This Guy Loves To Party

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I’ve been asked this a few times now…

How do I plan on making money online?

The truth is, I’m not sure what my main money-making strategy is going to be.  I’m working on the dreadful affiliate marketing, where you sell other people’s stuff, and am ultimately interested in selling my own digital products.

The way I see it: if I can get 3 people to give me $11 a day, every day, I have roughly hit my monthly goal of $1,000.

So that’s really what I’m aiming for, at least in the beginning: 3 people, every day, to pay me $11.  Or 5 people who pay me $7.  Or whatever.  However I can achieve this, I’m going to do it.  And then, in the future, I’ll multiply my efforts by taking advantage of outsourcing — of course, when I actually know what I’m doing and know what will make me money.

But do you want to know the absolute best way to make money online?  This is something I can tell you right now.  In fact, this applies to just about any goal you want to accomplish.

Find someone who already does it, is good at it, and ask them for help.  Show them what you’ve done already — prove to them that you’re interested in actually working for your goal — and ask what next step you need to take.  You’d be surprised how many accomplished people want to help you when you show that you’re a driven, hard-working person.

A lot of people, when trying a new venture like making money online, dive in alone, get frustrated, and give up.

But think of how much more effective it would be if there were someone there who could look over your work and immediately tell you what is and is not working.  You’ll end up working more productively, more effectively, and reach your goals a lot faster.

That’s the power of an effective mentor.

So if you want to make money online — or really want to do anything — and want a sure way of doing it, what I can recommend to you is: find a mentor.

Being “successful” with money is about how you use it, not how much you make.

I inadvertently saved lots of money while working a retail job in Los Angeles.  I spent $850 a month in rent alone, so it’s not like I didn’t have plenty of expenses.

But I cut out so many miscellaneous, small expenses that I was able to put at least a thousand dollars into savings every month.  That’s the power of not having cable TV, of preparing my own food, and of picking up average women in lieu of high-class prostitutes.

Now the money I saved is worth many times more, since I’ve been spending it all in South America, where not only is everything cheaper, but currency fluctuations have worked out in my favor, making the dollar even more powerful here.  Essentially every dollar I spend here is buying me 3x as much as it would have in the United States.

And when I do return to the United States, I’ll have plenty of opportunities to keep my cost of living very low, including staying temporarily with friends, family, and renting apartments from people desperate to sublet them for a month or two at the last minute.  These are just a few of the things I’ll do to keep my cost of living low in one of the world’s most expensive countries.

My savings aren’t substantial, but they’re enough to sustain me for almost two more years at my current rate of spending.

So why is your money goal so low?

I’ve been questioned about my current measly income goal of $1,000 a month.

$1,000 a month is enough for me to live on very happily and comfortably at the moment.  I’ll consider myself a success with an income of $12,000 a year simply because that puts me at the break-even point if I were to continue the awesome lifestyle I’ve been living for the past 8 months.

And if I were to bring in only $2,000 a month, then I’d be able to put an extra $1,000 into savings every month.  I consider this my “mini-retirement fund.”

I’m looking to grow my income, but I am a success if I have only $1,000 a month in income.  This is because my $1,000 is far more valuable than someone else’s $5,000, $10,000, or more.

In August of 2008, I quit my job, got rid of all my stuff save some clothes and some electronics, and left the country indefinitely without really telling anyone in advance.

In case you’re curious, here’s why.

Why I Quit Real Life

I had goals and objectives in my life, but all of them had become secondary to working a job I didn’t really see myself continuing in the future.

One day in early 2008, I looked back on what I had accomplished in the past year.  What goals had I reached?  What had I done to improve myself?

And in those previous 12 months, the answer was: not much.

I half-assed everything I did, and as a result, I had nothing to show for it.  The only thing I really put myself into was my job, and I didn’t even care that much about it.

My fitness goals, my comedy goals, my hobbies — nothing I actually enjoyed got much attention.

It’s cliché at this point, but the final turning point was when I read Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week.  It planted the idea in my head that my goals and objectives were more worth pursuing than a job I didn’t care for.

In other words, I realized that I’m young enough that I can avoid “real life” responsibility for a bit while I pursue the things that make me a more interesting person.

My New Benchmark: The Yearly List

Like I said before, I was disappointed when I reflected on what I had accomplished in the last year only to find out it amounted to basically nothing.

So I have a new ritual now.

Every year, on August 1, I’m going to make a list of all the things I’ve accomplished in the last 12 months.

I want to be able to look at that list and feel satisfied that I’m finally accomplishing interesting, remarkable things.

I’m not going to punish myself if the list sucks.  I’m not going to reward myself if the list is great.  I’m just aiming to be satisfied with what I was able to accomplish in the last 12 months.

What’s on your list?

Here’s the part of the post where I get deep and thoughtful.

Think about what you’ve done in the last 12 months.  Have you accomplished anything meaningful to you?  Or have you just gotten by doing the same ol’ thing?

If you’re not satisfied with your 12 month list, then get started today on improving for next year’s review.

I go to the gym and work out so that I can look better.  That is really the only reason I do it.

It’s nice to be healthy and fit, but I consider those bonuses.

I know that just about everyone else I see at the gym has the exact same reason for being there that I do.  They’re concerned specifically with the physical appearance of their bodies.

But if you were to ask any of those people why they’re in the gym, they’d tell you it was to be healthier, to prolong their life, to do something stupid that in reality doesn’t concern them at all.

Most people would lie to you and to themselves, and say that they’re exercising for every reason but to physically look better.

I don’t know why improving yourself has been branded as “being vain,” but it has, and it makes people scared to be honest with themselves and their goals.

If you’re going to do something, be honest with yourself and others about why you’re doing it.  People will respect that you’re driven with an actual purpose.

So, with that said, I’m going to be honest with you right now.

1. I work out at the gym specifically so that I can look physically better.
2. I quit my job and am indefinitely traveling the world because I thought my life was boring, and I needed to do something to make myself more interesting.
3. I own only enough items to fit into a small, 35-liter backpack so that I can show it off to people.  (And I do it a lot.)
4. In fact, most unnecessary obscure things I do are designed specifically to be able to show off to people, so that I can brand myself as different and interesting.

And now I feel better.

I get hot and bothered when I find travel blogs that are written months or even years before any kind of travel takes place, like it’s a “preliminary plan” blog. This is especially true for the “I’m going to quit my job and travel the world for a long time” variety.

I’m bothered by these kinds of blogs because I already know that this person is likely never going to go on their trip, or actually do what they want to do.

Just Do What You Want To Do, Don’t Tell Everyone About It

If you want to do something cool or significant with your life, here’s the trick: just fucking do it.

If you start telling everyone about your plans months or years ahead of time, you’re just pandering for attention. “Look at me, I’m going to do something cool with my life… when the right time comes.”

People who make plans far, far in advance typically never find the “right time.” They never actually have enough money, or they never have the free time, or they never get rid of their annoying, time-consuming children. The excuses pile up fast.

But the interesting thing is that if you don’t wait for a right time, but rather just do what you want to do, somehow everything works out just fine, every single time.  The money, the responsibilities, the pregnant girlfriend… somehow they all end up not mattering.  (Solution: take the pregnant girlfriend with you!)

So if you want to do something interesting with your life — like quit your job and travel the world — just do it now. Force yourself to get started. And don’t waste my time by putting up a blog about something you may do two years from now.  It’s really annoying.

Beta males. (Photo: Sunset Chaser)

About two days ago, I hit the seven month mark for having lived in Latin America. Although I’m loving life here, there’s one thing that bothers me more than anything else in the world: soccer players.

What a bunch of whiny beta males. I’m not going to criticize their theatrical fouls since that’s already a well-established annoyance in the world of soccer.

What I will criticize, though, is their poor mindset.

Soccer is a sport cursed by very little scoring action. It’s not abnormal to see a game where one, maybe two goals are scored in all 90 minutes of regulation time.

When a goal is scored, though, the player who scores it runs around and screams like a like a 12-year-old girl being hit with a literal flamethrower at an N’Sync concert in 1999. He acts like he never had any expectation of scoring a goal, like it was a complete surprise, and now he has to celebrate it with every ounce of his strength. He runs and hugs his teammates. He drops to his knees in astonishment.

This is what’s wrong with soccer: the players are a bunch of unconfident beta males. Their minds are programmed not to expect to achieve the ultimate objective, scoring a goal, and so they rarely actually do it. When it actually is accomplished, they crap their pants and call their moms at home.

If I were a soccer coach, I would train my players to, at most, pump their fists briefly after a goal, and then to politely return to the starting position to start over again. Basically I would program into my players that it actually is possible to score a goal, and that to score a goal is a completely normal thing. Don’t act like you didn’t expect it to happen.

I can guarantee that my players would end up scoring more points than the average.

And I would also train them not to be a bunch of bitches and get right back up when someone bumps into them. Had to get that one out of my system.