At the north end of Westminster Palace which houses the British Parliament, there is a three hundred and twenty foot high clock-tower, universally and affectionately known as Big Ben. It chimes the quarter hours on four bells and the hours are struck on a huge bell weighing over thirteen tons, named after Sir Benjamin Hall, First Commissioner of Works when the clock was erected. It is my intention, as I write this book, to one day bring that clock to a dead stop. I will choose my moment carefully because I do not want to damage British heritage. I want only to prove to people that if you have enough faith you can do the 'impossible.'
I also want to make it clear that I do not need this challenge to 'prove' myself. In financial terms, I have already made it; I am a millionaire several times over and I could stop work this very minute without ever altering my lifestyle. But like every other successful person, I feel the need for achieving goals, no matter how high those might be. Furthermore, it's fun. Like many other millionaires, I enjoy the chase more than the kill. Getting rich can be similar to playing an enjoyable game and the rewards at the end become a pleasing by-product.
I want to share my own secrets with you so that you too can be a winner. Being successful does not mean you have to make a million. You can climb the ladder of success in small or large businesses, be amply rewarded for your efforts, and enjoy yourself at the same time. And you will certainly have all the material comforts you need without breaking your neck to become super-rich. I believe everybody can be wealthy and successful if they put their minds to it. Getting there depends on your attitude. You may be surprised to hear this but most millionaires I have met don't like talking about money. I believe their interest lies in the exciting real life games they play in achieving their goals. Money is secondary to this. Have you ever played the game of 'Monopoly'? I think most of us have at some time or another. Wasn't it much more fun playing the game and winning rather than laboriously counting your money?
It is still possible to fulfill the rags to riches dream in the West. A lot of people have done it and others are still doing it. I did it myself! I know three Israeli brothers who arrived destitute in New York, slept in subways and then formed one of the most successful jeans businesses in America. They are now multimillionaires. It requires guts and work and positive thoughts. And it's there if you want it. Try this next quiz to assess your level of ambition. Answer the questions with a 'Yes,' 'Not Sure,' or 'No.'
1. Are you at your happiest when striving after things?
2. Do you think the main purpose of life is to achieve something important?
3. Do other people regard you as the ambitious type?
4. Would you love to write a novel?
5. Are you always setting goals for yourself?
6. Do you often daydream of accomplishing something of great significance?
7. Do you feel a sense of satisfaction after finishing a hard task?
8. Do you almost always give of your best?
9. Is it your ambition in life to be recognised for something?
10. Do you particularly enjoy puzzles and crosswords?
11. Is doing things better than other people important to you?
12. Do you hate to give up even when success looks impossible?
13. Even when playing games for fun, do you have to win?
14. Do you have to succeed even if others are hurt in the process?
Scoring: Give yourself 2 points for every 'Yes' answer, 1 point for 'Not Sure,' and 0 points for 'No.'
A score of 17 or more points indicates that you are the ambitious type. You have a powerful need to achieve and an underlying force that gives purpose to your life. You are unlikely to be happy unless you have something to aim at each day. In the extreme, you are in danger of becoming a workaholic!
If you have the natural ingredients for becoming successful, then your knowledge of PSI power should be of considerable help in channelling your energies and concentration to that end. PSI-FORCE will give you the positive attitude you need. Through PSI meditation, it will also allow you to reflect and concentrate on your future and the goals you wish to achieve. You may have the means to achieve your goals but without proper direction you may miss out.
My own experience is relevant in discussing this point. As a young man, I was making an extremely good living by giving performances of metal bending and other PSI phenomena. I could make as much as five thousand dollars a night by using my talents. Over a fortnight, I was assured of at least fifty thousand dollars. Yet the same talents, applied in another direction over the same timescale, made my fortune of millions of dollars. Why? Because somebody pointed out to me that I should take a different and more profitable direction. They showed me another target which could use my special skills in a similar way but bring me far greater rewards.
The person responsible for that was the head of a multinational company, and it is thanks to him that I am so wealthy today. I first met the late Sir Val Duncan at a party in 1973, and he showed great interest in my psychic powers. He was chairman of the giant Rio-Zinc Corporation as well as a director of the Bank of England, and I immediately sensed that here was a man of vision who was not afraid to experiment with the powers of the mind. His own interest in PSI and its potential, was far more crystallised than my own. Sir Val was an amateur dowser and had seen the financial implications of finding precious metals and oil through PSI. He figured companies could wipe tens of millions of dollars off their exploration budget if they ignored expensive traditional means of exploration and used PSI instead. Unfortunately, his fellow board directors were not so open-minded about these possibilities.
At his invitation, I visited Sir Val in London and also at his Spanish holiday retreat on the island of Majorca. There, Sir Val began teaching me all he knew about dowsing. It was a lot of fun. Sir Val would hide jewellery and olive oil around his garden and invite me to take part in a treasure hunt. In fact he was testing my powers. Once I was able to detect the whereabouts of all these objects with a high degree of success, we progressed from there to finding real 'treasure'- mineral wealth - by just using maps.
'Uri,' he finally said to me one day. 'I think it is now time that you stopped thinking about the few thousand dollars that you can make at performances and concentrate on millions. You have to change direction and diversify your powers.' As with all new things we make mistakes. My initial mistake involved giving away a lot of advice for free and making millions for some very large compares around the world, who found minerals where I predicted they would be but did not pay me a penny. I considered that to be a positive lesson. It was no use crying about lost income. Next time, I said, I would make sure I had legal contracts before helping companies with their explorations.
Working with a good lawyer to represent you (and be sure to get at least two sound recommendations before you make your choice) is extremely important. Indeed, I cannot emphasise this too much. Also, you should aim to structure your fee arrangements with the lawyer so he or she gets paid by results. Working with your lawyer in this way can make all the difference if your legal adviser has direct interest in ensuring your venture is properly protected, and your work fully rewarded.
Over the past ten years I have travelled the world for large mining companies giving my expertise in locating minerals. I have dowsed for gold and oil from small aircraft above the Amazon jungles and as far away as the Solomon Islands. Mr Peter Sterling, who runs the Australian mining company Zanex Ltd in Melbourne, approached me in 1985 to act as a consultant in his search for minerals on the remote Solomon Islands in the south Pacific more than a thousand miles north east of Australia. Since then it has been widely reported how I was invited to the opening of Zanex's Mavu mine.
Peter Sterling was delighted with my work. He said I had shortened the odds of finding minerals from some three hundred to one to about one in three. I was also given a testimonial from the company's director. It stated: 'I confirm that Zanex is about to commence exploration in areas identified by you in Solomon Islands. The most interesting area identified to date is on Malaita Island where upon your instructions we are about to commence a search for gold and diamonds. We have already confirmed the presence of Kimberlite which could be diamondiferous in this area. Other areas will be investigated in due course.'
Through my friendship with the powerful Japanese Aoki Corporation's chief, John Aoki, and John Tishman of the United States' Tishman Realty, I was instrumental in setting up a multi- million dollar skyscraper development in California. My own business interests now range from property to publishing, electronic inventions, manufacturing, fashion and games. One of my successful games has been 'Uri Geller's STRIKE', which Matchbox toys have sold around the world, and I am always adding new ventures to my list of successes.
All it requires is positive thinking, energy and proper channelling of Mindpower. And once you are there and have achieved financial independence, you can take it easy without the stress accompanied by a busy life. I personally tend to relax quite a lot and spend much of my time doing physical exercise. I became a millionaire before I was thirty and now, each time another million is notched up, Shipi and I celebrate with a bottle of champagne and note the date we did it. With the offers that I have received, I could be far richer than I am, but money for the sake of accumulating wealth is not my priority.
A lot of rich people are criticised because the public thinks they are super-greedy and that they amass wealth to the detriment of others. I happen to think the opposite. I think entrepreneurs actually create a lot of jobs and bring wealth to other people and I further believe that it is the playing and wining they like rather than the spoils.
Take Robert Strauss, head of Australia's huge Bridge Oil Company. He told me recently he was more excited by the challenge of 'achieving the impossible'. This was much more important to him, he said, than making more money.
Look at the way Saul Steinberg, founder of the American company Leasco and chairman of Reliance Holdings, sees himself. Popularly labelled as 'The King of Wall Street,' Steinberg claims he is one of the richest men in the world. He looks on his activities as someone who enjoys a bloodless battle: 'My business life is a way of going to war without killing anyone.' The Brooklyn-born money-man started his astronomical career at nineteen, when he borrowed 300 thousand dollars and took over a local timber company. Since then he has built an empire involving computers, property and insurance and estimates his assets as in the region of 3.7 billion dollars. He has a simple reason for continuing his 'war games,' despite his immense wealth. He says: 'I find business relaxing.' But the key to his empire was getting 'bank finance.'
Remember what I said about how to deal with your bank manager? About building up good credit lines and establishing yourself as a worthy risk? Whether you have an established business base or you are just starting out, the principle is the same. If you don't have the money it is impossible to expand in a big way without borrowing extra funds.
As a young man, Rupert Murdoch, the international newspaper and TV magnate, inherited the Adelaide News, an evening newspaper in South Australia's capital city. It was considered to be a good 'money spinner' but did not have the powerful base of the bigger newspaper groups in the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Young Rupert could have lived a supremely comfortable life tucked away in a mansion in the Adelaide hills or stayed among the Melbourne social set where he grew up. Instead, he hocked his assets to the bank and began borrowing on a massive scale, first buying up newspapers in Sydney and then in other capital cities.
Stretched for money after he had opened a New York office, he was asked by one of his top Australian executives what restrictions would be imposed in the bureau's news office. His positive reply, instantly delivered, became part of the legend that surrounds him today: 'Go nowhere, cover everything, pay nothing,' said the budding tycoon.
Whereas competitors thought Murdoch had over-stretched the mark and that his newspapers would fail, his organisation went from strength to strength. As his empire grew, so did his borrowing. He expanded his purchases to New Zealand, Hong Kong, Britain and America, eventually becoming a US citizen.
He is personally one of the mega-rich but still owes millions and millions of dollars to banks and governments for his new acquisitions. Despite his fortune, he has never forgotten his old bank manager friend from Adelaide who set him on the road to his global take-overs by lending him money to buy a newspaper in Sydney. The manager, now retired, is still taken out to lunch or invited to dinner when Rupert is back in town.
I view Rupert Murdoch as one of the world's most gifted communicators. As a businessman he has few equals. But how can one man run a world-wide network as he does and yet make his presence felt so that junior executives tremble when he jets in for a brief visit to one of his many and varied enterprises?
The key to this is his choice of top executives. Murdoch has an uncanny knack of choosing the right man. He has an instinctive feel about his staff which comes about from his PSI gifts as a communicator. Using his PSI power he can instantly read people and knows whether they will be up to the job. Then he makes sure that he is in constant communication with them no matter where he is. Unlike some multinationals, where executives are not known to the chairman, Murdoch remembers the first name and details of all his top executives. His own enthusiasm for his enterprises sparks off an electric telepathy into those working for him with obvious beneficial results which make ecstatic balance sheet reading for his investors!
Virgin Records boss, Richard Branson was only eighteen when he began his business empire which is now a multi-million dollar multinational concern. He has used PSI communication with astounding results. Rather than alienate himself from the enterprising young team he employed, he continued to live aboard his modest houseboat on a canal in London's Little Venice area for many years, wheeling and dealing from his cabin office and writing memos in Biro on his hands and knees, while looking every inch the casual bearded, jeans-wearing drop-out of the 60s. His great key to success was being 'in touch' with the young which helped him sign up people like Boy George of Culture Club and hugely successful artists like Mike Oldfield. Branson is a whizz-kid businessman who, through proper use of communication techniques, can inspire and enthuse others.
Often you will find an aura exists around powerful and influential people. In PSI terms this signifies a spiritual development or a form of radiation about that person's body. I believe certain people acquire this aura after years of self improvement through the medium of PSI. They have sharpened their senses and their basic talents and the aura becomes a manifestation of their success.
In 1985 I was invited to the fiftieth birthday party of Adnan Kashoggi, one of the most powerful men in the Arab world. Guests arrived in the manner expected at such a lavish occasion, either in Rolls Royces or Mercedes or by helicopter. Some had sailed to Marbella in their yachts and were airlifted to Adnan's luxury villa nearby. Show-business guests like Brooke Shields and Sean Connery were feted by the rich and the beautiful. But few had the aura I sensed around Adnan himself.
He was a man who could control his facial movements but his eyes flashed with communication and intelligence. He was a man whose PSI instinct had proved as unbeatable as his bank balance, which could be measured in billions rather than millions
According to those who know both men, Adnan is very similar in his PSI make-up to Mahdi Al-Tajir, a Bahrain carpet merchant's son who also measures his wealth in billions. Al-Tajir went on a property buying spree in Britain and in one year purchased estates worth about $50 million. He was chosen as ambassador to London for the United Arab Emirates after a humble start in life as a customs officer in Dubai. Apart from his diplomatic duties he is also a financial adviser to Dubai's powerful Sheikh Rashid.
The will to 'prove' himself was very strong when Sir James Goldsmith was still a boy. He was teased at Eton, Britain's school for the aristocracy, for being half-Jewish. But his 'I'll show 'em' positive thinking has paid dividends. From his base in America, he controls a multi-million dollar empire which is growing from strength to strength. His PSI determination made him headline news when he was just twenty: he ran off with his seventeen year old wife, Isobel Patino, heiress to a $100,000,000 Bolivian tin fortune.
The most legendary of all millionaires, Howard Hughes, would probably have been a superb psychic. He was a man whose power of positive thought held few limitations. Hughes' strength lay in his PSI power. No challenge was too small or too great. He would turn his hand to aeroplanes, designing oil drills, or creating women's brassieres with the same non-defeatist attitude as he would attack the rest of his business dealings. As his psychic awareness increased, so did his attractiveness to women. His aura of PSI success had aphrodisiac qualities.
Among his few equals were men like Aristotle Onassis and John Paul Getty, neither of whom were as handsome or 'glamorous' as Hughes but nevertheless shared an indefinable aura that is so irresistible to women. They also had a vision of the future and were powerful and forceful enough to realise it.
It is also possible to work within a corporate structure and achieve outstanding success. Those people who do, however, require tremendous strength of character to overcome red-tape and company constrictions.
In 1986, the world saw the biggest ever share flotation of a nationalised industry - the 7.8 billion dollar sale of British Gas. The man behind the company, while keeping a low public profile, has a larger than life image within the industry and government circles, amounting to what I consider to be a super PSI strength of character. He is Sir Denis Rooke, the chairman, who was actually against the privatisation. A lesser figure would have been retired early or gently promoted sideways. Not Sir Denis. Working from the soundest base within a company's infrastructure - he knows more than anyone else and could do it better he was able to push for improvements and innovations through sheer force of personality. And his vision for the industry has been justified with resounding results.
The son of a South London commercial traveller, he joined British Gas as an assistant engineer in 1949 after serving five years in the army. The lesson he learned in the military was: 'What you need is for everyone to agree on a course and then go and do it. If you do that you win. If you don't, you lose.' He pioneered the world's first shipment of two thousand tons of liquefied natural gas across the Atlantic, braving gale force storms with his dangerous experimental cargo. Colleagues thought they would never see their rising executive again and plotted his course with pessimism. But his vision paid off, proving the technology for commercial imports of Algerian natural gas. He made a future of an industry that had been forecast by the British Treasury as having no future.
His positive approach to life and his confidence in himself and his ability has led to him bullying government ministers, criticising the Queen's speech, and opposing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It has won him grudging respect. His own staff admire him because every fitter in the works feels that he could do the job better than themselves. He has not rested on his laurels. He says of himself: 'I've never met anyone who couldn't be improved, who couldn't do a job better. And I think that of myself.'
Winning ways
Whether you want to go into business on your own or climb the corporate ladder as an executive, there are ways of winning the game. I believe the PSI way of winning is as effective if not more than other ways.
The positive you: Psych yourself to be positive. You must believe you are a winner. Say to yourself: 'I can pull off this business deal if I really want to. I have the skill and the knowledge. There is nothing that can stop me. I'm going to do it. I want to do it.'
Prepare yourself for any prospective deal as if you were going into a battle. Lay out your battle plans. Get your body and your mind into gear. Plan a bloodless coup. You can win and still be popular!
If it's a promotion you are after, win the confidence of your boss and the respect of your fellow workers. Start doing the job you're going after. Show the boss through your communication techniques that you're the man for the job.
Decision making: Don't be frightened to make a decision. If you are, you'll never be given the opportunity of even making a wrong one! Have faith in yourself. Be confident. Go through all the possibilities before you make your decision but then be firm about it. Right or wrong your reasons will be impeccable.
Time Wasters: Through PSI communication techniques, determine who you want to spend time talking with and whose company you can do without. Time is a precious and irretrievable commodity. Don't waste time talking unless it is going to do something for you. Don't waste time doing trivial things. Ask yourself if what you are doing is effective. If it is not leave it alone.
Delegation: Don't be frightened of delegating lesser tasks to able people. Think of yourself as a person who is making the global decisions and does not have time with petty work that can be done by someone less able than yourself. Don't get bogged down with trivia.
Stand apart: Meditate through PSI. Think about your goals and your aims and don't allow yourself to be sidetracked by less important and time consuming matters.
Don't accept negatives: Never take 'No' for an answer. If one route is blocked to you' find another route. If a person will not speak to you on the telephone, try and discover why and get to that person by other means. If you meet with a 'No' by a junior executive, jump rank. Don't be frightened to go straight to the top.
Communication: One of the most important assets in business. Read the chapter on communication again and follow the principles carefully. Learn to assess your business colleagues, partners and friends as well as the opposition. Understand body language and remember the all-important point about listening to other people.
Don't commit yourself: Don't say something you will afterwards regret or be unable to perform. You can still appear positive without committing yourself. Stand back and listen to others. Let them commit themselves. Don't offer suggestions gratuitously. Someone may shoot you down in flames. If uncertain of your facts, stay silent, otherwise you will provide ammunition for others to fire at you.
War games: Treat your business like a game. Don't get pent-up or emotional, that only brings stress. Play to win but enjoy the game. Act as much as you like, providing it brings you to the top but don't get emotionally entangled. If you do your judgment will suffer.
Changing course: Be adaptable but don't let the opposition see you change course mid-stream. Don't be indecisive. If you have made a statement, don't back down. Keep to your guns. Indecision does not inspire confidence.
Understand your target: Paint a PSI portrait of your target. If you are trying to impress your target, find out if he or she is conservative in tastes. Wear clothes that will be in keeping with the target's expectations. Discover the strengths and weaknesses of your target. Psych yourself to think like your target and play a role reversal game before the actual meeting.
Instinct: Allow your instincts to play a big part in your decision making when it is not possible to have all the facts. If you feel it is necessary to jump on an aeroplane to meet someone although it might be easier to call them by telephone later, then follow your instinct. Opportunities do not present themselves for very long. A face to face meeting is far more effective than the telephone.
Timing: Perfect your timing techniques. Do not put a proposition or deal or try to sell anything at the wrong time. Be patient! Learn to wait for the appropriate moment. 'Read' the other person to establish the right moment for suggesting your proposal. If you feel it is better to go away, then do so. You can always come back whereas a rejection will make it far more difficult.
Risk: Be prepared to take calculated risks. A faint heart never wins the high stakes. If you know the person you want to get will be flying on Concorde, book a seat near him. What's a few thousand dollars when hundreds of thousands are at risk? The odds are that the person you want to see will be far more relaxed and open to suggestion on the aeroplane than when they are surrounded by staff and secretaries in an office. Even so, don't be carelessly over-optimistic and allow yourself to be duped. Unfortunately there are always sharks ready to prey on the financially unworldly. Thoroughly investigate before you commit funds and ask: what are other participants putting into it? Also, what do you really know about them and their track record? If all this sounds cautious, it is meant to. But when you have made your checks, you are satisfied and you 'feel' the venture is right for you, then take a calculated risk. If you are determined to succeed, you will.
Investment: Assume your venture is succeeding. Money is coming in. Then don't put all your eggs in one basket. Invest with security and spread your investments. Avoid the lure of remarkably high-interest financial offers. You may make an extra few per cent. But you MAY lose your money. And remember my view - there is nothing as sound as property investment. And the key is always to go for property in the best location. Why, in 1987 an estate agent sold a room about the size of a large cupboard a few doors from Harrod's store in London's Knightsbridge. The price: £36,000, equivalent to the cost of a modest house in an unfashionable provincial town!
Being noticed: Learn to stand out from other people. You can do this with your body language - dressing immaculately - by the way you communicate and with your presentations. Make people sit up and take notice. Be innovative and daring. Show people you are a leader and not a follower.
Go to the top: Save time and go straight to the top. Whether it's advice you are seeking or selling your goods, go straight to the top person. If he or she is the decision-maker, you are wasting your time convincing people down the line. Don't be afraid of paying top money for the best advice. It can save you much more money at the end of the day.
Combine your strengths: If someone else has better expertise than you, combine forces. Share your business with people who can benefit you. Without them you may never win the contract. Together you will have greater strength. Find an exciting partner with whom you can bounce ideas off each other. It can be a lot more profitable and more fun too.
Negotiation skills: Teach yourself negotiation skills. Much of these are to do with communication and timing and experience. List your ideas before you begin and practise what you are going to say. Read the other party and play role reversals. Get your timing absolutely right. Learn when not to speak. Argue from a position of strength. Work out beforehand exactly what financial concessions you will be willing to give or take.
Person management: Get your colleagues on your side. If you have employees, make them feel important and wanted. Give them incentives. Make them feel they are contributing to your success. Encourage them to be independent thinkers. Make them feel you care. Enthuse them with your ideas and vision.
Be lucky: I believe everyone makes their own good luck. I often hear people say of others that they were in the right place at the right time. A lot of their opponents could have been there too but were not. Luck can play a part but most often it is your PSI power at work. Positive thinking, perseverance, hard work and creating the opportunity that brings the reward which others mistake for luck.
I would also like to stress here that one of the ways to enjoy your success is to sleep with an easy conscience. Don't do anything illegal, or anything that may bring you into disrepute or damage your reputation. If you have a company which earns good money don't try and avoid taxes through illegal ways. Even some legal schemes for tax avoidance can be so complicated and time consuming that they could work against you in the end. Enjoy your success without being too greedy!