Have you ever done the “perfect day” exercise? Jack Canfield writes about it in his book The Success Principles. It goes like this:

Imagine your perfect day in great detail. Then write it down. Where do you live? When do you wake up? What do you do when you wake up?

Then go through each hour of your day. What projects are you working on? Who are you with? What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? And when do you go to bed? What are you wearing?

This is well worth it to do, and here’s why. (more…)

There has been a lot of talk about bringing Silicon Valley to other parts of the country–or world. About what makes Silicon Valley unique, and how to replicate it.

As someone who lived in the Valley for 10 years and created a successful technology company there, and who now lives in a decidedly less-tech-heavy area (San Diego), I have a unique perspective: I don’t want Silicon Valley to come to San Diego. In fact, if it did, I’d leave here just like I left the Valley.

A conversation I had recently with an entrepreneur who moved from San Diego to the Valley reminded me of everything that is broken with Silicon Valley. I began by asking him why he’d moved his company to the Valley–I’m always curious about why companies choose to move.

“So, why did you move to the Valley?”

(more…)

How to achieve your goals is a guest post by Jaime Tardy.

“By setting goals and measuring their achievement, you can focus on what is most important, waste less energy on noncritical tasks, and achieve greater results. “ – Harvard Business Essentials

Most of us have heard the statistic: People who set goals are more successful. You know how to set goals. But do you know how to achieve them? (more…)

After you read this post, you may think I’m incredibly stupid.

Either that, or you will think I’m a genius.

Perhaps both.

There’s a valuable piece of online real estate that you’re probably not using to its fullest potential. And even though you may have heard this advice before, I bet you’re still not implementing it.

I didn’t implement this tiny tweak for months, even though I knew about it. (That’s the stupid part.) But once I did, I gained $804/month in passive income.

Here’s my big “Duh” moment, and how you can easily put my stupidity/genius into action and gain some income as well, even if your site doesn’t get a lot of traffic. (By the way, I’m not selling anything here. But this tweak–I’m not going to lie–could make you more income than a lot of products you buy for $497 do.) (more…)

Happy third birthday, erica.biz! It seems like yesterday that I decided to change my little personal blog into a powerhouse business blog with a real community behind it. When I launched erica.biz on December 4, 2007, I wasn’t sure where it would go. A lot of people held the opinion that the blogosphere was “saturated.” What I learned was that a new perspective–if it’s fresh and interesting–is always welcomed.

The first heartfelt blog post I wrote after I launched erica.biz was called “Hitting the jackpot doesn’t mean instantly becoming happy.” In it, I emphasized an issue I see with all too many people: Thinking that once you win the lottery, sell your business, or meet some other huge goal that everything will be okay.

The reality is that it doesn’t change much. You’re still you. And if you’ve made a goal–and then met it–that involves having a lot more free time, your life can become difficult. Suddenly, all those things you’ve been ignoring, like your health or broken relationships, come sharply into focus. (more…)