Category: Freedom

On Dependency (or How To Stop Being A Wuss and Embrace Change)

How to stop being dependent and start living an awesome life…

The problem with relying on someone or something is they (or it) won’t always be there. Then what?

If we’re not prepared to live without something, suddenly being forced to live without it will be an enormously difficult, and stressful, transition.

I’m not immune to being dependent.

Just one example: I used to use a blender every morning to make my breakfast smoothie. Fresh (or frozen) fruit with soy/almond/rice/hemp milk or coconut water. It’s healthy and because my body doesn’t have to work hard to digest it, incredibly energizing. I can drink the smoothie and I’m immediately ready to start the day with a quickness.

I’ve been “on the road” for over 7 months and I don’t have my blender. Therefore, I don’t have my go-to breakfast and my days don’t start out “right.”

The Root Of Dependency Is A Fear Of Change

Adapting to change is part of human nature. A look at any time in history proves that we’ve been adapting to change since the big bang.

But for some of us, adapting to change doesn’t come naturally anymore. We still adapt because we have no choice, but we don’t do it willingly.

I used to strongly dislike change myself, but now I relish in the opportunity to flex my change muscle.

Going back to my breakfast example: Instead of my regular morning smoothie I now eat a bunch of locally available fresh fruit. (Here in Chiang Mai I eat a lot of pineapple, mango, cantaloupe, and bananas).

Change is good because it pushes us to our limits. How do muscles grow? By stressing them; making them work. The change muscle is no different.

Some Of Us Hate Change

For example, when a significant other goes out by themselves, are you the type who doesn’t know what to do with yourself? Do you feel bored, hurt, abandoned, or worse, jealous? (Life Lesson #59: Jealousy is mankind’s most useless emotion.)

Is this any good for you or the relationship?

It’s OK To Hate Change

If you’re currently dependent on someone or something it’s going to be uncomfortable at first when making the move towards independence.

By independence I don’t necessarily mean getting rid of whatever you’re dependent upon. I’m not suggesting everybody in a relationship break up.

When I encounter a couple that has their own separate lives in addition to their lives together I feel an immense sense of happiness for them. That is my vision of an ideal relationship, although it’s very rare.

I refuse to settle for anything less and when I see a happy couple that also have separate lives it reinforces to me that it’s possible.

Girls should have “girls weekends” and guys should be able to “hang out with the boys” or whatever the case may be.

How To Embrace Change

Step 1: Take A Small, Easily Doable, Break

Break free from whatever you’re dependent upon for just 24 hours. Knowing you’ll go back to whatever it is you’re dependent upon in 24 hours will make it easier to get through it.

Some things you may want to break free from:

– TV

– Internet

– Texting

– A relationship (I don’t mean this negatively. I mean it in regards to my view of a healthy relationship, both platonic and romantic.)

– Your iPod

– Fill in the blanks: _______

Step 2: Reflect On The Change

After 24 hours are up reflect on how you felt by breaking your dependency.

Was it easier or more difficult than you expected?

How do you feel about the change?

Did you immediately go back to your dependency? In other words, were you counting down the minutes until you could watch TV, go online, text your friends, etc?

How To Truly Break Your Dependencies

A 24 hour break is all well and good, but it’s just an exercise to help you realize that you really can adapt to change and break a dependency. It’s not a permanent solution.

The ultimate test in breaking your dependencies is by practicing minimalism. Getting rid of extraneous “stuff” (<– PDF written by, uhh, me, haha) will make you realize just how little you need to live a Ridiculously Extraordinary Life.

Every day people ask me how I can possibly live with so few things. On the flipside, when I see other backpackers almost falling over due to the heavy loads on their backs I wonder how they can possibly “live” with so much.

The stress and strain on their faces is blatantly visible.

Or when I hear someone complain about how much debt they’re in while buying a new camera lens, new video game, new clothes, new car, or new anything, I can’t help but think how positively they could change their lives with a little bit of minimalism.

When you practice minmalism you have fewer choices to make, fewer things to keep track of, fewer things to stress about, and you begin to progress towards Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom.

Need Minimalist Help?

There are a lot of good eBooks/Web sites out there. I’ve mentioned many of them in the past.

Leo Babauta’s work is a fantastic place to get what you need.

– The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life (<– Leo’s print  book)
– Mnmlist.com

Other minimalists you may enjoy:

– Everett Bogue

– David Damron

– Tammy Strobel

– Joshua Becker

There are many more, but there’s only so much you can read in a day. :)

How do you feel? Hit me up in the comments …

21 Reasons You Should Quit Your Day Job And Travel The World

The title explains it all. Don’t read this article if you love your day job…

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

I discovered Maya Angelou when I was 15 because one of my favorite artists, Fiona Apple, loved her. Thanks Fiona and thanks Maya for providing such a powerful quote.

Most people are born with an interest in travel that never subsides. The fact that blogs like Chris Guillebeau’s, Gary Arndt’s, or this one (on a much much smaller scale) are as popular as they are is proof of this fact.

The problem is that most of us, and I fell into this trap too, put it off. Either for 1-2 weeks at a time on a yearly vacation or “until some day when X happens.” Whatever eXcuse (get it?) you have for continuing on living a life you’re not thrilled with, it’s unfounded. There is always a way. (I just set myself up for a slew of “but, but, but my situation is different” comments/e-mails.)

As you already know from Lesson #13, you’re not as different as you think. Whatever situation you’re in, someone has already been there and still made things happen.

In another post I will present to you the “how.” Here now, I present to you the “why”: 21 reasons you should quit your day job and travel the world …

  1. You’ll become more open minded and learn to treat people with more respect. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Unless, maybe, you stay in sanitized resorts. But since not many people can afford to stay in sanitized resorts long term, this isn’t even an issue.
  2. Your job is dragging you down. (In very rare cases it’s not, and that rules.)
  3. You’re unhappy.
  4. Slaving away is getting in the way of your dreams.
  5. Traveling long term is cheaper than living wherever you’re living.
  6. It will stretch you to do things you didn’t think you could do.
  7. You might not have any big “revelations” or “aha moments” but you’ll have a blast anyway.
  8. If you have kids it will set them up for a life of independence instead of setting them up to be cogs in a machine. We need more children who are exposed to how most other people live instead of sanitized first world society. I met a British family, 5 kids aged 6-16 and their Parents, on the train up to Chiang Mai. The kids were having a ball experiencing all these new things and I could already pick out leadership qualities among each of them. In addition, they were incredibly respectful, which I’m finding less and less among children.
  9. You can eat your favorite foods in the countries where they originated.
  10. You’ll experience new foods that will quickly become your new favorites.
  11. The best fruit in the world, Jakfruit, is plentiful and cheap in Thailand. (OK, so that was a specific case for why you should travel to Thailand as opposed to anywhere. Whatever, Jakfruit is the best fruit in the world. I discovered it while in the Daintree Rainforest in Northern Queensland, Australia.)
  12. Even when it’s dangerous, it’s not as dangerous as some people would have you believe. I’ve felt more fear walking the streets of Detroit with $10 in my pocket than walking around Mumbai or Bangkok at night with thousands of dollars in gear and cash on my person.
  13. You will stumble onto awesome events like Holi and Songkran. Who doesn’t love a week-long water fight? :)
  14. This site makes a lot of good cases for saving your tax dollars by living elsewhere.
  15. You will meet, and make friends with, people who you would never have met staying where you are. Most of us only associate with people in our immediate geographical areas. I call it Friendship By Geography, and it’s incredibly sad.
  16. Facing your fears is good for you. And you will face all of them, sometimes in a single day, when traveling. How many fears do you face on a daily basis at your day job? How much do you grow as a person at your day job?
  17. You will no longer have to participate in office politics or water cooler gossip. If that’s the kind of thing you enjoy then why are you reading this site in the first place? :)
  18. You will have more time for your family, friends, and maybe more importantly, for yourself.
  19. You will become a master of fake sign language. Also known as Traveler’s Sign Language. It’s frustrating for a spell, but when your communication is finally understood it’s an awesome feeling.
  20. Even if you never become fluent, learning and using a few words in new languages is fun. My favorite thing in the world is now the Thai bow/greeting. I know the way I say it is probably horrible, but the old lady who runs the best veg restaurant in Chiang Mai (Save Thunya on Nantaram Rd just outside Chiang Mai Gate) always treats me like a king when I come in. I know she appreciates my limited Thai because she speaks approximately 3 words of English so we’re in the same boat. I wonder if I can use the Thai greeting everywhere I go? :) If you think it’s difficult learning new languages, Benny at FluentIn3Months.com has the best course available on the topic: click here to get the Language Hacking Guide.
  21. You owe it to yourself to be Ridiculously Extraordinary. Most day jobs would not be categorized as such.

What have I missed? I know there are many more good reasons to quit your day job and travel the world so leave them in the comments below …

Also, no excuses in the comments. Only positive thoughts please. ;)

How To Minimize Stress and Maximize Awesomeness!

If you’re stressed, here’s how to relieve that stress and live awesome …

During the courses of our lives we go through a lot of transition periods. Transitions can be both stressful and awesome.

Marriages, graduations, new careers, new relationships, new destinations …

That last one is an interesting one for me and it prompted this article.

My second night in Bangkok I hung out with Sean Ogle of Location180.com (check it out, he rocks) and we were talking about how much we love our lives. Is that nerdy? ;)

But we were also talking about stresses involved with our work. That stress being, we love what we do, but when we’re in a travel period (transition period) and visiting a new city, it’s tough to get work done. And not working is stressful because it’s something we enjoy. It’s a funny cycle. :)

Tangent (you know how I love them): Sean is also a guitar player. Like me, he gets stressed if he can’t play a guitar for an extended period of time. One of the many reasons I built a guitar in India is because when I was traveling through Australia/New Zealand for 4 months it was stressful not having a guitar.

But I digress …

While in Bangkok (I’m in Chiang Mai now, love it!) I knew it was just for a short while so I put off work even though I had stuff to get done. On both Thursday and Friday I went to one of the Regus offices in the city (free access with my Amex Platinum Card) and did 1-2 hours of work. But the city was calling me so I answered.

What Are Stressful Transitions?

Stressful transitions are different for me and you. Mine are things like being on the road for an extended period of time vs staying put in a new place for an extended period of time.

Traveling around New Zealand in a bus for 30 days? Awesome! But stressful as all get out. (I think I’ve used that phrase twice within the past 2 weeks. When will it get out of my system? Nobody knows.)

Goa, India for 2 months? Besides the first few weeks of figuring out Internet access, not stressful.

The last 24 hours were a little bit stressful:

– 14 hour overnight train (thanks to the nice British family who let me take one of their bottom, roomier, berths in exchange for my crappier upper berth!) with a bunch of loud drunk punks.

– The one vegetarian dinner option on the train wasn’t available (they did have 10 meat options, so you know, really catering to all the Buddhists) so when I got to Chiang Mai I was starving.

– The first few apartments I looked at were out of the way and expensive. Walking from apartment to apartment in the 100F/38C heat was exhausting.

But then, awesomeness:

– I quickly found a great veg restaurant.

– I found a sweet apartment for $300/month (including Internet and weekly cleaning) with 3 veg restaurants within a 60 second walk!

– All the stress immediately melted away even though I felt like I just took a shower and thought I might faint. :)

Our goal in life should be to minimize stressful transitions to maximize awesomeness.

The reason I do what I do the way that I do it is to minimize stressful transitions, which makes the fun stuff even more fun for me.

Sure, I don’t see as much as other people who travel. But I’m not here (there, or anywhere) to see everything. I’m simply living my life in a way that makes me happiest.

The Game Changer: Minimalism

My secret to minimizing the stress of even stressful transitions is through minimalism.

Minimalism and Transitions

Less stuff = less stress! ;)

My stressful transitions are less stressful because I have less to worry about.

If you’re stressed, I guarantee adopting even a little bit of minimalism into your life will do wonders to relieve your stress.

I could write for days about minimalism, but here are some rock stars who have written a lot about it:

Everett Bogue – The Freedom of Living With 75 Things

Tammy Strobel – How To Unplug From Stuff

Leo Babauta – Oh, just read everything at Mnmlist.com and ZenHabits.net :)

David Damron – 15 Ways To Become A Minimalist In 2010

Colin Wright – All 51 Things I Own

Now that I’m so quickly settled here in Chiang Mai I’m going to:

– Work.

– Eat awesome food.

– Do some fun shit.

How about you? What do you do to minimize stressful transitions and maximize awesomeness?

[Video] You Already Have The Tools For Success

You already have the tools for success and I prove it in this video…

Have you ever thought you didn’t have the right tools for the job? Like maybe if you had “this” or “that” you’d be able to accomplish your goals?

That’s all bullshit and I prove it below.

The content in this video is important. So no text summary. ;)

[If you’re reading via RSS or e-mail click here to watch the video.]

People mentioned in the video:

– Shannon Albert

– Justine Ezarik / iJustine

– Eddie Van Halen

Products mentioned in the video:

– Canon PowerShot SD780

Let me know what you think …

[Video] How To Pay A Blogger (Without Spending A Penny!)

If you have a favorite blogger, but don’t want to buy their stuff, here is how to pay them without spending a penny…

If you’re reading this via e-mail please click here to watch the video.

The dynamic on this blog has changed. Now that I have a product for sale it might seem to you that I only want you here to spend money.

That’s not the case at all.

I want you to know that I want you here and I appreciate you being here even if you never spend a penny with me. This site wasn’t created for me to make money.

I explain more in the video (with a summary down below):

Video summary:

– I want you here even if you never spend a penny with me.

– The best way to pay a blogger is by letting them know you appreciate them: leave a comment.

– Even if you don’t have anything profound to say, leave a comment.

– A comment as simple as “Thank you” is payment enough. We thrive on comments like that.

– If you want to go above and beyond: subscribe to RSS feeds, newsletters, and tell your friends about your favorite blogs. In short, spread the word.

Your Mission:

Today and for the rest of your blog reading life, if you read an article that you really like, whether it’s on this blog or another, leave a comment.

If you’re extra bold leave this comment:

“I don’t have anything to add to this conversation, but Karol Gajda told me if I like a blog post just to say Thank You. So thank you!”

How To Live Anywhere (or How To Have Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom)

The time has come for you to learn how to live anywhere. Join me inside…

The time has come: http://www.HowToLiveAnywhere.com

It has been an intense 10 days around here. In a good way. It was both exhilarating and exhausting. And, well, I’m still not done! (Monday’s Over The Shoulder Member’s Area launch!)

Besides writing at least 5,000 words for the Freedom Fighters eCourse (which I’m getting a ton of positive feedback about; thanks!), I put together about 15,000 words for How To Live Anywhere, in addition to writing a few articles (guest posts and my own) that amounted to another 5,000 words. 25,000+ words in 10 days is a new personal best.

I already stated this to the eBook launch notification e-mail list, but it probably wasn’t the best idea releasing 3 products in 7 days. :) That’s just how I roll.

The beauty of Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom is I have the option work my ass off now and then chill out for the rest of the month (or months). The other beautiful part of Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom is I don’t want to chill out. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love this shit.

If you’re into it, check out How To Live Anywhere, but please read the anti-sales sales page before you order. :)

Oh, and since it’s my birthday every sale that comes through in the next 24 hours gets doubled (by me!) and sent to third world entrepreneurs via Kiva.org. If you want to play along join the RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com Kiva Lending Team by clicking here. Let’s get up to $5,000 in lending as a group, yeah? I tossed in $25 just now so the group doesn’t look bare. I hope to add ~$1,000 myself very very soon. ;) [EDIT: Wow! Thank you! I’ve already earmarked $1k and its only been 12 hours!]

Monday I’ll have a video (if I can upload it!) about why I don’t care if you ever buy from me and why I want you here anyway. It’s not just about me, more about how to show your appreciation for any blogger even if you don’t buy their products. I will keep posting and offering up my content no matter what. And I’m thinking about posting 3 solid articles (or videos if I can upload them!) next week to make up for the fact that the past 2 have been announcing launches of some sort.

So, with that all out of the way, check out HowToLiveAnywhere.com.

Whether you decide to buy or not thank you for supporting my art.

Fits and Starts (or How I Lost 5,000 Words Of Content And Busted Ass To Rewrite It!)

I launched this site exactly 8 months ago. All that time culminates in this: The free Freedom Fighters eCourse is FINALLY ready for you…

Today is a big day.

Not only because I’m launching the Freedom Fighters eCourse (more below), but because it’s Holi! The Festival of Colors! I’m probably outside right now getting covered in colored powder and water which I hope doesn’t come out for days. :)

As you may know, before I launched RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com I spent 30 days writing at least 1,000 words/day for it. This gave me a base of articles to launch with and gave me some leeway in case I was too busy and didn’t have another article ready on my scheduled post days.

You’ve seen maybe half of that content so far. Some of it wasn’t very good and some of it I just haven’t released for whatever other reason.

Part of the content you never saw is the 7 Day eCourse I created called “How To Be Extraordinary.”

I knew one of the best ways to connect with friends and fans was through e-mail, but I never launched the course.

I kept telling myself: “Ehh, I’ll wait until I have more readers.”

Do you ever do that? Put things off that you know will benefit you and others?

A few weeks ago I decided I was finally going to release the course.

Lost!

But I couldn’t find it.

5,000 words don’t just disappear!

Or do they?

Interestingly, losing the course didn’t even affect me. I was probably going to rewrite it anyway.

When I wrote the original eCourse I hadn’t yet found my voice. I’m still not fully there, but I’ve got a much better idea of where I’m going with my writing style now.

What all that means is I had to get to work writing a new course from scratch. Being that I’ve been drinking far too much coconut juice I also thought it would be a good idea to write an eBook at the same time as writing the free course!

The eBook, How To Live Anywhere, comes out Friday March 05, 2010 at Midnight EST (use time.gov), also considered Thursday night to some folks. It’s currently at 10,000 words, but you’ll learn Friday about a secret I have about turning that into at least 30,000 words. I already feel like, even if I didn’t write another word, you’ll really love it. (Don’t forget, if you’re first to buy it’s only 10 cents and goes up 10 cents after every sale.)

As far as the free Freedom Fighters ecourse. Well. That?

That comes out right now…








(I hate spam and you will never get any from me. That’s a promise.)

Who Freedom Fighters Is For:

– You, if you want to achieve Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom.

– You, if you want to connect with what I do beyond the scope of this site.

– You, if you want more in depth insight into the Freedom aspect of what I write about.

Who Freedom Fighters Isn’t For:

– People who don’t take action.

– Readers of this site who like my writing, but don’t necessarily want Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom. I know there are a few of you. That’s cool. No worries. I’m still keeping up the regular blog posting and I love and appreciate that you’re here. :)

– Anybody who already has a freedom business. I might be able to teach you some things if you’re already free, but this ecourse is designed for somebody who is just getting started.

Get Your Free Freedom Fighters Subscription Here:








(I hate spam and you will never get any from me. That’s a promise.)

How To Make Money With Completely Free Traffic

Who doesn’t like to make money utilizing free methods? Check it…

My How To Spot Opportunity article got a lot of traffic and comments. I hope some of you are implementing what you learned. This is a Part 2, of sorts. It’s a completely different method, and it’s free. This won’t make you rich, but it can easily pay for your utility bills every month. :)

If you’ve got more time than money than one of the best ways to make money online is utilizing free traffic methods. I test everything at least once and, over the past couple of years, HubPages has been one of the more promising methods of generating traffic and cash.

HubPages are really easy to create (seriously, it will take you less than 15 minutes to create your first Hub) and the traffic they generate with almost no work on your part is pretty impressive.

BTW, there are NO affiliate links to paid products in this article. While I have no problem recommending products with my affiliate link, for this particular situation it isn’t completely necessary.

(Side note: What I mean by Paid Products is products you have to pay for. Yes, the HubPages links in this report are “affiliate” links, but HubPages is completely free to join!)

Steps to creating a profitable Hub:

1) Pick a keyword phrase using the free Google Keyword Tool (more on that in a bit) and make that phrase the name of your Hub.

2) Write a 400-500 word article on that keyword phrase. Make it informative and helpful. Don’t try to sell anything. No affiliate links…yet.

This is important, so I’ll repeat it again: provide quality content in your article.

While HubPages doesn’t really police their site so you can do what you want, it’s a much better idea to make your content good.

3) Use SocialPoster.com (free) or any similar service to submit that Hub to the Social networks.

4) Once you start getting traffic pepper in an affiliate link at the beginning and end of your Hub.

This whole process will take you less than an hour once you have all your social posting site accounts in place.

I know it sounds too easy, but that’s really all there is to it.

Let’s get to the details...

Hub Settings:

Just follow the settings above for your Hub. Since HubPages splits the Adsense with you 60/40 (60% to you 40% to them) you may not want to include any ads at all. That’s up to you.

I’ve found that Adsense is not taking away at all from the affiliate revenue my Hubs generate. And hey, you’re helping HubPages out with the 40%.

I’m on board for helping quality companies like them. If they don’t generate revenue they won’t be around to help us generate revenue, get it?

Keywords:

Just like in my How To Spot Opportunity article, use the Google Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

People seem to get stuck on keywords, but it’s really not that difficult. What you want for your HubPages are keyword phrases that have a decent search volume (at least 10,000/month) and low competition (under 50,000) when you do a phrase match search in Google.

For example:

As you can see this particular keyword has an Average search volume of 12,100/month.  Important to note the Match Type on the right side. The default is Broad, change it to Phrase when doing your searches.

And here’s the competition in Google for the same keyword. Again it’s a phrase search (the keyword in quotes).

So this keyword has 21,500 competing pages in Google.

12,500 avg search volume and 21,500 competing pages is a pretty good keyword to use. I’ll show you the exact stats for this keyword in the Proof This Works section below.

I know what you might be thinking “well that’s all well and good Karol, but where do I get my keyword ideas?!”

And this is probably where you think I’ll throw in an affiliate link or two. :)

I’m not gonna play you like that.

Let me repeat what I stated at the beginning of this article…

There are NO affiliate links to paid products in this article. While I have no problem recommending products with my affiliate link (and there are ways to make this whole process easier with paid software) I’m going to give you the free method.

The easiest way to quickly generate keyword ideas for your Hubs is to look at other successful Hubs. :)

Here’s a list of Hot Hubs: http://hubpages.com/hubs/hot/

Yup, that’s it. Just take their keyword phrases, check them out using the Google method above to find the best ones, and write YOUR OWN Hub on that keyword phrase.

Checking out other Hubs in the Google keyword tool will give you other keyword ideas so don’t feel like you can’t use them too.

What I’m trying to say is use your brain a bit. Get those synapses firing. :)

Got it? Good…

Proof This Works:

Because, for whatever reason, nobody believes anything anymore without proof. ;)

This is a screen shot (from my PrimaryAds.com account) for the month of January 2010 for the affiliate links in a single Hub. $24.80.

A screen shot from Google Adsense for that same Hub. $18.70

The total this Hub made for all of January 2010 was only $43.50.

Does that excite you?

It should.

Here’s why:

That Hub has been around for more than a year. 1 hour of work and hundreds of dollars of profit. It’s repeatable. It’s easy to do. And it’s completely FREE to get started.

Let’s say you only create 10 Hubs that make an average of $1 per day and it takes you 2 hours of your total time per hub. That’s 20 hours of time for an extra $300/month. Realistically, every hub you make won’t make money. But even if you had to create 50 hubs to generate $300/month that’s a great start. It’s not just about the money. It’s also about the learning experience.

Is that all worth it to you? I hope so. Because if not, I don’t think I can ever help you.

(I am NOT checking my Feedburner stats for a while due to the subscriber loss that last sentence will bring! haha)

Coming Soon!

In case you didn’t read Monday’s post: I’m launching 3 things within the next 11 days.

This coming Monday, March 1, 2010 comes the free Freedom Fighters e-course/newsletter.

Next Friday, March 5, 2010 (Midnight Eastern Standard Time, using time.gov) comes the How To Live Anywhere eBook. The price starts at just 10 cents and goes up 10 cents after every sale. All money received (+ matching by me) in the first 24 hours will go to third world entrepreneurs via one of my favorite sites: Kiva.org.

Then on Monday March 8, 2010 comes the RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com Over-My-Shoulder-This-Is-What-I’m-Working-On Membership Area. (Catchy name.) This won’t be cheap and I don’t expect to sell too many seats (how is that for honesty? haha), which means you’ll see some things that few others will see. I’ll show you an actual niche project I’m working on using something I call “Product Leasing.” Essentially that’s selling an information product you don’t own and it has nothing to do with affiliate programs.

If you want to be notified of the eBook and the membership area just fill out this form (don’t worry, I hate spam, and you won’t get any from me). BTW, you’ll get a 15 minute head start on the eBook (remember, the price increases after every sale) and a discount on the membership area.








Nothing Is As Bad As It Seems (Or How I Quit Being A Whiny Baby And Got What I Needed)

The title is misleading. This is about the future of Ridiculously Extraordinary and about shipping, being an artist, and being a linchpin. Read it now…

(Important notes in the Don’t Skip This section of this article. If you skip the article, please read those.)

As you may know I’ve been having a difficult time with technology here in India.

A few days ago I spent 3 hours trying to get a USB Modem. Total time spent on trying to get an Internet connection the past couple weeks? At least 10 hours, but probably closer to 20 hours.

The internet wouldn’t really be an issue if I didn’t have things to ship. (More on that in the Don’t Skip This section below.)

I understand it’s because of terrorists and all of these rules are new so it’s a bit of a mess on all sides. And while the rules didn’t stop the restaurant bombing last week in Pune, maybe it is stopping the frequency of similar bombings. (I doubt it.)

Disagreeing with the way things are does nothing for me.

Figuring out how to make things happen in spite of the way things are causes change.

While sitting frustrated in my guest house what a lot of you commented/e-mailed me with during my whiny post a couple weeks ago finally hit me: “It’s not the end of the world.”

So I don’t have Internet. Who cares?

I can’t get any work done. (more on that in a bit!) Who cares?

I scheduled blog posts and I can’t respond to or moderate comments on my blog in a timely fashion. It sucks, and I feel bad, but you will stick around or you won’t.

Obviousy I want you to stick around and I figure you probably understand I can’t be stuck to my computer moderating/responding/commenting when I don’t have Internet. :)

Some people tell me Goa is a bit backwards (as far as tech and a few other things) and I should head somewhere else. While that sounds like a good plan, I’m not interested in being on the road. I want to stay put and get work done. i.e. Ship! (more on that in a bit)

If I’m going to leave it’s to move on to where I want to go, not some random place in search of an “easier time.”

I actually never planned on coming to India in the first place, so it’s all a bonus. I planned on going to Thailand and when I heard about the guitar workshop I’m taking (I’m just finishing the guitar as this post goes live!) I decided to delay Thailand and head to India.

So again, India’s a bonus.

I’ve made a couple of friends and met a bunch of people I never would have met had I not come. Bonus.

I’ve been able to eat some of my favorite foods daily. Bonus.

I learned I love running barefoot on the beach. :) Bonus.

I drink/eat a fresh coconut every day! Bonus.

Said coconut is chopped open with a machete in front of my eyes. Free show. Bonus!

If you’ve read this far, thank you.

If you enjoy what I’ve been doing here, thank you.

If you’ve e-mailed me or commented and haven’t received a response yet, thank you for your patience, I’m catching up. :)

I appreciate you hanging out here.

Oh, and by the way, once I stopped worrying about it, and after another (short!) visit to the electronics store, I ended up getting a USB modem and one month of high speed internet for 4,000 Rupees! ;)

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Don’t Skip This Part. ;)

In other news, I’m working on something interesting.

Well, 3 things.

– A free newsletter and e-course about achieving Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom. It will be focused on the Freedom aspect of this site and not so much on the other topics I talk about. (You know, like how I cured my allergies.)

– A corresponding eBook called “Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom: How To Live Anywhere” which will be released using an incremental pricing model, starting at 10 cents and going up 10 cents after every sale. The sooner you buy, the less you pay. First day sales (+ my matching of that amount) will go to third world entrepreneurs via Kiva.org.

– An over-the-shoulder, here’s what I’m doing (including live examples), paid membership area. Because I get a lot of e-mails/questions about what I do, I’m releasing a paid membership area where you can look over my shoulder and see actual live niche projects I’m working on. I’m currently working on something unique I call “Product Leasing” in which I sell a product I didn’t write and don’t own. And it’s NOT about affiliate programs. I don’t know if anybody else is doing this. If they are, they’re keeping quiet about it.

To get on the notification list for the member’s area and ebook launches just fill out your name and primary e-mail address. (Don’t worry, I hate spam, and you won’t get it from me.)

If you’re reading via RSS/e-mail and the form doesn’t show up, fill it out right here.








The Timing Is Never Right

I hadn’t planned on releasing the newsletter (the e-course isn’t even close to “ready”) or eBook (barely started it!) for a while and I didn’t even have the idea for the membership area. Then I read Linchpin by Seth Godin and a quote from Tim Ferriss: “The timing is never right.”

The main takeaways I got from Linchpin were: “Artists ship” and “Give gifts.” (Another takeaway: sprinting, getting an enormous amount of work done in a short amount of time, is good on an irregular basis. The next 10 days I’m going to be sprinting.)

While I have been shipping (and hopefully giving gifts) by consistently posting to this blog, I don’t think that’s enough. So maybe you can understand my frustration with the internet issues. I wasn’t able to ship!

What was also stopping me was my lizard brain (Seth Godin term) telling me “These things won’t be successful, you don’t have enough readers yet.” Which may be true, but whatever. It’s happening.

Here is how it’s all going down:

This Thursday (Feb 25, 2010) you’ll read a free article called “How To Make Money With Free Traffic” with an action plan to earn an extra $300/month passively.

Next Monday (March 1, 2010) I’m releasing the Freedom Fighters newsletter/e-course.

Next Friday (March 5, 2010 at Midnight EST) comes the eBook. You could consider that Thursday night if you wish. But it’s being released on Friday because that’s my birthday and I’m going to send all the money (x2) generated that day to third world entrepreneurs via one of my favorite sites: Kiva.org. I don’t have enough readers here to write as large a check as I’d like, but that’s ok. Artists ship. ;)

Then on Monday March 8, 2010 comes the membership area.

Join the notification list for the member’s area and ebook launches here (hint: you’ll get a discount):








Again, if you’re reading via RSS/e-mail and the form doesn’t show up, fill it out right here.

Whew! Thanks for reading. And thanks for being such a big part of everything I do here.

Choose Your Path and Follow It…or Else!

Here is the magic pill, the secret to success…

I’ve noticed something in my own life and in the talks/e-mail conversations I’ve had with others.

That is, the most successful people I know choose something (or someone) to follow and they do it with tunnel vision focus.

Those who have more trouble jump around from one opportunity to another, or one technique to the next.

Let me give you an example…

How many ways are there to get fit?

Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?

You can do P90X, train for a marathon, jump rope, do yoga, ride a bike, and the list goes on. Some exercise routines may be better than others, but you know which strategy will never get you the results you want?

Acting on one routine for a short while, then jumping on to another, and then another, and another without giving any single routine a chance to flourish.

I have a saying that I’ve been using for years: “It works if you work it.”

In the example above “it” would be an exercise routine.

As some of you already know (thanks for taking action and e-mailing me about it!) the strategy I outlined in How To Spot Opportunity works.

Maybe you stumbled a bit along the way. Maybe it didn’t work exactly like you thought it would. Maybe you had to change something I did to fit your own style.

But you worked it.

And it worked.

Unfortunately, I also got a lot of e-mails with an attitude of “it doesn’t work, although I didn’t try it yet.”

One of the reasons I quit teaching stuff like what I wrote about in How To Spot Opportunity 4-5 years ago was because I didn’t deal well with people not taking action. These days I understand that only 1-5% of people take action on anything they learn.

That includes health, wealth, and relationships.

I still don’t deal well with it, and I wish I had the power to change that 5% to 95%, but there’s only so much I can do.

The power is in your hands.

I will not often tell you what to do, but I’m making an exception right now: Be part of the 5%.

Choose a path and follow through with it. You will have failures along the way. There will be stumbling blocks. You will get frustrated. It will usually take longer than you think it will take.

But you know what?

The pain is worth it.

Of course, if that doesn’t interest you, you do have another choice. But do you really want to be an “or Else?”

Let me know in the comments the times in your life where you have focused intently on something and succeeded.