“The Boron Letters” by Gary C. Halbert is a collection of advice letters written to his son, covering topics ranging from personal health and fitness to marketing and entrepreneurship.

You can read them for free:

• Boron Letters - Chapter 1
• Boron Letters - Chapter 2
• Boron Letters - Chapter 3
• Boron Letters - Chapter 4
• Boron Letters - Chapter 5
• Boron Letters - Chapter 6
• Boron Letters - Chapter 7
• Boron Letters - Chapter 8
• Boron Letters - Chapter 9
• Boron Letters - Chapter 10
• Boron Letters - Chapter 11
• Boron Letters - Chapter 12
• Boron Letters - Chapter 13
• Boron Letters - Chapter 14
• Boron Letters - Chapter 15
• Boron Letters - Chapter 16
• Boron Letters - Chapter 17
• Boron Letters - Chapter 18
• Boron Letters - Chapter 19
• Boron Letters - Chapter 20
• Boron Letters - Chapter 21
• Boron Letters - Chapter 22
• Boron Letters - Chapter 23
• Boron Letters - Chapter 24
• Boron Letters - Chapter 25

Prioritize physical health and fitness

• Engage in daily “road work” (walking, jogging, running) for one hour every morning
• Eat three pieces of fruit daily and maintain a healthy diet
• Fast one full day each week
• Eat a large bowl of some bran type cereal every day
• Exercise not only improves physical health but also enhances mental clarity and mood

How you feel affects how you think.

Defensive behavior invites aggressive action
A poorly maintained body, whether it’s overweight and sloppy or skinny and weak, signals a lack of self-respect. In nature, tough animals tend to prey on the weak or helpless, and in life—especially in prison—there’s little sympathy for those perceived as weak. It’s crucial to rely on your own strength rather than counting on someone else’s compassion, which requires developing genuine physical strength. This isn’t about pretending to be tough; it’s about actually becoming tough.

However, being tough doesn’t mean being mean, macho, or overly aggressive. You don’t need to dive into excessive weightlifting or master martial arts to achieve this; simple toughness is often enough. Predators tend to target those who seem easy to overpower, so it’s essential to aim to avoid fights while maintaining your dignity. One practical way to deter conflict is by having big, strong arms, which not only discourage potential attackers but also offer a variety of benefits without any real downsides.

Develop self-discipline and awareness

• Maintain a strict routine to improve productivity and mood
• Push through minor discomfort, but know when to rest
  • Feeling off? Try starting. If you feel like you’re just spinning your wheels, go rest. Pay attention to what signals your brain and body is sending you.
  • “If you halt your forward progress every time you get a little tired or irritable or whatever; then you are suffering from a lack of discipline. On the other hand, if you keep pushing when you are chronically tired or really sick, then you are a fool.”
  • “Most of the world’s work is done by people who didn’t feel much like getting out of bed.”
• Be alert and ready to “catch a break” in any situation
• Avoid making decisions when hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT)

The number one secret to making money: get involved in whatever excites you most.

Focus on understanding markets rather than products

• Become a “student of markets” to identify what people actually want to buy
  • Observe what people do rather than what they say!
• Look for “starving crowds” - groups with demonstrated needs or desires
• Find a market first, then develop a product to serve it

As you know, once in a while I give a class on copywriting and/or selling by mail. One of the questions I like to ask my students is: “If you and I both owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to see who would sell the most hamburgers, what advantages would you most like to have on your side?”
The answers vary. Some people say they would like to have the advantage of having superior meat from which to make their hamburgers. Others say they want sesame seed buns. Others mention location. Someone usually wants to be able to offer the lowest prices.
And so on.
Anyway, after my students are finished telling what advantages they would most like to have I say to them: “O.K., I’ll give you every single advantage you asked for. I, myself, only want one advantage and, if you will give it to me, I will whip the pants off of all of you when it comes to selling burgers!”
“What advantage do you want?” they ask.
“The only advantage I want,” I reply, “is A STARVING CROWD!”
What I am trying to teach you here is to constantly be on the look out for groups of people (markets) who have demonstrated that they are starving (or at least hungry!) for some particular product or service.

So that’s where Alex Hormozi got this example from (see $100M Offers).

It’s a great example! Just need people in need. With a pressing problem.

People don’t always put their money where their mouths are; but they do nearly always put out their money where their true desires are.

I want to burn this message into your mind. Be skeptical of what people say. Be skeptical of surveys. Of questionnaires. Instead, believe in numbers. For example, if everybody you talk with says they like plays more than movies and yet the numbers say that 10,000 times more people buy movie tickets then you believe the numbers!

Taking action gets you unstuck.

And the lesson is that when you get stuck or emotionally jammed up one of the ways to get yourself unclogged and flowing again is just to keep moving. Run. Walk. Jog. Write. Do the dishes. Or whatever. But don’t sit around waiting for a flash from Heaven.
It doesn’t work that way. Not often anyway. The key is movement!

Master the art of copywriting and marketing

• Create visually appealing layouts with short paragraphs and sentences
• Understand the importance of first impressions in marketing materials
• Study successful marketing campaigns and maintain a “swipe file”
• Read and practice writing consistently to improve skills

First find a market, then concentrate on a product.

Products are a dime a dozen. They are important but much less crucial to success than finding a hot market. I’ll tell you this: A guy with a new product cannot always find a hot market for that product but a guy who has uncovered a HOT MARKET can always find a product to fill the needs of that market.

Cultivate awareness

• Stay informed about your field and industry trends
• Be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they arise
• Avoid making decisions based on ego rather than logic

Now, I’m going to talk to you about a big difference between people who make it in any field (including crime) and those who do not.
That difference is awareness.
Most people (at least many) walk around with their heads in the sand.
They are lost in a fog. They go whichever way the current of the streams of their world happens to push them. They are sheep and they are regularly shorn.
This is a bad way to be in prison. Prison is a microcosm of society and weak fish are gobbled up fast. So are those who walk around with their heads in the clouds oblivious to what is going on about them. You can’t sulk in prison. You can’t waste time feeling sorry for yourself. You can’t stay lost in fantasies about your woman or what you are going to do when you hit the streets. No. What you must be here (and it’s a good idea wherever you are!) is alert, on top of things and ready at any time to “catch a break”.
Guys in prison take care of themselves. They exercise their bodies, pay attention to their grooming, read, study and much more. You see, you never know when opportunity will knock (and it does, even here) and, if you are smart, you must be ready.
Does all this have anything to do with direct mail and mail order? You bet it does. Mail order (and all other) fortunes are made by men and women who know what’s going on in their fields. These are the people who stay up to date. They read the trade journals, they make sure they are on everybody else’s mailing list so they know what the competition is doing, they read all the “HOT” mail order publications, they keep their “SWIPE FILE” up to date, they read and reread the classic books written by the best people in the field, they have idea files that contain newspaper articles, notes of unusual info, hot new ideas, good layouts, unusual propositions, and so forth. They also know who the leaders are in their respective fields and they communicate with these people on a regular basis.

This, my man, is the attitude to have. Always be ready to catch a break. You know, if you play enough poker, sooner or later, after thousands of hands, everybody in the game will more or less have been dealt the same amount of good hands, bad hands and mediocre hands.