I have to admit, I’ve been enjoying watching the housing bubble burst. There are lots of great stories, from crazy Realtors on crack to strawberry pickers earning $15,000/year who bought $720,000 homes. These make for quite the entertaining read. But what’s next?

The housing bust is progressing quite nicely, and identical to what I predicted in 2006. It’s now 2008…what does my prediction say for this year? (more…)

I need to write like you need to eat, sleep, or breathe. It’s not only therapeutic, but it helps me get focused and aligned with my goals.

So when I don’t write for three weeks, as I have recently, I know there’s something pretty seriously wrong with me. I am not just talking about blogging, though that’s often how I write. Sometimes I don’t feel like blogging, so I write long emails or private journal entries. I haven’t done any of these in over three weeks.

It started with my parents coming out for Christmas. (more…)

For most of us, having a million dollars liquid — that is, available for our use at any time, and easily convertible into cash — is the stuff of pure fantasy. But after talking to a few of my friends about decisions they were making, I was able to easily articulate one way we can all have $1 million in cash — liquid, available cash — in our lifetimes.

No, this isn’t some “get rich quick” scheme, and it doesn’t require anything illegal or immoral. It’s actually quite simple. The one catch is that it’s easier to do earlier in your life. But it’s something anyone can do, and is easily within the range of most Americans. You have to follow some rules to make this work. But once you do, you’ll be a millionaire.

What is the decision? (more…)

My goal with posting goals every year is to focus my energy on creating specific milestones for the next year — publicly — so both you and I can easily see how I’m doing and where I need to kick more butt. 🙂

You can see how I did on my 2007 goals in my 2007 year in review. I did well, so this year I am going to set more aggressive goals.

There is a lot of ground to cover in 2008. First of all, I have two new businesses to start. I have had both of them in my mind for a while, and it’s time for both of them to come to fruition. One of my new businesses is InspiringInnovators.com. Every week for the next two years, I am going to interview one person who has made a significant impact on the world. We are going to talk about challenges, obstacles, successes, and wins for this person, in a much more in-depth interview format than would typically occur in a magazine or newspaper with limited space available.

Why did I decide to start Inspiring Innovators? (more…)

I think most of us have imagined a scenario where we didn’t have to work for money for a long period of time. “Yay!” you think. “Long vacation!” You may imagine drinking fruity concoctions on a beach — that’s what I imagined. Mmm, paradise.

Since I sold Simpli in September, I haven’t had to work for income…nor will I have to work for income for a minimum of 5 more years (if I spend aggressively and buy a house with mostly cash) or 8-10 more years if I am more conservative. That’s right…I do nothing, or whatever I want, and I get a check in the mail every month. Wow, sounds like the height of pure awesomeness, right?

It’s funny that life gives you as many challenges as you can handle. There’s just no “easy” life out there. We were put here, I believe, to learn and grow, and for my part, if I don’t feel like I’m learning and/or growing, I am not a happy person. Most of my learning and growing came from work-related activities over the past 6 years. Now it has to come from somewhere else. It has to come from ME. I have to be motivated to learn and grow and decide what that means for me. My future is wide open, and if I’m not strong, I could easily succumb to lack of motivation and become an addict.

I can see easily why most people who win the lottery can’t make it work and end up broke. It has something to do with this fantasy that you’ll never have to work again — that suddenly life will be perfect, if only… [insert change you want here.] Of course, if that change does happen, you find out that that’s not the case at all. (more…)