Category: Sweet Shit Saturday

I learned a lot of lessons from the first 72 hour sale and I learned a lot more during the one that just ended 2 days ago. I’ll probably share those lessons sometime in the future.

If you participated in the sale in any way, even just by following along, thank you. We’re going to do more 72 hour sales, but we’re not sure when the next one will be. Rest assured it will be an insane value just like the last 2 have been. If you have suggestions for specific products you’d like to see in the future please get in touch.

A lot of people have made jokes about the money we made during the sale. You know, retirement, fast cars, etc, etc. (It was a lot, but it wasn’t as much as you might think. Baker has full transparency on his blog, so you’ll know exactly how much when he does his income report in January.)

The truth is the money is not the exciting part to me. I’ve written about this countless times, but I know what enough is for me. Getting more than enough is cool (I’m not going to burn it!), but it happens naturally when you give a lot of people what they want and it doesn’t increase my happiness. I have no desire to buy a BMW or a Rolex or any other toys. I did buy a MacBook Air, but I bought that before the sale and had been waiting for the right time (a sale/discount) to buy one. I may have only saved $50 by waiting, but $50 buys lots of Fuji apples (my favorite). :)

With all that said, you might be wondering what the exciting part is, if not the cash? It’s exciting doing big things. 1,915 fantastically good looking people put their trust in me and Baker in the span of 72 hours. That’s big. It’s exciting working with smart people who give a damn. It’s exciting giving lots of people what they want. It’s exciting raising enough money to build 6+ wells in Ethiopia. (This only happened because of Chris, but it was still exciting for me.) I don’t know what Chris’s criteria is for choosing who goes with him to Ethiopia next year, but if I’m not on my epic r———–r tour (more on that in January) at the time, I’m interested. :)

That’s what excites me. I hope whatever excites you that you’re able to achieve it as well.

What?

Did you say something?

Ohhhh, sweet links?

BOOM:

Sufficiency by Chris Guillebeau

If you’re not convinced about what I just wrote regarding money and enough you need to read this. This is one of the most important articles Chris has written. It’s from June ’09, so it’s not new, but it’s timeless. I’ve written about this topic quite a few times and it’s actually not Chris’s only article on the topic either. Why? Because it’s important enough to revisit and remember.

11 Things I Learned From 11 Months In Spain by Henri Junttila

This is more about life than Spain and I really enjoyed it.

How To Turn A $300/month Adsense Site Into A $17,500/month Business by Brian Evans

Brian Evans is one of the smartest marketers blogging today. He’s not in the “in your face make money online” niche so that’s probably why you don’t hear his name often. That’s too bad. For the 5,000+ of you who own How To Live Anywhere: there’s a PDF interview I did with Brian in the member’s area. :)

What It Takes by Steven Pressfield

An insider’s look at the publishing a book. There is nothing I can say about this other than “awesome.” :)

That’s it for this week. Oh wait, thanks for your submissions to Extraordinary Insights Volume 1, a free eBook you helped create. That’ll be out in about 2 weeks! OK, see ya!

This Saturday is so sweet I had to say it twice. :)

I hope you enjoyed Black Friday. Being that I’ve pretty much opted out of consumerism I actually think Black Friday is a good day for minimalists. I mean, we do need to buy things sometimes … why not get a sweet discount? (That said, there’s no way I was going to wake up at 3am to get those “great” deals. I loathe going to stores. I loathe waking up early. Put them together and you know how I feel.)

If you follow me on Twitter you know I’ve been waiting to get a MacBook Air for a while now. I’ve been working on an Acer AspireOne netbook for months and it doesn’t cut it. While this little badboy has been with me for some crazy days in the past few months it’s really not a great computer for an entrepreneur. (Too small, way too slow = my biggest issues.)

Everybody told me “Apple doesn’t do sales.” But since I was in no rush, I wanted to find out for myself. Lo and behold, the MacBook Air was $101 off for 24 hours directly through Apple. I decided to buy it through MacMall.com though. It was only $50 off, but since I didn’t have to pay $140 in sales tax I came out ahead. :)

The Big Only72.com Sale

You probably know by now that another 72 hour sale is coming this Monday over at Only72.com. What you probably don’t know is all the wonderful people who contributed products to the sale.

I can honestly say nothing like this has ever been done before and I think you’ll be quite happy with what we have in store.

Here is the complete rundown of contributors: Chris Guillebeau, Leo Babauta, Eric Hamm, Danielle LaPorte, Naomi Dunford, Dave Navarro, Laura Roeder, Chris Garrett, David Risley, Charlie Gilkey, Lea Woodward, Johnny B. Truant, James Chartrand, Jonathan Mead, Karol Gajda (hey, that’s me!), Everett Bogue, Corbett Barr, Nathan Hangen, Tammy Strobel, Henri Junttila, Erica Douglass, Colin Wright, and Jade Craven.

All told, if you were to buy the courses in this sale individually you’d pay $1,052. You won’t have to pay anywhere near that amount.

Yes, I know, we’re crazy. :)

None of this would have happened if Baker didn’t join me on this venture. He is the most intense, focused, connected, helpful person I have had the pleasure of working with. Our goal with Only72.com is to provide out of this world value to contributors and customers. I attribute 99% of that value to what Baker has brought to the table.

A lot of people are going to ask “how did you get all of those people to contribute their products to your sale?” The answer is Baker makes things happen.

This coming Monday will be a short post about the Only72 sale. If you’re not interested, that’s cool. Just ignore Monday. And by ignore I mean don’t go online at all, because you’ll read about this sale everywhere. :)

Enough of that … sweet sweet links!

Obvious To You. Amazing To Others by Derek Sivers

This hit me like a ton of bricks. Thanks Derek. :)

Who Calls You Out? by Kenny Eller

This is probably my favorite piece of writing that Kenny has put out thus far.

The Shy Delusion by Benny Lewis

I found myself thinking “dammit, I do that!” a few times during this article. If you think you’re shy you must read this article.

An Extraordinary Collaboration by Me

I know linking to myself is lame, but since I posted this on Thanksgiving Day the submissions were much lower than they should be. Ask me anything about anything and help us create an awesome free resource.

That’s all for this week. See you Monday with the Only72.com 72 hour sale. Get in some trouble this weekend. ;)

The fun thing about Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom is you’re not usually bound by plans. Nothing is set in stone. With that said, it looks like I’m not going to Brasil in January.

Instead, I’ll be treating my body to below-freezing temperatures in a city yet-to-be-revealed doing something yet-to-be-revealed, then heading to SXSW in mid-March, and THEN heading to Brasil. :)

The interesting thing about this is that subjecting myself to below-freezing temperatures will cost 2-3 times more than just heading to Brasil.

Stupid.

What? Did you just call me stupid?

Yes.

Who are you?

I’m you.

What?

Nothing. Carry on.

Whoa, what was that?

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeettttt linkssssssssssss:

How Complexity Leads To Simplicity by Eric Berlow

I like when really smart people share their really smart ideas. :)

Minimalist Fitness: Use Your Kids As A Gym by Leo Babauta

Parents: do this!

The Power of a Smile by Tammy Strobel

Oh so powerful. :)

Kick Procrastination In The Arse by Mark Powers

I love this technique and I’ve used it often. Actually, in the How To Live Anywhere interview I did with Leo Babauta we discussed this technique briefly. :)

Focus On A Freedom Fighter #003: Raam Dev

As you know, sometimes I feature Freedom Fighters here. If you’d like to be featured, join the Freedom Fighters and wait for the e-mail about being featured (it arrives in your inbox after about 45 days).

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Raam Dev from RaamDev.com.

Karol: Why did you join Freedom Fighters?

Raam: I joined Freedom Fighters because I’m a fighter for freedom, both in the literal sense and in the metaphorical sense that I dislike anything that restricts me. The best way to grow as a freedom fighter is to be open-minded and willing to collaborate with and listen to what other freedom fighters are doing and saying. You’re a freedom fighter. I’m a freedom fighter. So hearing what you have to say helps me on my own journey!

K: How has Freedom Fighters helped you?

R: The emails are a constant reminder that I’m not alone. They are little nudges that give me little bits of motivation and inspiration to keep pushing myself onward. One of the hardest ways to fight a battle is alone but when you know others are with you, the battle becomes a shared quest. Seemingly impossible challenges feel a little less insurmountable and sometimes that’s all we need to keep going.

K: What are your goals with your website?

R: I write for a community of passionate changemakers who are driven to live life to its fullest potential and who want to use that potential to change the world. We have a common goal of working towards something that will both outlast us and and leave the world a better place than we found it.

We are a community of dreamers with a passion to think big and beyond ourselves. We aim to utilize our individually unique potential for a greater purpose and we work together to find ways to share our abundance with the rest of the world. Our community exists to promote human sustainability and help rid the world of ignorance and inequality.

My site is just one small piece of our community and I use it to share and discuss ideas, teach principals of practical minimalism, and provide insight into my lifestyle as a digital nomad. My primary goal is to be a source of inspiration and motivation for anyone interested in getting more out of life, obliterating the status quo, or doing something to help change the world.

K: Is there anything in particular you’d like to tell the world?

R: You are capable of anything. There is absolutely nothing you cannot learn, no skill you cannot develop, and no amount of knowledge that is out of your reach.

You can envision things that others cannot. You have revolutionary ideas that can and will change the world. You can find others who think and believe the same way as you. You can lead those people and become an unstoppable force of change to make your shared vision a reality.

You are a powerhouse of potential and you have the power to change the world. If you see something that should be changed, you have the power to change it.

Empower yourself. Become a changemaker. Nothing and nobody can stop you, except yourself.

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Woohoo! Thanks Raam. You’re an incredibly inspirational person.

That’s it for this week. Special request for the weekend: enjoy yourself! :) See ya!

It’s almost that time. Mind Control Method launches for exactly 24 hours starting Monday, November 15, 10:00am EST. (That’s this Monday!)

On launch day I’m going to include 50 coupon codes in the article. Each coupon code will be one-time use only. The majority of them will be for 10% off, but a few of them will be for a lot more. ;)

So what will your strategy be? Test out every coupon code hoping to find a huge discount, or risk the chance of not being able to use any coupon code by wasting time doing that? :) That will be up to you, of course.

Again: Mind Control Method will be available for exactly 24 hours. Monday at 10:00am EST until Tuesday at 10:00am EST.

Enough of that … time for sweet links!

The Law of Action by Maren Kate

I love that Maren wrote this, because the focus of this Monday’s launch article is how the law of attraction is a scam. Thanks Maren! :)

Never Work Again by Adam Baker

A fantastic article about watching what we say around impressionable minds so we don’t brain wash them into believing in the status quo.

The Definitive Guide To Increasing Traffic To Your Blog or Website by Henri Junttila

Killer article, especially if you need more traffic. :)

Fewer Bills by Leo Babauta

Fewer bills “means less stress, less hassle to pay bills, less work required to pay them, more savings, simplicity.”

When people ask me “if everybody adopted a minimalist lifestyle, wouldn’t the world crumble since we thrive on consumerism?” I’m going to refer them to this article. Especially the “less work required” to pay bills part. :)

That’s it for this week. Hope you’re kicking ass! Take names if you want … unless it’s mine! ;)

This is a weird month and I’ll tell you right now that if you ever start a blog, you probably shouldn’t work on 2 product launches within 2 weeks of each other. :)

I’m launching Mind Control Method in 9 days and then on Cyber Monday, November 29, we’re launching another 72 Hour Sale at Only72.com. This one is going to be strictly business products and we have a lot of really big bloggers involved. (When we reveal who’s in it you might flip a lid!) I say we because I brought in my friend Baker to work on this particular business with me.

Two product launches in 2 weeks is not really a good idea, but sometimes this is how things work out. I apologize in advance if you’re not interested in the stuff I have for sale because you’re going to have to go through 2 launches in a short time frame. I still want you around even if you never buy anything, but if you need to leave then no hard feelings. :)

That said, I’m really proud of these launches so I don’t apologize for releasing kick ass content. ;)

Mind Control Method will initially only be available for 24 hours (although I’m considering making it a bit longer), the 72 Hour Sale will be for just 72 hours (duh!), and I’m not going to do a big launch sequence for either one. So the launches will be easy breezy.

Here’s what it’ll look like: on November 15 I’ll post an article talking about Mind Control Method and on November 29 I’ll post about the 72 Hour Business Product Sale. I might mention them here and there otherwise, but that’s pretty much it!

And because I’ve already had a bunch of questions about this: Mind Control Method will not be in the 72 Hour Sale.

How about some sweet links? Done!

Go Hunting by Steve Pavlina

This is an article idea I’ve had written down, but never actually turned it into a fully formed article. Which is cool, Mr. Pavlina did that for me. :)

What 17 Million Americans Got From A College Degree by Ben Casnocha

This article can be described with one word: fascinating. Go to school, get student loans, work as a janitor. Success?!

10 Proven Strategies For Decimating Fear by Lachlan Cotter

Lach has commented on this blog a lot. What I like about his comments is he doesn’t always agree with me and he challenges my thoughts. That takes balls. Or … audacity. :) Lach just launched his blog The Art of Audacity with this article about Fear which I contributed to. I’m looking forward to seeing what else is in store.

You Don’t Need A Job – You Need Guts! by Ash Ambirge

Ash rocks. It’s a simple as that. And holy shit her Freedom Fund idea is so good I want to steal it! :)

Ten Questions For Mark Cuban on Forbes.com

You probably already know how much I love Mark Cuban. He is simply one of the smartest people alive today. And yes, I would still quit everything I’m currently doing to be his janitor/personal assistant/whatever he needed just so I could learn from him in person.

That’s all for this week. Enjoy your weekend and see you Monday!

Last Sunday I went to Death Valley with my friends Catherine and YanYan. It was the one attraction I really wanted to visit and the main reason I stayed in Vegas after BlogWorld. Why? Well, besides the name … OK … just for the name. :) Death! Valley! It’s always had a very mysterious vibe in my mind. I’d never actually seen photos though, so I was expecting stark isolation instead of an absolutely beautiful landscape.

The photo you see above is at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America. 282 feet below sea level! I’m only licking the ground because it’s a salt flat! I don’t go around licking the ground on a day-to-day basis. :)

Two more Death Valley photos before we go onward with sweet links:

Growing up my favorite cartoon characters were Speedy Gonzales and the Road Runner because I loved running fast (short distances). Never thought I’d see a roadrunner in Death Valley! I guess they’re quite vicious animals, but they sure look cute, huh?

I highly recommend the 3 hour drive to Death Valley if you ever make it to Las Vegas. Great day trip.

Now sweet & salty links …

Passion Blogging Guide: 11 Steps To Freedom, Independence, and Getting Paid To Do What You Love by Henri Juntilla

This really shouldn’t be free, but it is. And that’s all I’ll say about that. :)

How To Make Difficult Decisions by Everett Bogue

I get this question a lot: “I have a difficult decision regarding [insert here], what do I do?!” This is a what you do: read Everett’s article. ;)

What Would You Do If You Knew You Would Not Fail? by Chris Guillebeau

I love giving people this exercise. It’s similar to “Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway.”

Focus: My new book on simplicity in the age of distractions by Leo Babauta

I actually have a review in my WordPress drafts folder of Leo’s beta version of the Focus Manifesto that I never published. I guess that’s good, because now he has released the full version! If you’re having trouble focusing, download this book, turn off your internet, and read. :)

Vagabonding Case Study with Yours Truly by Ted Beatie

Ted was kind enough to feature me on Vagablogging.net, Rolf Potts’s blog. Woohoo!

See you Monday when we talk about good deeds and why you shouldn’t keep them to yourself …

Depending on the definition you use symbiotic is the wrong word here, but it fits as a general idea for the past couple of days.

BlogWorld has been awesome. So awesome that I didn’t get this posted for my usual 7:11am blog post time. :) I’ve actually not been going online almost at all. Been waking up at 7am, going to sleep after 3am, and running on pure adrenalin and kick assery.

I’ve met a lot of great people here at BlogWorld Las Vegas. My goal with an event like this, or anything in life really, is to not meet a lot of people though. I’d much rather meet a few people and hang out with them a lot. While I have spent some time attending talks (like creating Mouth Watering Content by the phenomenal Nathalie Lussier <– click! raw food, mmmm!), I’ve spent most of my time outside of the event hanging out.

Instead of a normal Saturday post, I’m going to link to the people I’ve met and had conversations with. Hopefully I don’t have a brain fart and not include somebody. If I do, I’m sorry, I still love you.

These are all amazing people, many of them you may know, some of them you may not. In no particular order …

Leo Babauta – www.ZenHabits.net

It’s hard to put into type how nice of a guy Leo is so I won’t try. You should already know him, but if you don’t, definitely check out ZenHabits.

Adam Baker – www.ManVsDebt.com

You should know Baker by now since I’ve linked to him a bunch and he was part of the 72 hour minimalist book sale recently. :) He taught me a magic trick that I’m still working on. My pinky finger is not normal so it’s taking me extra practice. :)

Corbett Barr – www.ThinkTraffic.net

I hadn’t met Corbett before even though we’ve talked a bunch. He is such a smart dude you seriously need to follow what he’s doing if you’re not already.

Benny Lewis – www.FluentIn3Months.com

Great to hang with Benny again. The last time was in Berlin 4 months ago and he’s still doing amazing things with language hacking and being all-around awesome.

Matt Gartland – www.HealthyLifestyleDesign.com

I spoke to Matt for the first time about a week ago and it was great to meet up in person. He’s working on a really kick ass project that I’m definitely looking forward to.

Jonathan Mead – www.IlluminatedMind.net

I interviewed Jonathan for How To Live Anywhere, but this is the first time we were able to speak in person. He just launched Paid To Exist a few weeks ago, and he is straight up living the paid to exist lifestyle.

Laura Roeder – www.LauraRoeder.com

Laura is genius. She probably won’t like me saying that. That’s OK though, I can deal with it. :)

Jade Craven – www.JadeCraven.com

Jade is from Geelong, Australia. I was in Geelong last year watching Geelong vs St Kilda in the Australia Football League Final. Weird and awesome! We did an interview on video and I hope it turned out well. :)

Ali Hale – www.AliVentures.com

Ali writes and coaches writers. She also has the most popular staff blogging course around. :)

Thursday Bram – www.ThursdayBram.com

Thursday is a freelance writer and to put it as simply as possible, really fun to talk to.

Chris Ducker – www.VirtualBusinessLifestyle.com

Chris is doing some fascinating things with outsourcing to the Phillipines. Unless hiring almost 300 workers isn’t fascinating to you. ;)

Pace Smith – www.Connection-Revolution.com

Listen, if you live in my favorite city (Austin) you can’t not be awesome. :) Pace is awesome.

Farnoosh Brock – www.ProlificLiving.com

Farnoosh is so full of energy it’s crazy. Her blog has actually been in my feedreader for a while although I don’t believe I’ve ever actually linked to her before. :)

Catherine Caine – www.BeAwesomeOnline.com

Well, come on … her Web site is Be Awesome Online. Catherine is awesome! I use the word awesome a lot. :)

Srini Rao – www.TheSkoolOfLife.com

Srini interviewed me on BlogCastFM about 8 months ago. We’ve kept in contact since and it has been awesome hanging out with him a bunch here at BlogWorld.

Sid Savara – www.SidSavara.com

Sid’s also part of BlogCastFM. He’s doing some great things on his blog and it has been cool hanging out with him a bunch as well. :)

Dave Navarro – TheLaunchCoach.com

I only had a chance to speak with Dave for a minute, but he’s a really nice guy. After I launched How To Live Anywhere the first time I bought his “Launch The #$(* Out Of Your eBook” course to figure out what I did wrong and right. Pure gold.

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Looking over this list I know I missed some people. I will make it up to them in the coming weeks. ;)

Monday I’m going to try to get a video post up. I haven’t done one in a LONG time, and there’s a very important reason I need to. (We’ll see how video editing on my netbook works out though.)

Life Lesson #102: “Don’t let the fuckers drag you down.”

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Thank you to Leo, Baker, Everett, Tammy, Joshua, Henri, Sam, Charley, Brett, David, Annie, and Meg. We were part of something special and it would not have worked without every one of you. I’m still getting e-mails (well over 100 now) asking if I can open the minimalist book sale back up. 72 hours is 72 hours. If somebody figures out how to squeeze 96 hours into 72 hours I will open it up for another 24. ;) What I mean is, it’s not going on sale again. If you want to buy any of the books in the sale they are well worth the individual prices and you will be supporting amazing artists. Luxury of Less will be available on Kindle ($9.99) and in print ($12.95) in December.

This has been an insane week. 1,687 minimalist book sale packages sold. That almost sounds like a fake number. $9,388.40 to Kiva entrepreneurs. That almost sounds like a fake number. Hundreds of “yes” requests. That almost sounds like a fake number. I guess it’s not a number, so it is fake. :)

There is only one link you should read above all others this week. That is Corbett Barr’s 18 Months, 2 Blogs, Six Figures. I’m not joking when I say it will dominate your life.

I guess that’s not fair to others I’m going to link to. Dammit. But really, if you don’t have time to read much this week, read Corbett’s free manifesto. Free as in you don’t have to pay for it, or enter your e-mail address, or anything. Download it. Turn off your internet. Find a quiet place. And read. Don’t thank me. Thank Corbett.

Links, please!

Empowerment is not for sale by Tammy Strobel

This is another one of those articles that I can’t do justice to by summarizing here. It’s a very important article for women and men.

Why Every Entrepreneur Should Write and 9 Tips To Get Started by Jason Baptiste

“Writing has allowed me to meet a slew of smart people.” Me too! :)

To make up for the fact that last week I had 13 links, this week only 3. Woohoo!

Tomorrow I’m running in a 5K. 10/10/10 at 10am. I run very slowly and I don’t plan on continuing running. Not because I run slowly, but because it’s not fun and hurts my knees. I’m going to guess I’ll finish in 34 minutes. Yes, that slowly. :) Have a great weekend!