May offering a 1.5-day program based on my new book The Seven-Figure Consultant (which will be released in February and which I'll send for free to registrants at that time). The program is about the philosophy, leverage, and opportunity acquisition you need to make seven figures annually and sustain it. It is a brand new offering (it is not “Six Figures to Seven”). If you're interested: The fee will be $4,500, which includes a reception evening, a light breakfast and lunch. If you register in November the fee is $3,500. Write me at alan@summitconsulting.com or register here: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/ Read this far? It's May 18-19.