Love fed fat soon turns to boredom . – Ovid (Roman Poet,  43BC)

Skinny ain’t sexy either, so there is a middle ground, and it involves tone and smooth curves. In a word: sleekness. While a man can drive a Hummer or toddle about in a Prius, give him Bill Gates’ money and he’ll be down at the showroom test-driving a European coupe the next day. The colours may change with taste, and the interior may be bespoke, but the chassis will be supremely aerodynamic.

Luckily for fat chicks, few guys have Gates’ money, so will watch as their once pristine ride deteriorates before their resigned eyes. At some point, the plump love of their life will tearily announce that ‘they have had enough’, ‘they hate their body’, ‘they are going to lose weight’ and insist that ‘this time they mean it’.

Now, assuming that she has a man who isn’t insecure enough to be scared by her desire to become prettier, he’ll support her goal – while ensuring that he mutters the obligatory: ‘i love you just the way you are ‘ with his pinky toes crossed tighter than he hopes her body will eventually be.

If she is super-dumb, she will accept his platitude and shrug off her goals as unnecessary. If she is kinda-dumb, she’ll open up her nearest girly mag and adopt the latest fad diet. And if she is merely dumb, she’ll interpret the widely given advice of ‘eat less and exercising more’ as an indication that she should cut down her food intake drastically – resulting in self-imposed starvation and moaning.

If however, her insightful female brain is in gear, she will realise that she should flip the mantra  into: ‘exercise more and eat less’. The key to the body she and her tireless man desire resides in the ‘exercise more’ part. (People tend to underestimate how much they eat .)

It’s not about weight, it’s about fitness, and one component of being fit is to have relatively low body fat, because fat is not very efficient, whereas muscle is. - Deborah Bull (Dancer & Writer)

The difference between saying ‘i want to lose weight ‘ and ‘i want to become fitter ‘ is the difference between saying ‘i want to reduce my debts ‘ and ‘i want to become richer ‘. The latter – properly approached – will take care of the former, continuously. But the former forgets to take into account the inflation (pun intended) that will ultimately erode progress. It takes time to lose weight, and takes time to reduce debts, but without a countervailing ambition of advancement, it is the equivalent of walking at 4mph on a 5mph treadmill – at some point the losses can become insurmountable . To lose weight – as to become richer – she must break sweat and make it a habit. Diet for life!

By picking up the pace, she can then afford herself the opportunity to sustainably accommodate the guaranteed fluctuations of life and circumstance. Otherwise, the treadmill of aging will continue to swallow up the gains made by unsustainable fad diets. Avoiding that pitfall will result in her friends saying: "She eats what she wants, but she doesn’t put on a pound. I don’t know how she does it".

And for the guys reading this, nodding your heads, explain the idea to her (let us know how you get on!). Then read the article again, with the understanding that the same concept applies to your ambitions of wealth or power (or weight-loss). Shave your budget and shortcomings by all means, but to progress it is essential to focus on maximising your opportunities and building upon your talents. Doing so will keep you ahead of the relentless treadmill, feeding back into that reinforcing loop that others will call ‘luck ‘, saying: "He doesn’t look like he’s trying that hard, but he’s so effective. I don’t know how he does it."

Get with the times. Forget getting signed.
It’s nice but you won’t make money from sales
If ya got hype and ya timing’s right
You can make money from everything else
- "Upload", The Signature LP, Sway

Sway knows that many people don’t and won’t buy music anymore – if they did, he’d be rich already. His financial objectives must be met by other means if he wants to make even a penny from the millions of unrepentant pirates scouring the web for his immaculate verses. Rather than whine about it, Sway intends to profit from the attention ; making money from the type of endorsement deals that have seen 50 Cent sell water for $400m while strolling about in his own line of Reebok pumps.

What is stunning about the success of rappers like Fiddy, Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne in our politically-correct era, is that they are literally on-record, saying things sure to make a man notorious. That is the subtle trick of the rap entrepreneur. Their words made them controversial ; the media-fuelled controversy made them unforgettable.

ps: Attention of any sort will bring you power. Use the limelight wisely and you will create a following . What you choose to do with that following is up to you. Just remember that once the spotlight is on you, the display of insecurity is not an option.

In the film, Newman reprises his acclaimed character from ‘The Hustler (1968)’ in which he played the classic poolhall hustler learning the trade. At that time he was told about the fallacy of excuses by his manager:

You have the best excuse in the world for losing; no trouble losing when you got a good excuse. Winning… that can be heavy on your back, too, like a monkey. You’ll drop that load too when you’ve got an excuse. All you gotta do is learn to feel sorry for yourself. One of the best indoor sports, feeling sorry for yourself. A sport enjoyed by all, especially the born losers. – Bert Gordon to Eddie in ‘The Hustler’

As the cliche goes: a bad sportsman blames the equipment, weather or referee’s decision in a heartbeat; poor performance gets blamed least.

Understanding the following quotes from the older, wiser Felson in ‘The Colour of Money’, it’s clear why performance is paramount.

Pool excellence is *not* about excellent pool. – Eddie Felson

Being excellent is more than merely achieving success. Excellence consists of *maintaining* success in the face of obstacles. You really believe Jordan never got a bad call?

You *never* ease up on somebody …not when there’s money involved. – Eddie Felson

An excuse is a brakepedal in the vehicle of success. It’s one of the most common forms of self-medication in the human condition, giving birth to depression, regret and self-pity. In ‘business’, money (or a variation; time, reputation etc) is always involved. *Never* ease up. As simple as it sounds, it’s worth stating: a win-win is only a win-win if you win. Or to put it another way:

Money won is twice as sweet as money earned. – Eddie Felson