Top 10 Predictions for 2009

I don’t know if it was the drugs, the pain, or the result of the Byron Katie books I’ve been reading, but… I’ve definitely changed.

I close my eyes, and I see the future.

I hear a deep, sonorous voice telling me the secrets of the Universe- and more importantly, of myself.

I used to make fun of psychics, but not any more.

I wasn’t sure I was going to talk about this- but it’s too important to keep to myself.  Just between you and me…

My recent surgery has had an interesting side benefit:  I’m now completely psychic, and am channeling a highly evolved spirit who lived deep in the misty past, can see deep into the future in all 8 dimensions, and communicates with me constantly through the fillings in my teeth. I can’t pronounce his name, so I call him “Egknogg.”   His voice sounds like James Earl Jones, but deeper and slower.  The visuals I get from our communications lead me to believe that Airstream started out as (ended up as?) personal space-ship manufacturers.

His crew is mostly made up of 9th level angels, and their wardrobe (or lack thereof) is distracting.  Excuse me while I take a very evolved and spiritual peek…

Ok.  It’s good that this is all happening on the astral plane.

I don’t know how long this condition will last.  Let’s not waste it while we’ve got it.  Use it or lose it?

BTW, EgKnogg has graciously offered to co-host this blog for a while.  If you’ve got questions about the past, future, relationships, business, or anything else- leave a comment and he’ll answer your question.  Take advantage of this- my new-found psychic ability leads me to predict that I’m gonna start charging for my psychic readings very soon.

So, here are my Highly Psychic, professionally channeled, guaranteed 2009 predictions.

1. Let’s start with one that’s actually backed up by some research- you are going to have more sex in 2009.

That’s gotta be good.

IF YOU happen to have been depressed by the past year, stand by for some good news - we’re all going to be having more sexual intercourse in 2009.

The reason is that women’s growing economic power around the world will give them more choices, and one of those choices, apparently, will be to have more sex.

2.  Apple and Intel will band together to market the iCar, which will run six months on one battery charge, transport two adults in style, and will be completely interactive.  It’s all about the entertainment, so the car will drive itself on Apple-designed roads- you just give it the co-ordinates of your destination, slip on your headphones, and slide on down the highway.

Use of the iCar on non-Apple roads will void the warranty and the batteries must be replaced at the iCar factory in China.

3.  The tax code will be abolished. Obama’s online fund-raising team will take charge of the country’s finances.  The deficit will disappear like a bad dream and we’ll have a budgetary surplus by July.  (Egknogg is pretty firm about this one.)

4.  Dr. Joe Vitale will buy a new sports car. (Hey- i get one freebie, right?)

5.  MilagroWorld will be featured in a cover story on Entrepreneur Magazine. Once the word is out about how people are starting online businesses using the free resources at Milagroworld, its membership quickly outpaces Facebook and original members are hailed as visionaries.  (Click Here.)

6.  Unemployment will hit 75% in the U.S. to great rejoicing. As you know from reading “Your Portable Empire…,” very few people need jobs.  For most people, getting and keeping a job is a form of surrender caused by a lack of belief.  Egknogg says that in most of the Universe, the words for “employee” and “slave” are interchangeable. The current wage-slave state on this planet is one of the biggest reasons why the other planets won’t play with us.  We’re boring.

So, it’s about time we- as a local culture- took our place in the interplanetary culture.  As people become unemployed, they notice that they’ve got time to make money.  They buy a copy of the book (or read the one they’ve got), and get their Portable Empire pumping money. Egknogg says this will be our ticket into interplanetary commerce- and I’ve seen what the rest of the Galaxy uses for internet access. This is gonna rock! But, it’s up to you- we need your help.

Now, it’s not just about freeing you, or supporting your family, or any other selfish reason- you MUST become an entrepreneur and break the bonds of wage-slavery. It’s your civic duty.

7. Money management and entrepreneurial skills become required courses in U.S. schools.

Egknogg says this will work fine until the teachers complete their mandatory “Portable Empire” training and discover how much more money they could make DOING what they know than teaching it- leaving the schools full of eager young students with no teachers.

We’re not the first planet to go through this. Historically, the way it’s been handled on other planets is to make the position of “life-skills teacher” a quasi-religious post. Anybody chosen to teach those classes who successfully completes a year of teaching will immediately and automatically get front-row seats at major sporting events, the respect and admiration of the most respected people in the country, invitations to the swankiest parties in New York and Hollywood, and a Lear and a Limo-

I’m pretty sure that channeling Egknogg is going to be one of the most interesting things I do in this incarnation. Let me give you an example. Here’s a conversation we just had:

Egknogg: “That’s ten.”

Me: “That’s seven.”

Egknogg: “Base seven. Seven is ten. 1,2,3,4,5,6,Ten. Finished.”

Me: “Oh. Do ya’ll do base-seven math on the planet you’re from?”

Egknogg: “No.”

See what I mean?

Come join me for some serious FREE coaching and meet some amazing new friends at MilagroWorld. Click HERE.

“So,” I hear you asking, “what’s it like having a total knee replacement surgery over the holidays?”

Inquiring minds want to know.

I’ve gotten tons of emails, and the forum has several threads on the subject.

Short answer:  it’s like those 5-star, luxury beach-front, white-sand resorts where celebrities go to clean out while their merest whims are being catered to.  Only, without the sand, luxury, food, and whim stuff.

Well, to be honest, the actual surgery was kind of a non-issue.  I had a complete spinal block, which means that although I was partially conscious inside a blue-green tent during the operation (yes, I could hear the saw), i didn’t feel a thing.  Except the telephone-pole sized needles going into my spine.  I felt those.

Since the operation, pain-pills have been available to manage the pain, but there hasn’t been anywhere near the amount of pain you would expect if you saw the incision.

What’s more interesting to me is the major changes in my life brought on by the blood-thinning medicine I’m on.

I had already quit drinking- cold turkey- and, after the initial shock to my system, I was used to that by surgery time.  I quit drinking, cut out dairy, and cut WAY back on the carbs in response to a health report from my MD that was remarkably positive.  I’m way healthier than I have any right to be considering the life I’ve lived.  So, bring down the triglycerides and that’s it?  No problem.

In my weaker moments, I point out that some people require rehab to quit drinking.  Some people write songs about rehab and get rich.  Some celebrities hire “personal assistants” to help them manage their alcohol intake.  I quit alcohol cold-turkey.

At least I had my cigars and my mood-enhancing supplements, right?

Back in the day, I- like millions of Americans- was diagnosed with depression.  Medication was prescribed.  Therapy ensued.  Unlike most, I responded well to the therapy and drugs, and now treat the chemical side of the depression with a variety of supplements- all of which have been prescribed by either my MD or a trusted health expert.  I’m not recommending anything to anybody, but I am pointing out that instead of mind-numbing doses of effexor and/or paxil, a few over-the-counter herbs keep me going.

Who knows?  Maybe it’s the placebo effect.  However, I know that the first thing I grab in the morning- before I make my morning coffee- is the mood-enhancing supplements.

All of which my surgeon has demanded that I stop using until the blood-thinning medicine is no longer needed.

Great.  No alcohol.  No supplements.

OK.  It’s Christmas in America, I haven’t spoken to my birth family in years

(they’re still waiting for me to get a job, pissed off that I didn’t get a job and still got rich, pissed off that they hate their jobs, I love what I do, and it’s somehow my fault that they worked thirty years at a job they hate and can’t afford to retire-  and- last I heard- the fact that I drive a Volvo is a major problem for them.  That’s the oddest thing… Apparently, Volvos lead to communism.  Or worse),

the kids are all grown and having adventures that make me jealous, my friends are all hanging out with their families and taking trips to exciting places, and I’m home with my pain meds.  No alcohol to ring in the new year.  No anti-depressant sparkly chemicals to brighten up the lonely, painful days.

At least I’ve got my cigars, right?

The last of my addictions.  My comfort when I’m lonely, and the one friend I can count on every time…

Right?

Did I mention that I got a case of very, very good cigars for Christmas?  At least I’ve got those to fall back on during this already depressing and painful holiday season, right?

Wrong.

Cigars- chewing and smoking- constrict the blood vessels.   No tobacco while on blood-thinner.

At least I’m handling it like a man.  Right?

Betsy just informed me that she was holding the place of the responsible adult in this relationship, by making sure that I did all the stuff the surgeon, physical therapist and MD said to do.  I, apparently, am holding the space of the bitchy brat who wants a cigar and martini very, very badly.

We all have our roles to play.

It’s not like the surgery- and subsequent recovery- hasn’t been without its spots of humor.

Right now I’m trying to edit the story of my first post-surgery whizz into something the whole family can enjoy.  Right now, it wouldn’t get past the ratings board.  Or Betsy.

We can also talk about the sad psychopaths who get chosen to work the post-op nurse’s station on Christmas day.  There’s some humor in there, but I have to mine past my anger to get to it.

If you haven’t attracted the life you want, you need to check out the “Clearing For Money” audio HERE. Most cases of “brokeness” are caused by us getting in the way.  The Universe has infinite money and wealth- you just have to get clear to receive it.

Are you an author curious about how to get published? An Internet Marketer looking to build your list and make more money? Do you use the Law of Attraction to make your world better? Do you think sex better on a waterbed? Do you have questions about video or audio editing, and how to monetize video and audio?

Then, you need to click HERE and go to the FREE Milagro World forum. Log in. Get started now! Click HERE.

I don’t have the book in front of me, but as I remember the story, Joseph Campbell had the most rational response to the Great Depression.

He read.

I found this at Wikipedia:

A few weeks later, the Great Depression began. Campbell would spend the next five years (1929-1934) trying to figure out what to do with his life (Larsen and Larsen, 2002:160) and he engaged in a period of intensive and rigorous independent study. Campbell discussed this period in The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (1990, first edition:52-3). Campbell states that he “would divide the day into four four-hour periods, of which I would be reading in three of the four hour periods, and free one of them…I would get nine hours of sheer reading done a day. And this went on for five years straight.”

He also traveled to California for a year (1931-32), continuing his independent studies and becoming close friends with the budding writer John Steinbeck and his wife Carol (Larsen and Larsen, 2002, chapters 8 and 9). Campbell also maintained his independent reading while teaching for a year in 1933 at the Canterbury School during which time he also attempted to publish works of fiction (Larsen and Larsen, 2002:214) ^[2].

Campbell’s independent studies led to his greater exploration of the ideas of the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, a contemporary and estranged colleague of Sigmund Freud. Campbell edited the first Eranos conference papers and helped to found Princeton University Press‘ Bollingen Press. Another dissident member of Freud’s circle to influence Campbell was Wilhelm Stekel (1868 - 1939). Stekel pioneered the application of Freud’s conceptions of dreams, fantasies of the human mind, and the unconscious to such fields as anthropology and literature.

I love that.

The sky was falling, so he took advantage of that time to improve his mind and prepare for what became an amazing career.

He turned it into something good.

It’s entirely possible that Mark Joyner’s famous advice, as related by Dr. Joe Vitale, applies to the current recession/depression: “When bad things happen, turn it into something good.”

For example, a lot of people are losing their jobs, and feeling like that is a bad thing.

A strong case can be made that the best possible thing that can happen to you is to lose your job.

A job is nothing but legal slavery. You weren’t put on this Eden-like planet to spend the majority of your waking hours making somebody else money. You were put here (as far as I can tell) to

- evolve spiritually, mentally and emotionally as far as you can

- embrace your brief time in this magical place with joy and gratitude

- and have as much fun as you possibly can

Campbell agreed. He said, “”If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track, which has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.”

A similar philosophy appeared on my TV screen about a week ago from what I thought was a very unlikely source. I was flipping through the channels at half-time (I watch football) and I saw Warren Buffet addressing a room full of fresh-scrubbed MBA candidates. He quoted ME (wonder where I stole this quote? wasn’t Buffet), “Find what you love, and then find a way to get paid for it.”

He went on to point out that he was born in the right place at the right time with the right skills to become who he is today. Had he been born in “Sarah Palin Land,” where the dinosaurs chase the humans, he would have been picked off quickly. He can’t run fast and he can’t climb trees.

Had he been born in Africa, or South America, he wouldn’t have the skills to thrive.

He was born in the American mid-west at precisely the right time to become the most successful investor in history- by following his bliss.

By the way- if you view stocks the way Buffet does (as I understand it), you can pretty much ignore the stock market. The market is just other people’s opinion of what stocks are worth, and contrary to what they taught us in college, the market is highly inefficient. Especially right now.

Nobody knows nuthin’.

So, as long as there is some chance of your stocks retaining SOME value, and the underlying company doesn’t go broke or declare bankruptcy, I recommend that you stop reading the paper. What we’re going through is an example of a truth: what goes up must come down.

It’s equally true that what goes down must come up.

In a previous blog post I listed some of the jobs I’ve held. I was miserable at all of them- although I could perform most of them well. I was a great assistant County Auditor. I cooked a hell of a pizza.

But, I knew I wasn’t taking full advantage of the gift of life. I knew I was on the wrong path. I knew I was not happy.

That’s a pretty good gauge of whether or not you’re on the right path- if you’re following your bliss, you’re happy and successful.

The old cliche applies- it’s always darkest right before the dawn. I found out, staying in my desert cabin over Thanksgiving, that it’s also coldest right before the dawn.

That’s how it worked for me. Right before I started my online business, I was at my lowest point financially. My single-wide trailer house was repossessed. My music “business” had failed.

Broke sucks. Being a single parent and being broke is heart-breaking.

Then, just as it looked as if things were completely hopeless, Bill Hibbler introduced me to Dr. Joe Vitale, I went to my first internet marketing seminar, started my own online business, and quickly got semi-rich.

Right now, I have a feeling that we’re in that darkness right before the dawn.

Politically, things that have been shrouded in darkness are finally coming to light and we can see just how bad things are. That’s actually a good thing. You have to diagnose a disease before you can cure it.

If the new administration can live up to the hope we have for it, the torture and extraordinary renditions will stop, the lies and bullshit will stop, the theft and cronyism will stop- and a LOT of people will go to prison. I think it’s very important that the people who committed the crimes get to enjoy the consequences. I disagree with Attorney General Mukasey- in all cases, violations of the law are crimes. Especially when committed by those who hold the public trust… like, presidents and Attorney Generals, for example.

Socially, the age of excess is over. No, you are not entitled to a McMansion and a Hummer. That’s OK. They don’t really help.

Your self-esteem, and the way others view you, is rightfully based on who you are- not what you have or what you do. You are exactly as cool, intelligent and graceful as you are, and shrouding whatever deficiencies you have in those areas with material possessions doesn’t fool anybody- and keeps you from doing the necessary work to become the best you that you can be.

I’m glad that’s over.

And, this might be a good time to really think about what “wealth” really means to you.

Turn off the TV.  Clear your mind of all the things you’ve been told about what wealth is.  What is wealth to you?

Isn’t true wealth the same thing as happiness?

So, what makes you happy?

In my case, I really would be happy living in my little cabin in the desert.  I require a vehicle that is dependable, and can navigate the rough roads.

I also require enough liquid capital so that I can do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it.

Some people honestly need 5,000 square feet of house to be happy.  My buddy Dr. Joe Vitale really, really likes his new Rolls Royce.

That’s fine. And, it’s honest because it’s not about what they’re told to want or have been conditioned to want.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with big houses and luxury cars.  The Universe has unlimited wealth, and you can have whatever you want.

But, it’s also fine if you don’t need those things to be happy.

The important exercise is to sit with yourself and really feel what makes you happy.  That’s success, and true wealth.

Financially, we’ve got a mess to clean up.

It’s about time.

The biggest mistake (in my opinion) that anybody could make would be to miss an opportunity to learn the lesson from this crash: If something doesn’t work, stop doing it.

Is that clear?

I wrote about this in my book, Your Portable Empire.

Capitalism is only fun is you own the means of production. That’s why you want a Portable Empire. An online business you can run from anywhere.

You can make a lot more money with a Portable Empire business than you can in a job. You can run it from anywhere you can get online- which is pretty much anywhere. You can attract customers from all over the globe, so if your local economy sucks, you’re not tied to a sinking ship.

Furthermore, and most importantly, you can live YOUR life. The life you know you should be living. Not the life your boss tells you to live.

You can get started by downloading my free eBook, “The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Internet Wealth,” HERE.

Then, take advantage of the free MilagroWorld forum, HERE.

This moment, right now, can be the most important and valuable moment of your life- if you learn the lessons it has to teach.

Personal note:  I’m celebrating the Solstice by getting a designer knee.  The surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning.  I should be home Friday.  I will be stoned out of my gourd for a few days on morphine, and to a lesser extent on pain-killers for a month.  I will enjoy being distracted by physical therapists, home-health professionals, and LaRoja, who is a most persistent and thorough nurse.

Aluminum walkers, canes, and constant but diminishing pain will be my companions, and I have no intention of attempting to be graceful about it.  I’m gonna hate it, and I will probably say so loudly and constantly.

I won’t be able to drive for (the doctor says, and I disagree) six weeks.

Stay tuned.  I doubt if my blog posts will be cheerful, but they should be entertaining.  Like Mark Joyner says, “when something bad happens, turn it into something good.”  Major surgery, in my opinion, qualifies as something bad- although, the eventual outcome will be great.

Check back to see how I turn this into something good.

According to the news, the world is coming to an end. Old paradigms and income models are dying a painful and irritatingly loud death. Out-moded economic models are hanging on by their bloody fingernails to the past. Wailing, lamenting, and gnashing of teeth is the soundtrack to the daily news.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting in my recording studio, surrounded by piles of keyboards, guitars, and 3 computers, working on the new clearing audio.

This one is about clearing for money.

Apparently, a LOT of people need to clear around money issues…

The MacBook pro is uploading some files to the server. The Toshiba laptop is recording a MIDI piano part to .wav… I played into the machine so I could edit it, and then the machine plays it into the recording software… it’s cheating, but it saves an alarming amount of time.

On the Mac Tower, I’ve got the MilagroWorld forum in one screen, email open in another, and the New York Times. I just read this:

According to the Labor Department, the number of unemployed workers rose by 251,000 in November. But the number of people who were outside of the labor force — that is, neither working nor looking for work — rose by much more: 637,000. These people aren’t counted as unemployed in the government’s statistics, because they are not looking for work. Many of them, presumably, have stopped looking for work because they didn’t think they could find a good job.

If you take a broader measure — one that tries to account for them — you see a darker picture of the labor market. The share of all men ages 16 and over who are working is now at its lowest level since the government began keeping statistics in the 1940s. The share of women with jobs has fallen almost two percentage points from the peak it reached in 2000; at no other point in the past 50 years has the share of employed women has fallen so much from its peak.

to read the rest, click here

Jobs. The J.O.B. Just over broke.

I’ve had a few. I’ve cooked pizza. Mowed yards. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, there was a period of time when I was playing music full time and working labor jobs through ManPower- I’d get offstage at 1 in the morning, and be at the ManPower labor pool by 7. The labor gig paid minimum wage- the music gig paid much less.

Later, I managed a liquor store, got a real-estate license and sold commercial real-estate, worked for a developer, audited banks, and was assistant County Auditor of a large, crooked county just north of Houston.

Later, I owned and operated a recording studio, gave guitar lessons, and taught high-school.

So- I’ve had some jobs. I hated each and every one of them. And none of them paid me anywhere near what I can make with my Portable Empire. As a matter of fact, I paid more than twice as much IN TAXES last year as I made IN INCOME in 2003.

So, when I read articles like the one above, my response is “good!”

In my opinion, the whole employee/employer thing is just a form of slavery. I say it’s time to “free the slaves.” It is now officially time for the bullshit capitalist lie to die. Capitalism is only fun if you own the means of production- and you can waltz down to Best Buy and buy the means of production for about $299 right now- that’s what a laptop computer is going for. With a laptop computer, some knowledge, and some intestinal fortitude we can pull the whole facade down and build something worth living for.

By definition, an employee has to create more value for a company than he/she gets paid. Why would you sell your expertise and labor for less than it’s worth?

Here’s an example: Let’s say you’ve got a job making $10/hour. Around here, that’s good pay for a generic job. You work 8 hours a day, so before taxes you’ve made $80 bucks.

But, you have to take a world of shit to get that $80 bucks. You have to be someplace at a designated time, do what you’re told, kiss up to the boss, and if you voice your opinion you’re liable to be fired for “insubordination.” Whatever that means.

I recommend insubordination as a lifestyle. Seriously. You don’t have to take crap from anybody.

And, even if you do all of that, and smile while you’re doing it, you may be one of the 637,000 people who lost their jobs. IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER. That’s 2/3 of a million people who got fired- or gave up trying to find a job- in one frickin’ month.

I say “screw that.”

If you want $80 a day, sell two $39.99 eBooks online. You can do it while you’re making breakfast, and then have the whole day to do something else.

And that “something else” is whatever YOU want to do.

You might want to make more than $80/day. I do.

So, you might spend some time writing in your blog, building your list, doing an interview with somebody, writing an eBook, or otherwise building up your asset/product base.

I’ve got friends in Terlingua who can live just fine on $80 a week.

Fine. Sell 2 eBooks, and then you’ve got the rest of the week to hang out in the mountains.

Doesn’t that beat fighting traffic, dealing with an a-hole boss, and worrying about being outsourced, downsized, or some other silly catastrophe?

Of course, I can hear you… you’re in my head and screaming… HOW?

Well, it’s easy. And it’s free to learn. All you have to do is do it.

First of all, go to www.absolutebeginnersguide.com and get my FREE eBook. Or you can go to Amazon.com and buy it for $19 bucks. I detest the publisher, so I’d prefer that you steal it.

Second, read the book and DO what it says.

For the full story, and a fun read, click HERE to grab your copy of my book, Your Portable Empire, How to Make Money Anywhere Doing What You Love.

If you need help with the “techie” stuff, go grab the Freedom Power Workbook, which will teach all the tricks and strategies you need to get your world online immediately. Click HERE.

Here’s the short course:

To build a Portable Empire, you need to find a group of people who have a problem, or- better yet- a series of problems- and are willing to pay for the solution to those problems.

Golfers is an example I use a lot. Those guys (and gals) will pay big bucks to carve one stroke off their score.

Even if you don’t know how to play golf, you can log onto a golf forum and find an expert. Interview them and put that interview into a consumable form- video, audio, eBook.

Then, go back to as many golf forums as you can find, and let the readers know you can help them lower their golf score for only $39.99.

Rinse and repeat.

Make sure that you keep a list of people who are interested in golf, so that you can contact them. Go to www.patobryan.com/tools.htm for some suggestions on how to do that.

If you can’t sell 2 eBooks a day doing that, you’re not trying.

There are lots of other easy niches. Dieters. Nobody who buys 1 diet book buys just 1 diet book. They have shelves of the things.

Body builders.

Car nuts.

Scrapbookers. Did you know there was a huge market of people who make scrap-books? Neither did I until Craig Perrine and I were playing around with niches one day- found a forum with over a million posts- all about making scrap-books. Who knew?

The point is- the universe is not going to run out of problems, or people who will pay for solutions.

So- go get that FREE eBook, and build your own Portable Empire. And in a couple of years, when there is a labor shortage, you can kick back in your big ole leather chair- like I’m doing right now- and blog about it. While your inbox fills up with sales receipts and your bank account grows.

It’s a revolution. Be part of it.

First- let’s talk about MilagroWorld.

MilagroWorld is the new online community that I built just for you.

Right now, it’s a forum with hundreds of great people having fascinating conversations. We’re talking about everything from making money to living off-the-grid to cooking to Law of Attraction to…

It’s free. All you have to do is click HERE and log on. Go check it out now, and then come back for a fun walk through Boquillas Canyon and a mind-blowing “Un-Framing” session.

Last week, my Portable Empire took Betsy and me to Big Bend National Park.

Betsy had never spent the night in the cabin- Portable Empire West (PEW)- and hadn’t been to Big Bend in decades.

Due to the staggering success of the Clearing Video,

we’ve ramped up our video production.  Look for lots more videos.

That’s the beauty of having a Portable Empire.  The line between fun and business completely disappears.  There’s no place I’d rather be than in the middle of majestic, life-affirming mountains and vistas- and I can bring cameras and video cameras along and share the experience.

And- those videos and pictures end up as income generating components of my Portable Empire.

Sweeeet!

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This trip, Betsy pulled her weight. She’s turning into a fine photographer.

(That’s me on the rim of the Rio Grande river, video-taping the entrance to Boquillas Canyon)

The whole trick to having a successful Portable Empire is to find what you love and figure out a way to get paid for doing it.

This is trickier than it sounds.

For example, do you know what you love?

Do you know what activities and experiences make your heart sing with joy?

I didn’t.

Like most people (you?) I was stuck in survival mode for so long, that just getting the bills paid used up all my bandwidth. I knew I liked to drink, and escape from the world with a good fiction book.

I thought I loved to play guitar and sing. Initially, I did. However, I suspect that being a professional musician is something like being a prostitute. You start out doing it for love. After a while, it’s just a job.

And… as a job, it’s just not as much fun.

In January, 2004, I started my Internet Marketing adventure. By 2006, the bills were paid. I wasn’t an overnight success.

Like most people, I had to make my way one step at a time.

Luckily, Dr. Joe Vitale explained the basics to me- by instruction and example.

Focus on integrity.

Build your list. Always build your list.

Find out what your customers want and sell it to them.

After a while, I came up with some clues on my own.

Every problem is a product.

A product that solves the problem is good enough. Perfection is your enemy.

Take your readers with you when you do something interesting.

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I call that picture, “Still Life with Desert,” and i wish I’d taken it. That’s one of Betsy’s.

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A few months ago, I started a determined program to find out what I enjoyed doing. You might want to play along.

The first step in this was to pay attention to how it felt as I did the things I did in my life. At this stage of my career, I’m pretty much doing what I want to do when I want to do it.

So… how did it feel when I did these things?

I discovered that I did not like sitting in traffic. I don’t like crowds. I don’t like it when other people make demands on my time, and assume that their time is more valuable than mine.

I don’t like talking on the phone- but we all knew that, LOL.

I do like cresting a hill and being surprised by a stunning view. I like that a lot.

I like using my talents and tools to create things that other people like- and will purchase.
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I’m learning to enjoy playing guitar again. Knowing that I don’t have a CD deadline hanging over my head helps. Knowing that I don’t have to please a room full of drunks helps, too.

I love to write. Even when I don’t have to write, I write in my journal.

Photography and videography are fun- and challenging. I’m learning more about them daily.

Can you see how useful this information can be when you’re designing your own Portable Empire?

Remember, the trick is to find what you love, and then figure out how to get paid for doing it.

Well, I love music, photography and videography.

I love to travel, and I love the feeling I get when I’m surrounded by mountains.

Take a second and think about what you love.

The trick is to create a revenue model that allows you to spend time doing what you love and get paid for it.

This may require a little “un-framing.”

Un-Framing is a technique I developed a few years ago that has proved to be really useful- and the clients that I’ve taught it to agree.

It can change your life.

When I first started designing my new life, I did the Un-Framing exercise.

Whenever I feel like I’m in a rut, and doing the same things over and over again, I stop- and do the Un-Framing exercise.

Lately, I’ve been doing the Un-Framing exercise again.

Try this:

1. Make list of all of your talents and skills. This can include anything. Kissing, cooking, getting wine stains out of silk underwear, writing, knitting… anything you can do.

2. Make a list of your tools.

Example: I can play a lot of musical instruments. In my case, those are skills.

Pat Metheny is talented at playing guitar. I’m skilled.

The tools- well, I like tools, so I’ve got a LOT of guitars, a mandolin, a rack of keyboards, recording equipment, microphones…

See the difference?

(This is the “store” in Boquillas Canyon. In an earlier blog, I talked about how the Homeland Paranoia department had closed the border- which really pissed off the locals. There was a thriving relationship, both commercial and personal, between the communities along the border.

This has nothing to do with terra-ists, or illegal immigration. This has to do with neighbors having to deal with arbitrary boundaries set up and patrolled by strangers who don’t have a clue about the people or the land they’re trying to patrol.

I’m happy to say that these stupid laws are being flaunted vigorously.)

For a great article about how the locals are creatively working to save Boquillas, click HERE.

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Well, since the last time I did the Un-Framing exercise, I’ve developed some new skills and acquired some new tools.

Most of these have to do with video. Video is the cresting wave of the present, and a powerful communication tool.

As Internet Marketers, we’re idea merchants. We deal in information. We solve problems.

When I first started, way back in ‘04, the only feasible way to deliver that information was eBooks.

You can shrink an eBook into a tasty bite-size chunk called a PDF, and everybody who has Adobe reader can consume it. Since Adobe reader has always been free, that worked pretty well. You can download an eBook on a dial-up connection.

Later, bandwidth increased and download speeds got faster- and MP3s appeared. All of a sudden (it seemed), podcasting was the big new thing. Audio books appeared.

Now, we had two ways to deliver the information: eBooks and audios.

Then, things got real interesting- highspeed DSL became common, YouTube appeared (and was quickly gobbled up by Google), and video was all the rage.

Very cool.

That gave us a third bullet in our gun.

With each technological advance, the WAY we delivered the solutions to our customers’ problems changed- or not- it’s not like eBooks disappeared. We still make a lot of money from eBooks.

But now, in addition to eBooks about clearing, we can market Clearing Audios and Clearing Videos.

Technology is still changing. It will always change, that’s the only thing that stays constant about it.

Now, (although the technology is still a little shaky) we can stream live video.

Now, we can watch videos on our cell-phones.

As iPhones and Blackberries- and all the clones- become more and more like pocket computers, look for phone-marketing to really blossom. Once they get the GPS on the phones to tie into local broadcasts, walking through the mall is going to get interesting- or irritating- depending on how you feel about deals being broadcast to your phone.

(This gentleman stands on a rock and sings. We can assume he lives in Boquillas, Mexico- but the songs he sings sound ageless and American Indian to me.

Walking through the deep caverns carved over thousands and thousands of years by the Rio Grande river, watching the sun play on the cliff-side, and hearing his ancient song is one of the things I loved about the trip.)

So, with all this new technology and information, it’s time to do the Re-Framing exercise.

New skills:

I’m getting better at Final Cut Pro (FCP). FCP is the video editing platform of choice for professional film-makers, and it’s seriously powerful and complicated.

I’m gradually learning Photoshop. Photoshop is the picture-editing software that professionals use, and, like FCP, it’s deep and exciting.

We used to think that pictures don’t lie.

Now, we can make that picture lie convincingly.

New tools:

The video camera in the picture at the top of the page is a Sony High-Definition cam, and- despite its small size- is capable of shooting big-screen movie video.

I’ll be buying a new keyboard- probably tomorrow- to make our audio products more interesting.

And… in a way, the Portable Empire West cabin is a pretty amazing tool, too.

It gives us a base of operations just half an hour away from Big Bend National Park. You’ll be seeing a lot of pics and videos of mountains and rivers.

So… adding those to my existing inventory, I move on to step 2.

How many different business models can I create using my existing skills and tools?

A bunch.

How about you?

How many business models can you come up with.

Don’t hold back.

This is the part where you don’t edit.

For example- I could do wedding photography or videos. I’d sooner gnaw my arm off at the elbow, but I could do it.

I could make music videos, or create a live music channel online.

I could, I guess, make porn movies… but, no.

But, they all go on the list.

Then, I think about 1) what I love to do and 2) what my customers would actually purchase.

That narrows things down a bit, but still leaves a lot of new adventures.

How about you?

Find what you love and figure out a way to get paid to do it.

Leave a comment, let me know what you think? Did you come up with any new business/life ideas?

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We don’t take the cats with us to the Portable Empire West cabin. There are creatures there that would confuse cats with food. The cats wouldn’t last a day.

This is Ming, the short-bus cat. She is, at the best of times, disturbed. Without a doubt, she’s the oddest cat I’ve ever known.

You can tell by her expression that, in her opinion, we were gone way too long.

The New Blog with Fresh Downloads and Resources Will Launch on December 1, 2008

As I sat on the front porch, watching the mountains slowly fade to black- they start out green and rocky, and as the sun sets go through a whole crayon box full of colors- I reflected on day 2.

I was determined to not leave the property. I wanted to feel how each hour felt. See how the desert looks at different times of the day. See who I was when I was alone.

The day started while it was still dark. The hour right before dawn it got cold. Cold enough to wake me up. I grabbed the big blanket from the floor where I had kicked it and got it back over my body. Much better.

Central air/heat would solve the problem, but acclimating to the changes in temp will work, too.

The sun comes over 9-points mesa in the West a little before 9 am. I got up about 8:30 and watched the desert greet the dawn. Before the sun crests the mountain, it’s a soft, pastel scene. Colors are muted.

Then, the sun bursts over the mesa, and bang we’re in the desert.

Today’s morning coffee was much simpler to organize than yesterday’s. Water. Fire. Coffee.

Yum.

My neighbor who has done the work of making this place livable came by, and I watched with interest while he got the hot water heater working, fixed the shower, and attempted to start the pump.

There’s a learning curve to starting the generator that powers the pump. I’ve done it before, but I forgot which screw you turn to make the voltage go up so the pump will run. So did he. That project will continue.

While he was doing the “real” work, I edited the first video from UnSeminar5. The first one is the hardest, because I have to create the intro and outro, decide on the music, and work through the video and audio challenges.

It’s edited. It’s rendered. It’s now online. That took a while.

I also wanted to see what launching a product from the desert would be like. I don’t know that it was the first information product launched by battery power- but I don’t know that it wasn’t.

So, in the spirit of adventure, I relaunched Influence101.

This involved editing the sales copy, reformatting the sales page, setting up a new autoresponder and product on 1shoppingcart, and testing all the pieces. Then I sent a notice to my list, telling them about the product.

And had one of the best sales days I’ve had in months!

Considering my “burn rate,” or the amount of money it takes me to live in this cabin, I could live several months on today’s sales.

Of course, there’s the kids, the house in Wimberley, and other obligations… but, it’s a fascinating experiment. And a tempting one.

I’ve talked- and written- before about the all-important “middle line.”

The top line is your gross income.

Your bottom line is what you can actually spend on cigars.

The middle line is what’s standing between your gross income and your cigars. Or wine. Or survival.

The more you can whittle down that middle line, the more financial freedom you have.

Of course, you can also concentrate on the top line. Make more money. That’s fun, too.

I’m experimenting with running a Portable Empire from a cabin in the desert. I might want to go hiking. I might want to explore Big Bend, or go dancing in Terlingua. I’m curious to see what would be involved in supporting that sort of lifestyle. So far, I’m pretty excited.

Anyway- video online. Product launched. Sales happening.

By sundown, everything that was going to be done was done, and I moved out to the front porch. Grabbed a bottle of water and a fresh cigar. Put on some McCoy Tyner. And watched the desert go to sleep.

Except that it doesn’t.

As the sun set behind the mountains to the West, a hawk skimmed the driveway and looped to the East. In predator mode. There was something moving over there, and moving fast. The hawk swooped and missed. Caught some air, looked around, and swooped again. I don’t know how the story ended, because the hawk and whatever it was chasing quickly disappeared behind the house, and I wasn’t about to get up and follow ‘em. I was busy watching the mountains change colors.

So- the sun is down. Medesky, Martin and Wood are now playing on the new speakers, and sounding fine. It’s definitely dark outside, but I can see the mountains outlined against the stars…

And that’s what a day in the desert was like today.

Could I do this full-time?

I don’t know.

Tomorrow, I’m heading for Alpine to pick up some supplies at the hardware store. I’m strangely excited to be going to town. In the next few days, I’ll explore Big Bend and hang out in Terlingua. I’ll also spend a few more days just hanging out here at the cabin, watching the desert.

Stay tuned.

It’s a slow Sunday in Wimberley, Texas.

The kids are doing their thing. LaRoja is at a meeting.

My assistant is still under the weather, which has been a real eye-opener for me. It gives me an excellent opportunity to play the old “what’s working/what’s not working” game.

I wrote about this in my book, “Your Portable Empire…,” which came out almost exactly a year ago.

BTW, it’s still #16 in the Direct Marketing chart at Amazon.com. I get lots of emails- still- from people who have found something in that book they can use to make their lives better.

One of the most powerful tools in the book is the “what’s working/what’s not working” analysis. I play it like a game. I mentally go through all the aspects of my business, chunking down as small as I can, and decide which pieces are adding to the business and which aren’t.

If something’s working, do more of that. If something isn’t working, stop doing it. It’s an easy game, but it can make dramatic changes in your business. It’s the old 80/20 rule… 80% of what you do is probably not generating enough income/pleasure to justify the effort. 20% of your activities probably create 80% of your income.

Just delete that wasteful 80%, and you’ll free up a lot of time and energy to concentrate on the 20% that matters- or smoke cigars, or play blackjack, or hang out in the desert.

Speaking of the desert, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know about my cabin in the desert, outside of Terlingua, TX. That pic was taken last week, and (if you look real close) you can see the solar panels attached to the roof of the new front porch.

We have electricity.

The cabin also has a deep well, propane tank, land-line telephone and fiber-optic internet access.

There’s still a lot of work to do to get it where I want it- some trim and paint stuff to the outdoors, a complete bathroom overhaul, and lots of cleaning on the inside- but the next trip I make to the cabin, I’m taking a bed, a couple of chairs, and a desk. And a couple of computers.

Stay tuned… I’m probably not going to permanently run away to my desert hide-out just yet, but I am going to use it as an escape pod. A place to go where I can be in touch when I want, and where I can tune out the distractions and write, make music, and think…

So, back to the “what’s working, what’s not working” game…

actually, to really play the game well, you need to make it part of the “un-framing” game.

That’s in the book, too. It goes like this:

Pretend that everything you know is wrong. Pretend that all of your programmed decisions are gone, and you’re seeing the world for the very first time- with no preconceptions, no filters, and assumptions.

Remember that old text game that started out, “you are in a cave…?”

OK. You are in a cave. You are awakening for the very first time, in front of you are: (fill in the blank with your tools, skills, and talents.)

Anyway, in your new, innocent, clear state of mind, make a list of all your assets: your talents, your tools, your skills, your interests. Now, using that list, how many different (and I mean different as in discrete, and also different as in “things that are new to you”) money-making machines can you build?

In my case, I’ve got a computer- I can write, edit photographs, do stuff online. Actually, I think I’ve got 5 computers… and they all do different stuff…

Anyway, I’ve got video cameras, including 3 professional ones. I can web-cast, I can make videos, I can burn DVDs…

I’ve got a pile of guitars and keyboards, and I can play them. Well, I can make clearing audios, i can make blues albums…

I’ve been in business for four years, so I’ve got relationships, a reputation, and a list. These are valuable, too.

Anyway, that’s what I’m doing on a slow Sunday in Wimberley, Texas. I’m deconstructing my world, and playing with potential alternate realities that might inject more pleasure and fun into the loop.

You can play along if you like…

join me on a ride from Lajitas to Presidio, TX.

It was around noon when I headed out, so there are no shadows- and things look smaller than they really are. For example, there’s a cactus in a field of boulders that looks like a weed in the picture. The cactus is over 10 feet tall. The boulder may be 20 feet tall, and it’s in a field of boulders…

Anyway- these are just snapshots for sharing the trip- enjoy!

btw, if you’re keeping up with the cabin project- the phone and internet are in. The materials will be delivered Tuesday for the new porches, and I’ve hired a neighbor to build the porches and just generally wire stuff together.

Once I decided to go with my strengths and outsource the stuff I can’t do, stuff got done fast.

That’s a view from the cabin. That is also a B-52 on a training mission. After the new pilots learn the route, they do it again with little jet bombers. Breaking the sound barrier, looping around 9 points mesa, and heading back to Dyess AFB in Abilene is apparently their idea of fun.

It will be fun for me to watch.

This is apparently art- and I love it.

This is art, too, but it was done by nature. Wind on sandstone- nice.

The road to Presidio follows the river. The vegetation and wildlife follow the river, too.

Whups. Somebody apparently missed their turn. It’s easy to do out here. Like parts of the Black Forest in Germany, and high-mountain roads in Arizona and Colorado, there’s no net. It’s a good thing cell phones don’t work here. A lapse in concentration can be painful.

Now, I’m gonna pack up and head East. I’m not done with West Texas, but I’m done for now.

I’ve discovered that I’m more a Marfa kinda West Texan than a Terlingua kinda West Texas, and I appreciate the luxury of Lajitas. That’s good information.

Marfa is about art, healthy food, and intelligent conversations. Very cosmopolitan, although it will be interesting to see how the gas/real-estate situation affects it.

Terlingua- when I walked into the restaurant/bar on my first night here, in search of beer and food, I ran into a bunch of singer/songwriters I know. The party was on, and after hours was moving to the RV Park for movies, and then skinny-dipping in the pool…

I bowed out as gracefully as I could.

A good meal, a few beers, and good night’s sleep was what I wanted. I love that Terlingua is Terlingua, and I took a rain check. I didn’t say no.

I’m going to gather up the best parts of what I’ve found this trip, and use what I’ve learned to make my cabin comfy.

Now, it’s time to head back home.

Tonight, I’m in Marfa, TX, and there doesn’t appear to be any internet access robust enough to stream web video. Play the video below for full explanation. Scroll down for pics and info about the trip.

If you can’t see the video, click HERE to watch it on youtube.

I’ve got internet here, but it comes and goes, which means we’d be dealing with all kinds of technical stress if I did the TV show. I’ll be back next week….

In the meantime, join me at www.portableempire.ning.com if you want to hang out and talk. Go to “forums,” and click on “Tuesday night TV club.”

If you’d like to see the archived show with Dr. Joe Vitale from last week, it’s at www.patobryan.com/encourager.html