I don’t like to write about these types of things very often, but this one is too good to pass up.

Are you familiar with Adam Baker of ManVsDebt.com?
Or Karol Gajda of Gajda.com?

Or their joint project, a massive digital information product sale that only comes around once or twice a year, Only72.com?

Well, make sure you are. And make sure you do it today!

Here’s why taking a peek at their site today might be a good idea:

The quick gist of it is this: We run massive digital information product niche sales 2-3 times per year for just 72 hours at a time.

Only72 officially launched on Cyber Monday 2010 with a bang. The response was overwhelming, and besides having a successful sale, we raised over $30k for Charity:Water. Sale #2 in June 2011 resulted in another successful sale and we raised over $10k for The Kidney Foundation. And with our third sale on Cyber Monday 2011 we donated to the Women of the Americas Sustainability Initiative!

All told we’re lucky enough to call over 3,500 fine-looking, intelligent, men & woman our customers and we’re proud to state that we’ve raised over $45k for charity.

Our next sale, Only72 Presents The $100 Startup, will take place April 30, 2012.

Their next sale starts April 30th. Today!

Personal and business development…huge discounts…charity…they’ve got my attention. Let’s keep readin’:

We’re excited to team up with Chris Guillebeau to coordinate what we’re calling “The $100 Startup” package.

The $100 Startup is Chris’ new amazing book, which we are shipping anywhere in the world (at no additional charge!) with every package this time (the first time we’ve had a physical product as part of our sales).

In the book, Chris makes an even more brilliant case, including dozens of examples, of why your world-changing idea doesn’t need thousands of dollars to get started.

We’ve assembled training from a wide variety of bloggers, authors, teachers, and trainers on a diverse set of business topics.

This new package focuses on:
-Creating, designing, and successfully building a blog that actually matters to people.
-Identifying your passion (and then building a career around it).
-Becoming a freelancer (or improving your writing).
-Building confidence, balancing work and life, and facing fear.
-How to sell (ethically) in a way that actually works (one of my favorite courses).
-How to improve and increase ad income (if you run a website with advertising).
-How to structure your technology, productivity, and small business systems.
-How to publish a book and how to get paid to create art professionally.

As you can see, we really tried to diversify the different courses and training in this package – so that it can benefit almost anyone who wants to get started online.

The newly released book $100 Startup is on my wish list. That alone makes me excited about this sale.

The package of materials that are available are perfect for just about anyone who wants to make a side income or a serious business out of anything online. Writers, designers, bloggers, marketers, you name it.

However, if that’s not you? If you’re not looking for any additional money on the side, if you’re not looking to build a business, if you’re not looking for personal development and business growth? Then these materials aren’t for you.

Please don’t spend your hard-earned pennies, mmkay?

Here is how Only72.com works:

You get $1,000 in courses for just $100 (one-time payment).

We’ll also ship a hardcover copy of Chris’ new book anywhere in the world to you.

We can only do this big of a discount (90% off) for a few days. The sale lasts 72 hours.

Once the sale is over, it’s over for good. We do one or two a year max – and never with the same training.

It’s a simple idea that helps a lot of people.

And finally:

If you’re in the market for training to help you start or ramp up your business or income from creative sources, I firmly believe this is the best offer of the year (for an affordable price).

If you aren’t starting or running a business… Or don’t have interest in leveraging your creative talents to produce side income… then don’t be silly and buy this package.

At the end of the day, if you download the package – and never actually apply the training? You help no one.

It doesn’t benefit me long-term. It certainly doesn’t benefit you.

So if you take advantage of the hard work we did to put together such an amazing package – you have to promise me you’ll actually study, use, and then TAKE ACTION on the content involved.

If you can pinky-swear me you’ll do that, check out the full list of products included here.

Personally, I’m excited about the parts of the package that will teach me a bit more about freelancing and book publishing. Because, you know, I have those writing and reading geek tendencies. Hubz is looking forward to the passion/career materials.

Can’t wait.

Check out Only72.com, friendlies. You’ll be glad you did. The clock is ticking!

—

Cheers, Baker and Karol. This is an impressive offer. Hope it helps a lot of people!
AS

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Your kids.
Your spouse.
Your job.

No money.
Too much money.

Too much debt.
Too much success.
Too much failure.

Your age.
Your friends.
Your lack of friends.

Reasons. Excuses. They can only be one or the other. They can’t be both. How you categorize them is up to you, and is under no one else’s control but your own.

No one else’s control. But. Your. Own.

The kids are the kids, and they’re either your reason for doing something or your excuse for not.

Your job is your job. Will you make it your reason? Or your excuse?

You don’t have any money. Are you going to allow your finances to keep you from taking action, using it as an excuse? Or will it be the very reason you decide to take action today..this minute…this second?

Your situation is your situation, and it’s not going to change unless you decide to change it. In order to decide to change it, you have to decide on how to categorize it.

Your situation is your reason, or it’s your excuse. You pick.

I included this at the end of another post recently, but it warrants being included one more time:

Choose wisely!

You are one of my biggest reasons,
AS

—

Leadership is hard.

You can’t lead people that don’t want to be lead.

You can try, but it’s like trying to motivate a dead horse to just trot a few more yards. No amount of enthusiasm or arm-waving or encouragement is gonna do it. It’s out of your control.

But you can make a difference with that enthusiasm and arm-waving and encouragement if the recipient is ready for it. Willing.

And it’s that knowledge that keeps me going on the hard days.

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with this post amen. :)

And it’s only a matter of time until that leadership falls on ears of someone willing to act.

**Only a matter of time.**

Sometimes I need a reminder of that.

No one ever said it would be easy. Sometimes it feels easy, appears easy. Other times, you prove just how much Personal Growth is a constant effort. Never something that’s done or finished.

No matter how much success one might have experienced, growth is never complete. Ups and downs are never not part of the game.

And reminders are always appreciated:
“I’m looking for those that are looking for me.”

—

What’s motivating you today? What’s keeping your head straight?

Do share! Let’s push each other forward. :)

Hugs,
AS

—

I ran into this today:

Think about why? Well, alrighty then.

Why did I start writing?
- Because I realized it made me happy.
- Because I constantly had sentences and paragraphs and novels flowing through my head that I was tired of knowing were going to waste. Plus, the only way to sleep was to calm them down and the only way to calm them down was to write them down.
- Because I realized it made me happy.

Why did I start to sharing Vemma 5 years ago?
- Because of the stories I heard about how the product affected peoples lives.
- Because I trusted my friend that introduced it to me.
- Because I saw the potential in it being a financial vehicle to get me where I wanted to go.
- Because I wanted out of corporate.
- Because I thought it was neat that I could work towards my goal of time freedom, while also sharing something positive with others.
- Because I believed in it.

Why did I start investing in real estate 1 year ago?
- Because I have always been fascinated by it.
- Because I have always read about it.
- Because both Hubz and I knew what a powerful residual income stream it could produce.
- Because we wanted him out of corporate.

Why, almost a decade ago, did I start working towards complete time and financial freedom?
- Because I wanted to do what I wanted when I wanted.
- Because I knew I had a higher calling in life, and that I would know what it was when I found it, and that I wouldn’t find it if I was stuck working towards someone else’s agenda. (Still haven’t found it, by the way.)
- Because I just felt like I deserved it for some reason.
- Because I knew I wanted children someday, and the ultimate flexibility to raise and enjoy them.
- Because I wanted to help people.
- Because it felt right; way, way deep down.

Why…why?
Because it’s worth it.

And if it’s not worth it yet, it will be. Ten times over.

—

So, what about you – why did you start? Do you know? Do you remember?

Notice that I never mentioned above that I started something because I knew HOW to do it.

I knew why I wanted to do it. I knew what I wanted to accomplish in the end. I had no clue about the how part. Because you know what? That part didn’t matter.

Remind yourself why. Let it drive you. Because when you do? Those bumps in the road will look a lot less tricky to leap over, I promise.

And make that why a good one, by the way. Make it a doozy. Always remember:

—

Want your business to grow? Want your LIFE to grow? Try these:

1. Burn the boats. If you land on an island and command your squad to start fighting the natives, what’s the surest way to gaurantee that you win? Burn the boats.

Put yourself into a situation where there’s no turning back. That way you HAVE to succeed. No matter what. Figure out what that means for you and your situation. If you allow yourself a fallback, what motivation do you truly have to push and be creative and make success happen? If you don’t have a fallback, if you’ve burned the boats, your mindset about being successful switches from something like “It would be nice if this works” to “It has to work, it will, it must.” Don’t underestimate how powerful that can be.

2. Ask a question. Looking for a new client for your consulting business? Send an email to ten of your closest, most professional friends and ask them if they know anyone who could use your assistance. Better yet, pick up the phone to call them instead. Not sure if you can figure out how to set-up your ebook shopping cart on your website? Post a tweet and ask if anyone else does. Looking for customers to buy your vitamin supplement? Ask, ask, ask. You won’t know until you do. And until you do, you’re just sitting around thinking about being in business. Which brings me to…

3. Know your exact intentions. Say you’re building a network marketing business. What’s your goal? I mean, your number-one, most preferred, perfect world intention? Probably looking for one or two other people to do exactly what you’re doing. Right? Although wonderful and necessary to business, your top intention probably isn’t to find a new customer who places a one-time order, or to find a distributor who is only halfway interested in sharing the product with one person over the course of the calendar year.

Love and support all your clients/customers/team members where they are, but be honest with yourself about what, or who you are really looking for. The clarity and confidence it will provide you in moving forward and simplifying your business will be worth it.

4. State your exact intentions. It’s not enough to simply know what they are. People in my Vemma business come to me all the time saying that they can’t find anyone open to building a business like they are. They’re struggling to duplicate themselves. “Are you actually ASKING people if they’re open to building a business like you are?” I inquire. The response is almost always, “Oh, hmm, not really.”

If you want it. Ask for it. Put it out there. Because how are you supposed to, say, attract and sign that perfect legal practice that wants the year-long social media consulting package that you’re offering if you don’t specifically ask them to hire you for a year-long social media consulting package? How are you supposed to nab that monthly column in the fashion magazine if you just send them your portfolio without a specific request for the monthly column job? The answer: you won’t. Practically never. People can’t read your mind, and rarely is what you exactly want handed to you without asking. Ask, and you’d be surprised how often you receive.

5. Know where you’re going. You have heard this one before. The late nights spent sending a few extra emails, picking up the phone to make those uncomfortable phone calls, rearranging your childcare to attend the networking event. None of that will happen, or you will quickly tire of it, if you don’t have an exact definition of where all of it will take you. And exact means EXACT.

“Any extra money I earn will help my family pay off our credit card debt.” Not clear enough.

“The first $500 I earn will go towards paying off my Banana Republic card. After that, all extra will go towards my $9500 in student loans.” Perfect.

Earning your first $50 might not seem like a big deal when compared with the looming destination of “paying off my credit card debt,” but when you measure it up against your first destination of a $500 store card balance, you can see the impact. Know exactly where you are going and the intention you have for what you’re doing, and make it easier on yourself to stay motivated and celebrate the impact of the little victories.

Right after Christmas, Hubz and I set a quirky little goal that required us to come up with $6000 in extra in just 4 months. We wrote our $6000 countdown on the white board in the office and every extra tidbit that we can nab – a freelance writing check here, selling a couple pieces of furniture from the dusty corner in the basement there, extra added to our savings after a pay period, etc – we record and subtract from the total. Now, we’re not rich by any means but we enjoy our lifestyle, and we have never appreciated an extra $50 or $100 more than we do right now. Before, it was just money. Now, it’s a specific step towards this destination. We didn’t change our spending habits nor our lifestyle, just defined our destination. It feels like that $6000 is appearing out of thin air. Really powerful.

6. Open your mind. Learn something new. The biggest step in personal development isn’t actually learning something new, it’s acknowledging the fact that you don’t know everything and that you COULD learn something new.

There are a few people in my life – whom I love dearly, don’t get me wrong – but who read a finance book or a business book or a nutrition book, close the back cover, and then declare, “It was an ok book, but I knew all of that stuff already.” You did? Really? You might as well have spent those last four hours watching Mad Men, because you surely didn’t get any use out of reading something when you weren’t in a mindset to learn.

Open your mind to the possibility that you can always – always always always – be better and stronger and smarter and kinder, and you will migrate towards ways to make that happen. Whether it be through reading a book or meeting a mentor or attending an event of likeminded people. Automatically.

—

Same thing, super-short version:

1. Make success a requirement, not an option.
2. Ask for what you want.
3. Be honest about your intentions.
4. Announce your intentions to others.
5. Know the exact path you are on.
6. Acknowledge what you don’t know, and how you can grow.

—

Practices. Practice them. They’re easy to do, they’re easy not to do. It’s your choice. Can’t wait to see you put them into action.

This is an incredibly lighthearted, casual video from an engineer at Google named Matt Cutts, but well worth the 3 minutes:

An extremely simple, unoriginal message – not unlike practically all personal development messages – yet thought-provoking, don’t you think?

What shall we try? What shall we do! Our options are endless.

This is gonna be fun.

Off to brainstorm 30 day challenges,
Your Geekiness

P.S. I have a friend 8 days deep into a really fun 30-day challenge of his own. Tell ya about it tomorrow…

Hands down, one of my favorite things about working for myself is the flexibility. To be able to work when you want, on what you want, is a beautiful thing. It’s energizing and good-scary and sometimes makes you want to pinch yourself just to ensure that you’re not actually dreaming the seemingly unlimited freedoms that lay before you.

It’s also incredibly liberating, and causes you to really look inside yourself. I’ve learned a lot the past eighteen months.

And by a lot I really mean A LOT.

Having the flexibility to work when you want, stated another way, is having the flexibility to not work when you don’t want.

And that, I argue, is even more of an amazing thing.

In the working world, with different levels of strictness, you are told when to be where, and when to do what. Unless you’re throwing up from the flu or using your precious vacation hours or, I don’t know, giving birth, you’re expected to be there. You’re expected to take care of those tasks for which you’re responsible.

Today, I wasn’t feelin’ it.

I wasn’t sick, I wasn’t incapacitated in any major way, I just…I just…I just didn’t want to work.

I was blah. I was ehh. I was lacking in focus and enthusiasm and energy.

Why? I don’t know. I just was. I mean, I wasn’t.

You know? It was “one of those days.”

Most of the day I sat on the deck, reading this:

Drinking this:
And, well, that’s about it.

There are reminders every day of how fortunate I am to be able to live this lifestyle, to have these freedoms. Sometimes I recognize those reminders, sometimes I don’t.

One of “those days,” regardless of the effects they have on my week’s to-do list, always remind me of my fortune.

And for that, I can’t help but love them.

There are a lot of opinions out there about what best defines a success. Having the most money, the best lifestyle, the most toys, the least toys, happiness, family, etc.

But those are all things one acquires after achieving so-called success. Right?

So what best determines success? Ignoring fear.

No matter your definition of success, it always takes change and forward movement to achieve it. You know the quote: “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.”

To stop doing what you’re doing, and to start doing something else, something different, takes guts. Change is hard. And scary. And everyone – everyone – has some amount of fear related to making it.

It’s those that will move forward regardless of that fear that will actually begin to achieve something.

Allow the fear to keep you from taking action and…those definitions you have of success? They’re lovely, but they won’t be yours.

If you can step through the scariness, then you can move towards the change, and you can start making your definition of success a reality.

If you are tasked with driving a car forward, using the rear view mirror might make that task rather difficult. And dangerous.

How do you drive a car forward, then? How do you make any progress? Easy. You look directly out the front windshield, not immediately in front of the car but not too far away either, you grip the steering wheel, focus, and put pedal to the metal.

An old analogy, of course, but an important one.

The past matters, I’m not going to say that it doesn’t. However, what happens in your future is entirely defined by what you do right now.

Do nothing, and that past will be your future.

Do a few things kinda halfheartedly and your future will be your past, plus a few hopes and dreams.

If you take major action? Stay openminded? Always be willing to make yourself uncomfortable? Be willing to change? Then you can turn that future of yours into an entirely different picture compared to your past.

But you know what you have to do to begin doing ANY of that?

Look forward. Not behind.

I want to go out into my community.
I want to go into a higher tax bracket! (Err, or maybe I don’t?)
I want to go to a place where Hubz doesn’t have to report to anyone other than himself. (And me, of course! Mua ha hahaa.)

I want to go to a place of higher learning.
I want to go overseas and down under.
I want to go to the land of successful, published authors.

It’s where I want to go. It’s affected by where I’ve been. But it’s not defined by where I’ve been.

Look forward. Not behind.

Where do you want to go?
And more importantly, what are you doing right now to get there?

If I were to have the opportunity to start my adult life over again, I would do one general, albeit very important, thing differently: go faster.

Much faster. Taken action earlier, made the decision quicker, pondered less, acted more. Gone after the bigger fish right off the bat, instead of piddling around so long with the small stuff. Waiting until I had “enough experience” or “more time” before I went bigger, thought bigger, acted bigger.

I spent too much time being careful and thinking small.

Maybe I would have learned even earlier than I did that you get what you ask for. (Err, get what you fish for?)

If I were to start over, I would have read Rich Dad Poor Dad earlier.

I would have taught myself sales and customer service and rejection and leadership via network marketing younger than the old – cough ahem cough – age of 26.

I would have obtained my real estate license sooner. Invested sooner.

I would have networked and prioritized my likeminded friends sooner.

Ohh, the places I could be now. *sniffle*

Sorry. I just turned 30 and I’m feeling old and nostalgic. Bear with me, I’ll get over it eventually.

Maybe.

Anyway, if I could start over with a clean slate at 22, fresh out of college, that’s what I would do.

More. Sooner. Faster. Earlier.

Is this what everybody says, though? I think it is. Hmm. What does that tell you?